Migrants

Migration patterns

Sam Miller views history through the prism of societies on the move

Migrants leaving TN for festivals in north, not due to attacks: Industry

None of the labourers the police spoke to at the railway station said they were leaving due to the fear of violence

Illegal immigrants will not be able to apply for asylum: UK PM Sunak

Sunak's government is expected to push legislation cracking down on illegal immigration later this week, with a special emphasis on illegal immigrants arriving in boats across the English Channel

BJP creates ruckus in Bihar assembly over attack on migrants' in Tamil Nadu

The opposition BJP on Friday created a ruckus in the Bihar assembly before staging a walkout, demanding that a team of members of the House be sent to Tamil Nadu to verify reports of attacks on Bihari migrants workers in Tamil Nadu. Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary took a grim note of the unruly behaviour of some of the BJP MLAs who had entered the well and placed chairs on the table of the reporting staff. He asked Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary to advise the Chair on suitable action against the errant members to which the latter assented while lambasting the BJP for trying to derive political mileage. "They have an issue with our Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav having visited Tamil Nadu on a personal invitation from the chief minister of that state. Even if reports of violence against migrants were true, would it have entailed officials and dignitaries from both states snapping all ties, the minister said. Earlier, Yadav, who was present in the House, ...

Migrant boat breaks apart southern coast of Italy; many dead, 58 survivors

The Italian coast guard and firefighters have recovered more than 30 bodies after a wooden migrant boat broke apart in rough seas on Sunday near the southern coast of Italy's mainland, authorities reported. State TV quoted the local prefect's office as saying that by late morning 33 bodies had been recovered and 58 people were rescued. The Italian news agency AGI said that among the bodies was that of a baby a few months old. Quoting unidentified port authorities near the coastal town of Crotone, in Calabria, the toe of the Italian peninsula, RAI state radio said the boat was carrying more than 100 migrants when it ran into trouble at dawn in the Ionian Sea. The Italian news agency Lapresse later quoted unidentified officials among rescue forces as saying there could have been as many as 180 people aboard. State TV said some 27 of the survivors made it to shore, apparently on their own. Wooden pieces of wreckage littered the beach at Steccato di Cutro, near the point where the bo

People here are welcoming and supportive, say migrants in Nagaland

Shambhu Prasad, a native of Bihar, has been in Nagaland's Mon district for about three decades now, and wants his son to make a living in this northeastern state, too. His wife, Basanti Devi, is also supportive of his idea and wants their three children to earn their daily bread in Mon. "We have lived all of our adult lives here. There are problems at times. But then, is there a place without any problem?" Prasad said, seeking to refute a "perception" that survival of "outsiders" here is difficult. Alam, 70, who came here from Assam's Karimganj decades ago, said he and his family can never imagine a life outside Mon, which has accepted them with open arms. Alam, Prasad and several such migrants, who are now voters in Mon Town constituency, are keenly looking forward to the upcoming assembly elections. The 60-member Nagaland Assembly will go to polls on February 27, while the counting of votes will be taken up on March 2. Employment opportunities for the migrants are still few in

Immigrants continue to face cruelty, says Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah

He says while there has been a change in how people talk about migrants, what remains unchanged is the kind of panic the issue creates and the way the media presents it

Machines for migrants

Inclusion of migrant voters is important

On eve of Biden's Mexico border visit, migrants fear new rules by govt

Several hundred people marched through the streets of El Paso Saturday afternoon, and when they arrived at a group of migrants huddling outside a church, they sang to them no estan solos you are not alone. Around 300 migrants have taken refuge on sidewalks outside Sacred Heart Church, some of them afraid to seek more formal shelters, advocates say, amid new restrictions meant to crack down on illegal border crossings. This is the scene that will greet President Joe Biden on his first, politically thorny visit to the southern border Sunday. The president announced last week that Cubans, Nicaraguans, Haitians and Venezuelans will be expelled to Mexico if they enter the U.S. illegally an expansion of a pandemic-era immigration policy called Title 42. The new rules will also include offering humanitarian parole for up to 30,000 people a month from those four countries if they apply online and find a financial sponsor. Biden is scheduled to arrive in El Paso Sunday afternoon before ..

