Refugee Crisis

Jordan agrees to take in Palestinian children after Trump's US aid threat

Donald Trump has praised the Jordanian leader's commitment to accepting sick Palestinian children, calling it a 'beautiful' act

Malaysian authorities turn away two boats with nearly 300 Rohingya refugees

Malaysian authorities said Saturday that they have turned away two boats carrying nearly 300 people believed to be Muslim Rohingya refugees who were found to have entered the country illegally. The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency said that it had information that two more boats were attempting to enter the country after a boatload of 196 Rohingya landed early Friday on a beach on the northeastern resort island of Langkawi. They were all detained by authorities. The agency said authorities had detected the other two boats later Friday off Langkawi. It said the people on the two boats, also believed to be Rohingya, were reported to be exhausted and lacked sufficient food and water supplies. Maritime Enforcement Agency chief Mohamad Rosli Abdullah said in a statement that assistance has been provided to the two boats, including food supplies and and drinking water, before they were escorted out of the country to continue their journey. It didn't say where the boats were heading,

UK's Starmer to hold emergency meet as anti-immigration protests intensify

The murders were seized on by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups as misinformation spread online that the suspected attacker was a radical Islamist who had just arrived in Britain

14 mn flee homes as nations fail to tackle conflict causes: UN official

The number of people fleeing their homes because of war, violence and persecution has reached 114 million and is climbing because nations have failed to tackle the causes and combatants are refusing to comply with international law, the UN refugee chief said Thursday. In a hard-hitting speech, Filippo Grandi criticized the UN Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, for failing to use its voice to try to resolve conflicts from Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan to Congo, Myanmar and many other places. He also accused unnamed countries of making short-sighted foreign policy decisions, often founded on double standards, with lip service paid to compliance with the law, but little muscle flexed from the council to actually uphold it and with it peace and security. Grandi said non-compliance with international humanitarian law means that parties to conflicts increasingly everywhere, almost all of them have stopped respecting the laws of war, though

Refugees applying for CAA can attach 9 documents to prove country of origin

Applicants for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 (CAA) can submit any of nine documents, including valid or expired passport, ID cards and land tenancy records, to prove he or she is a national of Afghanistan or Bangladesh or Pakistan. The applicants can also submit any of 20 documents like copy of visa and immigration stamp on arrival in India, certificate issued by an elected member of any rural or urban body or a revenue officer to prove that he or she has entered India on or before December 31, 2014, according to the rules of the CAA issued on Monday. The rules also state that the applicants will have to provide an eligibility certificate issued by a locally reputed community institution confirming that he or she belongs to either Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian community and continues to be a member of that community. The government on Monday implemented the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, notifying the rules to fast-track ...

CAA rules require continuous stay of one year in India before applying

Those seeking Indian nationality under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 will become eligible to apply after spending at least 12 months in the country preceding the date of the application, according to the rules notified on Monday. Also, during the eight years immediately preceding the 12 months, the applicants will have to spend not less than six years in the country to be eligible to get the India citizenship, the rules said. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 paves the way for granting Indian nationality to undocumented non-Muslim migrants -- Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians -- from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014. The applicants will also have to give a declaration that they "irrevocably" renounce the existing citizenship and that they want to make make "India as permanent home", according to the rules. "Every application made by the applicant under sub-rule (1) shall have a declaration to the effec

Hope, happiness among Pak Hindu refugees in Delhi as CAA rules notified

Pakistani Hindu refugees residing in Delhi expressed hope and happiness on the implementation of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act on Monday, saying they are elated that "we will be called Indian citizens finally". Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, the Centre announced the implementation of the contentious CAA 2019 for granting citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014. Dharamveer Solanki, who is considered the chief of the Pakistani Hindu refugee community in Delhi, told PTI that around 500 from the community will receive citizenship now. "I and my family have been waiting for this for over a decade now. We are extremely happy that finally we will be called Indian citizens now. I am glad I decided to return to my homeland in 2013," Solanki said. "It feels like a huge burden has been lifted from our shoulders. With the implementation of this act, around 500 Pakistani Hindu refugee ..

CAA discriminatory law, violates right to equality, says Amnesty India

Calling the Citizenship Amendment Act a discriminatory law that goes against the constitutional values of equality and international human rights, Amnesty India said the legislation stands in violation of the right to equality. The Centre on Monday announced the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, paving the way for granting citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The rules were notified days ahead of the expected announcement of the Lok Sabha elections. With this, the Narendra Modi government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants -- Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians -- from the three countries. Following the notification, Amnesty India hit out at the government in a series of posts on X. "The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is a discriminatory law that goes against the constitutional values of equality and international human rights law. The ...

