Monthly Archives: February 2017

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

U.S. Feature | Black Immigrants

Integrating Blackness into U.S. Immigration Justice

The surge in the visibility of anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. following the election of Donald Trump has increased the workload of immigration activists, particularly those fighting for justice for Afro-Latinx and black Muslim immigrants. In addition to broader xenophobia, black immigrant communities have been subject to broader anti-black racism that has compounded their insecurity, including disproportionate profiling and deportation, high unemployment rates, and marginalization by other immigrant communities. Recent media coverage has examined the challenges that arise at the intersection of being black and immigrant in a hostile political climate.

Read

“Meet the Afro-Latinx Activists Empowering Black Immigrants” (teleSUR English | February 2017)

“Black immigrants in U.S. fear profiling may drive up deportation rates” (Free Speech Radio News | February 2017)

“Black Muslims Face Double Jeopardy, Anxiety In The Heartland” (NPR | February 2017)

“Black and Muslim, some African immigrants feel the brunt of Trump’s immigration plans” (PRI | January 2017)

Study

The State of Black Immigrants (Black Alliance for Just Immigration + NYU School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic | 2016)

Connect & Support

Black Alliance for Just Immigration
African Communities Together
Black Immigrant Network
UndocuBlack

(Image Credit: Erik McGregor/Getty Images, via NPR)

 

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Japan News | Koreans & Chinese

Growing scandal over ultra-nationalist kindergarten exposes battle over education in Japan
  • The Tsukamoto Kindergarten has drawn attention for promoting notions of Japanese “purity” and “uniformity” and racist statements made about Koreans and Chinese.
  • Ideological education has become a growing point of contention between liberals and conservatives, with the former worrying that so-called “traditional education” indoctrinates young children with the same ultranationalist spirit that fueled Japanese imperial expansion and led to World War II.
  • The school sits at the center of an expanding political scandal involving Japan’s First Lady and a suspicious deal that allowed the land on which the school was built to be purchased from the government at a steep discount.
Read

“Nationalist Osaka preschool draws heat for distributing slurs against Koreans and Chinese” (The Japan Times | February 2017)

“Bigotry and Fraud Scandal at Kindergarten Linked to Japan’s First Lady” (The New York Times | February 2017)

“Shinzo Abe and wife under pressure over ties to ultra-nationalist school” (The Guardian | February 2017)

(Image Credit: Ha Kwiyeon/Reuters, via The New York Times)

Gender, Ideology + Affiliation

China News | Activist Women

Chinese feminist group’s social media accounts suspended
  • The Weibo account for prominent feminist group Feminist Voices was recently suspended, with the group’s social media editor suspecting posts about anti-Trump demonstrations in the U.S. having spurred the gag.
  • Weibo administrators indicated the group will be unable to post through the account for 30 days for “violating national laws.”
  • Beyond the suspension, activists reported broadening crackdowns on feminist activity, including social media attacks by commentators paid by the government to support the Chinese Communist Party on social media.
Read

“Chinese Feminist Group’s Social Media Account Suspended” (The New York Times | February 2017)

“Chinese Feminists Protest Gag Order on Social Media Account” (Radio Free Asia | February 2017)

“Women In China Are Protesting After A Feminist Account Was Shut Down For Posting About The Women’s March” (BuzzFeed News | February 2017)

(Image Credit: Feminist Voices, via The New York Times)

Nationality + Migration

Morocco & Spain News | Migrants & Asylum-Seekers

Hundreds storm gate to Morocco-Spain border at Ceuta exclave
  • The autonomous Spanish enclave of Ceuta, one of only two land borders between Africa and Europe, saw some 850 sub-Saharan migrants and asylum-seekers scaling barbed wire fences along the five-mile border between Morocco and Spain to reach the immigration center inside.
  • The city, located on the northwest coast of Morocco, has long been the site of attempts to cross into Europe, although strong security forces have kept most attempts at bay.
  • The event follows a similar—though unsuccessful—one from New Year’s Day, when more than 1,000 attempted to breach the gate.
Read

“Los saltos en la valla de Ceuta se duplican tras la amenaza de Marruecos” (El País | February 2017)

“Morocco uses migrant crisis as leverage in EU free trade dispute” (France24 | February 2017)

“Risking Injury and Arrest, African Migrants Storm a Gate to Europe” (The New York Times | February 2017)

(Image Credit: Jesus Moron/Associated Press, via The New York Times)

