Monthly Archives: October 2015

Health + Ability

Jamaica News | People with Disabilities

Jamaica-based disability foundation to focus on education in annual conference
  • The Nathan Ebanks Foundation was founded by Christine Staple-Ebanks as a disability support organization after Staple-Ebanks found local resources lacking after her child was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.
  • Poor visibility of disability issues in the country have made public advocacy and resource-building difficult, a problem which the foundation tackles through its annual conferences.
  • Scheduled for October 28-31 in Montego Bay, this year’s conference will focus on inclusive education both to inform Jamaicans with disabilities of their rights and to combat lack of awareness about disability issues in Jamaica.

“What floored me was not the diagnosis, it was what to do. All the different specialists that we went to were only telling me what my child would never ever do but no one could tell me what my role was as a mother or how I could better support my child.”

Read more:
“Conference to help educate, sensitise people about disabilities” (The Jamaica Observer)
The Nathan Ebanks Foundation

Nationality + Migration

Saint Lucia News | Saint Lucians

Saint Lucia prepares to launch new economic citizenship program
  • Saint Lucia’s Citizenship by Investment Programme is an economic initiative that will allow foreign investors to purchase Saint Lucian citizenship through direct investment in the country.
  • Set to launch January 1, 2016, Saint Lucian officials anticipate investment in sectors like tourism in exchange for citizenship in the Eastern Caribbean nation.
  • The country will be the fifth Caribbean nation to implement such a program, following Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, and Dominica.

Read more:
“Saint Lucia Sets a Date for the Sale of Citizenship to Investors” (teleSUR English)
“Senate gives green light for economic citizenship programme in St. Lucia” (Caribbean360)
“Economic Citizenship Program forthcoming for Saint Lucia” (Invest Saint Lucia)

(Image Credit: @madmack Flickr photo, via teleSUR)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. News | Native Americans

Indigenous Peoples Day begins catching on in U.S. cities as replacement for Columbus Day
  • Cities in a potpourri of states including Washington, California, Texas, Minnesota, and New Mexico eschewed celebrating Christopher Columbus to focus instead on the contributions and achievements of indigenous Americans.
  • The movement to change the national holiday saw its first significant victory in 1990, when South Dakota renamed the holiday to Native American Day.
  • Columbus’s status as a national hero has been increasingly dismantled as historians have brought to light his writings, persecution of indigenous Americans, and initiation of a series of events that led to the deaths of millions of native inhabitants of the American continents.

Read more:
“Indigenous Peoples Day Celebrated in Cities Across the U.S. Instead of Columbus Day” (BuzzFeed News)
“Indigenous Peoples Day celebrated in Lawrence” (The Kansas City Star)
“Denver City Council unanimously decides to recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day” (KDVR FOX 31 News)

(Image Credit: Elaine Thompson/AP, via BuzzFeed News)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Southeast Asia Feature | LGBT

LGBT in Southeast Asia

The Huffington Post has launched a series exploring the state of LGBT life in Southeast Asia, a region whose climate ranges from the liberal gender norms of Thailand to the Sharia-driven sexual persecution of Brunei. Some activists argue that countries like Singapore’s success in an exclusive focus on economic development to the detriment of human rights has provided an alternative model to the Western liberal-democratic tradition for countries like China and Russia. Writers explore endemic violence, the effects of limited civil society on advocacy, and some nations’ burgeoning acceptance and recognition of the need for political protection.

Read more:
“Being LGBT In Southeast Asia: Stories Of Abuse, Survival And Tremendous Courage” (The Huffington Post)

(Image Credit: Associated Press, via The Huffington Post)

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Lithuania Feature | Muslims

Lithuania’s Muslims

Lithuania’s Muslim Tatar community has inhabited Lithuania for more than six centuries, nearly as long as it has existed as a unified nation. That has not prevented contemporary politicians from joining the other Baltic nations in debating legislation perceived as anti-Islam or ignoring the long history of Muslims in the country while disparaging Muslim refugees. The Economist takes a brief look at this history and the contemporary debates about national identity driving immigration and humanitarian action.

