Tag Archives: refugees

Nationality + Migration
Syrian refugees’ precarious living conditions in Lebanon threaten the community’s security
  • A recent fire that destroyed homes, shops, and community facilities in a Syrian refugee camp outside of al-Marj highlights the insecurity refugees face.
  • Because there are no formal refugee camps in Lebanon, Syrians are required to pay rent for accommodations, including those in the poorly constructed camps.
  • In addition, refugees face an increasingly unfriendly immigration system that requires declaration of intention at the border and forbids employment while levying fees and restricting access to social services.

“I used to work here as a baker, but now everything is gone – our shop, our salary, our papers. … We left Syria for this?”

More on this story at Deutsche Welle.

(Image Credit: via Deutsche Welle)

Nationality + Migration
Italy PM calls for EU asylum rule revision as his country struggles with migrant influx
  • PM Matteo Renzi has called for a change in the Dublin II regulation, which stipulates that refugees must apply for asylum in the country of entry, as neighboring states France and Austria tighten their border controls.
  • With Southern European states like Italy and Greece bearing the brunt of the historic trans-Mediterranean migration taking place, Renzi argues the regulation is standing in the way of other countries bearing their fair share of incoming refugees.
  • Renzi criticized the EU’s proposed refugee distribution plan that will relocate 24,000 from Italy and 16,000 from Greece to other countries in the European bloc.

“Migration is a serious issue and – let’s be frank – the answers that Europe is giving are insufficient. Relocating only 24,000 people is almost a provocation.”

More on this story at Deutsche Welle.

(Image Credit: via Deutsche Welle)

Nationality + Migration
Indonesian authorities claim Australian government paid human traffickers not to return to Indonesia rather than land at Australia
  • A boat crew arrested in Indonesia told the police that Australian authorities had paid them each A$5,000 (US$3,860) to turn back with the 65 migrants on board.
  • Australia has made every effort to ensure that asylum seekers do not reach its shores, including turning boats back to Indonesia and detaining refugees in camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru.
  • Australia’s Foreign Minister and Immigration Minister have denied the claims, but PM Tony Abbott has declined to comment, citing security reasons.

“Under Australian’s push-back policy we have been consistently saying they are on a slippery slope. … Should this situation be confirmed and it turns out to be true, it would be a new low for the way the government of Australia handles the situation on irregular migration.”

More on this story at Reuters.

(Image Credit: Reuters/David Gray)

Nationality + Migration, Race + Color + Ethnicity
Sri Lankan religious leaders caution against return of refugees from abroad as social conditions remain unstable in the aftermath of the country’s 26-year-long civil war
  • Australia’s immigration minister recently visited Sri Lanka
  • Despite human rights abuses by the authoritarian regime that extended after its 2009 fall, Australia has returned Sri Lankan asylum seekers, potentially in violation of international law.
  • Ongoing military presence in communities has fueled insecurity, causing minority leaders to call on Australia not to return refugees but engage the new Sri Lankan government on demilitarization and minority protection.

“The minority communities are of the opinion still that we do not feel safety and security in this island. And that is one of the reasons that they are also fleeing. There may not be abductions but there can be constant harassment and intimidations.”

More on this story at The Guardian.

(Image Credit: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty Images, via The Guardian)

Nationality + Migration
The NY Times has published a graphically enhanced look at the global migration crisis that is being called the worst since World War II
  • 38 million have been displaced within their own countries, while 16.7 million refugees have fled internationally.
  • Roughly 11 million Syrians and 3 million Iraqis have been internally displaced, while 4 million Syrians have left the country, straining the intake abilities of neighboring countries like Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey.
  • Approximately 25,000 Bangladeshi and Rohingya migrants have been trafficked via sea in Southeast Asia, some finding conditional acceptance in Indonesia and Malaysia and others being repatriated.
  • To date, around 78,000 have traveled across the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa and Turkey, fleeing violence, persecution, and poor economic prospects in North, West, and East Africa.
  • Finally, the conflict in Ukraine has displaced 1.3 million inside the country and sent 867,000 abroad, mostly to Russia with few European countries willing to accept them.

More on this story at The New York Times.

Nationality + Migration
EU ships take in more than 3,000 more migrants from the Mediterranean over the weekend.
  • Fifteen operations over a 24-hour period included British, Irish, Italian, and German ships.
  • With approximately one million in Libya waiting to make the journey across the Mediterranean, British authorities predict up to 500,000 may attempt the dangerous trip over the summer.
  • The current migration rate stands roughly 30% higher than last year’s at this time.

“We don’t know when the rest will be arriving [in southern coastal processing centers], because it’s simply a logistical nightmare for Italian authorities as many of them are ending up on mainland Italy.”

More on this story at Al Jazeera.

Nationality + Migration
The first refugees arrive in Cambodia as part of Australia’s controversial program resettling asylum seekers from its offshore detention center.
  • Political opposition leaders and human rights advocates criticize the government’s harsh stance against refugees and their resettlement in an under-resourced country with a poor rights records.
  • Australia has offered Cambodia A$40 million as part of the resettlement deal.
  • Despite cash incentives, few refugees have taken up the Australian government on its offer.

More on this story at Reuters.

Nationality + Migration
U.S. extends temporary protected status of Somalis in the country.
  • The status is in effect from September 18 through March 17, 2017.
  • With the Somali Civil War still ongoing, some Somalis seek asylum in the U.S. through illegal border-crossing from Mexico to the U.S.

More on this story at Shabelle News.

Nationality + Migration
Brazil accepts nearly 2,000 Syrian refugees, the second most in the Americas.
  • Brazil adopted measures to ease refugee entry nearly two years ago, according to its National Committee for Refugees.
  • Families find their livelihoods wiped away upon arrival, though NGOs and beneficence organizations help ease the transition through informal markets and language and professional courses.

“It was very difficult to leave our country, mostly because of our tradition…We chose Brazil because we heard that there is no prejudice here. It is a wonderful land that has received us very well.”

More on this Associated Press story at ABC News.

Nationality + Migration

Rising xenophobic sentiment and strained infrastructure imperil Italy’s growing immigrant and refugee communities. More from Al Jazeera.

Nationality + Migration

Thailand reports it’s housing 600 refugees from the recent influx in addition to around 130,000 asylum seekers and refugees in total. More from Reuters.

Nationality + Migration

Burundi Research | Burundian Refugees

Al Jazeera‘s infographic on the Burundi refugee crisis

Image Credit: Al Jazeera
Image Credit: Al Jazeera
Race + Color + Ethnicity

Bangladesh announces it will be relocating the 32,000 Rohingya registered in two official refugee camps to an island for tourism reasons. More from Radio France Internationale (in French).

Nationality + Migration, Religion + Belief

Poland, slow to accept refugees in the Mediterranean influx, agrees to provide asylum to 60 Syrian Christian families. More from ABC News.

The Rounds

The Mid-week Rounds

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Protests in Saudi Arabia following the anti-Shiite suicide bombing, assisted suicide debates in the U.K., Myanmar’s anti-Rohingya protests, Russia’s community for parents and their gay children, immigration reform’s stumble in the U.S., Dubai’s motorcycle women, and 45 other stories in this week’s news rounds… Continue reading The Mid-week Rounds →