Nationality + Migration

Canada News | Asylum-Seekers

Spike in irregular border crossings into Canada comes as asylum-seekers bypass unfriendly U.S.
  • Asylum-seekers from countries like Ghana, Somalia, and Djibouti have endured subzero winter conditions in an attempt to cross the U.S.-Canada border, with 2017 set to outpace the last few years in irregular crossings.
  • The Canadian government has made it a point to distinguish itself from its southern neighbor, welcoming refugees officially and overseeing a popular refugee sponsorship program.
  • Many asylum-seekers have avoided official border crossing ports because of a “safe country” agreement between Canada and the U.S. that denies entry to refugees traveling from the U.S., now complicated by the Trump administration’s active refugee ban.
Read

“Why So Many Refugees Are Risking Their Lives To Cross The Border Into Canada” (BuzzFeed News | February 2017)

“Canada PM Trudeau pressured to tackle influx of asylum seekers over US border” (The Guardian | February 2017)

“New numbers show spike in asylum seekers crossing from U.S. to Manitoba” (CBC News | January 2017)

(Image Credit: Lyle Stafford/Reuters, via The Guardian)

Ideology + Affiliation, Nationality + Migration

U.S. News | Indians

Man kills two Indian-born engineers in Kansas hate attack
  • Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, both employees at the tech company Garmin, were shot and killed by Adam Purinton in Olathe, Kansas as anti-immigrant sentiment surges in U.S.
  • Eyewitnesses reported that the killer believed the men to be of Middle Eastern descent and shouted “go back to your country” before the attack.
  • A third man, Ian Grillot, was injured after being shot while attempting to defend the men.
Read

“Hate Crime Is Feared as 2 Indian Engineers Are Shot in Kansas” (The New York Times | February 2017)
“Man charged with killing Indian said to have shouted ‘go back to your country’” (The Guardian | February 2017)
“After this, do we really need to go and work in the U.S., asks father of Indian injured in Kansas shooting” (The Hindu | February 2017)

(Image Credit: Amy Stroth/The New York Times)

Gender

India News | Women

Pro-choice advocates push to expand abortion window in India
  • Indian women can currently obtain an abortion up to 20 weeks into a pregnancy, after which termination procedures are legally permissible only on a case-by-case basis in cases of danger to maternal health.
  • Advocates argue that many victims of sex crimes do not report pregnancies until late, leaving a very small window of time to abort the pregnancy.
  • Advocates are now pushing to extend the window to 24 weeks and to equip doctors with the legal power to grant abortions rather than forcing women to pursue permission through law enforcement and the courts.
Read

“Victims of sex crime race strict Indian abortion deadline” (The Thomson Reuters Foundation | February 2017)

Related Reading

“India’s population surges as men remain reluctant to use contraceptive measures” (The Hindustan Times | February 2017)
“US abortion funding cuts hit Indian NGOs” (The Economic Times | January 2017)

Nationality + Migration

Interregional News | Migrants & Asylum-Seekers

Italy rescues almost 2,500 asylum-seekers in Mediterranean over three days as trips and deaths surge
  • The Italian Coast Guard pulled 1,100 from nine vessels in one day following the rescue of 1,360 in the previous two days as migrant deaths are up by more than 330% over 2016.
  • More than 10,700 have crossed the Mediterranean in the first months of 2017, an increase of a third over 2016.
  • Recently, Italy and the U.N. agreed to fund migrant camps, Coast Guard training, and anti-smuggling efforts in Libya to stem the flow of migrants into southern Europe, a move criticized by humanitarian groups because of Libya’s political insecurity and harsh treatment of migrants.
Read

“Italy says 2,500 boat migrants rescued at sea in three days” (Reuters | February 2017)
“Migrant Fatalities Surge on Libya-Italy Mediterranean Route” (Voice of America | February 2017)
“Can E.U. Shift Migrant Crisis to the Source? In Libya, the Odds Are Long” (The New York Times | February 2017)

(Image Credit: Reuters, via Voice of America)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Slovenia News | LGBT

Same-sex marriages commence in Slovenia
  • The first lesbian wedding was scheduled in the country’s second-largest city, Maribor.
  • The law establishing marriage equality in the country was passed in December 2015 after a contentious debate over same-sex adoption, although it was subsequently repealed by referendum.
  • While able to marry, same-sex couples cannot jointly adopt a child or, for lesbian couples, undergo artificial insemination.
Read

