Tag: politics of immigration

Amnesty International calls for abolition of ICE

ICEAmnesty International called for the abolition of US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), in a report documenting widespread human rights violations in federal immigration enforcement operations. In its 168-page report, Amnesty investigated ICE activity in Chicago, Minneapolis-St.Paul, New Orleans and Washington DC, concluding that in each city officers relied on racial profiling; arbitrarily arrested individuals based on race, skin color, ethnicity or national origin; used excessive force; engaged in unlawful killings; conducted mass surveillance; held detainees in inhumane conditions; and failed to properly investigate reported violations. The report attributed these practices to systemic, administration-wide conduct and attitudes. (Photo: Chad Davis)

Tuvalu welcomes UN Declaration on Sea-Level Rise

TuvaluTuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo addressed the United Nations General Assembly, urging decisive global action to mitigate sea-level rise and welcoming the UN's approval of the Declaration on Sea-Level Rise. The landmark agreement formally recognizes the continuity of statehood and the permanence of maritime boundaries established under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), creating a vital legal precedent for climate-vulnerable island nations facing territorial loss. (Image via Pixabay)

Worsening Yemen conflict fuels mass displacement

YemenThe UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed concern that mass displacement and the overall humanitarian crisis in Yemen will intensify as the ongoing conflict escalates. Fighting continues to expand, and has driven more than 130,000 people to flee since the beginning of September. The center of the crisis is Taiz, a city in southwestern Yemen, accounting for more than 60% of the new displacement. However, many families are unable to move from the besieged city to more secure locations due to fighting, roadblocks, or lack of access to fuel and transport. The UNHCR reports that growing numbers of Yemenis are becoming international refugees, fleeing across the Gulf of Aden to East Africa. More than 3,000 refugees have arrived in Djibouti and hundreds more have reached Somaliland and Puntland, autonomous states in northern Somalia. (Map via PCL)

Alien Terrorist Removal Court orders first deportation

FISAThe US Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC) ordered the deportation of an Afghan woman, after she reached an "agreement" with the Department of Justice waiving her right to appeal. Nazira Haji Zada, accused of assisting her son and son-in-law in planning a foiled 2024 terror plot, admitted that she was an "alien terrorist" as part of the deal. The order marked the first-ever use of the secretive and controversial ATRC, which is exempt from the Federal Rules of Evidence, allowing use of "classified" evidence that the defendant is not permitted to review. (Photo: Tony Webster via Wikimedia Commons)

EU migrant ‘return hub’ plans risk rights abuses

LampedusaAmnesty International warned that plans by five European Union member-state governments for migrant "return hubs" in Rwanda and Uganda risk creating "cruel black holes for human rights." The warning comes as the EU Return Regulation, approved by the European Parliament in June but still awaiting final approval by the European Council, is set to provide the legal basis for such hubs. (Photo: Sara Creta/TNH)

US sanctions Palestine Action over ‘terrorism’ ties

Palestine ActionThe US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three organizations and two individuals, accusing UK-based Palestine Action, the Italy-based Autistici Inventati, and the Masar Badil network of ties to "violent far-left extremism." The designations were made under Executive Order 13224, the post-9-11 authority allowing the US to block the property of designated "terrorists" and of those who support or are linked to them. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said "far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers should be on notice" that the Department "will bring the full weight of our economic tools to bear." He added that "we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated." (Photo: Cary Bass-Deschênes via Good Law Project)

Thailand: halt deportation of Karen refugees

PhetchaburiHuman Rights Watch (HRW) called on Thai authorities to halt the deportation of ethnic Karen villagers from Thailand's Phetchaburi province to Burma, citing grave risks to their safety if returned, and urging their immediate release from immigration detention. HRW reported that Thai security forces raided the Karen community living within Phetchaburi's Kaeng Krachan National Park, targeting those without proof of Thai citizenship, and arresting 26 villagers before placing them into the custody of the Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok. The organization stated that deporting the Karen villagers to Burma would expose them to severe risk given the Burmese military junta's record of ethnically targeted attacks and abuses, including mass killings, torture and arbitrary arrests. (Map: Google)

Ethiopia: Tigray fighting flares again

EthiopiaClashes between the Ethiopian army and Tigrayan forces have led to hundreds of civilians crossing into neighboring Sudan, marking another serious threat to a 2022 peace agreement. Heavy artillery and drones were used during the fighting, which was concentrated in contested western Tigray. Both sides have been amassing troops in recent months and there has been a significant recruitment drive in Tigray, where regional authorities have forcibly conscripted civilians, including children, according to Human Rights Watch. Close to a million Tigrayans have been unable to return to their homes despite the peace deal, and have struggled to recover from the ethnic cleansing and siege campaign carried out by the Ethiopian army and its allies during the 2020-2022 conflict. A return to war would likely involve Eritrea, and could pull in Sudan, merging two of the deadliest conflicts in recent history. (Map: Political Geography Now)

Demand EU halt migration collaboration with Libya

LibyaA group of 31 international human rights organizations called on the EU and its member states to end their cooperation with Libyan authorities on migration control. The groups expressed alarm at plans to strengthen cooperation with the rival authorities in Eastern and Western Libya, which both have a longstanding record of grave rights abuses against refugees, asylum seekers and migrants.  (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)

US pushes ‘Donroe Doctrine’ at Cuzco defense summit

CuzcoRepresentatives from over 30 countries gathered in the Peruvian city of Cuzco for the Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas, where top Pentagon official Elbridge Colby used the occasion to defend the "Donroe Doctrine." As at other regional security summits, including the "Shield of the Americas" conference held in Florida in March, Trump officials cast drug trafficking and irregular migration as threats to US security, urged regional governments to increase military spending, and called for deeper security collaboration with Washington. An increasing number of the right-wing governments in attendance have embraced closer military ties with the United States through joint strikes and new military bases—even as militarized policies fail to curb organized crime and violence in countries like Ecuador, a key testing ground for the administration's renewed war on "narcoterrorism." (Photo: Martin St-Amant via Wikimedia Commons)

Mexico to seek charges over deaths in ICE custody

MexicoMexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that her government plans to seek criminal complaints in the United States over the deaths of Mexican citizens while in immigration custody or during anti-immigration operations. Since President Donald Trump launched the current immigration crackdown, at least 14 Mexican nationals have died in the custody of US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), and three more have reportedly died in arrests conducted by the agency. (Map: PCL)

UN rights chief: investigate deaths in ICE custody

ICEUN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for independent investigations into dozens of deaths in US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. He urged authorities to take immediate measures to prevent further fatalities as the number of deaths in detention continues to rise. Türk noted that at least 52 people have died in ICE custody since the beginning of 2025, following President Donald Trump's return to office and the start of the administration's expanded immigration enforcement policies. According to official figures, 18 people died in ICE detention during the first five months of this year, with an additional death recorded in June, while 33 deaths were documented during 2025 overall—compared with 11 in 2024. (Photo: ICE via Wikimedia Commons)