Monthly Archives: March 2016

Age, Health + Ability, Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. Research | Black & Children with Disabilities

Disproportionate Suspension Rates in U.S. Charter Schools

A new study has found that black students and students with disabilities are suspended at considerably higher rates than their peers in charter schools at both the elementary and secondary level. At the secondary level, Latino and Native American students join them in disproportionate suspension. The report from the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the UCLA Civil Rights Project spells particular trouble for black students with disabilities and has troubling implications in the fight against the school-to-prison pipeline.

4.1% (all students) vs. 9.7% (with disabilities) vs. 3.7% (without disabilities)

Suspension rates at the elementary level by ability

4.1% (all students) vs. 8.7% (black) vs. 2.1% (white) vs. 2.4% (Latino) vs. 3% (Native American)

Suspension rates at the elementary level by race/ethnicity

11.6% (all students) vs. 20.8% (with disabilities) vs. 10.6% (without disabilities)

Suspension rates at the secondary level by ability

11.6% (all students) vs. 22% (black) vs. 5.6% (white) vs. 9.1% (Latino) vs. 10.9% (Native American)

Suspension rates at the secondary level by race/ethnicity

7.8% (charters) vs. 6.7% (non-charters)

Suspension rates at the K-12 level

15.5% (charters) vs. 13.7% (non-charters)

Suspension rates of students with disabilities (K-12)

7% (charters) vs. 5.7% (non-charters)

Suspension rates of students without disabilities (K-12)

50+%

Suspension rate of students with disabilities at 235 charter schools

Years studied: 2011-12

Read more:
Charter Schools, Civil Rights, and School Discipline: A Comprehensive Review (The Center for Civil Rights Remedies)
“Students With Disabilities Suspended More Often At Charters” (Disability Scoop)

Health + Ability

Kazakhstan Feature | Mental Illness & Disability

Discovering Opportunity Beyond Illness in Kazakhstan

With an estimated 200,000 registered in the country as afflicted with chronic psychiatric illness, Kazakhstan has a significant population that has suffered under punitive models of psychiatric care inherited from the Soviet era. Psychiatric professionals and advocates are battling the ward-to-grave pipeline and wasted human potential through new efforts to provide visibility for a community that often languishes behind walls in the Central Asian country. In addition to political and medical reforms, work initiatives have given birth to opportunity through businesses like the Training Café, a restaurant in Almaty that employs people with learning disabilities and other mental illnesses. EurasiaNet profiles ongoing efforts to de-institutionalize and integrate Kazakhstanis with mental illness into productive society.

Read more:
“Kazakhstan: Cafe Dispels Disability Stereotypes” (EurasiaNet)

Additional reading:
“Kazakhstan to eliminate discrimation against disabled persons” (Tengrinews, March 2015)
“Business Centre for Disabled Opens in East Kazakhstan” (The Astana Times, June 2015)

(Image Credit: Joanna Lillis/EurasiaNet)

Nationality + Migration

Malawi News | Mozambican Refugees

Mozambicans flee to Malawi as political violence spreads in their country
  • Since December, more than 11,500 have fled Mozambique to Malawi as RENAMO, Mozambique’s major opposition party, clashed with the ruling FRELIMO government.
  • Congested conditions have pushed the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to look at relocation options for the Mozambican refugees, but the Malawi and Mozambique governments have clashed over refugee support.
  • RENAMO’s militarization has threatened to reignite violent conflict in Mozambique, which languished under a civil war from 1977 to 1992.

More:
More Mozambicans flee to Malawi as rebels, govt forces clash (SABC Digital News, YouTube)
“Refugees pay the price of Mozambique power struggle” (IRIN News)
“Malawi, Mozambique clash” (Malawi24)
“Malawi to reopen former camp, as Mozambique refugee numbers grow” (UNHCR press release)

(Image Credit: via IRIN)

Ideology + Affiliation

China News | Writers & Dissidents

More than a dozen detained in Chinese witch-hunt for Xi-critical letter author
  • After a letter calling for President Xi Jinping’s resignation was published by Wujie News, Chinese security forces detained four members of the staff.
  • The secret detentions have expanded to suspected writers and their families, though all have denied writing the letter and knowledge of its origins.
  • After a period of silence, Wujie has returned to publishing, although only articles from the main state-run news agencies now appear.

Read more:
“China Said to Detain Several Over Letter Criticizing Xi” (The New York Times)
“China ‘detained 20 over Xi resignation letter’” (BBC)
“People ‘taken away’ as investigation into letter calling for Xi resignation widens” (The Washington Post)

(Image Credit: Damir Sagolj/Reuters, via The New York Times)

Nationality + Migration

Germany News | Refugees

German minister announces proposed law requiring refugee integration
  • Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere outlined plans for a law requiring refugees to learn German, allow free mobility for relatives, and accept employment or lose their residency.
  • Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel stated integration must be “demanded” in return for residency after ruling pro-refugee conservatives were dealt a blow during recent regional elections.
  • In 2015, some 1 million refugees arrived in Germany, and an estimated 100,000 have arrived so far this year.

