Tag Archives: 1: Poor

Nationality + Migration

Australia Features | Asylum-Seekers

Australia’s Refugee Hot Potato

Despite its reputation as a beacon—however imperfect—of multiculturalism in the Asia Pacific region, Australia has increasingly come under scrutiny for its asylum policies, which make it nearly impossible for refugees to find haven in the country. International outrage has grown over more than a decade as an evolving set of agreements and restrictions have made the country’s practices increasingly less transparent and, some advocates argue, more inhumane.

Rejection of refugee-carrying vessels, offshore processing, indefinite detention, poor conditions in detention centers, and questionable legal maneuverings have caused humanitarian monitors to sound the alarm, questioning Australia’s commitment to international human rights laws. The most recent development in Australia’s ever-evolving asylum-seeker drama has involved an agreement with the U.S. to take those currently held in offshore detention on the island of Nauru, but the election of Donald Trump has introduced uncertainty into a situation already defined by precarity.

Read:
“Offshore detention: Australia’s recent immigration history a ‘human rights catastrophe’” (The Guardian)

Additional:
“The Nauru files: cache of 2,000 leaked reports reveal scale of abuse of children in Australian offshore detention” (The Guardian)
“Refugees in Australia’s remote camps offered US resettlement” (AFP via Yahoo! News)

(Image Credit: Dean Lewins/AAP, via The Guardian)

Religion + Belief

Pakistan News | Sufi Muslims

More than 50 killed after bombing at Sufi shrine in Pakistan
  • The attack took place in the Khuzdar district of Baluchistan province, killing at least 52, wounding more than 100, and trapping an unknown number of others.
  • Security forces believe a suicide attacker carried out the massacre as hundreds were in the shrine for daily devotional activities.
  • The attack was the latest in a series targeting Sufis, members of a minority Islamic sect that has been the target of a number of attacks from extremist Sunni groups.

Read more:
“Bombing at Sufi Shrine in Pakistan Kills Dozens” (The New York Times)
“IS-claimed bombing kills at least 52 at Khuzdar shrine” (The Express Tribune)
“‘No one was able to hear their cries’: Families ripped apart as terror strikes Khuzdar shrine” (AFP via DAWN.com)

(Image Credit: AP, via DAWN.com)

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Iraq Feature | Ethnic & Religious Minorities

The Unweaving of Mosul

As the battle rages between the Islamic State and a coalition of forces led by the Iraqi government for control of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, many of the ethnic and religious minorities who called it home for generations fear the city will never again be the tolerant, culturally rich home it once was. Sunnis, Shiites, Yazidis, Christians, Kurds, Arabs, and others all coexisted in the vibrant cultural landscape of a city with both historical and contemporary significance, but the 2003 American-led invasion of Iraq and the recent occupation of Mosul by the Islamic State have all but decimated the minority communities that called the city home. The New York Times takes a look at the city’s decline, the uncertainty of its future, and the stories of those who once flourished in a cosmopolitan city known for its diversity and tolerance.

Read:
“In Once-Tolerant Mosul, a Social Unraveling That Feels Permanent” (The New York Times)

Additional reading:
“Iraq: Can Mosul survive ISIL?” (Al Jazeera)

(Image Credit: Felipe Dana/Associated Press, via The New York Times)

Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Myanmar News | Rohingya Women

Women report mass rapes and looting by military as violence against Rohingya explodes in northwest Myanmar
  • Locals from U Shey Kya village allege that soldiers stormed their homes, committed mass rape, stole valuables, and burned homes, accusations dismissed as “illogical” and “propaganda” by governmental spokespeople.
  • The raids in northern Rakhine State follow coordinated attacks by an emergent group of Rohingya militants on multiple border patrol posts, leading to nine police officers’ and five soldiers’ deaths.
  • Many homes in the village were left with only women after men evacuated from fear of being indiscriminately identified as insurgents, with many fearing disregard of recently imposed political constraints on the Burmese military.

Read more:
“Exclusive: Rohingya women say Myanmar soldiers raped them amid crackdown on militants” (Reuters)
“Dozens of rapes reported in northern Rakhine State” (The Myanmar Times)
“Calls Grow for Access to Western Myanmar in Face of Military Lockdown” (The New York Times)

(Image Credit: Ye Aung Thu/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images, via The New York Times)

Religion + Belief

Pakistan News | Shiite Muslims

Gunmen kill at least 4 Shiite Muslims, injure others in Karachi
  • The victims were attending a religious gathering in the North Nazimabad neighborhood of Pakistan’s largest city.
  • The shooting was carried out by the Al Alami faction of the Sunni militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
  • The attack follows the recent massacre of more than 60 police cadets by Al Alami in coordination with the Islamic State.

