Category Archives: Refugees

MEPs voice fury as Greek judges again postpone refugees’ smuggling appeal

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Second adjournment prolongs agony of Afghans Amir Zahiri and Akif Rasuli, serving 50-year sentences for piloting a migrant boat

MEPs appalled by “shocking” legal proceedings against two Afghans convicted of people smuggling in Greece have vowed to raise the issue with the European parliament.

Lawmakers who had flown into Lesbos for a scheduled appeals court hearing of the asylum seekers on Thursday – the second in three weeks – were outraged when judges again adjourned the case, prolonging the agony of the refugees, who are currently serving 50-year prison terms.

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Tigray has been the scene of ‘ethnic cleansing’, say human rights groups

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Human Rights Watch-Amnesty report accuses Ethiopian paramilitaries of war crimes and crimes against humanity

Ethiopian paramilitaries have carried out a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Tigray, forcing hundreds of thousands of people from their homes using threats, killings and sexual violence, according to a joint report by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

The rights groups accuse officials and paramilitaries from the neighbouring Amhara region of war crimes and crimes against humanity in western Tigray, in northern Ethiopia.

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UK politicians request visa scheme for Ukrainian students and academics

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In a letter to Priti Patel, the cross-party group calls for temporary places where those displaced can study and carry out research

A cross-party group of MPs and peers has joined forces with UK universities in calling for the visa scheme for Ukrainian refugees to be extended to temporary placements for students and academics.

In a letter to Priti Patel, the home secretary, the parliamentarians and Universities UK, the advocacy organisation for universities, said the scheme should provide visas and temporary places for displaced students and academics to study and carry out research.

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Priti Patel’s immigration bill suffers multiple defeats in Lords

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Peers find fault with many aspects of nationality and borders bill, in particular proposal to divide refugees into classes

Priti Patel’s nationality and borders bill has been ripped apart for a second time by the House of Lords as the government suffered more than 10 defeats over controversial proposals to tighten immigration rules.

Peers supported proposals to ensure that the bill complied with the 1951 Refugee Convention and challenged the government’s plan to redefine refugees into two classes based on how they arrived in the UK.

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More refugees released from detention ahead of Australian election

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Coalition releases detainees as it prepares to face independents calling for more humane treatment of refugees, advocates suggest

Refugee advocates have celebrated the release of at least 18 people from onshore detention centres in Australia, but say the secrecy and lack of notice around their release is a final piece of cruelty from the Australian government.

They have also called for the release of the 33 people who remain in detention.

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‘We feel safer’: how green energy is brightening refugee lives in Rwanda

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Solar panels and cleaner-burning stoves have reduced dangers faced by residents of three camps

“The camp has come from the dark into the light,” says Edson Sebutozi Munyakarambi, a refugee living in the Kigeme camp in southern Rwanda.

“Before the solar-powered street lamps, the camp was dark. Some people would come and steal things from the houses,” says Munyakarambi, who chairs the committee that represents the 16,000 people in the camp. “But now no one can rob people on the street corners and the children can study or play outside while they wait for their dinner.”

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UK politics: Public must be told if Carrie Johnson fined for breaking lockdown rules, says Starmer – live

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Latest updates: the Labour leader suggests it is in the public’s interest if the prime minister’s wife is fined over Partygate

Clive Efford (Lab) is asking the questions now.

Q: You have expressed strong views in the past. Is that a problem?

I described the licence fee as regressive. I didn’t think that was an opinion, I thought that was a statement of fact, actually.

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Ukraine refugees trying to get UK visas facing ‘Kafkaesque’ system, MPs told

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Shadow home secretary says tens of thousands of desperate people still stuck in system

The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has said refugees in Ukraine are facing “Kafkaesque” bureaucracy as they try to navigate Home Office visa requirements.

Cooper had tabled an urgent question over the government’s two visa schemes, with MPs from both sides of the house rounding on the government.

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UK politics: Boris Johnson grilled by MPs at liaison committee – live

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Latest updates: the PM is facing questions at the liaison committee, which is comprised of the chairs of the Commons select committees

Betts asks Harrington how many people have actually arrived in the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Harrington says it is too early to say, but he says he may be able to tell the committee at the end of the week.

Harrington said that he agreed it took too long to fill in a visa application form. He said at the weekend he spent just under under an hour filling out one out himself, and he was in a more comfortable situation than the refugees who have to fill them out. He said the government was looking at what it can do to make the forms shorter.

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‘We took our children and ran’: thousands displaced as Senegal’s 40-year war crosses border

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More than 6,ooo people have left their homes as renewed violence in the Casamance region spills into the Gambia

It was late morning when the bullets burst through the corrugated roof of Maimouna Kujabee’s farmhouse. First, she hit the ground. Then she took off, running from her village in Ziguinchor, in Senegal’s Casamance region, as fast as her children could manage.

Through fields and forest, with only the clothes on her back, Kujabee did not stop until she reached Bajagar, in the Gambia, about a mile north of the border. “The sun was hot. I ran until my sandals were cut up,” says Kujabee.

