Page 3 - Migrants

10,000 migrants heading to US border daily; blames sanctions: Mexico prez

Mexico's president has said that about 10,000 migrants per day are heading to the US border, and he blamed US economic sanctions on countries like Cuba and Venezuela for the influx. President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador said the number of migrants reaching Mexico's northern border with the United States was partly due to about 6,000 migrants per day crossing into Mexico from Guatemala over the past week. He said many of those migrants are traveling on a route through Central America that includes the jungle-clad Darien Gap region between Panama and Colombia. Lpez Obrador seemed to join Colombian President Gustavo Petro in blaming the situation on US sanctions on countries like Venezuela and Cuba, whose citizens make up a large part of the migrant flow. Experts say economic mismanagement and political repression are largely to blame for the tide of migrants leaving those countries. The United States has sanctioned both governments over what it considers the suppression of democracy.

Private sector desperate to take migrants despite negative narrative: UN

The new head of the UN's migration agency said on Monday that the private sector is desperate for their countries to take in migrants to mop up labour shortages, especially in the West endeavouring to steer a narrative away from reticence and suspicion about migrants in many parts of the world. Amy Pope, the first woman to head the International Organisation for Migration, sought to play up the economic benefits of migration for rich nations with aging populations and declining workforces in the face of build-the-wall rhetoric in the United States to block migrants from Latin America and right-wing movements in Europe that want to keep foreigners out. We hear from ... the private sector globally, but especially in Europe and in North America, that they are desperate for migration in order to meet their own labour market needs and in order to continue to fuel innovation within their own companies, Pope, who is American, told reporters. She said the evidence was fairly overwhelming

Chicago keeps hundreds of migrants at airports while waiting on shelters

Hidden behind a heavy black curtain in one of the nation's busiest airports is Chicago's unsettling response to a growing population of asylum-seekers arriving by plane. Hundreds of migrants, from babies to the elderly, live inside a shuttle bus centre at O'Hare International Airport's Terminal 1. They sleep on cardboard pads on the floor and share airport bathrooms. A private firm monitors their movements. Like New York and other cities, Chicago has struggled to house asylum-seekers, slowly moving people out of temporary spaces and into shelters and, in the near future, tents. But Chicago's use of airports is unusual, having been rejected elsewhere, and highlights the city's haphazard response to the crisis. The practice also has raised concerns about safety and the treatment of people fleeing violence and poverty. It was supposed to be a stop-and-go place, said Vianney Marzullo, one of the few volunteers at O'Hare. It's very concerning. It is not just a safety matter, but a pub

Rescue op underway off southwestern Greece for around 90 migrants on yacht

A rescue operation was underway Wednesday morning for dozens of migrants on board a yacht reported to be in difficulty off the southwestern coast of Greece, authorities said. The coast guard said the yacht, believed to be carrying around 90 people, was spotted about 40 nautical miles (74 kilometres) west of the small town of Pylos. Six of the people on board were picked up by another yacht sailing in the area and transported to Pylos, where one woman was transferred to a hospital in the southern city of Kalamata. Another 25 people were picked up by a passing tanker ship and were being transported to Kalamata, while the remaining passengers were being transferred to another passing cargo ship, the coast guard said. A coast guard lifeboat was on the scene, and another coast guard vessel was on the way. There were no reports of any missing passengers. The area is near where a deadly migrant shipwreck in June left hundreds of people dead and missing and led to allegations that Greek .

Loudspeaker message outside NYC migrant shelter warns new arrivals

A New Yorker upset that the city has been housing homeless migrants on his block has set up a loudspeaker to deliver an unwelcoming message to his new neighbours: "Immigrants are not safe here. The message, recorded in six languages, blares all day from a loudspeaker on Scott Herkert's well-groomed front lawn on Staten Island, exhorting migrants to go back to another part of the city because the community doesn't want them. It urges people brought to a temporary shelter inside a long-vacant Roman Catholic high school not to get off the bus. The message also claims the building has rats and cockroaches. It is one of several ways some people have let shelter residents know they are not welcome. Hundreds of protesters have also held a large rally outside the former school, urging the city to house migrants elsewhere. The women and families placed by the city inside the former Saint John Villa Academy have heard the message loud and clear. We have to close our eyes and close our ears,