Read more:
“Germany wants refugees to integrate or lose residency rights” (Reuters)
“Europe Refugee Crisis: Syrians Must Learn German Or Lose Residency Under Proposed Integration Law” (International Business Times)
“When refugees want to work in Germany” (Deutsche Welle)

(Image Credit: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters)

Nationality + Migration

Nauru News | Refugees

Dozens of refugees held in Nauru while seeking asylum in Australia protest their detention
  • Protests have continued for more than a week as some of the asylum-seekers have been detained in the open-air center Nauru runs for Australia for 1,000 days.
  • The demonstrations coincided with Australian protests decrying Australia’s controversial offshore detention policy sending refugees who attempted to enter the country without authorization almost 2,800 miles away to Nauru.
  • Despite reports to the contrary, Australian and Nauruan authorities argue facilities are well-maintained, have good healthcare and activities, and, except during times of protest, allow for detainees to travel into the surrounding community.

Read more:
“Locked gates and erected fences contain Nauru asylum seeker protests” (The Guardian)
“Asylum seekers on Nauru determined to keep up protests” (Radio New Zealand)
“Rapes and fears for safety on Nauru uncovered by independent Moss review” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: via The Guardian)

Nationality + Migration

Australia News | Refugees

Few of Australia’s controversial temporary visas for refugees are reaching their targets
  • Temporary protection visas (TPVs) and the Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV) were introduced as three-year and five-year work or education visas for refugees, respectively, requiring them to work or study to avoid losing their residency.
  • While some 2,000 have applied for the SHEV, refugee advocates say only 20 have been processed in the 18 months since the immigration ministry announced they would be used instead of opening pathways to permanent residency.
  • Without a SHEV, refugees are forced to remain in offshore detention, another of Australia’s controversial refugee policies.

Read more:
Temporary Protection Visa and Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (Government of Australia)
“Turnbull government accused of ineptitude as refugee visa scheme stumbles” (The Sydney Morning Herald)
“Refugees allowed to work and get services in Tasmania from today under SHEV” (ABC, October 2015)
“NSW signs up to place refugees in regional areas on five-year visas” (The Guardian, May 2015)

(Image Credit: Firdia Lisnawati/The Sydney Morning Herald)

Ideology + Affiliation

Azerbaijan News | Activists & Dissidents

Human rights lawyer freed as Azerbaijan continues amnesties
  • Intigam Aliyev, an Azeri human rights advocate, had his 7.5-year prison sentence commuted to five years of probation after serving a year in jail.
  • Aliyev had been convicted of tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship, and abuse of office.
  • President Ilham Aliyev, unrelated, pardoned nearly 150 prisoners this month, including political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, while Amnesty International says seven remain imprisoned.

Read more:
“Azerbaijan frees human rights advocate from jail” (Reuters)
“Prominent Azerbaijani Lawyer To Be Released From Prison” (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
“Azerbaijan frees prominent right activist” (AFP via GlobalPost)

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

Age, Ideology + Affiliation

Angola News | Youth Activists

1 Comment
Youth activists sentenced in Angola for anti-government demonstrations
  • Seventeen activists were arrested in Luanda last June after an organized reading of Gene Sharp’s From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Democracy, a text promoting non-violent resistance.
  • The group has been sentenced to between two and eight-and-a-half years in jail after conviction on charges of rebellion, planning mass civil disobedience, and producing fake passports.
  • President José Eduardo dos Santos has been in power for 37 years, and despite his pledge to step down in 2018, rampant inflation, public spending cuts, a public health crisis, and human rights infringements have increased anti-government sentiment in the lead-up to elections.

Read more:
“Angola Sends a Rapper and 16 Activists to Prison for Plotting Rebellion” (VICE News)
“Seventeen activists sentenced for rebelling against Angolan government” (Reuters)
“Angola: 17 youth activists jailed for anti-dos Santos rebellion” (Africanews with AFP)

(Image Credit: via Africanews)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Myanmar Feature | LGBT

Burmese, LGBT, and at the Threshold of a New Era

With a non-military political party now leading Myanmar for the first time in decades, Burmese citizens are looking forward to democratic reforms to make the political process more inclusive of its diverse population. Historically, LGBT security in Myanmar has been minimal to nonexistent: colonial-era anti-homosexuality laws are still on the books and arbitrarily exercised, police extortion is rampant, trans individuals are targeted for violence and fetishization, and widespread conservative attitudes promote anti-LGBT discrimination. But now that newly empowered politicians have made promising (if vague) expressions of support for diversity and burgeoning advocacy groups have begun generating visibility and awareness, the LGBT Burmese community has expressed hope that the first signs of a more secure future have appeared.