TMS Ep566: Regulating OTT, Punjab crop mix, new-age stocks, Afghan refugees

Should the govt regulate what you watch on Netflix? Does Punjab need a new crop mix? Is it time to bet on new-age stocks? Why is Pakistan deporting Afghan refugees? Answers here

Mizoram awaits govt's help to provide shelter to displaced Manipur citizens

The Mizoram government is still waiting for financial assistance from the Centre for providing shelter to over 12,600 people from ethnic strife-torn Manipur, a senior official said. Mizoram Home Commissioner and Secretary H Lalengmawia said that Chief Minister Zoramthanga had, in May, sought Rs 10 crore as an immediate relief package for those displaced people. "We have not received any assistance from the Centre so far. The state government has raised funds on its own to provide relief to internally displaced people from Manipur," Lalengmawia told PTI on Sunday. He hoped that the Centre would soon sanction funds for these people, who have taken shelter in Mizoram after the ethnic violence broke out in the neighbouring state on May 3. Lalengmawia also said the Mizoram administration has solicited donations from legislators, government employees, bankers and others. "We have completed the collection and I am yet to receive a report of the total collected amount," he said. Accordin

Swedish govt announces campaign to discourage refugees entering country

'The main objective of the campaign is to inform about the Swedish migration policy so that fewer people will come here'

Kuki-Chin refugees continue to flee violence in Bangladesh hills

With more batches of refugees escaping violence in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts, the number of ethnic Kuki-Chin tribals from the neighbouring country who have sought sanctuary in Mizoram has risen to nearly 300, a local leader familiar with the issue said on Saturday. Refugees from the Kuki-Chin tribe numbering 21 crossed the border from Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tract (CHT) late on Friday night, local refugee organising committee chairman Gospel Hmangaihzuala told PTI. The organising committee was formed recently by village authorities and NGOs at Parva village in Lawngtlai district to deal with Kuki-Chin refugees, who have fled to Mizoram after facing alleged violence in CHT. The Kuki-Chin tribe is spread over hilly areas in Bangladesh, Mizoram as well as in Myanmar. The new entrants were shifted to Parva village, about 21 km from the border village, by Border Security Force (BSF) soon after they crossed the border, Gospel said. He said that a total of 294 people from

Helter-skelter shelter: Why are Rohingya refugees in the news again?

No sooner did the union minister Hardeep Puri hail giving Rohingyas a permanent shelter than the MHA denied any such order

UN official to discuss and resolve Afghan refugee crisis with Taliban

A visiting UN official will meet leaders of the Taliban-led government and discuss ways to resolve the Afghan refugee crisis and establish grounds for their return

Inflation, Russia-Ukraine war, refugee crisis draw G7 leaders' focus

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner, the meeting's host, told reporters ahead of the meeting that Ukraine will likely need a number of double-digit billion euros over the coming months

Over 113,000 Syrian immigrants gain right to vote in Turkey elections

Turkey hosts the highest number of Syrian refugees in the world, according to the migration authorities

Over 58,000 Sri Lankan & 72,000 Tibetan refugees living in India: MHA

In its recently submitted annual report for 2020-21, the MHA said that as on January 1,2021, there were 58,843 Sri Lankan refugees staying in 108 refugee camps in Tamil Nadu and 54 in Odisha

Afghan delegation to visit Iran to talk border tension, refugee challenges

Afghan students and refugees residing in Iran said that they have always faced visa issues as well as residence and employment problems across Iran

US authorities reverse course, allows Ukrainian family to seek asylum

US authorities allowed a Ukrainian woman and her three children to seek asylum Thursday, a reversal from a day earlier when she was denied entry under the Biden administration's sweeping restrictions for seeking humanitarian protection. The 34-year-old woman and her children ages 14, 12 and 6 entered San Diego for processing after authorities blocked her path hours earlier, triggering sharp criticism from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats. Blaine Bookey, legal director of the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, was returning to San Diego Wednesday from Tijuana, where she was helping Haitian migrants. She saw the Ukrainian woman crying with her children, looking "very uncomfortable" with a reporter "in her face". Bookey's tweets and media coverage sparked renewed criticism of a Trump-era order to deny people a chance to seek asylum under an order to prevent spread of COVID-19 known as Title 42 authority. Schumer raised the Ukrainian woman's case as he ...

In Russia's invasion of Ukraine, here are the good, bad and ideal refugees

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has already caused two million refugees to flee the country. The UNHCR predicts that another four million will be displaced if the conflict continues