Read more:
“Gunmen kill four at Shi’ite Muslim gathering in Karachi” (Reuters)
“Five killed, several injured in sectarian attack on Nazimabad majlis” (The Express Tribune)
“5 killed as gunmen target Shia gathering in Karachi” (The Nation)

Religion + Belief

U.S. News | Sikhs

Assailants face hate crime charges following attack on Sikh man in California
  • The attackers had thrown beer cans at Maan Singh Khalsa‘s car in Richmond, California, and then physically attacked him, including knocking off his turban, forcing his head down, and cutting more than 10 inches of his hair.
  • Unshorn hair is a religious mandate for observant Sikhs, and the specific targeting of his hair led to the hate crime designation.
  • The attack follows years of similar targeting of Sikhs in the U.S., with many mistaken for Muslims and subject to violence because of their religious wear.

Read more:
“2 Face Hate Crime Charges in Attack on Sikh Man in California” (The New York Times)
“Two men charged with hate crime in attack on Sikh in California” (Reuters)
“Sikhs under attack” (CNN)

(Image Credit: The Sikh Coalition, via The New York Times)

Nationality + Migration, Religion + Belief

U.S. News | Somali Muslims

Muslims of Somali descent targeted in Kansas bomb plot
  • Three men were arrested on charges of domestic terrorism after a plot to bomb an apartment complex in Garden City, Kansas housing a large number of immigrant Somali Muslims.
  • The conspirators went by the name “The Crusaders” and had come under surveillance during an eight-month investigation by the FBI.
  • The failed plot comes amidst a wave of anti-Muslim attacks in the U.S., with 2015 and 2016 having had the highest number on record.

Read more:
“Attack on Somalis in Kansas thwarted, feds say” (CNN)
“3 Held in Bomb Plot Against Somalis in Kansas” (The New York Times)
“Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes Reach ‘Levels Not Surpassed’ Since 9/11: Analysis” (NBC News)

(Image Credit: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters, via NBC News)

Ideology + Affiliation

Vietnam News | Writer-Activists

Vietnamese government detains blogger following post listing deaths under police custody
  • Blogger Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (“Me Nam,” or “Mother Mushroom”) was arrested on charges of propagandizing against the state, which carries a sentence of up to 12 years in prison.
  • Quynh’s posts included a report on more than 30 civilians who had died in police custody, which roiled a government largely intolerant of criticism.
  • She had previously been arrested in 2009 for receiving funding from Viet Tan, an activist group based in California.

Read more:
“Vietnam Arrests Mother Mushroom, a Top Blogger, for Criticizing Government” (The New York Times)
“Vietnam detains blogger after police custody deaths post” (Reuters)
“Dissident blogger faces prison in Vietnam” (Deutsche Welle)

(Image Credit: Jonas Gratzer/Civil Rights Defenders, via The New York Times)

Nationality + Migration

Kuwait News | Americans

Militant rams truck into car carrying Americans in Kuwait
  • An Egyptian national rammed a truck into a car carrying five Americans, with the Kuwaiti state news agency reporting the assailant had been carrying explosives.
  • While the Americans were unhurt, the attacker was transported to the hospital after sustaining injuries.
  • Authorities have claimed to have thwarted multiple attacks by the Islamic State in the country in the last few months after the deadliest militant attack in decades took place in a Shiite mosque in 2015.

Read more:
“Kuwait arrests suspected Islamist after truck attack on Americans” (Reuters)
“Kuwait arrests Egyptian with links to Islamic State after attack on US nationals” (Egypt Independent)
“Kuwait arrests Egyptian after failed suicide attack on 5 U.S. soldiers” (AP via Global News)

Age, Sexual + Gender Minorities

Iran News | Gay Youth

Iran executes gay teen for alleged rape
  • In the Arak prison, the Iranian government executed Hassan Afshar, who was accused of rape by the parents of Afshar’s sexual partner.
  • Afshar maintained that the sex, which took place when he was 17, was consensual, but Iran’s sodomy laws make it difficult to ascertain consent in same-sex sexual relations.
  • International human rights organizations have expressed outrage at Iran’s practice of capital punishment for juveniles and for rape in opposition to international law.

