Migration & Refugees

CANADA: Anti-Smuggling Law Punishes Victims, Critics Charge

By IPS Correspondents
A former immigration officer and a refugee lawyer both agree on one issue regarding a controversial Canadian bill: The government's plan to expedite anti-human smuggling legislation is unlikely to deter the flood of undocumented migrants to the country and instead bolsters Ottawa's stature as tough on protecting national borders.

MIDEAST: Palestinian Refugees Consider a Model for Return

By IPS Correspondents
In a new project that has tackled one of the most divisive issues plaguing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, a diverse group of academics, architects, urban planners and Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups are examining how the right of return of Palestinian refugees can be implemented on the ground.

TURKEY: In Border Province, Syrian Refugees Live in Limbo

By Jay Cassano
Four months ago, the international media were replete with reports of Syrian civilians fleeing Bashar al-Assad's regime into southern Turkey. Today, media both in and outside of Turkey appear to have forgotten the plight of these refugees.

Worsening Economy Hardening Views on Migrants

By IPS Correspondents
"Since the economic crisis, migrants are increasingly at risk from racism and xenophobia," president of the United Nations General Assembly Nassir Abdulaiziz Al-Nasser said at a meeting on migration and communication in Helsinki Thursday.

RIGHTS-JAPAN: Lifer’s Case Tells Migrant Workers’ Plight

By Suvendrini Kakuchi
A Nepalese worker serving life for a murder he denies committing has become the rallying point for activists lobbying for the rights of migrant labour.
Dilip Ratha Credit: Courtesy of Dilip Ratha

Q&A: Harnessing Diaspora Funds for Development Financing

By Thalif Deen
When the final aid figures for 2010 were tallied early this year, industrial nations claimed a record-high 129 billion dollars in official development assistance (ODA) to the world's poorer nations.

WESTERN SAHARA: Africa Should Slap Sanctions on Morocco

By IPS Correspondents
A firm call for African Union member states to impose sanctions against Morocco until it abides by the United Nations mandate that affirms the people of Western Sahara's right to self-determination was made at the Pan African Parliament proceedings.

For International Migrants, It May Be the Worst of Times

By Thalif Deen
When Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently addressed the U.N. General Assembly on the impact of migration on development, he counted himself as one of 214 million international migrants who live outside their home countries.

After Torture, Homelessness Is Lucky

By Cléo Fatoorehchi
When Saoul decided to take the risk of leaving Chechnya for France, he could not imagine how much trouble protection could mean once he got here.

GREECE: Lost Generation Begins to Leave

By Apostolis Fotiadis
Every working day a long queue of people forms outside the State Translation Service in Thission in downtown Athens from early in the morning. Most are youngsters processing documents they need to leave Greece for study or work. Many move on to queue later outside embassies for visas.

Caribbean Joins with EU, ACP to Better Manage Migration

By IPS Correspondents
With the exception of those pictures of Haitians in overcrowded, unseaworthy vessels trying to reach places like The Bahamas and the United States, the image of the Caribbean is usually not one that portrays people from poor developing countries desperately trying to scratch out a living among the scattered islands.

CANADA: Migrant Rights Tested by Most-Wanted List

By IPS Correspondents
Ottawa's clampdown on some of the country's worst criminal offenders by creating a public most-wanted list netted its most recent arrest only days ago, but the system has triggered a debate over the publishing of fugitives' names and the ethics and feasibility of changing Canadian immigration policy.

Despite Western Boycott, Racism Meet Gets Overwhelming Support

By Thalif Deen
A "boycott" by more than a dozen Western nations, including the United States, Germany, Canada and Israel, failed to derail a high-level meeting on racism and xenophobia hosted by the 193-member General Assembly.
Their homes and rice paddies submerged by flood waters these Hindu Bheels await government relief in shelters set up on the main road. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS

PAKISTAN: Flood Relief by Caste, Creed

By Zofeen Ebrahim
With just the clothes on their backs, Moora Sanafdhano, 68, and his family of nine waded through waist-deep flood waters swirling through their village of Allah Ditto Leghari, saving themselves in the nick of time.

MEXICO: Peace Caravan Tells Migrants “You Are Not Alone”

By Daniela Pastrana
Lucía and her family left their village in Guatemala village at 8:00 am to join the Peace Caravan, but they had to wait for six hours at the Rodolfo Robles bridge between Ciudad Tecún Umán, in Guatemala, and Ciudad Hidalgo, in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.
Charimaya Tamang (holding certificate), who received the U.S. government

NEPAL: No Brakes on Sex Trafficking

By Sudeshna Sarkar
While a Nepalese campaign to stop human trafficking gains recognition by the White House and Hollywood, Nepal continues to be a prime source for sex trafficking, thanks to unsettled conditions created by a protracted political crisis.

Europe Confronts Its Borders

By Simba Shani Kamaria Russeau
The influx of Tunisian migrants into Europe following the country’s ‘Jasmine Revolt’ has sparked a debate over the application of the passport-free Schengen Agreement.
Family of Congolese refugees in Brazil. Credit: UNHCR/L.F.Godinho

BRAZIL: African Refugees in the Amazon

By Fabíola Ortiz
Wilson Nicolas, from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was the first African refugee to find his way to Brazil's Amazon jungle region, and seems to have started a trend.

MEXICO: Climate Change Drives Migration

By Emilio Godoy
"We planted our seeds, but the earth is no longer productive. We've had too much rain, even more than last year, and the harvest was ruined," says Ermelinda Santiago of the Me'phaa indigenous people, who like everyone else in the village of Francisco I. Madero has been affected by the impact of extreme weather on agriculture in southern Mexico.
All that Alybe Nally has left to walk in. Credit: Karlos Zurutuza/IPS.

Libyan Rebels Hound Black Refugees

By Karlos Zurutuza
The Libyan revolution has been devastating for 20-year-old Alybe Nally from Nigeria, as it has been for countless others from Africa seen by the rebels as Gaddafi loyalists. "When the rebels took over Tripoli two weeks ago they took my money, my mobile, my passport...All I have is what you see now," he says, pointing to his mismatched pair of sandals.

US-LATAM: Human Trafficking Scourge Needs More Than Policing

By Rosemary D'Amour
South American experts and officials met in Washington this week to discuss current policy initiatives to combat human trafficking in their respective countries, part of a broader U.S.-wide tour to share information and strategies to deal with the issue.
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