Category Archives: Refugees

Former Manus Island detainee tells UN ‘human beings are being destroyed’

Posted on by

Abdul Aziz Muhamat delivers a plea for urgent action to the Human Rights Council

Since Abdul Aziz Muhamat left Manus Island for the last time, he has climbed a mountain in his new home of Switzerland, and then returned to advocating for the resettlement of the hundreds of men and women he left behind.

The Sudanese refugee spent more than six years in Australia’s offshore processing and detention system in Papua New Guinea, before he was granted residency in the European nation earlier this month.

Continue reading...

Bangladeshi migrants in Tunisia forced to return home, aid groups claim

Posted on by

Relatives say more than 30 people stuck at sea told to go home or lose food and water

More than 30 migrants from Bangladesh who were trapped on a merchant ship off Tunisia for three weeks have been sent back to their home country against their will, according to relatives.

They were among 75 migrants rescued on 31 May by the Maridive 601, an Egyptian tugboat that services offshore oil platforms, only to spend the next 20 days at sea near the Tunisian coast.

Continue reading...

Refugees Got Talent: UN-backed show aims to change perceptions

Posted on by

Poet, dancer and a reggae singer were among those displaying their skills in Sicily

A teenage poet from Nigeria, a reggae singer from Sierra Leona and a Colombian dancer were among those competing in Sicily this weekend in a UN-backed talent show aimed at reshaping the narrative around migrants.

Refugees Got Talent, the first event of its kind to be held on an international level, featured dozens of people seeking shelter from war-torn countries, as well as victims of human trafficking. This weekend, 13 finalists showed off their skills in Catania, performing songs, music, art and theatre in front of a judging panel that included the British actor Douglas Booth.

Continue reading...

From Somali refugee to England’s first female Muslim football referee

Posted on by

Jawahir Roble’s love of football was forged on the streets of wartorn Mogadishu. Now she is training and inspiring young female footballers in the UK

On a sunny afternoon, a group of mothers in hijabs sit on the bench of a football pitch, watching their daughters play football at the Stonebridge recreation ground in north-west London.

As World Cup fever grips the UK, the girls’ enthusiasm for the training session is matched by their obvious adoration of their coach and referee, Jawahir Roble, known as JJ to her friends.

Continue reading...

Canada took in more refugees than any other country in 2018, UN says

Posted on by

Canada resettled 28,100 refugees last year, overtaking the US for the first time since the 1980 Refugee Act, UN report found

Canada took in more refugees than any other country in the world in 2018, according to a United Nations report, knocking the US from its position as global leader in resettling people fleeing war, persecution and conflict.

Canada resettled 28,1000 refugees in 2018, overtaking the US for the first time since the 1980 Refugee Act, said the report from the UN high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) on Wednesday.

Continue reading...

Migrants stranded at sea for three weeks now risk deportation, aid groups warn

Posted on by

Group of 75 people survive prolonged ordeal but could now be made to leave Tunisia

A group of migrants who spent nearly three weeks trapped onboard a merchant ship in torrid conditions face possible deportation to their home countries after they were finally allowed to disembark in Tunisia, aid groups have warned.

The 75 migrants, about half of whom are minors or unaccompanied children, were rescued on 31 May by the Maridive 601 only to spend the next 20 days at sea as European authorities refused to let them land.

Continue reading...

More than 70 million people now fleeing conflict and oppression worldwide

Posted on by

One in every 108 people were displaced in 2018, yet offers of resettlement were half level of previous year

The number of people forced to flee their homes across the world has exceeded 70 million for the first time since records began, the UN’s refugee agency has warned.

About 70.8 million – one in every 108 people worldwide – were displaced in 2018. This includes people who were forced to flee their homes last year, as well as people who have been unable to return home for years.

Continue reading...

Thousands of Syrian refugees could be sent back, says Lebanese minister

Posted on by

Gebran Bassil claims many refugees are not living in political fear, but stay for economic reasons

As many as three quarters of Syrian refugees in Lebanon could return to Syria because they face no fear of political persecution or threat to their security, Lebanon’s controversial foreign minister has said.

Gebran Bassil also urged the UK to rethink how it was spending aid money on keeping 1.5 million refugees in Lebanon, where he said they were taking the jobs from the Lebanese, and undercutting wages.

Continue reading...

Captain of migrant rescue ship says Italy ‘criminalising solidarity’

Posted on by

Pia Klemp, one of the Iuventa 10, says it is ‘ridiculous’ that she could face jail

A captain of a search-and-rescue ship potentially facing up to 20 years in jail in connection with her role in saving 6,000 people from drowning in the Mediterranean has accused the EU of letting people die and the Italian authorities of “criminalising solidarity”.

Pia Klemp, 35, who skippered the Iuventa, a vessel run by an NGO, stands accused with nine others of aiding and abetting illegal migration in relation to their role in seeking to rescue people in danger after fleeing the Libyan coast for Europe.

Continue reading...

