Migration & Refugees

A nutritionist assesses the health of a child: red indicates severe malnutrition. Credit: Kristin Palitza/IPS

Drought in Sahel Affects Urban Cameroonians

By Ngala Killian Chimtom and - -
Sala Aminata, a housewife from the Logone and Shari Division in Cameroon’s Far North Region, looks at her six kids with apprehension as she tries to figure out how to feed them with her meagre salary.

Afghan Refugees Hounded in Pakistan

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government recently launched a harsh crackdown on illegal Afghan immigrants who have been pouring across the border into Pakistan, going so far as to request federal government permission to deal with the situation, which has deep social and economic implications for the host country.

Afghan Refugees Hounded in Pakistan

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government recently launched a harsh crackdown on illegal Afghan immigrants who have been pouring across the border into Pakistan, going so far as to request federal government permission to deal with the situation, which has deep social and economic implications for the host country.

Jordanian NGOs Lead the Fight for Migrant Workers’ Rights

By Myriam Merlant
As the number of domestic workers flooding into Jordan from Indonesia, Philippines and Sri Lanka reaches 140,000 annually, non-governmental organisations on the ground are working hard to protect migrant labourers’ rights and expose the terrible working conditions in the rich households that employ them.
Santo Antonio hydroelectric plant construction site in October 2010. Credit: Mario Osava/IPS

Brazil’s Construction Boom Eases Integration of Haitians

By Mario Osava
Pierre was in the next-door country of Dominican Republic when the January 2010 earthquake destroyed half of Port-au-Prince and killed at least 200,000 of his fellow Haitians, including his wife and his mother.

Spain to Reform, But Not Shut Down, Immigrant Detention Centres

By Inés Benítez
The Spanish government has decided to reform the country’s Immigrant Detention Centres (CIEs) in response to a wave of criticism of the way they are run, following the death of two migrants. But the announcement has not toned down the campaign for closure of what many regard as prisons.

Poles Apart in These Online Wars

By Frank Mulder
Many people are appalled by the anti-Polish website established recently by the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV). The site encourages complaints against migrant workers from Central and Eastern Europe, particularly from Poland. The Poles are hitting back with their own hotlines, and humour.

Latin American Migrants Flee Crisis in Spain

By Inés Benítez
"What on earth is happening to Spain?" asks Hernán Bocchio, a 43-year-old Argentine architect with three children who has been unemployed for four years and is considering a job offer from Brazil.

Some Swiss Parcels With Migrants In Them

By Ray Smith
Two years ago, a Nigerian asylum seeker died during a forced deportation attempt from Switzerland. Now, the prosecution has dismissed the case, leaving nobody responsible for the young man's death. Instead of re-assessing the deportation system, Swiss authorities prefer ignorance.

Migrant Workers in Singapore Demand Justice

By Kalinga Seneviratne
When a group of about 100 mostly Bangladeshi migrant workers went on strike at a construction site over unpaid wages this month, it created ripples in this affluent and orderly island republic.

Canada’s Tough New Crime Bill May Violate Child Rights

By Jillian Kestler-D'Amours
As the Senate debates the merits of the Canadian government's newly-passed omnibus crime bill, organisations across the country have raised serious issues with the legislation, particularly when it comes to amendments relating to the treatment of young offenders.

UNICEF Funding Falls Short Leaving Millions of Children at Risk

By Bari Bates
If the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) had 1.28 billion dollars it could help 97 million people around the world.

The Ancient Wither in New Iraq

By Karlos Zurutuza
"I’d say there are around 5,000 of us in the country, but if you ask me next week we may well be under 3,000. After twenty centuries of history in Mesopotamia, we Mandaeans, are about to vanish." Anxiety about the future of his people is more than evident in the figures given by Saad Atiah Majid, chairman of Basra’s Mandaean Council.

SWITZERLAND: Resistance Rises to Asylum Seekers

By Ray Smith
Switzerland saw a 45 percent increase in asylum requests compared in 2011 to the year before. The country struggles to accommodate the new asylum seekers while efforts to put up new centres face fierce resistance by local people.

SOUTH SUDAN: Still Counting the Dead in Inter-Ethnic Conflict

By Jared Ferrie
In the ward of a partially destroyed clinic, Mangiro (who did not give his last name) sat on a bed next to his wounded nine-year-old daughter, Ngathin. The little girl is fortunate, she survived the recent inter-ethnic clashes in Pibor county that killed her mother and sisters.

MEXICO: Even Educated Young Women Face Poor, Jobless Future

By Guadalupe Cruz Jaimes
The year 2012 started off with little promise for workers in Mexico, with analysts projecting job losses and wages below subsistence levels.

Haitian Diaspora Tests Brazil’s International Solidarity

By Fabiana Frayssinet
Brazil, for decades a source of migrants to the United States and Europe, is now facing its own humanitarian challenge: applying the international solidarity it trumpets to the Haitians who are arriving in the thousands, in search of a better life.

KYRGYZSTAN: China Expanding Influence, One Student at a Time

By Chris Rickleton
Among its Central Asian neighbours, China these days is more often feared than loved. This attitude is perhaps most apparent in Kyrgyzstan, where despite an overwhelming dependence on Chinese imports, Chinese-owned malls and mining pits have been the subject of attacks in recent years; nationalist editorials in the local press play on fears of the Middle Kingdom.

PORTUGAL: No Jobs? Just Emigrate!

By - - and Mario Queiroz
Hounded by the economic crisis that shows no signs of letting up and by political leaders of all stripes, Portugal's conservative Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho sent out an unprecedented message to his fellow citizens: emigrate.

Cubans Hope for Migration Reform

By - - and Dalia Acosta
Whether or not they live in Cuba, whatever their political affiliation, most people consulted by IPS want changes to Cuban migration policy that include three key elements: freedom, rights and normalisation.

False Perceptions Underpin Anti-Migrant Sentiments

By Thalif Deen
The rising tide of anti-migrant sentiment worldwide is caused primarily by the biased, polarised and negative debate on migration, according to a new study released here.
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