Tag: politics of immigration

Africa
Chagos

UK to transfer sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius

The UK announced that it will transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, now ruled as the British Indian Ocean Territory, to Mauritius after more than two centuries of control. A joint statement issued by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth hails the accord as an “historic political agreement on the exercise of sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago.” The UK-US military base on the archipelago’s principal island of Diego Garcia will remain operational for an initial period of 99 years to ensure its continued “vital role in regional and global security.” The UK will be “authorised to exercise the sovereign rights of Mauritius” on Diego Garcia. The decision follows two years of negotiations over the future of the islands between the two nations. (Map: Republic of Mauritius)

North America
Vance

Criminal suit over Trump-Vance libel of Haitian immigrants

The Haitian Bridge Alliance, a non-profit organization advocating for Haitian immigrants, filed criminal charges against Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance, his running mate in the current presidential race. The charges, brought before the municipal court in Ohio’s Clark County, stem from false claims made by Trump and Vance alleging that Haitian immigrants in the town of Springfield were abducting and eating local pets. The allegations have sparked outrage and fear within Springfield’s Haitian community. In the court filing, HBA claims that the comments by Trump and Vance have incited anti-immigrant sentiment, resulting in threats and harassment of local Haitian immigrants and those who support them. The complaint calls on the court to issue arrest warrants for Trump and Vance on charges including aggravated menacing and telecommunications harassment. (Image via Twitter)

Watching the Shadows
Twitter

Is Elon Musk unstoppable?

If elected president in November, Donald Trump says he will create a government efficiency commission led by tech billionaire Elon Musk as part of his economic plan. Musk suggested the idea to Trump in a conversation on X, which he bought in 2022 when it was called Twitter. The announcement is the latest display of Musk’s growing influence in politics. The self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” is accused of censoring progressive opinions while amplifying the voices of far-right networks. So far, no one seems to be able to check his growing power, as his recent legal battles with Australia and Brazil have demonstrated. Both countries tried to curtail content deemed harmful, but Musk ignored their requests. After Musk disregarded a judicial order to suspend dozens of X accounts for allegedly spreading disinformation in Brazil, the country’s Supreme Court ruled to ban it nationwide. Journalists, who have relied heavily on it, have expressed a mixture of relief and regret at the ban. (Photo: Filip Troníček via Wikipedia)

Europe
Lebanon

Lebanon, Cyprus violate rights of Syrian refugees: HRW

Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Lebanon and Cyprus of violating the human rights of Syrian refugees with indirect financial support from the European Union. In a new report, HRW details how both countries have intercepted and forcibly returned refugees to Syria in a coordinated effort to prevent them from seeking asylum in Europe. According to the rights organization, Syrian refugees who tried to leave Lebanon by boat were intercepted by the Lebanese army and then expelled to Syria. Meanwhile, the Cypriot Coast Guard intercepted refugees who managed to reach Cyprus, sending them back to Lebanon, where they often faced immediate deportation to Syria. (Photo of Lebanon coast via Wikimedia Commons)

Watching the Shadows
Kremlin

US indictments, sanctions target Russian propaganda network

The US Department of Justice announced the seizure of 32 internet domains linked to an alleged Russian government-backed disinformation campaign aimed at influencing US and global audiences. According to the DoJ, the operation, known as “Doppelganger,” sought to sway public opinion in favor of Russian interests and interfere in the 2024 US presidential election. The campaign was allegedly orchestrated by several Russian organizations under the supervision of Sergei Kiriyenko, a senior official in the Russian Presidential Administration. These organizations utilized the domains to distribute pro-Russian propaganda and undermine support for Ukraine. The operation used deceptive methods that violated US “money laundering and criminal trademark law.” (Photo: Wikipedia)

Europe
Southport

UK: racist riots fueled by online disinformation

A wave of organized racist violence in the United Kingdom entered its second week, in the worst outbreak of civil disorder the country has seen in more than a decade. Mosques, refugee centers, and businesses owned by people of color have been among the targets of far-right extremists, who have rioted in over a dozen towns in England and Northern Ireland. The unrest began after a mass child stabbing in the north England town of Southport, sparking false rumors that a Muslim immigrant carried out the attack. The false claim quickly spread on social media, amplified by high-profile figures, including right-wing politician Nigel Farage. An invented name for the Southport attacker, “Ali al-Shakati,” was mentioned more than 30,000 times on X (Twitter) in the day following the murders. Owner Elon Musk fanned the flames, writing on X that “civil war is inevitable” in the UK. Politicians are now calling for Musk to be questioned by parliament. (Photo: StreetMic via Wikipedia)

