| Italy accepts 146 refugees evacuated from Libya. A group of 146 refugees landed in Rome on Monday after being evacuated from detention centres in Tripoli by the UN Refugee Agency and Libyan authorities. Ongoing fighting in the Libyan capital is posing an increasing threat to more than 3,300 refugees and migrants still trapped in detention near the front lines. Italy is the first country to have come forward to accept evacuees from Libya since the recent violence began. UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said it was crucial that other States match Italy’s gesture and offer evacuation places. UNHCR has been moving refugees and migrants away from immediate danger, including to its Gathering and Departure Facility in Tripoli and to Niger, but the agency said on Monday that both of those options were approaching full capacity and that evacuations directly out of Libya would soon be the only available lifeline for vulnerable refugees. Reuters reports that fighting intensified on Monday, with both sides using artillery and with shelling heard in the centre of Tripoli from morning until late at night. | |
| Presidential memo directs US officials to toughen asylum rules. A memorandum signed by President Donald Trump on Monday directs the US departments of justice and homeland security to, within 90 days, introduce a number of new regulations affecting asylum policy. Specifically, the memo calls for authorities to establish a fee for asylum-seekers to file their claims and to apply for work permits. Those who enter the country irregularly will be barred from receiving a work permit until their claims are adjudicated. A former immigration official told Reuters that even a small application fee could be insurmountable for many asylum-seekers who arrive to the US with “little more than the shirts on their back”. The memo also orders officials to prepare a regulation that would ensure asylum applications are adjudicated within 180 days of filing, except under exceptional circumstances. With a backlog of more than 800,000 cases, asylum claims currently take an average of two years to be resolved. | | |
| The Rohingya entrepreneurs eking out a living in refugee camps. Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh lack the legal right to work, but despite such restrictions and occasional raids and crackdowns, makeshift businesses run by entrepreneurial refugees have sprung up throughout the sprawling settlements. The New Humanitarian met the people behind some of these refugee-run start-ups , which include pop-up cinemas and venues to watch televised football matches, snack vendors selling a taste of home, tailors and entertainers-for-hire. Following a visit to Bangladesh last week, where he was joined by UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi and IOM's director general, UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told reporters on Monday that he was concerned about the future of the refugees if they don’t get more access to education and livelihood opportunities. | | |
| UN Chief calls for global effort to end xenophobia and ‘loathsome rhetoric’. UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Monday of a “disturbing groundswell” of intolerance and hate-based violence aimed at worshippers across all faiths and called on world leaders to take action. He pointed to attacks in recent days on a synagogue in California and on a church in Burkina Faso. Guterres attributed the rise in such violent acts to “loathsome rhetoric: xenophobia aimed not only at religious groups but also at migrants, minorities and refugees”. He said the UN is responding with two initiatives. One will focus on tackling hate speech and will be led by his special representative on genocide prevention. The other will aim to ensure the safety of religious sanctuaries. | | |
| Peru deports more than 40 Venezuelans. The Venezuelans were arrested in different districts of the capital, Lima, in a police operation early on Monday, and put on a military plane to Venezuela hours later, reports Reuters. Peru’s interior minister, Carlos Moran, said most of those expelled had provided false sworn declarations in their residency applications that they had no criminal record, a violation of Peru’s migration law. Without providing details, he said others were deported for residing in the country illegally. Peru hosts the second largest number of Venezuelan refugees and migrants, after Colombia. Most of the 700,000 Venezuelans living there arrived in the past year. | | |
| Allowing refugees in Malaysia to work would boost economy, finds report. New research published today by a Malaysia-based think tank, the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, finds that granting refugees in Malaysia the right to work would have positive impacts for the economy and public finances. The report estimates that refugees could contribute more than US$725 million to Malaysia’s GDP by 2024, boosting tax revenues and creating jobs for Malaysians. The report also makes the case that the government should consider investing in education for refugees to increase their long-term economic contributions. In its election manifesto, the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition committed to giving refugees the right to work, but has yet to do so. | | |
| Syrian ballet dancer Ahmad Joudeh talked to Deutsche Welle about dancing in secret in the camp for Palestinian refugees where he grew up in Damascus and eventually gaining the support of his father, who initially disapproved of his chosen career. Now based in the Netherlands, Joudeh dreams of one day returning to Syria and setting up his own ballet company “to try to build again what we lost”. | | |
Since fighting in Tripoli began earlier this month, 42,000 people have been forced to flee their homes and 278 people have been killed.
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