Page 2 - Migrants

Trump claims Chinese migrants building US army; migrants tell another story

It was 7 a.m. on a recent Friday when Wang Gang, a 36-year-old Chinese immigrant, jostled for a day job in New York City's Flushing neighbourhood. When a potential employer pulled up near the street corner, Wang and dozens of other men swarmed around the car. They were hoping to be picked for work on a construction site, at a farm, as a mover anything that would pay. Wang had no luck, even as he waited for two more hours. It would be another day without a job since he crossed the southern US border illegally in February. The daily struggle of Chinese immigrants in Flushing is a far cry from the picture former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have sought to paint of them as a coordinated group of military-age men who have come to the United States to build an army and attack America. Since the start of the year, as the Chinese newcomers adjust to life in the US, Trump has alluded to fighting age or military age Chinese men at least six times and suggested at least twice

UAE top destination for India migrants, hosts 3.47 million: UN report

India received more than $111 bn in remittances in 2022, the largest such amount

Britain's plan to send some migrants to Rwanda hits hurdle in Parliament

A law that will enable Britain to send some asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda suffered a setback on Wednesday after Parliament's upper chamber pressed its attempt to amend the contentious legislation. The House of Lords inserted amendments into the Safety of Rwanda Bill, sending it back to the lower House of Commons in a process known as parliamentary ping-pong. The government had hoped members of the Lords would stop blocking the bill on Wednesday, relenting to the parliamentary rule that the unelected Lords ultimately can't overrule the elected Commons. The Lords' resistance underlines the strength of opposition in the upper house, where the governing Conservative Party does not have a majority. The bill is still overwhelmingly likely to become law, but the latest move delays its passage, likely until next week. The legislation will pave the way for deportation flights to take off though opponents plan new legal challenges that could keep them grounded. The Rwanda plan

Texas' migrant arrest law back on hold after briefly taking effect

A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday lifted a stay on a Texas law that gives police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of crossing the US-Mexico border illegally while a legal battle over immigration authority plays out. The Biden administration is suing to strike down the measure, arguing it's a clear violation of federal authority that would hurt international relations and create chaos in administering immigration law. The law allows any police officer in Texas to arrest migrants for illegal entry. A judge could then order them to leave the US Texas has argued it has a right to take action over what Texas authorities have called a crisis at the southern border. The battle over the Texas immigration law is one of multiple legal disputes between Texas officials and the Biden administration over how far the state can go to patrol the Texas-Mexico border and prevent illegal border crossings. Gov. Greg Abbott has described the situation at the border as an invasion of migrants.

Migrant boat capsizes near Turkiye's coast; at least 21 people killed

A rubber dinghy carrying migrants sank off Turkiye's northern Aegean coast on Friday, killing at least 21 people, officials said. Turkish coast guard personnel rescued two migrants from the sea off the town of Eceabat in Canakkale province, while two others reached the shore by themselves and notified officials, Gov. Ilhami Aktas said. It was not clear how many people were on the boat when it sank and the coast guard was continuing to search the area, he said. A statement from Aktas' office later said five of the dead were children. The migrants' nationalities were not immediately known. Eighteen rescue boats, a plane, two helicopters and a drone were involved in the search and rescue mission, the statement said. Ambulances were on standby at a nearby port, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Although their numbers have declined in recent years, migrants mostly from the Middle East and Africa often leave Turkiye to try to reach Greece in search of a better life in European ...

Home ministry notifies rules for implementation of citizenship law CAA

The rules for implementation of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) are likely to be notified on Monday to facilitate the granting of citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, according to sources. Once the CAA rules are issued, the Modi government will start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan -- Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians -- who had come to India till December 31, 2014. The CAA was passed in December 2019 and subsequently got the president's assent but there were protests in several parts of the country against it. The law could not come into effect so far as rules have to be notified for its implementation.