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Australia fast-tracked visas for Afghan army officers after warning of negative publicity, documents show

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Briefing to Peter Dutton five days after fall of Kabul reveals department’s concern over Afghan officers who had studied in Australia

The Morrison government fast-tracked visas for 11 Afghan army officers who studied at Australian defence colleges after officials warned Peter Dutton a failure to help them would generate negative news stories, documents reveal.

A briefing to the defence minister, obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws, said the group was “of high profile and at considerable risk” of Taliban retribution.

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‘False hope’: refugee charity attacks UK’s Homes for Ukraine scheme

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Positive Action in Housing says visas not being granted and refugees seeking sponsors are putting themselves in danger

A charity that is helping Ukrainian refugees trying to come to the UK has said no visas have been granted to those it is supporting, nearly a fortnight after a government scheme was launched.

The head of Positive Action in Housing, Robina Qureshi, said the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme had given people “false hope” and amounted to a “gimmick”.

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Michelin-starred chef criticises response of UN and EU to Ukraine refugee crisis

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José Andrés, who is providing millions of meals for refugees, accuses humanitarian organisations of lack of leadership

A chef and humanitarian who has been serving millions of meals to Ukrainians has accused the UN and the EU of a lack of leadership in response to the refugee crisis, warning of a “huge humanitarian emergency at the doorstep of Europe”.

Speaking from Lviv in Ukraine, José Andrés, a two-Michelin-starred Spanish-American chef who runs not-for-profit World Central Kitchen (WCK) claimed the UN and the EU do not have enough “boots on the ground” to care for the refugees. WCK has served more than 3m meals in the region since the start of Russia’s invasion.

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Vladimir Putin ‘cannot remain in power’ Joe Biden says in Warsaw speech

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US president casts Ukraine war as continuation of long struggle for democracy against Russian brute force

Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”, US president Joe Biden said in Warsaw on Saturday in a speech addressing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, a White House official said soon after the speech that Biden was not calling for regime change in Russia.

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Australia agrees 450 refugees can be resettled in New Zealand, nine years after deal first offered

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Under the deal 150 refugees a year held on Nauru, or who have come to Australia temporarily, will be eligible for resettlement

Up to 450 refugees from Australia’s regional processing centres will be resettled in New Zealand over the next three years, after the Coalition belatedly took up a long-standing agreement struck more than nine years ago.

Up to 150 refugees a year will be able to go to New Zealand, under the deal announced by Australia’s home affairs minister, Karen Andrews, and the New Zealand immigration minister, Kris Faafoi, on Thursday.

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UK set to criminalise illicit refugee crossings after ministers avoid Commons rebellion

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Government wins string of votes to restore elements of controversial borders and nationality bill removed by Lords

The UK appears set to criminalise illicit refugee crossings and could ship asylum seekers for processing in other countries after ministers easily saw off a potential rebellion in the Commons over the controversial borders and nationality bill.

Despite a number of Conservative backbenchers expressing concerns about aspects of the bill, the government convincingly won a string of votes to restore elements changed in the House of Lords, including the idea of Australian-style third country processing.

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Trolls and traffickers target Facebook group for Ukrainian refugees

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Technology firm should help spot Russian-based users, says founder of group matching up with UK hosts

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

One of the largest Facebook groups matching Ukrainian refugees with UK host families has warned of the dangers of infiltration posed by Russian trolls and traffickers.

Room for Ukrainians in the UK is a Facebook group that was set up little over two weeks ago and already has 12,500 members. Most of those posting are Ukrainians in need of sponsors and British people who want to open their homes to the new arrivals.

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Dragons’ Den investor signs up to Homes for Ukraine refugee scheme

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Steven Bartlett says he would donate monthly payment from scheme to Disasters Emergency Committee

An entrepreneur and investor on BBC programme Dragons’ Den has announced he has signed up to offer his home to a Ukrainian family fleeing the war as part of the UK government’s sponsorship scheme.

Steven Bartlett, the 29-year-old author and podcaster, said he had applied to the initiative and hoped to house refugees in the spare room of his home in London.

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Stranded Nigerians accuse UK of ignoring pleas of black refugees fleeing Ukraine

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Critics say race is an issue in treatment of African students fleeing war in Ukraine

Two weeks ago, Alani Iyanuoluwa fled Kyiv as the Russian invasion intensified. Making her way across Europe, the 24-year-old hoped to be reunited with family in London. Yet for 10 days she has been stranded in a French port – because she is Nigerian.

Iyanuoluwa is among a growing number of refugees who claim the British government is ignoring black people who fled Ukraine.

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Ukrainian refugees with UK relatives frustrated by Home Office visa delays

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People who have applied to join relatives in the UK face long waits for visa approvals

Ukrainian refugees waiting to travel to join relatives in Britain have voiced frustration at the length of time the Home Office is taking to process UK visas, despite government promises to streamline the system.

As the Homes for Ukraine scheme launched on Friday, allowing UK residents to sponsor visas for non-family members, Ukrainians who had already applied to join relatives in Britain under an earlier scheme expressed dismay at the long waits for visa approvals.

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