“Slovenia allows same-sex marriage, but not adoption” (Reuters | February 2017)
“Slovenia allows same-sex marriage” (POLITICO | February 2017)
“Slovenia will expand civil partnership rights after gay marriage defeated in referendum” (Gay Star News | March 2016)

(Image Credit: Jure Makovec/AFP, via POLITICO)

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Estonia News | Ethnic Russians

Estonian government reaches out to Russian Estonians to counter Kremlin influence
  • Anxious about a repeat of Ukraine in their country, government officials have begun learning Russian and conducting outreach to increase the integration of ethnic Russians in Estonia.
  • Russian speakers comprise roughly 25% of Estonia’s population, with many concentrated on the country’s border with Russia where a mix of Estonian and Russian media provide differing views on regional geopolitics.
  • Although Russians have been in Estonia since pre-WWII times, many ethnic Russian immigrants in Estonia lack Estonian citizenship after post-Soviet language tests left many holding Russian passports.
Read

“Wary of divided loyalties, a Baltic state reaches out to its Russians” (Reuters | February 2017)
“Nervous in Narva: a town caught between East and West” (The Irish Times | February 2017)
“Baltic Russians: Are They Sudetendeutsche?“* (Forbes | February 2017)

* Commentary/Opinion

Nationality + Migration

South Africa News | Immigrants

New anti-immigrant wave rolls over South Africa, leading to violence and arrests
  • Pretoria stood at the center of a new wave of anti-immigrant sentiment in the country, where anti-immigrant protesters took part in marches and others looted at least 20 immigrants’ shops.
  • At least 136 people were arrested during a march after police used tear gas and other dispersal tactics.
  • Protesters have accused immigrants of bringing crime and sex work to South Africa as the nation experiences high levels of unemployment.
Read

“South African police break up anti-immigrant protests” (Reuters | February 2017)
“Pretoria brought to a standstill during anti-immigrant march” (News24 | February 2017)
“20 shops belonging to immigrants looted in South Africa” (The Guardian (Nigeria) | February 2017)

(Image Credit: James Oatway/Reuters)

Religion + Belief

Egypt News | Christians

Hundreds of Christians flee as Islamic State violence increases in Egypt
  • Dozens of families and more than 200 students fled the province of North Sinai as the Islamic State warned of more attacks against Christians in the country.
  • Seven Christians have been killed over the last month in the provincial capital Arish, where the Islamic State is making an insurgent push.
  • Militants circulated “death lists” online, forcing Christians to choose between flight or death.
Read

(Image Credit: Ahmed Aboulenein/Reuters)

Gender

Russia News | Women

Putin signs law reducing punishment for domestic violence in Russia
  • Perpetrators who physically assault family members but do not cause broken bones will now only be subject to 15 days in prison or a fine if the violence only occurs once a year.
  • Previously, the crime had carried a maximum jail sentence of two years, but conservative politicians and advocates argued the state was intruding in private affairs.
  • A spike in reports of domestic violence in Russia’s fourth-largest city following the passage of the law has sparked concerns that the law has increased women’s vulnerability to violence in a country that sees 12-14,000 women die a year as a result of domestic violence.
Coverage

“Putin approves legal change that decriminalises some domestic violence” (The Guardian | February 2017)
“Domestic violence reports soar in Russian city following partial decriminalisation” (The Independent | February 2017)
“Majority in Russia See Domestic Violence as Serious Problem” (Gallup | February 2017)

 

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity

France News | Black

Protests erupt in Paris suburb following violent arrest and sodomization of black man
  • A police officer was charged with using his baton to sodomize Théo L., a 22-year-old black man, while arresting him in the northern suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois.
  • Police accused the man, who had no previous criminal record, of resisting during a check of his identity papers, but the brutal force used led to the suspension of all four officers involved.
  • Protests took place across the ethnically diverse northern suburbs, including marches, clashes with police, and arrests as protesters called for justice.
Coverage (English)

“French police brutality in spotlight again after officer charged with rape” (The Guardian | February 2017)
“A French Police Officer Allegedly Raped A Man With A Baton During A Check Of His Papers” (BuzzFeed News | February 2017)
“Protesters target police in Paris suburb unrest” (Reuters | February 2017)

Coverage (French)

“A Bobigny, un rassemblement contre les violences policières tourne mal” (Le Monde | February 2017)
“A Aulnay-sous-Bois, la tension est redescendue d’un cran” (Radio France Internationale | February 2017)

(Image Credit: AFP/Getty Images, via BuzzFeed News)