Over 8,500 migrants died worldwide last year, hits record high: UN

A total of 8,565 migrants died on land and sea routes worldwide last year, the UN migration agency said Wednesday, a record high since it began tallying deaths a decade ago. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said the biggest increase in deaths last year was on the treacherous Mediterranean Sea crossing, to 3,129 from 2,411 in 2022. However, that was well below the record 5,136 deaths recorded on the Mediterranean in 2016 as huge numbers of Syrians, Afghans and others fled conflicts toward Europe. IOM said the total number of deaths among migrants in 2023 was nearly 20 per cent more than in 2022. It said most of the deaths last year, about 3,700, came from drowning. The Geneva-based migration agency cautioned that the figures likely underestimate the real toll, and factors such as improved data collection methods play a part in its calculations. "Every single one of them is a terrible human tragedy that reverberates through families and communities for years to com

NYC imposes curfew at more migrant shelters due to recent violent attacks

New York is expanding a curfew to additional migrant shelters after violent incidents attributed to migrant shelter residents gained national attention in recent weeks. Mayor Eric Adams' administration will impose an 11 pm to 6 am curfew at 20 migrant shelters starting Monday, after initially placing the restrictions at four other locations, The Daily News reports. The curfew impacts about 3,600 migrants, with the largest of the emergency centres housing roughly 1,000 migrants in Long Island City, Queens. City officials initially placed a curfew on four shelters last month in response to neighbourhood complaints. The additional curfews come after a spate of migrant-related violence and crime has prompted increasingly dire rhetoric from city and police officials. A 15-year-old teen from Venezuela was arrested on Friday for opening fire in Times Square while fleeing from police after being stopped by security for suspected shoplifting. The shooting injured a tourist from Brazil. A v

New York weighs rule changes to hire thousands amid migrant crisis

To make these jobs more accessible, the state is proposing to create "transitional" titles with requirements more in line with the candidates' qualifications

Govt plans to terminate FMR with Myanmar to curb migrant influx: Officials

The plan is part of consideration to end a point of contention as local residents complain that the FMR policy has become a major subject of contention as it is often misused

Over 60 drown in migrant vessel off Libya while trying to reach Europe: UN

A boat carrying dozens of Europe-bound migrants capsized off the coast of Libya, leaving more than 60 people including women and children dead, the U.N. migration agency said. Saturday's shipwreck was the latest tragedy in this part of the Mediterranean Sea, a key dangerous route for migrants seeking a better life in Europe, where, according to officials, thousands have died. The U.N.'s International Organization for Migration said in a statement the boat was carrying 86 migrants when strong waves swamped it off the town of Zuwara on Libya's western coast and that 61 migrants drowned, citing survivors of the dramatic shipwreck. The central Mediterranean continues to be one of the world's most dangerous migration routes, the agency wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Libya has in recent years emerged as the dominant transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. The North African nation has plunged into chaos following a

Australia commits another $168 mn to monitor migrants freed from detention

The Australian government on Monday committed an additional 255 million Australian dollars (USD 168 million) in funding for police and other law enforcement officials to monitor 141 migrants freed when a court ruled their indefinite detention was unconstitutional. The new funding over two years reflects an increase in the workload of law enforcement officials due to government concerns of a heightened community risk posed by those released following a landmark High Court decision on November 8. That ruling said the government could no longer detain indefinitely foreigners who had been refused Australian visas, but could not be deported to their homelands and no third country would accept them. The migrants released due to the High Court ruling were mostly people with criminal records. The group also include people who failed visa character tests on other grounds and some who were challenging visas refusals through the courts. They include refugees and stateless people. Home Affairs

UP, Bihar replace Kerala as top contributor of workforce to GCC countries

The top five labour-sending states so far this year have been Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu, according to a study by Huntr

Australia mulls jail term for high-risk migrants who breach visa conditions

Migrants with criminal records in Australia will face up to five years in prison for breaching their visa conditions under emergency legislation introduced Thursday in response to a High Court ruling that foreigners can't be detained indefinitely. The government said it has released 84 foreigners most of whom have convictions for crimes including murder and rape since the court ruled last week that indefinite detention of migrants is unconstitutional. The decision reversed a High Court ruling from 2004 that had allowed stateless people to be held in migrant centers for any length of time in cases where there were no prospects of deporting them from Australia. The legislation introduced in Parliament by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles would let the government order certain migrants to wear electronic tracking bracelets and to comply with curfews. Failure to comply with those visa conditions could be a criminal offense punishable by up to five years in prison. The released migran