Cold, alone and scared: teenage refugee tells of Channel crossing

Posted on by
A teenager from Afghanistan who survived the ‘dark, cold and dangerous’ journey talks about her ordeal – and hopes for the future

Most people were still asleep on Christmas Day when Ameena landed in England. She remembers stumbling onto the Kent beach in total darkness, retching with sea sickness.

“When I arrived I was vomiting everywhere,” the teenager told the Observer during the first media interview with an unaccompanied child refugee who has entered the UK by boat.

Continue reading...

Venezuela’s ‘staggering’ exodus reaches 4 million, UN refugee agency says

Posted on by
  • Social and political crisis drives tide of migrants
  • Colombia and Peru host half of fleeing Venezuelans

More than 4 million Venezuelans have now fled economic and humanitarian chaos in what the UN’s refugee agency called a “staggering” exodus that has swelled by 1 million people since last November alone.

Related: Venezuela at the crossroads: the who, what and why of the crisis

Continue reading...

People smuggling at top of Peter Dutton’s agenda during Sri Lanka visit

Posted on by

Home affairs minister to hold high-level meetings and says Australia will help country rebuild after Easter terrorist attacks

The home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, will hold high-level meetings in Sri Lanka on Tuesday, with people smuggling at the top of the agenda.

Dutton is due to meet Sri Lanka’s president Maith­ripala Sirisena, prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministerial counterpart in Colombo on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

ICC submission calls for prosecution of EU over migrant deaths

Posted on by

Member states should face punitive action over deaths in Mediterranean, say lawyers

The EU and member states should be prosecuted for the deaths of thousands of migrants who drowned in the Mediterranean fleeing Libya, according to a detailed legal submission to the international criminal court (ICC).

The 245-page document calls for punitive action over the EU’s deterrence-based migration policy after 2014, which allegedly “intended to sacrifice the lives of migrants in distress at sea, with the sole objective of dissuading others in similar situation from seeking safe haven in Europe”.

Continue reading...

‘Do they actually care?’ Rwanda survivors don’t understand why Australia took in rebels

Posted on by

Rwandan community doesn’t want genocide victims’ families living in Australia to experience additional trauma

Celestin Ngoga knows what happens when Rwanda’s traumatic history comes hurtling into the present.

He’s been on European streets with genocide survivors when they encountered their attackers by chance. It can happen in English classes, he says, or on the train, or in shopping centres.

Continue reading...

US was ‘certain’ Rwandan pair in Australia were members of banned ‘terror group’

Posted on by

Former prosecutor says US was confident when charges were brought that the two men were part of a Hutu rebel group

The attorney who brought charges against two Rwandan men recently resettled in Australia says the United States was “certain” they were members of a Hutu rebel group that was later designated a terror group by the US government.

The comments again raise questions about how the pair managed to pass Australia’s tough and vigorously applied character and security checks, under which others have been deported for minor offences or historical associations with criminal groups.

Continue reading...

Resettlement of Rwandan rebels labelled a ‘frustrating’ hypocrisy

Posted on by

‘There never seems to be any consistent rule or fairness,’ specialist migration lawyer

A 28-year veteran of migration law whose Rwandan clients have all been denied Australia’s protection says the resettlement of two members of a violent Hutu rebel group shows a “frustrating” double standard.

Australia’s deal with the US to take in two former members of the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda, once designated a terrorist group by the US, has prompted consternation among some experts and lawyers. The pair were languishing in US detention after the collapse of a case against them for the slaughter of tourists in Uganda in 1999.

Continue reading...

Refugee jailed for smuggling injured niece into UK reunited with family

Posted on by

Home Office releases Najat Ibrahim Ismail, an Iraqi Kurd who faced deportation three times

A man who brought his baby niece to the UK from a French refugee camp after she sustained serious burns has been released from detention and reunited with his family.

Najat Ibrahim Ismail, 32, an Iraqi Kurd, faced three attempts by the Home Office to put him on a plane to Iraq in recent weeks. He is married to a British woman, Emma Ismail, and has three young British children, including a 10-year-old son who has autism.

Continue reading...

Hungary accused of fuelling xenophobia with anti-migrant rhetoric

Posted on by

Council of Europe’s damning report says human rights violations must be urgently addressed

Europe’s top human rights watchdog has accused Hungary’s government of violating people’s rights and using anti-migrant rhetoric that fuels “xenophobic attitudes, fear and hatred”.

A damning report from the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, Dunja Mijatović, concluded: “Human rights violations in Hungary have a negative effect on the whole protection system and the rule of law” and should “be addressed as a matter of urgency”.

Continue reading...

Transfer of vulnerable child refugees from France to UK to end, charities say

Posted on by

Home Office refuses to confirm plans, but campaigners warn Dubs scheme closure would leave minors facing ‘daily risk’ of abuse

The scheme to transfer vulnerable child refugees from France to Britain is being ended, the Guardian has learned, leaving hundreds of lone children facing a “daily risk” of exploitation in Dunkirk and Calais.

Charities in France say they have been told by French authorities that only nine more children, who have already been identified, will be transferred to the UK under the Dubs scheme for unaccompanied child refugees.

Continue reading...