Tag Archives: Law & Politics

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)

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)

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)

Race + Color + Ethnicity, Religion + Belief

Cambodia News | Montagnard Christians

Cambodia orders deportation of waves of Montagnards fleeing Vietnam
  • Montagnards, an ethnic confederation of indigenous peoples from Vietnam, have fled what they report has been religious and ethnic harassment and persecution at the hands of Vietnamese police.
  • Cambodia has only granted asylum to 13 of the approximately 200 who have crossed the border, designating most as economic migrants and scheduling their deportation.
  • The refugees have turned to the U.N.’s refugee organization for assistance, alleging that Vietnamese police have subjected them to ongoing interrogations and detentions because of their Christian affiliation.

Read more:
“Montagnards Flee Persecution in Vietnam For Unsure Future in Cambodia” (Radio Free Asia)
“Group of Montagnards heads back to Vietnam” (The Phnom Penh Post)
“Vietnam: End ‘Evil Way’ Persecution of Montagnard Christians” (Human Rights Watch)

(Image Credit: Radio Free Asia)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Malaysia News | Transgender

Challenge to ban on cross-dressing dismissed by Malaysian high court on technicality
  • Malaysia’s Federal Court rejected the challenge to the state of Negeri Semblian’s ban on cross-dressing, overturning a lower-court decision striking down the ban.
  • The case brought by three transgender individuals was dismissed by the court on a technicality, saying the case should have first been taken up by the Federal Court.
  • The rejection comes as Islamic conservatism increases in the Malay-majority country, with Shariah law a difficult hurdle for gender and sexual minorities to clear.

Read more:
“Court of Appeal wrong to declare religious law unconstitutional, rules Federal Court” (The Malaysian Insider)
“Transgender case: Federal Court overturns Court of Appeal’s decision” (Astro Awani)
“Malaysia court upholds ban on cross dressing by transgender Muslims” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: Olivia Harris/Reuters)

Ideology + Affiliation

China News | Academics

2,000 march in silent protest against rejection of Hong Kong professor for top leadership position
  • In a controversial decision, University of Hong Kong law professor Johannes Chan was rejected for the university’s pro-vice-chancellor post.
  • Supporters viewed the denial as an encroachment of the Chinese government and Hong Kong’s chief executive on academic freedom in Hong Kong, with some calling for a judicial review of university governance structures.
  • Students, professors, and staff gathered in a massive silent march through the HKU campus before student leaders and academics spoke out against the decision.

Read more:
“Thousands protest at HKU to defend academic freedom” (Hong Kong Free Press)
“Hong Kong Academics in Silent Protest Over ‘Political’ Row Over Top Job” (Radio Free Asia)
“Hong Kong university protests over academic freedoms” (ChannelFree Asia)

(Image Credit: Hong Kong Free Press)

Nationality + Migration

Turkey News | Syrian Refugees

1 Comment
Syrian refugees struggle to integrate into Turkish society
  • Turkey has become home to 2.3 million Syrians, making it host to the largest refugee population in the world.
  • With opportunities in refugee camps limited, most have taken to cities in search of stability, but have found cultural barriers, few legal employment opportunities, limited healthcare access, and increasing resident suspicion.
  • While the E.U. has drafted a proposal for funding assistance to Turkey, officials have mulled several options as integration has stalled, including establishing a safe zone in northern Syria to which refugees could return or refugee-only cities in Turkey.

“I regret coming here. If I can’t survive I’ll go back to Syria and die with dignity. We didn’t come to Turkey to be beggars.”

Read more:
“Tensions simmer as Turkey struggles with burden of refugees” (Reuters)
“Migrant crisis: EU plan offers more money for Turkey camps” (BBC)

(Image Credit: Murad Sezer/Reuters)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Ecuador News | Afro-Ecuadorians

Ecuador government passes resolution to include Afro-Ecuadorian history in textbooks
  • As Ecuadoreans around the country celebrate National Day of the Afro-Ecuadorian People, the government announced the new education measure to foster inclusion of Afro-Ecuadorians in the nation’s history.
  • Afro-Ecuadorians number more than 600,000 in the country, but continue to face discrimination and economic difficulty.
  • The National Day of the Afro-Ecuadorian People began with the 1997 congressional declaration of the National Day of the Black Ecuadorian, symbolized by celebration of fugitive slave leader Alonso de Illescas and Afro-Ecuadorian history and culture.

“On this day we have to remember all the contributions we have made as a people and bring it, together with our history, to the rest of the people because many don’t know it, which enables a lot of forms of discrimination.”

Read more:
“Ecuador to Include Afro-Ecuadorean History in Textbooks” (teleSUR English)

(Image Credit: El Telegrafo, via teleSUR)

Religion + Belief

South Korea Feature | Jehovah’s Witnesses

South Korea’s Prisoners of Conscience

South Korea leads the world in the incarceration of conscientious objectors, jailing hundreds each year who refuse the country’s manditory military service on the basis of conscience and belief. The vast majority of the imprisoned are Jehovah’s Witnesses, members of a Christian sect that has seen tens of thousands jailed in the half-century following the 1953 truce that ended the Korean War. The New York Times profiles the ongoing struggles of the community and recent developments that could finally see movement in the fight for their freedom of conscience.

Read more:
“South Korean Jehovah’s Witnesses Face Stigma of Not Serving in Army” (The New York Times)

Other coverage:
“South Korean conscientious objectors keep up fight against military service” (The Los Angeles Times)
“South Korea, world’s top jailer of conscientious objectors, resists giving them alternatives” (Fox News)

(Image Credit: Jean Chung/The New York Times )

Age, Gender, Ideology + Affiliation

Netherlands News | Women & Youth

European court rules brothel owners in Amsterdam must share language with sex workers
  • The European Court of Justice ruling sided with the city of Amsterdam, which blocked the application of a brothel owner to run a Red Light District window rental space because the owner could not communicate in the language of some of the workers.
  • The business owner had his business plan denied because he rented to Hungarian and Bulgarian immigrant workers who did not speak Dutch and whose languages the owner did not speak.
  • The court cited the safety of women, human trafficking vulnerability, the prevention of sex work by minors, and pimping deterrence as justifications.

Read more:
“Court: Amsterdam brothel owners must speak prostitutes’ language” (The NL Times)
“Double Dutch barred in Amsterdam brothels” (AFP, via Yahoo! News)

(Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons/LeDeuxAlpe, via The NL Times)

Health + Ability

Kyrgyzstan Feature | People with Disabilities

The Uphill Battle for Accessibility

Estimated to be 160,000 in strength, Kyrgyzstan’s disability community has long faced domestic confinement, public misinformation and shaming, and structural exclusion due to lack of governmental and business commitment to accessible spaces and protocols. Recently, around 300 took to the streets of Bishkek, the capital, for an annual march in support of increased accessibility in the country. EurasiaNet takes a look at the obstacles and initial victories that are driving the community to push forward.

Read more:
“Kyrgyzstan: Disabled Battle for Acceptance and Access” (EurasiaNet)

(Image Credit: EurasiaNet)