Read more:
“The Mosques of Lithuania” (The Economist)

(Image Credit: Martynas Zaremba/The Economist)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

UK News | Racial Minorities

Investigation finds London’s Metropolitan police force took no disciplinary action on more than 200 racial discrimination complaints over year
  • The Met received 245 complaints of racial discrimination by police officers between March 2014 and February 2015, with five resulting in managerial action and the rest being dismissed.
  • Complaints were often dismissed as “poor communication,” although five officers received three or more allegations of discrimination.
  • The police force is looking to address fraught relations with London’s ethnic minority communities as only 11% of its ranks come from minority backgrounds while 40% of London’s population does.

“[The Met is] shown to be effectively immune from any accountability. We need a truly independent body that carries the confidence of the communities affected by police abuses of power. The police cannot be trusted to investigate themselves.”

Read more:
“No racial discrimination complaints against Met police upheld” (The Guardian)
“Met chief admits institutional racism claims have ‘some justification’” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: Oli Scarff/Getty Images, via the Guardian)

Nationality + Migration

UAE News | Iranians

Nine Iranian teachers detained in UAE over work permits
  • The teachers were accused of having invalid visas, although they claimed that there had never been an issue with the way they had gone about securing their work permits previously.
  • With 450 Iranian nationals sent to teach in the UAE this year, the detention prompted a summons of the UAE charge d’affaires in Tehran to demand the teachers’ immediate release.
  • The diplomatic disturbance added to ongoing issues between the sect-divided countries, including tensions from their opposing proxy support in Yemen’s civil war.

Read more:
“Iran summons UAE diplomat over teachers’ arrest” (AFP, via Yahoo! News)
“UAE detention of Iranian teachers prompts diplomatic row” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: Marwan Naamani/AFP, via Yahoo! News)

Ideology + Affiliation, Nationality + Migration

Iran News | American Journalist

Washington Post reporter convicted of espionage in Iran
  • Iranian-American reporter Jason Rezaian faces up to 20 years in prison after the ruling, though the Post and Rezaian’s legal counsel are now working to appeal the verdict.
  • Iranian state media alleged that Rezaian had come to Iran to expose Iranian businesses and individuals who were circumventing U.S. sanctions.
  • Rezain was detained by Iranian authorities in July 2014, held without charge for months, and subjected to a legal process criticized by supporters and human rights groups as opaque and inhumane.

Read more:
“Iran says Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian convicted” (AP)
“Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian Convicted In Iran” (BuzzFeed News)
“What you need to know about the Jason Rezaian trial” (Washington Post)

(Image Credit: Twitter photo, via BuzzFeed News)

Religion + Belief

Australia News | Muslims

Hundreds show up for anti-Islam protest and counterprotest in Bendigo, Victoria
  • Right-wing protesters from the United Patriots Front rallied in the rural Australian town against the proposed construction of a mosque in the town.
  • The protest was met with counter-protest by anti-racism activists, which, though largely peaceful, led to four temporary arrests.
  • A massive police presence accompanied the demonstration, which was a part of a coordinated series of anti-Islam, anti-mosque demonstrations around the world.

Read more:
“Bendigo mosque: Anti-mosque protesters face off with counter activists” (ABC News)
“Hundreds face off in Australian town in anti-Islam protest” (Reuters)
“Bendigo mosque protests: Anti-racism demonstrators face off with nationalists” (The Age)

(Image Credit: Patrick Rocca/ABC News)

Religion + Belief

Afghanistan Feature | Sikhs & Hindus

The Sikhs and Hindus of Afghanistan

Afghanistan has seen millions uprooted as local communities have found themselves caught in the middle of the conflict between the Taliban and a coalition of Afghan and U.S. forces. After the Taliban took control of the country in the mid-1990s, two of the country’s religious minorities–Hindus and Sikhs–saw their insecurity skyrocket, with land seizures, open harassment, and economic exclusion causing most of the tens of thousands in their ranks to flee for asylum elsewhere. Anadolu Agency, a state-run media outlet in Turkey, provides a glimpse of the outlook Afghan Hindus and Sikhs have on their prospects today.