North Africa
libya

More mass graves discovered in Libya

A mass grave containing two dozen bodies was discovered in the Libyan coastal city of Sirte, once controlled by ISIS. The National Authority for Searching & Identifying Missing People, a body of the internationally recognized government in Tripoli, said its team is recovering the 24 bodies found under destroyed buildings in the district of al-Kambo. A mass grave was similarly uncovered in the city in October 2022. Another mass grave is meanwhile reported to have been found in the desert along the Libya-Tunisia border, the UN Human Rights Commission confirmed. This was the second such mass grave found on Libya’s borderlands this year. In March, the International Organization for Migration reported the discovery of the bodies of at least 65 presumed migrants in southwest Libya. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)

South Asia
Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia detainees in bureaucratic limbo

Lawyers for some of around 60 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers stranded on the British-held island of Diego Garcia have appealed to the UK’s new Foreign Minister David Lammy to intervene after the US blocked them from visiting the island for a hearing set to take place this week. The US runs a secretive military facility on the island, and issued the decision to bar the legal team on a “confidential” basis, citing “national security.” The lawyers are accusing the island’s government—the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) administration—of illegally detaining their clients, who have been confined to a small camp for nearly three years after fleeing Sri Lanka and India by boat. The BIOT administration claims to have no role in negotiating permission for the visit, but lawyers for the asylum seekers say the administration has a duty to persuade the US to allow the hearing to take place and ensure the rule of law on the remote British territory. (Photo via TNH)

Central America
Darién

US-Panama deal to shut down Darién Gap migration route

Immediately upon taking office, Panama’s new President José Raúl Mulino struck a deal with the United States to shut down the migration route through the Darién Gap, which sees thousands annually making the perilous jungle trek while seeking to reach North America. The US has committed to cover the cost of repatriation of migrants who illegally enter Panama and to deploy Homeland Security teams on the route. Last year, a record 520,000 migrants risked their lives, often at the hands of human traffickers, to traverse the Darién Gap, an expanse of roadless jungle stretching some 100 kilometers from Panama’s border with Colombia. (Photo: David González/TNH)

Europe
BALTOPS24

Baltic brinkmanship amid NATO war games

Sweden’s armed forces charged that a Russian SU-24 fighter plane violated the country’s airspace just east of the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, calling the act “unacceptable.” Just days before the incident, Sweden and other NATO allies were conducting naval exercises in the area as part of the annual Baltic Operations drill (BALTOPS). Amid the exercise, the Finnish military reported a similar airspace violation by four Russian warplanes over the Gulf of Finland. This was the first time Sweden and Finland had taken part in BALTOPS. (Photo: NATO)

Planet Watch
Chad

Record 117 million forcibly displaced worldwide: UN

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported that a record number of 117.3 million people around the world were forcibly displaced as of the end of 2023. The agency expects this number to rise to over 120 million cases by the end of this year, especially noting the situations in Sudan, Burma and Palestine. The conflict in Sudan that began in April 2023 has led to 6 million becoming internally displaced persons (IDPs) with 1.2 million people forced into neighboring countries as refugees. In Burma, conflict since the military coup of 2021 has resulted in 1.2 million IDPs, while over 75% of the population in Gaza was displaced between October and December amid the ongoing bombardment of the enclave. (Photo of Sudanese refugees in Chad: Henry Wilkins/VOA via Wikimedia Commons)

North America
border wall

Biden executive order restricts asylum seekers at border

President Joe Biden signed an executive order barring asylum claims from anyone who crosses the US-Mexico border illegally. The ban will be suspended if border agents observe a seven-day average of fewer than 1,500 “encounters,” which include apprehensions of undocumented migrants within 100 miles of the border or entry refusals at US-Mexico land border crossings. However, if border authorities record a seven-day average of 2,500 or more encounters, the restriction will be reinstated. Shortly after the proclamation was signed, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) vowed to challenge it in court. The civil rights group said the order “will severely restrict people’s legal right to seek asylum, putting tens of thousands of lives at risk.” (Photo via FWS)