Migrant labourer from UP shot dead by terrorists in J-K's Pulwama district

According to the Jammu and Kashmir police, the deceased has been identified as Mukesh who hailed from Uttar Pradesh

Pak sets up deportation centers to hold illegal migrants starting next week

Pakistan is setting up deportation centers for migrants in the country illegally, including an estimated 1.7 million Afghans, officials said on Thursday. It's the latest development in a government crackdown to expel foreigners without registration or documents. Anyone found staying in the country illegally from next Wednesday will be arrested and sent to the deportation centers. Jan Achakzai, a spokesman for the southwestern Baluchistan government, said three deportation centers are being set up. One will be in Quetta, the provincial capital. Azam Khan, the caretaker chief minister for the northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said the region will have three deportation centers. More than 60,000 Afghans have returned home since the crackdown was announced, he said. He said migrants who are living in the country illegally should leave before the Tuesday deadline to avoid arrest. Pakistan's caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti has said there will be no deadline extension. Th

Migrant boat sinking off Greek island leaves 3 dead, 2 missing, 8 rescued

A search and rescue operation was underway Monday after a dinghy carrying migrants sank overnight off the coast of the small eastern Greek island of Symi, leaving at least three people dead, the coast guard said. Eight people were rescued, with two of them transported to a hospital on the nearby island of Rhodes and the rest transferred to the main port in Symi, according to the coast guard. Authorities said they recovered the bodies of two men and one woman from the sea. Survivors said two more people in the dinghy were believed to have managed to reach the shore on their own. Two coast guard vessels, four private boats and an air force helicopter were searching the area for the two missing people. The nationalities of those on board the dinghy were not immediately known. Greece lies along one of the most popular smuggling routes for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia and trying to get into the European Union. Many use small dinghies to head f

Pakistan to go ahead with eviction of illegal immigrants, says report

The Pakistan government has decided to go ahead with its controversial plan to evict all illegal immigrants -- including around 1.7 million Afghan refugees-- from the country by October 31, saying that the decision was in line with international practices, according to a media report. The move came as law enforcement agencies continued their crackdown on people they call illegal aliens', a sizeable number of families have been crossing the border into Afghanistan over the past week. No country allows illegal people to live in their country whether it is Europe, whether it is countries in Asia, in our neighbourhood. So, accordingly, this is in line with the international practice that we have taken this decision, caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani was quoted as saying to Hong Kong's Phoenix TV in an interview on the sidelines of a forum in Tibet. Pakistan's decision to ask illegal immigrants to leave by October 31 or face forcible expulsion from November 1 has drawn ...

18 migrants killed, and 29 injured in a bus crash in southern Mexico

At least 18 migrants from Venezuela and Peru died early Friday in a bus crash in southern Mexico, authorities said. Mexico's National Immigration Institute said the dead include two women and three children, and that 29 people were injured. There was no immediate information on their condition. Photos distributed by the institute showed the bus rolled over onto its side on a curvy section of highway in the southern state of Oaxaca. The cause of the crash on the town of San Pablo Huitzo, near the border with the neighbouring state of Puebla, is under investigation. The institute said a total of 55 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, were aboard the vehicle. It was the latest in a series of migrant deaths in Mexico amid a surge in migrants travelling toward the US border. Because migration agents often raid regular buses, migrants and smugglers often seek out risky forms of transportation, like unregulated buses, trains or freight trucks. Last week, 10 Cuban migrants died and 17 others

Biden govt waives 26 laws to allow border wall construction in South Texas

The Biden administration announced they waived 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow border wall construction, marking the administration's first use of a sweeping executive power employed often during the Trump presidency. The Department of Homeland Security posted the announcement on the US Federal Registry with few details outlining the construction in Starr County, Texas, which is part of a busy Border Patrol sector seeing high illegal entry. According to government data, about 2,45,000 illegal entries have been recorded in this region during the current fiscal year. There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas, Alejandro Mayorkas, the DHS secretary, stated in the notice. The Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and Endangered Species Act were some of the federal laws waived by DHS to make way for ...