For the last week, Britain has been consumed by drama surrounding ex-soccer superstar Gary Lineker’s temporary removal from his role as a BBC commentator after he took to twitter to attack the government’s new asylum policy. In early March, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s conservative government proposed a new law that would make it impossible for people to claim asylum if they entered the country… Source Source / Read More: BBC Disciplined Commentator Who Spoke Out Against UK’s Anti-Immigrant Law
Refugees
Inside the Underground Network Fighting for Asylum Seekers in Scotland
This article was originally published by Waging Nonviolence. Every Sunday for the past six weeks, far-right protesters have been gathering in the small Scottish town of Erskine to complain about plans to house some 200 asylum seekers in a local hotel. However, they are not alone. Asylum seekers in Scotland and their local allies have also been protesting the use of these hotels, and for a much… Source Source / Read More: Inside the Underground Network Fighting for Asylum Seekers in Scotland
Nearly 200 Rohingya Refugees Adrift at Sea Desperately Seek Rescue
A United Nations refugee advocate on Friday joined human rights defenders in imploring South and Southeast Asian nations to rescue nearly 200 Rohingya refugees “on the verge of perishing” after drifting on the Andaman Sea for weeks — an ordeal that’s already reportedly claimed around 20 lives aboard the vessel. The refugees — who are fleeing ethnic cleansing and other severe state repression in… Source Source / Read More: Nearly 200 Rohingya Refugees Adrift at Sea Desperately Seek Rescue
Tens of Thousands of Afghan Women Refugees Risk Being Returned to Acute Danger
On a bare stretch of land near the National Press Club in Islamabad, Pakistan, a collection of tarps and tents serves as shelter for an untold number of Afghan refugee families. Afghans camped here say they have been waiting months to be registered as refugees, and for a chance at humanitarian parole or asylum in other countries. Islamabad’s winter temperatures sink to the upper 30s (Fahrenheit). When I visited in June, temperatures rose frequently to 110 degrees. In the middle of the encampment, a white sheet suspended between stakes features a painting of a disembodied hand reaching up from a…
Despite Biden’s Promises, US Offers Few Supports for Ukrainian Refugees
During the first four months of fiscal year 2022 (October 1, 2021, to January 31, 2022), more than 6,000 asylum seekers from Ukraine and Russia were apprehended at U.S. border crossings and deported. Then, in late February, Russia invaded Ukraine and, virtually overnight, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shifted gears to accommodate the influx of Ukrainians who began showing up at the U.S.-Mexico border. In fact, whether arriving on foot and in cars, most were allowed in and given “humanitarian parole.” But not all displaced people have entered through Mexico. Many have flown…
European Anti-Migrant Policies Gave Rise to Horrific Refugee Jails in Libya
Image Credit: Sally Hayden Western countries have opened their doors to millions of Ukrainians fleeing the war in their homeland, presenting a model of how refugees should be welcomed. But their experience stands in stark contrast to how African refugees are treated when attempting to reach Europe to escape war, hunger and despair. In her new book, My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World’s Deadliest Migration Route, author Sally Hayden details how a single message from an Eritrean refugee held in a Libyan detention center led her on a years-long journey to document the human rights disaster…
Putin Issues Warning About “Future of Ukrainian Statehood” Amid Refugee Crisis
Despite evacuation efforts hampered by Russian shelling, Ukraine is enduring Europe’s most rapidly escalating refugee crisis since the second world war, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees said Sunday. “More than 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine have crossed into neighboring countries in 10 days — the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II,” tweeted the commissioner, Filippo Grandi. Also highlighting the crisis created by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.N. Refugee Agency warned Sunday that “in the coming days millions more lives will be uprooted, unless there is an immediate end to this senseless…
AOC Says US Should Treat All Asylum Seekers How We Treat Ukrainian Refugees
On Tuesday night, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) argued in favor of accepting Ukrainian refugees in the United States, emphasizing that asylum seekers from other parts of the world should be treated with similar respect. Speaking to MSNBC host Rachel Maddow following President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address, Ocasio-Cortez made the case for giving Ukrainian refugees Temporary Protection Status (TPS), saying that the Biden White House should make it easier for individuals with that status to eventually become citizens. “Now that we know a huge, new migration is going to start because of that war, do you have…