Migrant boat sinking off Greek island leaves 4 dead, 18 rescued: Officials

Greek authorities said that four people died and 18 were rescued Monday after a boat carrying migrants apparently sank northeast of the Greek island of Lesbos, which lies near the Turkish coast. The coast guard said one of its vessels collected the 18 survivors and four people found unconscious and transported them to the island's main port of Mytilene. Over the weekend, the coast guard has said it has picked up dozens of people from boats near eastern Aegean Sea islands, part of an increase in new arrivals over the past two months. For decades Greece has been one of the preferred entry points into the European Union for people fleeing conflict or poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia and hoping for a better life in Europe. More than 14,000 people have reached Greece by land and sea so far this year, according to United Nations figures. That's about a tenth of the total successful Mediterranean crossings, most of which about 104,000 were to Italy. Arrivals in Greece for the

Saudi guards have killed hundreds of migrants crossing border, says report

Border guards in Saudi Arabia have fired machine guns and launched mortars at Ethiopians trying to cross into the kingdom from Yemen, likely killing hundreds of the unarmed migrants in recent years, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Monday. The rights group cited eyewitness reports of attacks by troops and images that showed dead bodies and burial sites on migrant routes, saying the death toll could even be possibly thousands. The United Nations has already questioned Saudi Arabia about its troops opening fire on the migrants in an escalating pattern of attacks along its southern border with war-torn Yemen. A Saudi government official, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly, called the Human Rights Watch report unfounded and not based on reliable sources, without offering evidence to support the assertion. Yemen's Houthi rebels, who allegedly make tens of thousands of dollars a week smuggling migrants over the border, did not respon

6 dead, dozens rescued from sinking migrant boat in English Channel

Six people died and dozens of others were rescued from a boat carrying migrants that capsized Saturday while trying to cross the English Channel, French authorities said. About 50 people were rescued, France's Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said. Authorities initially said six of those rescued were in serious condition and one of them died after being flown by helicopter to a Calais hospital. They later announced that five others had died. Several British and French ships were involved in the early morning search and rescue effort after a patrol boat reported that a migrant boat was sinking off Sangatte. The Boulogne prosecutor's office is investigating.

Hundreds of migrants in southern Mexico form group to head toward US

Nearly a thousand migrants that recently crossed from Guatemala into Mexico have formed a group to head north together in hopes of reaching the border with the United States. The group, made up of largely Venezuelan migrants, walked along a highway in southern Mexico, led by a Venezuela flag with the phrase Peace, Freedom. SOS. The men, women, children, and teenagers were followed by Mexican National Guard patrols. Migrants said they crossed into Mexico illegally through a river dividing the two countries. They said they decided to organise the group and start out because many had been sleeping on the street and had run out of money to buy food. We just want to move forward, to fulfill our American dream and work, because we're all workers here, one Venezuelan, Roseli Gloria said while taking a brief rest along the highway. She carried a backpack and a piece of rolled-up foam for sleeping. She said she had been in Mexico for a week before joining the group. Participants in the gro

Migrant tragedy at sea as EU leaders forge ahead with tougher borders plans

As rescue efforts in the Mediterranean Sea flagged last week, and bodies were found more frequently than survivors from among the more than 500 people missing after an overcrowded fishing trawler sank, the European Commission's president was asked for her thoughts. It is horrible, what happened, and the more urgent is that we act, Ursula von der Leyen told reporters at the headquarters of the European Union's executive branch in Brussels. The priorities, she said, should be to help the authorities in Tunisia where people bound for Europe sometimes leave from to stabilise its economy and better manage migration, and to finalise the long-awaited reform of the EU's asylum rules, which is unlikely to happen before next year. Never mind that the trawler left from Libya, or the admittedly slim chance that survivors might be found, or that the disaster might be the worst ever in the Mediterranean. Von der Leyen's reply stood in stark contrast to the actions of a predecessor a decade ...

