Migration & Refugees

U.S. Immigration System’s Cost, Reach “Unprecedented”

By Carey L. Biron
The United States government is spending more on immigration enforcement each year than it is on all other federal law-enforcement agencies combined, according to the first comprehensive look at how the country’s sprawling immigration complex has grown over the past decade.

The Mindlessness of War in Afghanistan

By Noor Wali Sheenwari
One night in 1979, bombs dropped from the sky, killing 16 members of Ismail’s family. “The war took some people to Europe and America, but it destroyed my family,” Ismail, who is universally addressed as “uncle”, says.

Iceland Tackles ‘Invisible’ Trafficking

By Lowana Veal
For 18 months, a Chinese immigrant named Xing Haiou slept on a massage table in a windowless room in Reykjavik after completing his 12-hour workday.

Funding Shortage Thwarts Reconstruction Efforts

By Amantha Perera
The landscape in northern Sri Lanka’s former war zone can change abruptly from the ordinary to the surreal.

First Strike in Quarter Century Exposes Treatment of Migrant Labour in Singapore

By Kalinga Seneviratne
The first workers strike in 26 years in this affluent Southeast Asian city-state has triggered some soul-searching about the treatment of migrant labour and the low wages they are paid.

Drug-Resistant Malaria Pushes Rural Thailand to Shoulder Global Role

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
As Thailand braces itself to combat drug-resistant malaria, a spread of small, nondescript buildings scattered close to corn and rice fields along its hilly, western border are being cast into a bigger, international role.
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Q&A: In “Black and Cuba”, A New Approach to Discussing Race

By Rebecca Hanser
Robin J. Hayes has always been one to break boundaries. Most recently, she is doing so with her latest documentary film, "Black and Cuba", which explores how African-Americans and Afro-Cubans can learn from each other about community-building and public debates on racism in their countries.

Detained at the Eastern Border – Part 2

By Claudia Ciobanu
Twenty-two years ago today, on Dec. 18, 1990, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

Remittances Soothe the Scourge of Militancy

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Fifty-nine-year-old Sherdil Shah, a resident of South Waziristan – a hotbed of militancy in northern Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) – used to run a modest grain shop that fetched enough money to keep his family of 10 well-fed and looked after.

Detained at the Eastern Border – Part 1

By Claudia Ciobanu
A recent hunger strike, involving over 70 migrants detained in heavily guarded centers across Poland, is forcing the country to face its new responsibilities as a migration hub within the European Union.

Seven Years After Katrina, Preparing for the Next Disaster

By Matthew Charles Cardinale
Many residents are still rebuilding their lives seven years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region of the United States. Those who are able are looking ahead and organising so that they will be better prepared for future natural disasters.

Despite Crises, Migration Still a Political Hot Potato

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations will commemorate its annual International Migrants Day next week amidst reports of a rising tide of anti-migrant sentiments – primarily in Europe.
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First Muslim Human Rights Commission to Launch End December

By Carey L. Biron
Gathering for the first time here in Washington, representatives of the newly established human rights commission of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) stated Thursday that they plan to start their substantive work by the end of the month.
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Q&A: For Day Labourers, Life Is a Game of Russian Roulette

By Rebecca Hanser
They wait in parking lots, hoping for someone to come and offer them a few days of work. This work could entail anything from cleaning to construction, and though they may not be trained or equipped for these types of jobs, they have little choice, for they are day labourers, undocumented immigrants with no legal or moral support and subject at the mercy of their employers.

Off the Blacklist Doesn’t Imply Improvement in Human Rights in Colombia

By Constanza Vieira
Colombia will be removed from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights “blacklist” next year. In exchange, the government of Juan Manuel Santos facilitated a visit to the country by a delegation from the Commission.
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A Hotter World Is a Hungry World

By Stephen Leahy
Food prices will soar and hundreds of millions will starve without urgent action to make major cuts in fossil fuel emissions. That is what is at stake here on the last day of the U.N. climate talks known as COP 18, scientists and activists say.

Germany Grapples with Diversity

By Francesca Dziadek
With a persistent undercurrent of discrimination against foreigners, ‘Gastarbeiter’ (guest workers) and citizens of colour, despite the fact that 20 percent of its population - roughly 16 million residents - are from an immigrant background, Germany is faced with the urgent task of rethinking its ambivalence towards diversity.

An Empty Table at Doha Climate Talks

By Stephen Leahy
United Nations climate talks are on the edge of collapse Thursday, according to a coalition of civil society and representatives from half of the world's countries.

For Day Labourers Critical to Hurricane Recovery, Rights Are Few

By Rebecca Hanser
Undocumented immigrants have played a significant role in recovery efforts since Hurricane Sandy swept the northeast United States one month ago. But despite their contributions, they have been left in the storm's wake with little financial, legal or moral support.

OP-ED: Loss and Damage from Climate Change Must Not Become the “New Normal”

By Sam Bickersteth
As United Nations climate talks get underway this week in Doha, Qatar, they show a subtle, unsettling shift in the global climate change debate.

Veracruz – a Black Hole in Mexico

By Daniela Pastrana
Something smells rotten in the state of Veracruz. In Xalapa, the capital of this eastern Mexican state, known as the “Athens of Veracruz” because of its strong cultural tradition, fear is in the air.
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