Read more:
“Afghan Sikhs, Hindus fear violence but long for home” (Anadolu Agency)

Other coverage:
“Feeling alienated, Sikhs choose to leave Afghanistan” (The Hindu)
“Oppressed by Taliban, Afghan Sikh families seek help from DSGMC” (The Times of India)
“Facing Intolerance, Many Sikhs and Hindus Leave Afghanistan” (Wall Street Journal)

(Image Credit: via Anadolu Agency)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. News | Black Americans

Thousands gather in Washington D.C. for “Justice or Else” rally commemorating 20th anniversary of the Million Man March
  • Black leaders, celebrities, and community members joined in a march to the National Mall as a return to the public forum on Black community issues, with black women and children joining men in the movement for social justice.
  • As he did twenty years earlier, Louis Farrakhan fronted the event, touching on the issues of communal responsibility, reproductive rights, and economic boycotting in his speech.
  • Other speakers spoke about the current movement for criminal justice reform and inter-communal and international issues, including women’s rights, Native American solidarity, and Palestine.

Read more:
“‘Justice or Else’ Rally Marks 20th Anniversary of Million Man March” (Voice of America)
“History in the Making: Million Man March 20th Anniversary” (The Root)
“20 years after the Million Man March, a fresh call for justice on the Mall” (Washington Post)
“Million Man March Activists Chant Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Alright’ on 20th Anniversary” (Billboard)

(Image Credit: AP, via Voice of America)

Gender

Afghanistan News | Women

Taliban destroys popular women’s broadcasting station during Kunduz battle
  • Roshani, a women-run radio and television station in Kunduz, was burned to the ground by Taliban fighters as they took the city of Kunduz from Afghan and U.S. forces.
  • Roshani had begun its television broadcasting only two months earlier, offering women-focused sports, entertainment, and cultural programming.
  • In addition to broadcasting, Roshani station director Sediqa Sherzai had been in the final stages of preparing to launch a production training program for women focused on video recording and editing.

“The Taliban erased many years of our efforts to build women’s media in Kunduz. … When things get back to normal in the city, we have to start all over again from zero.”

Read more:
“Taliban Flips The Switch On Women’s Radio, TV In Kunduz” (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
“Taliban target media during Kunduz takeover” (Reporters Without Borders)

(Image Credit: via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Israel & Palestinian Territories | Palestinians

Numerous Palestinians killed and wounded following clash with army at Gaza border and knife attack by Jewish Israeli man
  • Six Palestinians were killed after Israeli troops opened fire during a confrontation at the Gaza Strip border, with estimates of the wounded ranging from 19 to 50.
  • Four Arab individuals were stabbed by a Jewish Israeli in the town of Dimona because of reportedly “nationalistic” motivations.
  • Violence throughout Israel and the Palestinian territories has been increasing since Israeli authorities limited access to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem following the murder of Jewish Israelis in the holy city.

Read more:
“Six killed in Gaza as Israeli-Palestinian violence widens” (Reuters)
“Israeli troops kill several Palestinians in Gaza” (Al Jazeera America)
“Four Arabs stabbed in southern Israel, Jewish suspect held” (Reuters)
“At least 6 Palestinians die in clash with IDF along Gaza border” (The Times of Israel)

(Image Credit: Mohamad Torokman/Reuters)

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

China News | Uyghur Muslims

1 Comment
Uyghurs face ban on Muslim names for children as China celebrates Xinjiang’s 60th anniversary
  • The Tokhola (Tuohula) Village Communist Party in Xinjiang’s Hoten prefecture reportedly announced the ban on 22 popular Muslim names for Uyghur children.
  • Children whose names are on the list must have their parents officially change their name or else risk exclusion from public schooling.
  • The announcement comes as China celebrates the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region following the 1949 annexation of East Turkestan, which has prompted severe criticism from Uyghur leaders.

Read more:
“Chinese Authorities Ban Muslim Names Among Uyghurs in Hoten” (Radio Free Asia)
Statement by the World Uyghur Congress

(Image Credit: Sina Webo via Radio Free Asia)

Health + Ability

Mauritius News | Mental Illness

Mauritius announces review of mental health legislation to protect patients with disabilities and mental illnesses
  • The government announced through a press release that it would begin addressing deficiencies in healthcare treatment for people with mental illnesses.
  • The Minister of Health and Quality of Life pointed specifically to psychiatric care, seniors, and the social security of people with mental illnesses as targets for examination.
  • Mauritius’s mental healthcare budget currently comprises 9.7% of the government’s 9.7 billion rupee ($253,809,090) budget.

“It is our firm conviction at the Ministry that dignity for any patient must mean that the patient is being treated with kindness and compassion.”

Read more:
“Mental Health Care Act to be reviewed to better address mental health issues” (Republic of Mauritius Government Information Service)