Tag Archives: Law & Politics

Nationality + Migration

U.S. News | Syrian Refugees

President Obama announces U.S. will take in 10,000 Syrian refugees over next year
  • Obama announced that preparations are being made to take in the number by the end of September 2016.
  • The U.S. had originally planned to accept 1,500 Syrian refugees by the end of 2015.
  • While welcoming the increase, humanitarian groups criticized the number as too low relative to U.S. capacity, calling on the president to increase the yearly refugee cap from 70,000 to 200,000.

“The White House’s pledge is a start, but it just scratches the surface. … The U.S. can and must do more to help ensure that thousands of Syrians fleeing violence have the safety and security they need.”

Read the full story at BuzzFeed News.

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

Sexual + Gender Minorities

El Salvador News | LGBT

El Salvador toughens punishments for hate crimes against LGBT individuals
  • The country’s lower chamber approved changes that will see those convicted of identity-based homicide against LGBT individuals facing up to 50 years in prison.
  • The changes increase the maximum penalty for hate crimes–which also include racially, ethnically, and religiously based targeting–by 20 years.
  • Gender continues to lag behind other protected classes, however, with those convicted of homicides against women facing 20 to 30 years of imprisonment.

“We have made a lot of progress in the democracy (of the country). This is a significant step toward the recognition of rights in the LGBT community.”

Read the full story at teleSUR.

(Image Credit: EFE, via teleSUR)

Nationality + Migration

Brazil News | Refugees

Brazilian president welcomes refugees as asylum process is expedited
  • President Dilma Rousseff reiterated Brazil’s openness to taking in refugees to support international efforts to provide haven to the millions of refugees pouring out of Asia and Africa.
  • In addition to granting 90-day tourist visas to asylum seekers awaiting their application results, the government approved a new program to simplify the asylum application process.
  • Brazil has led Latin America in providing asylum to Syrian refugees, having welcomed 1,740 into the country.

Read the full story at teleSUR.

Nationality + Migration

Venezuela News | Syrian Refugees

Venezuelan president offers to take in 20,000 Syrian refugees
  • President Nicolás Maduro indicated that the country is ready to take in the refugees to help cope with the global migration crisis.
  • Maduro has previously expressed support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose conflict with rebel forces has driven much of the flight from the country.

“How many more Arabs must die before a great human conscience of peace is awakened? … I want 20,000 Syrians to come to our Venezuelan fatherland, to share this land of peace, of Christ, of (independence hero Simon) Bolivar, and to help with the development of this magical land.”

Read the full story at Reuters.

Nationality + Migration

Czech Republic News | Refugees & Migrants

Missteps in the Czech Republic’s handling of migrants draw ire
  • Czech police have discontinued numbering migrants by pen at the Breclav train station after human rights and Jewish advocacy groups expressed outrage.
  • Authorities said the numbering, which critics said had resonance with Holocaust-era practices, had been an attempt to keep from separating families.
  • Despite having had only a fraction of the asylum requests received by larger European countries, the Czech Republic has experienced a surge in anti-immigrant (largely anti-Muslim) sentiment.

“This incident shows how certain countries in Europe have been hit completely off guard. … The image of labeling refugees brings historical images of the Second World War to mind, and the police and border guards should understand the requirement under international conventions to treat migrants with the dignity they deserve. Countries can’t punish people for being migrants.”

Read the full story at the New York Times.

(Image Credit: Igor Zehl/CTK, via Associated Press)

Nationality + Migration

U.K. News | Refugees

U.K. announces it will take in thousands of refugees
  • A spokesperson for the U.N. refugee office reported that Britain will be offering refuge for 4,000 Syrian refugees.
  • The announcement comes as PM David Cameron has come under fire for the his reticence to take in refugees.
  • The Syrians who arrive will be offered resettlement as millions pour out of the country torn apart by conflict driven by pro-Assad forces, rebel factions, the Islamic State, and the defense against IS.

Read the full story at Reuters.

Ideology + Affiliation

Kazakhstan News | Journalists

Three-month suspension of independent magazine in Kazakhstan raises press freedom alarms
  • Adam (Person) magazine, known for its critique of President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s administration, was handed a three-month suspension by the government for publishing only in Russian when it claimed to publish in both the Russian and Kazakh languages.
  • Press freedom watchdogs claim such bureaucratic tactics are frequently used to shutter independent journalism, with Kazakhstan sitting at 160th among the 177 countries ranked by Reporters Without Borders.
  • The suspension follows a libel conviction likely to bankrupt an independent journalist for reporting on alleged corruption in the city of Almaty’s construction industry.

“In Kazakhstan the closure of any media outlet is a matter decided by political bodies. … Of course this is connected to politics.”

Read the full story at EurasiaNet.

Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Latin America & the Caribbean Feature | Afro-Latinas

The Summer of the Afro-Latina

Image Credit: planeta-afro.org, via Global Voices
Image Credit: planeta-afro.org, via Global Voices

Summer 2015 saw a flurry of activities as Afro-Latina advocates and organizations united in forums and campaigns addressing the racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination experienced by women of African descent throughout Latin America. Events including the Afro-descendant Women Leaders of America Summit and advocates including bloggers, Descato Feminista (Feminist Contempt), Teatro en Sepia (Theater in Sepia), and the Red de Mujeres Afro-Latinoamericanas Afro-Caribeña y de la Diáspora (Network of Afro-Latin American and Afro-Caribbean Women of the Diaspora) focused on issues including gender-based violence, domestic labor, and political representation. Global Voices explores the busy summer for Afro-Latina advocacy.

View the feature at Global Voices.

Health + Ability

Singapore News | HIV+

Singapore repeals ban on short-term stays for HIV+ visitors
  • Singapore lifted a two-decade-long prohibition on HIV+ visitors in the country.
  • While visitors will be able to stay for up to three months on one of Singapore’s short-term visas, those with HIV will be ineligible for long-term or work visas.
  • Singapore, which has 5,000 of its own citizens afflicted with the illness, began repatriating and blocking the entrance of HIV+ travelers through immigration policies similar to those held by Australia and New Zealand.

“While things have improved slightly, we cannot forget that many are still being asked to leave their jobs and are ostracised by friends and family because of HIV infection. Many still suffer alone, and have trouble securing jobs and health insurance.”

Read the full story at the Guardian.

(Image Credit: Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images, via the Guardian)

Gender

Nigeria News | Women

Lagos state bans out-of-court settlement for sexual and domestic violence cases
  • The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team announced that cases of rape, defilement, and violence against women would no longer be able to be settled out of court.
  • The team coordinator met with tribal leaders to discuss ways of effective intervention when women come to them for advice on how to handle such cases.
  • Officials have been trying to reroute cases from traditional settlement to judicial settlement through state legal structures.

Read the full story at the Daily Trust.

Other, Religion + Belief

Myanmar News | Muslims, Interfaith & the Unmarried

Myanmar president signs bills perceived as targeting Muslim minorities, interfaith couples, and the unmarried into law
  • President Thein Sein signed four “Race and Religious Protection Laws” into being in the lead-up to November elections.
  • The laws include one criminalizing polygamy and unmarried cohabitation and two laws restricting religious conversion and interfaith marriage.
  • Buddhist nationalists in the country have promoted the laws as the latest in a series of measures restricting the activities and practices of the country’s Muslim minority.

“They set out the potential for discrimination on religious grounds and pose the possibility for serious communal tension.”

Read the full story at Reuters.

(Image Credit: Toru Hanai/Reuters)

Nationality + Migration

Austria & Hungary News | Migrants & Refugees

Austria announces it will check migrants’ asylum status at border with Hungary
  • Hundreds of migrants discovered on an overcrowded train from Budapest at the Austrian border will have their status checked by Austrian authorities.
  • If migrants are discovered to have applied for asylum in Hungary, they will be barred from further movement and returned to Hungary.
  • Migrants with no asylum application in progress will be given two weeks to decide whether to apply for asylum in Austria, or be returned to their last country of transit.

Read the full story at Reuters.

Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. News | Native American

President Obama announces tallest North American mountain will have native name officially recognized
  • Denali (“the high one” in Athabaskan) is the native name for Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America, and has now become federally recognized as the official name of the mountain.
  • In 1896, the mountain was renamed Mount McKinley during President William McKinley’s second election campaign despite Ohioan McKinley having no connection to the mountain or Alaska.
  • President Obama will announce the change as he becomes the first sitting president to visit the Alaskan Arctic, where he will meet with Alaskan Native leaders to discuss cooperative measures.

Read the full story at BuzzFeed News.

(Image Credit: Becky Bohrer/AP, via BuzzFeed News)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

Italy News | LGBT

Venice mayor says no Pride parades for city during his tenure
  • Recently elected mayor Luigi Brugnaro was elected on a center-right ticket and has made his opposition to LGBT rights clear previously.
  • Rights group Arcigay, which hosts numerous Pride events throughout Italy, condemned the statement, having last hosted a parade in Venice just last year.
  • Brugnaro’s statement is the latest in anti-LGBT moves to come from his office, including a blanket ban on books featuring same-sex couples from Venice schools.

“There will never be a gay pride in my city. … Let them go and do it in Milan, or in front of their own homes.”

Read the full story at the Guardian.

Nationality + Migration

France News | Americans & Britons

Three Americans and one Briton receive France’s highest honor for role in subduing train attacker
  • French President François Hollande awarded the four men the Legion d’Honneur at a reception at the Elysée Palace.
  • The men were a part of a group that subdued the gunman on a train bound for Paris with more than 550 passengers reported on board.
  • A French-American, who was shot and remains hospitalized, and an additional unnamed man also assisted and will receive their honors at a later date.

Read the full story at BuzzFeed News.

(Image Credit: Pool New/Reuters, via BuzzFeed News)