Read more:
“Snapshot: LGBTI rights in Myanmar” (The Star Observer)
“The brutal reality transgender women face under Myanmar’s ‘darkness law’” (Mashable)
“Gay People In Myanmar Can’t Live Openly. Here’s Why” (The World Post)
“Myanmar’s transgender people not just chasing rainbows in fight for equality” (The Guardian)
“LGBT group to battle homophobia in Myanmar with information” (mizzima.com via Gay Asia News)
“Myanmar LGBT film festival raises visibility, challenges taboos” (Washington Blade)

(Image Credit: Joshua Carroll/Mashable)

Ideology + Affiliation, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Israel News | Arab-Israelis & Dissenters

Law to suspend legislators accused of terrorist sympathies passes first round in Israeli parliament
  • Arab-Israeli and other opposition lawmakers fear the law will be used to silence opposition to anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian measures in the Israeli parliament.
  • Tabled for two additional readings, the proposed law comes as PM Benjamin Netanyahu has indefinitely suspended the return of the bodies of Palestinians killed by security forces after killing Israelis.
  • Last month, three parliament members were suspended for supporting families of Palestinian assailants killed after attacking Israelis.

Read more:
“Israeli law to allow suspension of Arab legislators passes first hurdle” (Reuters)
“Controversial MK suspension bill passes first Knesset reading” (The Times of Israel)
“Netanyahu Orders Defense Minister Not to Return Terrorists’ Bodies to Palestinian Authority” (Haaretz)
“Ethics C’tee suspends Arab MKs from Knesset discussions” (Ynetnews)

(Image Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90, via The Times of Israel)

Ideology + Affiliation, Religion + Belief

Bangladesh News | Secularists

Bangladesh High Court rejects 28-year-old petition to remove Islam as state religion
  • The court ruled that the 15 petitioners (10 of whom have died since filing suit) didn’t have the standing to bring the issue before the court.
  • Bangladesh was initially established as a constitutionally secular country upon gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971, but constitutional revision under military rule established Islam as the state religion in 1988.
  • Despite the reaffirmation of secularism as a political principle in 2011, religious and ideological minorities, including secularists and atheists, have increasingly come under attack as Islamic fundamentalism has begun gaining a foothold in the country.

Read more:
“In 2 Minutes, Bangladesh Rejects 28-Year-Old Challenge to Islam’s Role” (The New York Times)
“HC rejects writ on state religion” (Dhaka Tribune)
“Bangladesh continues with Islam as state religion” (newsnextbd.com)

(Image Credit: A.M. Ahad/Associated Press, via The New York Times)

Gender, Nationality + Migration

Kuwait News | Zimbabwean Women

As many as 200 Zimbabwean women caught up in Kuwaiti human trafficking scam
  • The women were lured to Kuwait under the pretense of domestic and healthcare employment but found themselves subjected to terrifying work conditions including starvation, violence, and false imprisonment.
  • While 15 of the women have been repatriated, at least 150 remain in Kuwait, caught up in a process that has seen a former Kuwaiti ambassador to Zimbabwe charged with human trafficking.
  • Many Zimbabweans, facing an unfavorable labor market at home, have taken to working abroad, with some having become trapped in employment and scholarship scams by human traffickers.

Read more:
“Zimbabwe: Former Kuwaiti diplomat trafficked 200 women” (International Business Times)
“Zim govt brings back 15 women trafficked to Kuwait – ministry” (News24)
“15 Zimbabwe women home after Kuwait trafficking scam” (Eyewitness News)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

U.S. News | LGBT

Georgia governor announces veto of anti-LGBT bill
  • Republican Georgia governor Nathan Deal announced he would veto House Bill 757, a bill introduced to protect faith-based organizations from anti-discrimination lawsuits.
  • Governor Deal’s announcement came in the wake of boycott threats from businesses and prominent entertainers as well as national backlash over the passage of a more extensive anti-LGBT bill in neighboring North Carolina.
  • Some Georgia senators have announced their intention to attempt an override, although successful veto overrides are rare in Georgia’s history.

Read more:
Transcript: Governor’s remarks on HB757 (Georgia Office of the Governor)
“Georgia Governor Rejects Bill Shielding Critics of Gay Marriage” (The New York Times)
“Georgia Governor blocks anti-gay law after boycott threats” (PinkNews)
“Senators calls for override of Deal veto of religious liberty bill” (The Atlanta Journal Constitution)

(Image Credit: David Goldman/Associated Press, via The New York Times)

Gender

Bangladesh Feature | Women

Sewing Clothes, Sewing Futures

A new initiative is providing Bangladeshi women working in garment factories with the opportunity to earn a college education. Through a partnership with the Asian University for Women (AUW), garment factories, many affiliated with popular global brands, are sending select workers to school while maintaining their pay. Factories’ reputations have taken a blow in the fallout from the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013, and some employers are keen on improving their public image through social responsibility initiatives. The Guardian takes a look at the program and a few of its bright young student-workers.

Read more:
“Dresses to degrees: university opens its doors to Bangladesh garment workers” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: David Levene/The Guardian)