The president backed away from his threat to declare a national emergency over the wall, but his preoccupation with it persists
Donald Trump may have backed away froma threat to declare a national emergency in order to bypass Congress and build a wall on the southern border, but his preoccupation with his 2016 campaign promise persists.
But what exactly is “the wall” and why is the president so intent on getting $5.7bn to fund it? Here are some answers to key questions:
Continue reading...Bill Shorten urges Scott Morrison to accept Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun now that the UN has validated her refugee claim
Labor has said the Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun should be resettled in Australia now that her refugee claim had been validated.
The party’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, told ABC radio on Thursday Bill Shorten had written to Scott Morrison urging him to accept Qunun.
Continue reading...Unsafe in Somalia and unwanted in Kenya, refugees increasingly risk abduction in search of a better life
Two months after he went missing from the Dadaab refugee complex, Abdullahi Mohamed called his mother, Ubah, from a detention centre in Libya where he was being been held by armed gangs. The men asked his mother to pay a ransom of up to $10,000 (£7,850) for the 19-year-old.
Relieved but distraught, Ubah started fundraising for his release, talking to family members in the diaspora and in Somalia.
Continue reading...Australia to consider asylum request after home affairs minister says she would not get ‘special treatment’
Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun has been found to be a refugee by the United Nations, and the Australian government will now consider her asylum request, according to the Department of Home Affairs.
The 18-year-old woman barricaded herself in a Bangkok airport hotel room on Sunday to prevent her forcible return to Saudi Arabia, where she claims her family will kill her because she has renounced Islam.
Continue reading...Fact check: what the US president got wrong in his primetime address on the border wall
In a primetime address from the Oval Office on Tuesday night, Donald Trump made his case for the US to expand its wall on the southern border.
The US president blamed criminal gangs and “vast quantities of illegal drugs” for “thousands of deaths”, described the situation at the border with Mexico as a humanitarian crisis and argued that the current immigration system allows “vicious coyotes and ruthless gangs” to prey on immigrants, especially women and children.
Continue reading...Violence so bad that women wear nappies at night to avoid leaving tents, report says
The EU has been strongly criticised over conditions in Greece’s largest refugee camp, where Oxfam reported women are wearing nappies at night for fear of leaving their tents to go to the toilet.
The British-based NGO described the increasingly dangerous state of the EU-sponsored Moria camp on the island of Lesbos, where a 24-year-old man from Cameroon was found dead in the early hours of Tuesday as temperatures fell below freezing.
Continue reading...Head of immigration authority says Mexico has ‘asked for answers’ on ‘catch and return’ – but shutdown isn’t helping
When she announced last month that tens of thousands of asylum seekers would be returned to Mexico while their cases are considered, the homeland security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, described the move as a “historic” overhaul of US immigration policy.
But more than two weeks later, the new strategy has yet to begin and it remains unclear how the plan would work – or even if Mexico is willing to enforce it.
Continue reading...A rally against immigration at St Kilda beach prompts counter-protests but police keep rivals groups apart
Tensions reached boiling point at St Kilda beach in Melbourne as hundreds of far-right wing extremists and anti-racism campaigners faced off in a screaming match and minor scuffles broke out.
Scores of police including some with riot shields and on horseback were on hand to keep the groups apart. A police boat kept watch from the water and two helicopters circled overhead.
Continue reading...French authorities to improve cooperation with UK and increase coastal surveillance
The French authorities have set out plans to prevent people in small boats risking the dangerous Channel crossing to England.
Measures being taken include improved cooperation between law enforcement agencies and more surveillance and security on beaches along the northern French coastline.
Continue reading...HMS Mersey’s mission follows request for military assistance from the home secretary, Sajid Javid
The Royal Navy patrol vessel HMS Mersey has been deployed to the Channel to help deal with people attempting to cross to the UK from France, ministers have confirmed.
The move came after a formal request for military assistance from the home secretary, Sajid Javid. The deployment will be financed by the Home Office.
Continue reading...Women, children and members of the press were affected by gas as authorities said it was aimed at rock throwers on Mexican side
US authorities fired tear gas into Mexico during the first hours of the new year to repel about 150 Central Americans who they claimed were trying to breach the border fence in Tijuana.
Related: 'I don't want to go back': what's next for the Central American migrant caravan?
Continue reading...