Migration & Refugees

Supporters at the African Corner Bar, Johannesburg. Credit: Nastasya Tay/IPS

WORLD CUP: United For Africa – Making it Last

By Nastasya Tay
Perhaps Africa's World Cup began in earnest on Jun. 16, when a despondent green and gold-clad crowd began leaving the Loftus Versfeld stadium even before the end of South Africa's heavy defeat to Uruguay. Migrant African fans felt the first touch of cold post-tournament reality.
Rose Mapendo is finally reunited with her daughter Nangabire after more than a decade. Credit: Still image from "Pushing the Elephant"

FILM: A Congolese Woman’s Journey of Survival and Triumph

By IPS Correspondents
Suffering through the atrocities of war affects people in different ways. Some become crippled by anger, others by fear. Some become violent and want only revenge. And some, like Rose Mapendo, an inspiring survivor of the war and ethnic cleansing in the Democratic Republic of Congo, come out with a strong commitment to work for peace and reconciliation.

RIGHTS: Problems Beset Cambodia’s Anti-Trafficking Campaign

By Irwin Loy
Worrying trends continue to plague Cambodia and provide considerable concern for the future despite the gains it has reportedly made in combating human trafficking.

Swiss Plan to Gag Refugees

By Ray Smith
Only two years after its last revision, the Swiss Asylum Act is about to be 'reformed' again. The changes include a gag order on political activism for asylum-seekers and a modification of the concept of a refugee.
Truck in northern Niger: thousands of migrants cross the Sahara to Libya in hopes of traveling on to Europe. Credit: Ibrahim Diallo Manzo/IRIN

LIBYA: Death Penalty Falls Heavily on Migrants

By Laure Pichegru
The Libyan government handed over 276 prisoners to authorities from neighbouring Niger on Jun. 17. But none of the dozen or more Nigeriens facing the death sentence in Libya were among them.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Human Trafficking Exposes ASEAN’s Underbelly

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
In the wake of a new U.S. government report on human trafficking, human rights and migrant rights activists are calling on a South-east Asian regional bloc to review its polices toward this scourge to protect the group’s most vulnerable citizens – its women and children.

EAST EUROPE: Healthcare Ails as Doctors, Nurses Emigrate

By IPS Correspondents
Senior medical figures in Eastern Europe have issued stark warnings that the region's healthcare sector is both unstable and unsustainable as health workers continue to leave in droves for jobs abroad.

EU: With Refuge Like This…

By IPS Correspondents
Habtom, a 30-year-old Eritrean, has all the grim qualifications needed to be a refugee. He was arrested for protesting a dictatorship, tortured in custody, and fears his life would be at risk if he returned home. Another part of his story is also typical: he suffered lengthy detention in a European Union nominally committed to the universal defence of human rights.

Human Trafficking Still Widespread, U.S. Included

By IPS Correspondents
Ten years ago, the U.S. State Department issued its first annual review of governments' efforts to combat human trafficking. Monday, the report included the U.S.'s own struggles with the problem for the first time.
Khaled and Ahmad at the Bourj Barajneh camp. Credit: Mona Alami/IPS

MIDEAST: Most Palestinians in Lebanon Stay Unemployed

By Mona Alami
Lebanon’s record of segregating Palestinians is not much better than that of Israel. Since their exodus here, after the establishment of Israel in 1948, Palestinians have been systemically denied equal employment and social rights.
Mirsad Tokaca Credit: Vesna Peric Zimonjic/IPS

Q&A: Laying to Rest the Ghosts of the Past – With Truth

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic
This year marks 15 years since the bloody war in Bosnia - Herzegovina (BH) ended. Apart from the 44-month siege of the capital of Sarajevo by Bosnian Serb forces there was the massacre of some 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys after the United Nations-protected enclave of Srebrenica fell into their hands.

CHINA: Spate of Factory Suicides Exposes Sorry Plight of Workers

By Mitch Moxley
Ma Xiangqian, a 19-year-old migrant from the eastern Chinese province of Henan, worked the 11-hour night shift, seven days a week, putting together electronic parts for Foxconn Technology, the world’s biggest contract maker of information technology goods.
French immigration minister Eric Besson with MoneyGram's CEO Pamela Patsley. Credit: Ale McKenzie/IPS

FRANCE: Migrants’ Remittances Are a Cash Cow

By IPS Correspondents
Immigrants in France send some eight billion euro (9.6 billion US dollars) a year back to their countries of origin, often paying exorbitant fees - though the French government has announced moves to lower tariffs.

CAMBODIA: Premier Hun Sen Profits from Suppression and Aid

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is savouring another victory. His latest triumph: a string of verdicts against an outspoken female opposition lawmaker, Mu Sochua, who had accused him of making derogatory remarks about her.

Female Migrants Charge Sexual Abuse in Detention

By IPS Correspondents
In the wake of allegations that a male guard at a central Texas detention facility sexually assaulted female detainees on their way to being deported, immigrant advocacy groups say stronger oversight and accountability is urgently needed to prevent further abuse of female detainees.
Tidal inlets that feed mangrove forests in Orissa are blocked to clear land for farming. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS

INDIA: Mangroves Face Severe Threat from Human Activities

By Manipadma Jena
When a super cyclone devastated the coastal districts of Orissa state in 1999, the government pledged to regenerate 3,000 hectares of mangrove. Or so forest official Chandra Sekhar Kar thought.

Reform Groups Slam “Militarisation” of U.S.-Mexico Border

By Eli Clifton
President Barack Obama will be sending 1,200 National Guard troops to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border after pressure from both Republicans and Democrats to tighten border security and increase funding to combat the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S.
Ina and Stephen Welker witnessed the detention of Ismael Palafox, his wife and teenage son. Credit: Valeria Fernandez/IPS

Arizona Law Already in Effect for Some Immigrants

By Valeria Fernández
It's not the law yet, but for undocumented immigrants like Ismael Palafox and his family, SB 1070 is already a reality.
Fighter from the Brej refugee camp in Gaza. Credit: Mel Frykberg/IPS

MIDEAST: Hamas’ Turn to Demolish Palestinian Homes

By Mel Frykberg
On Sunday approximately 150 Palestinians from 20 families were driven out of their homes in Rafah, in the southern Gaza strip, by heavily armed police and soldiers who menaced them with clubs.

FRANCE: Burqa Ban May Prove Counter-Productive

By IPS Correspondents
France is likely to have a law banning the burqa by autumn of this year, but human rights groups say that such legislation would be discriminatory, counter-productive and also difficult to enforce.

US-MEXICO: State Visit Highlights Ties, Frustrations

By Jim Lobe
With no major new initiatives on the agenda, President Felipe Calderón's state visit here this week appeared designed primarily to highlight increasingly close ties between the United States and Mexico despite growing frustrations on both sides of the border over immigration, economics and security cooperation.
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