Read more:
“Iran: Hanging of teenager shows authorities’ brazen disregard for international law” (Amnesty International)
“Iran’s First Juvenile Execution of 2016 Was a Gay Teenager” (VICE News)
“Iran executes teenage boy for being gay” (PinkNews)

Nationality + Migration, Sexual + Gender Minorities

Turkey News | Gay Refugee

Gay Syrian refugee decapitated, body found in Istanbul
  • Muhammed Wisam Sankari’s violently mutilated body was found in the Yenikapi neighborhood of Istanbul on July 25, two days after he left his house in Aksaray.
  • Friends reported that Sankari had feared for his safety and that police and other officials had been slow to respond to concerns.
  • Sankari had also reportedly been raped in the months before his death and had been attempting to gain refugee status for resettlement outside of Turkey.

Read more:
“Syrian gay refugee killed in Istanbul” (Kaos GL)
“Missing gay Syrian refugee found beheaded in Istanbul” (The Guardian)
“Gay Syrian man beheaded and mutilated in Turkey” (BBC)

(Image Credit: via Kaos GL)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Uganda News | LGBT

Police raid Uganda Pride event, arrest more than a dozen
  • After attendees reported some 10 officers stormed the nightclub where the Mr. and Miss Pride pageant was being held in Kampala.
  • Reports of those arrested ranged from 15 to 25, including prominent Ugandan LGBT activist Frank Mugisha, and some witnesses reported that police beat some attendees and undressed trans participants.
  • The Pride march was postponed indefinitely after a senior government official threatened to bring a mob of opposition to protest the event.

Read more:
“Ugandan police storm Gay Pride event, arrest at least 15 – activist” (Reuters)
“Ugandan Police Storm Gay Pride Event, Arrest More than a Dozen People” (NBC News)
“Uganda’s Pride Parade Has Been Cancelled” (BuzzFeed News)

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Iraq & Syria News | Yazidis

Thousands of Yazidis remain in captivity on anniversary of massacre
  • The U.N. reported that around 3,200 Yazidi women and girls are being held in sexual slavery and thousands of Yazidi men and boys are missing, many presumed dead.
  • August 3 marks the second anniversary of the Islamic State’s attack on Sinjar, Iraq, which left 10,000 Yazidis dead or enslaved in what observers have increasingly called a genocide.
  • Prior to the attack, Sinjar had been home to the largest Yazidi community in the world.

Read more:
“Thousands of Yazidis missing, captive, two years after start of ‘genocide’: U.N.” (Reuters)
“Yazidis Mark Second Anniversary of Islamic State Massacre” (Voice of America)
“Yazidi Activist Nadia Murad Speaks Out on the ‘Holocaust’ of Her People in Iraq” (TIME)

(Image Credit: Z. Yasar/Voice of America)

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Afghanistan News | Hazaras

Bombing during protest in Kabul devastates Afghanistan’s Hazara community
  • A triple suicide attack left at least 80 dead and 231 wounded at a protest in the Afghan capital, with the Islamic State claiming responsibility for one of the deadliest attacks in the country since 2001.
  • The demonstration had been organized to protest an electricity route in the country and the perceived abandonment of the Hazara community by political leaders.
  • Afghanistan’s Shiite Hazaras have long been targeted in the country, including in recent decades by the Taliban and now the Islamic State.

Read more:
“Kabul Bombing Adds New Layers of Agony for Afghanistan’s Hazaras” (The New York Times)
“ISIS Claims Suicide Attack On Kabul Protest By Hazara Minority, Dozens Killed” (The Huffington Post)
“Kabul explosion: Islamic State ‘admits attack on Hazara protest’” (BBC)

(Image Credit: Adam Ferguson/The New York Times)

Health + Ability

Japan News | People with Disabilities

Mass stabbing attack at facility for the disabled in Japan leaves at least 19 dead, dozens wounded
  • The Tsukui Yamayuri-en care facility in Sagamihara, an hour west of Tokyo, came under attack in the early morning hours by a former employee.
  • The knife attack was reportedly the worst mass killing in the country in decades, with additional reports of as many as 45 wounded.
  • The attacker allegedly indicated an anti-disability motive upon turning himself in.

Read more:
“Man fatally stabs 15, wounds 45 in predawn attack at Kanagawa care facility, is arrested” (The Japan Times)
“Japan knife attack: 15 killed and dozens wounded in stabbing” (The Guardian)
“Knife Attack Kills at Least 15 in Tokyo Suburb” (The New York Times)

(Image Credit: via The Japan Times)