At least 79 dead after overcrowded migrant vessel sinks off Greece

A fishing boat crammed to the gunwales with migrants trying to reach Europe capsized and sank Wednesday off the coast of Greece, authorities said, leaving at least 79 dead and many more missing in one of the worst disasters of its kind this year. Coast guard, navy and merchant vessels and aircraft fanned out for a vast search-and-rescue operation set to continue overnight. It was unclear how many passengers were missing, but some initial reports suggested hundreds of people may have been aboard when the boat went down far from shore. An aerial photograph of the battered blue vessel released by the Greek coast guard showed scores of people covering practically every inch of deck. Greece's caretaker prime minister, Ioannis Sarmas, declared three days of national mourning, "with our thoughts on all the victims of the ruthless smugglers who exploit human unhappiness". Coast guard spokesman Nikos Alexiou told state ERT TV that it was impossible to accurately estimate the number of ...

Bakery operators fined $60,480 for exploiting Indian worker in Australia

The notices required the firm to calculate and back-pay entitlements to two workers, including an Indian, it employed between 2016 and 2018

India's migrant millions: Caught between jobless villages and city hazards

"There are not enough jobs, and they are not good enough to attract people for the long term, not good enough wages to invest in housing, to get their children to the cities to study"

The migratory human

Sedentary people living in nation-states was never the inevitable outcome of human evolution, argues Sam Miller in his new book

Migrants leaving TN for festivals in north, not due to attacks: Industry

None of the labourers the police spoke to at the railway station said they were leaving due to the fear of violence

Illegal immigrants will not be able to apply for asylum: UK PM Sunak

Sunak's government is expected to push legislation cracking down on illegal immigration later this week, with a special emphasis on illegal immigrants arriving in boats across the English Channel

BJP creates ruckus in Bihar assembly over attack on migrants' in Tamil Nadu

The opposition BJP on Friday created a ruckus in the Bihar assembly before staging a walkout, demanding that a team of members of the House be sent to Tamil Nadu to verify reports of attacks on Bihari migrants workers in Tamil Nadu. Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary took a grim note of the unruly behaviour of some of the BJP MLAs who had entered the well and placed chairs on the table of the reporting staff. He asked Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary to advise the Chair on suitable action against the errant members to which the latter assented while lambasting the BJP for trying to derive political mileage. "They have an issue with our Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav having visited Tamil Nadu on a personal invitation from the chief minister of that state. Even if reports of violence against migrants were true, would it have entailed officials and dignitaries from both states snapping all ties, the minister said. Earlier, Yadav, who was present in the House, ...

Migrant boat breaks apart southern coast of Italy; many dead, 58 survivors

The Italian coast guard and firefighters have recovered more than 30 bodies after a wooden migrant boat broke apart in rough seas on Sunday near the southern coast of Italy's mainland, authorities reported. State TV quoted the local prefect's office as saying that by late morning 33 bodies had been recovered and 58 people were rescued. The Italian news agency AGI said that among the bodies was that of a baby a few months old. Quoting unidentified port authorities near the coastal town of Crotone, in Calabria, the toe of the Italian peninsula, RAI state radio said the boat was carrying more than 100 migrants when it ran into trouble at dawn in the Ionian Sea. The Italian news agency Lapresse later quoted unidentified officials among rescue forces as saying there could have been as many as 180 people aboard. State TV said some 27 of the survivors made it to shore, apparently on their own. Wooden pieces of wreckage littered the beach at Steccato di Cutro, near the point where the bo

People here are welcoming and supportive, say migrants in Nagaland

Shambhu Prasad, a native of Bihar, has been in Nagaland's Mon district for about three decades now, and wants his son to make a living in this northeastern state, too. His wife, Basanti Devi, is also supportive of his idea and wants their three children to earn their daily bread in Mon. "We have lived all of our adult lives here. There are problems at times. But then, is there a place without any problem?" Prasad said, seeking to refute a "perception" that survival of "outsiders" here is difficult. Alam, 70, who came here from Assam's Karimganj decades ago, said he and his family can never imagine a life outside Mon, which has accepted them with open arms. Alam, Prasad and several such migrants, who are now voters in Mon Town constituency, are keenly looking forward to the upcoming assembly elections. The 60-member Nagaland Assembly will go to polls on February 27, while the counting of votes will be taken up on March 2. Employment opportunities for the migrants are still few in

Immigrants continue to face cruelty, says Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah

He says while there has been a change in how people talk about migrants, what remains unchanged is the kind of panic the issue creates and the way the media presents it