Tag Archives: Mobility & Immigration Rights

Nationality + Migration

Egypt News | Sudanese Refugees

More than a dozen Sudanese refugees killed by Egyptian security forces
  • At least 15 Sudanese refugees were killed and eight wounded attempting to enter Israel from the Sinai peninsula.
  • Egyptian officials first said the refugees were shot attempting to reach the southern border of Israel, but later revised their account to say they were caught in the crossfire between security forces and smugglers.
  • The incident is one of the most violent involving Sudanese refugees since 2005 and comes as the refugees face crackdowns by Egyptian police, exploitation and abuse by smugglers, and detention and deportation in Israel.

Read more:
“Sudanese refugees shot dead on Egypt-Israel border” (Al Jazeera)
“15 Sudanese Asylum Seekers Shot to Death by Egyptian Police While Trying to Cross to Israel” (AP via Haaretz)

Gender, Nationality + Migration

Central America & U.S. News | Central American Women

UN: Ongoing gender-based violence in Central America threatening to create another refugee crisis
  • The UN has warned in a recent report that as femicide and sexual and domestic violence showing no signs of abating in parts of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, the region (and the U.S.) needs to prepare another refugee surge.
  • Gang violence has exploited women in the region as governments have failed to address the region’s drug cartel problem, while escaping women become vulnerable to trafficking.
  • Advocates for women refugees have argued that the Mexico’s crackdown on migrants–with U.S. backing–has heightened insecurity for women escaping violence.

Read more:
“UN agency warns of ‘looming’ refugee crisis as women flee Central America and Mexico” (UN News Service)
“Women Refugees Are ‘Running For Their Lives’ In Central America” (BuzzFeed News)
“Mexico’s migration crackdown escalates dangers for Central Americans” (The Guardian)

(Image Credit: Amy Stillman/IRIN, via the UN News Agency)

Nationality + Migration

Iran News | Iranian Americans

Fourth Iranian American reportedly detained in Iran
  • Businessman Siamak Namazi has become the fourth American of Iranian descent detained in the country in recent years, according to Iranian media sources and personal associates.
  • What Namazi has been accused of has not been made public, but reports allege he, like the other three Iranian Americans arrested, came under suspicion of Iran’s security forces.
  • Dual citizens face vulnerability in Iran as the country does not recognize dual citizenship, making it easier for them to detain Iranian passport-holders without cause.

Read more:
“Iranian-American Executive Arrested in Iran” (The Wall Street Journal)
“Another Iranian American arrested and imprisoned in Tehran” (Washington Post)
“Iran Is Said to Detain Another Iranian-American” (The New York Times)

Health + Ability, Ideology + Affiliation

Armenia Feature | Mental Illness & Misattributed Identity

Armenia’s Mental Health Problem

Taking the hard tack of institutionalization to handle its citizens with mental illnesses, Armenia has found itself subject to numerous human rights inquiries and accusations from some of the institutionalized claiming false imprisonment. Institutionalization has been wielded in disputes, taking advantage of faults in the legal process that deny those accused of being dangers to themselves or others the right to defend themselves. A condemnation of treatment practices promoting the weaponization of mental health diagnoses, the Guardian‘s report on the defects in Armenia’s mental healthcare system highlights the danger that comes with marginalizing people with mental illnesses.

Read more:
“‘They locked me up and left me’: Armenia’s outdated mental health laws” (The Guardian)

Additional coverage:
“Armenia: Report Details Psychiatric Hospital Abuses” (EurasiaNet)

(Image Credit: Emma Grigoryan/The Guardian)

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, 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

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)

Gender

Turkey Feature | Women

Turkey’s Chic Women

Women from around Turkey converged on Istanbul and 9 other cities across the country for the third-annual Chic Women’s Bicycle Tour, a solidarity bike ride to promote transportation equality for women as well as sustainable transportation options in cities riddled with motorized vehicular traffic. Decked out in a colorful potpourri of dresses, hats, flowers, and balloons, the women dressed in resistance to attempts by conservatives to dictate to women how they should dress and act in public. Al-Monitor spoke with organizers about the history and mission of the ride, while Hürriyet provided a vibrant gallery of event attendees.

Read and view more:
“Pedal power gets Turkish makeover” (Al-Monitor)
“‘Chic women’ across Turkey’s western coast cycle for sustainable transportation” (Hürriyet News Daily)

(Image Credit: AA Photo, via Hürriyet News Daily))

Nationality + Migration

Japan Research | Foreigners

Japan’s Tourist Chase

As the Japanese government works to make Japan a more tourist-friendly nation, it undertook an opinion poll to survey citizens’ attitudes about the societal impact of tourism. Respondents were asked to provide their opinions about the benefits and drawbacks of tourism as well as ways to increase tourism and tourist integration.

50% (economic benefit) / 46.3% (mutual, intercultural understanding)

Positive attitudes towards tourism cited by Japanese nationals (multiple answers allowed)

29.5% (security fears) / 25.5% (culture clash) / 20.0% (communication difficulties)

Negative attitudes towards tourism cited by Japanese nationals

Sample: 3,000 adults

Read more:
“Japanese expect tourism boom to lift economy, but some fear culture clash: survey” (The Japan Times)

Nationality + Migration

U.S. Research | Immigrants

Becoming American: 50 Years of Inroads

Immigration has had a tremendous impact on U.S. demographics since the passage of the landmark Hart-Celler Act in 1965 amending the earlier Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. The proportion of immigrants in the country has grown from 4.8% in 1965 to 13.9% today (just below the historic high of 15% around the turn of the 20th century), and is only expected to increase. A recent Pew Research study broke down how immigration has contributed to the diversification of the country and how the dynamics expected to drive population growth over the next 50 years. Here are highlights from the extensive report:

45 million (2015) vs. 9.6 million (1965)

Number of foreign-born U.S. residents

72 million (55%)

Contribution of immigrant population to overall U.S. growth over last 50 years

26% (Asian) / 47% (Hispanic) / 8% (Black) / 18% (White)

Racial makeup of immigrant population in 2015

11% (Asian) / 9% (European) / 22% (African) / 37% (Latin American) / 39% (Middle Eastern)

Percentage of Americans who view region’s immigrants as having mostly negative impact on American society

34% (make worse) vs. 18% (make better) vs. 45% (not much effect)

How Americans perceive the impact of immigrants on U.S. social and moral values

Read more:
Modern Immigration Wave Brings 59 Million to U.S., Driving Population Growth and Change Through 2065 (Pew Research Center)
Top Countries of Origin by State of Settlement, 1850-Present (Pew Research Center)

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)