Migration & Refugees

Mexico-U.S. border wall at Mariposa point-of-entry. Credit: Jeb Sprague/IPS

MEXICO: Global Forums to Focus on Abuses Against Immigrants

By Emilio Godoy
Civil society organisations from around the world are revving up to highlight how governments -- especially the United States and Mexico -- violate the rights of immigrants.

Hershey Chocolate Linked to Child Labour

By IPS Correspondents
Hershey, one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the U.S., is lagging behind other companies in taking steps to ensure decent working conditions in its supply chain, charges a new report.

MIGRATION-MEXICO: Crisis Sparked by Massacre Spurs Demands for In-depth Changes

By Emilio Godoy
Organisations working for the rights of undocumented immigrants are using the crisis triggered by the massacre of 72 migrants a few weeks ago near the U.S. border to press for in-depth changes in Mexico.

US: Global Horizons Indicted for Human Trafficking

By Pratap Chatterjee
Mordechai Orian, president of Global Horizons, a Los Angeles- based labour recruiter, has been indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for "engaging in a conspiracy to commit forced labour and document servitude" of approximately 400 Thai citizens who were brought to work on farms in the U.S. between May 2004 and September 2005.

MIGRATION-LATIN AMERICA: Another Wall Blocks Route to U.S.

By Danilo Valladares
Travelling without documents to the United States from Latin America can turn into an odyssey, in which migrants have to elude common criminals and drug traffickers along the way, not to mention the laws on migration. But now another obstacle is emerging: a wall between Guatemala and Mexico.

LABOUR: Newly Emboldened Burmese Workers Press for Change

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
When nearly 1,000 Burmese migrant workers launched a strike at a fishnet factory in north-east Thailand a week ago, activists expected it to be a short burst of anger. After all, this frequently abused labour force was often gripped with fear during brief work stoppages in the past elsewhere in this South-east Asian kingdom.
Daniela Rodrigues, of SOS Racism, condemns ongoing anti-Roma government actions. Credit: Katalin Muharay/IPS

EUROPE: Roma Conference Decries Government-Led Discrimination

By Mario de Queiroz
Over the centuries, racism in the Americas has targeted indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, while in Europe, secular racism has long centred on its once-enslaved gypsies, as their recent persecution in France and Italy confirms.

MIGRATION: Ecuador’s Open Door Begins to Close for Some

By Gonzalo Ortiz
The Ecuadorean government's policy of "universal citizenship," which did away with visas or other requirements for foreigners entering the country, has clashed with the reality that Ecuador is being used for human trafficking -- so now there are some exceptions.

Slammed For Its Roma Expulsions, France Shifts Rhetoric

By IPS Correspondents
Faced with mounting criticism because of its expulsions of Roma, or Gypsies, the French government is trying to gain allies in what it calls the "battle" against undocumented immigration and people-trafficking networks.

MIGRATION-MEXICO: A Cemetery without Tombstones or Epitaphs

By Danilo Valladares
With a backpack full of dreams, Gelder Lizardo Boche, a 17-year-old from Guatemala, set out for the United States on Aug. 9 from his hometown of San Antonio La Paz, with two brothers-in-law.

EUROPE: New Expulsions Hit People Without a Place

By IPS Correspondents
Roma gypsies are routinely described as Europe's largest ethnic minority. Numbering between 10 and 16 million, their combined population exceeds that of many European Union countries. Yet their numerical strength offers no compensation for the poverty, persecution and scapegoating that the Roma have to endure -- or for how their welfare is accorded a low priority by the EU's institutions.

Tamaulipas, Mexico’s Black Hole

By Daniela Pastrana
Tamaulipas state has become the black hole of organised crime in Mexico. But there are few accounts of the rapid social breakdown that the northeastern border state has experienced since the start of the year, because the local press is silenced.
Migrants waiting in El Naranjo, Guatemala for the 'coyote' who will smuggle them into Mexico. Credit: Wilfredo Díaz/IPS

Mexico Massacre Galvanises Migrant Rights Activists

By Emilio Godoy
Activists in Latin America have been galvanised by atrocities like the recent massacre of 72 migrants near the U.S. border to step up their efforts on behalf of migrant rights.

Climate-related Security Predictions Coming True in Pakistan

By IPS Correspondents
Analysts have been warning for several years that the impacts of climate change directly relate to the national security of the U.S. and other countries, but the link has never been so clear as it is today in northwest Pakistan.
Some 240,000 census workers are surveying 58 million households in 5,565 municipalities. Credit: Courtesy of IBGE

Brazil Aims for World’s “Most Perfect” Population Census

By Thalif Deen
Come Dec. 31, about 68 countries are expected to complete the arduous task of taking an accurate head count of the number of people living within their geographical borders.

US: Deported for Running a Red Light

By IPS Correspondents
A government programme designed to prosecute serious criminals is instead deporting people who received traffic tickets and committed other minor offences, according to immigration rights advocacy groups.

US: Immigration System a Broken Behemoth, Groups Say

By Jim Lobe
One year after the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama announced that it intended to overhaul the country's heavily criticised immigration detention practices and create a "truly civil detention system", a new academic paper bolsters claims by human rights groups that real reform is still a long way off.

Haitians in DR Reap Far Less than They Sow

By IPS Correspondents
Luis Miguel, a soft-spoken and serious 21-year-old from Haiti's Artibonnite Valley, stands on a ridge overlooking the small farm in the Dominican Cibao where he works as the owner's overseer. He adopted his Dominican moniker in order to fit in.

Commission Takes a Hard Look at Free-for-All Migration

By IPS Correspondents
At 35, Daniel James has his mind set on leaving Trinidad and Tobago "for greener pastures".

EUROPE: Citizen Rights Don’t Apply to Roma

By Claudia Ciobanu
All major European countries plan mass expulsions of Roma or demolitions of Roma settlements. Rights groups warn that these measures entail the criminalisation of an entire ethnic group, and break EU law.

LEBANON: Racism Legitimised by Law

By Mona Alami
Lebanon has a reputation for openness because of the relative freedom enjoyed by women in comparison to other Middle Eastern countries. But many women face rampant discrimination.
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