~theguardian-world | Bookmarks (41)

In announcement three weeks before election, José Raúl Mulino gave no details of how he would stop migrant flowPanama’s presidential frontrunner has vowed to “close” the Darién Gap, the swampy jungle straddling the border with Colombia that has become an unavoidable ordeal for many US-bound migrants – but experts criticised the idea as unworkable and potentially dangerous.Presided over by criminal groups and corrupt officials,...

Proponents of legislation for bloc say it will take away far-right arguments but critics claim the oppositeThe European parliament is to vote on Wednesday on sweeping new laws to overhaul its migration policy amid renewed criticism that it is feeding the agenda of the extreme right rather than protecting vulnerable people.Ylva Johansson, the home affairs commissioner who was the driving force behind the legislation,...

Net migration to New Zealand hit a near record high in 2023 after a new temporary work visa was introduced after the pandemicNew Zealand will tighten its visa rules for some migrants as the coalition government moves to overhaul the immigration system it says has led to “unsustainable” levels of migration.Last year, annual net migration to New Zealand hit a near record high of...

Exclusive: Visas created hastily to solve labour shortages expose people to ‘hyper-precarity’ and exploitationVisas created hastily to solve labour shortages as a result of Brexit have put workers at greater risk of modern slavery and exploitation, research has found.Strict conditions on agricultural and care visas created after Britain left the EU expose workers to “hyper-precarity” and increase their vulnerability to exploitation, a study by...

Fears of a new migration route grow as more than 800 people land on Gavdos, population fewer than 70, in a few monthsEven by the standards of small Greek islands, Gavdos is tiny. In a population of fewer than 70 people, there are just two families with four children. The rest “are all old people mostly living alone”, its mayor, Lilian Stefanaki, explains.It is...

Human Rights Law Centre says bill ‘deliberately separates families’ and risks non-compliance with obligations under refugee conventionFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastLegislation that would force hundreds of non-citizens to facilitate their own deportation or face imprisonment has been rushed through the lower house, despite warnings it breaches human rights...

International Organization for Migration believes those discovered ‘died in process of being smuggled through the desert’A mass grave containing at least 65 bodies has been discovered in south-west Libya this week, the UN migration agency said on Friday.A spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the mass grave was uncovered by Libyan security forces. Continue reading...

Investigation asserts that detention centre staff had key to cell in which men were being held but did not open door to let them outA new report has challenged the official version of events during a fire in a Mexican migrant detention facility that killed dozens, alleging that staff could have let the men out of their cell, but instead decided – or were...

Families say they were promised details of relatives’ whereabouts after contacting people they thought were linked to NGO in SpainFamilies of people who disappeared on the perilous journey from Africa to Europe have said they were asked to pay hundreds of euros in exchange for information about what had happened to their loved ones.In interviews with the Guardian, three families recounted how, as part...

Médecins Sans Frontières says ‘dangerous manoeuvres’ by coastguard put refugees at even greater riskAn NGO performing search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean has accused the Libyan coastguard of hampering an attempt to save more than 170 people making the perilous journey across the sea to Europe.In a statement, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said its ship had come to the rescue of two boats...

Six of bloc’s leaders sign agreement in Cairo aimed at boosting economy and bringing stability to regionEU leaders have sealed a €7.4bn (£6.3bn) deal with Egypt to help boost the country’s faltering economy, in an attempt to bring stability to the “troubled” region and avert another migration crisis in Europe.The three-year EU-Egypt strategic partnership involves €5bn in soft loans to support economic changes, €1.8bn...

A collection of more than 7,000 letters will form a publicly accessible digital archive that offers a window to the past In the week that Ireland turns ­everything green and celebrates its diaspora, a new online archive has given voice to the human cost paid by generations of emigrants.More than 7,000 letters from emigrants to North America spanning four centuries have been collected and...

Thirty-three people attempting to cross the border into San Diego died in the Pacific Ocean from 2020 to 2023, study showsThirty-three people attempting to cross the US border drowned in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego after the Trump administration nearly doubled the height of the walls along the southern border, a staggering increase from previous years.The number of drownings rose by 3,200% from...

Loss of Doctors Without Borders services will probably leave void in potentially lifesaving services for migrantsPanama has ordered Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to stop treating people who have crossed the Darién Gap, one of the world’s most dangerous and fastest-growing border crossings.MSF is one of the largest medical NGOs operating on the dangerous jungle frontier which connects Colombia to Panama and the loss of...

Prime minister will reportedly meet CEO of semiconductor equipment maker ASML, which has warned against anti-migrant stanceThe Dutch government is scrambling to ensure that the country’s largest company, the semiconductor equipment maker ASML, does not move operations or expand abroad after the tech firm voiced concerns over the country’s hardening stance on migrants.On Wednesday, the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported that the Dutch government...

Centre-right European People’s party says it wants to create deportation deals with non-EU countries to head off rise of far rightA group of political parties backing Ursula von der Leyen for a second term in one of the most powerful jobs in Brussels at the head of the European Commission is planning to call for further migration reforms, similar to the UK’s Rwanda policy,...

Boat carrying 10 other children between seven and 13 years old, along with girl’s pregnant mother, father and three siblings, sankA seven-year-old girl has died in a canal close to Dunkirk after a makeshift boat carrying 16 people from northern France to the UK capsized, the prefecture in France’s Nord department said.The boat, which was carrying 10 other children between seven and 13 years...

Attempt to stop movement through perilous rainforest leaves people stuck in two remote Caribbean townsMigration towards the US through a perilous but increasingly well-trodden rainforest border crossing has ground to a halt after the Colombian navy arrested two boat captains for trafficking migrants.But the attempt to stop movement through the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama has left more than 3,000 people stranded in...

Officials say 179 people trying to cross Channel were rescued after four French-led operationsOne person has died and two others are missing in the Channel after an incident involving a small boat, French rescue services have said.According to the Préfecture maritime Manche et mer du Nord, four French-led rescue operations took place in the Channel on Wednesday, coordinated by the regional operational surveillance and...

Ombudsman says papers show EU agency made four offers to help Greece with surveillance of boat that sank, but got no responseOpinion: Emily O’ReillyThe rules governing the EU’s border and coastguard agency Frontex must be urgently revised if Europe is to avoid a repeat of last year’s tragedy off the coast of Greece in which about 600 people are thought to have died, an...

Continuation of war has left more refugees unsettled, with councils stepping in to to relieve most cases of homelessnessCouncils have called for urgent review of funding for Ukrainian refugees amid alarm that 9,000 have reported as homeless and many more are needing longer-term support – with no sign of the war ending after two years.The government announced on Sunday that it would extend by...

Refugees will have ‘certainty and assurance’ says Home Office, but charities say move insufficient as many face homelessnessUkrainians who sought sanctuary in the UK after the Russian invasion will be permitted to extend their visas for an extra 18 months, the Home Office has announced.More than 200,000 Ukrainians visa holders have arrived in the UK since March 2022, with the first visas to expire...

Lawyers see Basir’s case as test of European policies that fail to provide safe routes to sub-Saharan asylum seekers For 25-year-old Basir, it was a ray of hope after fleeing Sudan more than a decade ago. For his lawyers, the asylum request he made from Morocco was the ultimate test of whether Spain – and more broadly the EU – was willing to provide...

Interior minister Gérald Darmanin plans to change constitution to remove birthplace right to citizenship on island that is part of FranceFrench authorities have announced a controversial plan to amend the constitution to revoke birthplace citizenship on the French Indian Ocean island of Mayotte, claiming it would help stem an immigration crisis.The reform was announced by interior minister Gérald Darmanin on Sunday after he arrived...