Migrants dropped near V-P Harris' home as Texas calls for Biden's attention

Three buses of recent migrant families arrived from Texas near the home of Vice President Kamala Harris in record-setting cold on Christmas Eve. Texas authorities have not confirmed their involvement, but the bus dropoffs are in line with previous actions by border-state governors calling attention to the Biden administration's immigration policies. The buses that arrived late Saturday outside the vice president's residence were carrying around 110 to 130 people, according to Tatiana Laborde, managing director of SAMU First Response, a relief agency working with the city of Washington to serve thousands of migrants who have been dropped off in recent months. Local organizers had expected the buses to arrive Sunday but found out Saturday that the group would get to Washington early, Laborde said. The people on board included young children. Some were wearing T-shirts despite temperatures hovering around 15 degrees Fahrenheit (-9 degrees Celsius). It was the coldest Christmas Eve on

Migrants near US border wait for asylum ruling amid falling temperatures

Hairdresser Grisel Garcs survived a harrowing, four-month journey from her native Venezuela through tropical jungles, migrant detention centres in southern Mexico and then jolting railcar rides north toward the U.S. border. Now on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande across from El Paso, Texas, she's anxiously awaiting a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision on asylum restrictions expected to affect her and thousands of other migrants at crossings along some 3,100 kilometers of border from Texas to California. And she's doing so while living outside as winter temperatures plunge over much of the U.S. and across the border. She told of fleeing economic hardship only to find more hardship, such as now having to shiver through temperatures colder than any she's ever experienced. Riding the train was bad. Here the situation is even worse. You just turn yourself over to God's mercy, said Garcs, who left a school-aged daughter behind, hoping to reach the U.S. with her husband. Their savings

US SC temporarily halts expiration of asylum-limiting policy Title 42

The US Supreme Court has temporarily halted the expiration of an asylum-limiting policy which was set to end this week

Plan for asylum seekers' deportation to Rwanda lawful, says British court

A British court has ruled that the government's plan to send asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda is lawful

US plans for more migrant releases when asylum restrictions end next week

The Department of Homeland Security said more migrants may be released into the United States to pursue immigration cases when Trump-era asylum restrictions end next week in one of its most detailed assessments ahead of the major policy shift. The department reported faster processing for migrants in custody on the border, more temporary detention tents, staffing surges and increased criminal prosecutions of smugglers, noting progress on a plan announced in April. But the seven-page document dated Tuesday included no major structural changes amid unusually large numbers of migrants entering the country. More are expected with the end of Title 42 authority, under which migrants have been denied rights to seek asylum more than 2.5 million times on grounds of preventing spread of COVID-19. A federal judge in Washington ordered Title 42 to end December 21 but Republican-led states asked an appeals court to keep it in place. The Biden administration has also challenged some aspects of

US govt appeals ruling that would lift asylum restrictions for migrants

The US government said Wednesday it is appealing a court ruling that would otherwise lift asylum restrictions that have become the cornerstone of border enforcement in recent years. The enforcement rule first took effect in March 2020, denying migrants' rights to seek asylum under US and international law on grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19. The Homeland Security Department said it would file an appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, challenging a November ruling by US District Judge Emmet Sullivan that ordered President Joe Biden's administration to lift the asylum restrictions. The restrictions were put in place under former President Donald Trump at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The practice was authorized under Title 42 of a broader 1944 law covering public health, and has been used to expel migrants more than 2.4 million times.

Almost 79% migrants availed PDS at their home locations, says study

This is because 79 per cent of them avail PDS only at their home locations, a new study has found

Dominican Republic expels 1,800 migrant children to Haiti, says Unicef

Dominican authorities have expelled at least 1,800 unaccompanied Haitian migrant children this year, sending them back to their crisis-stricken country, UNICEF said. The Dominican Republic denied the claim, which came Tuesday amid the government's intensifying crackdown on migration in response to a cholera outbreak and ongoing gang violence in Haiti. The two countries share a 390-kilometer border on the island of Hispaniola. The crackdown has provoked harsh criticism by international observers, including the United States, which have accused the country of mass deportations, racist treatment of migrants and detentions of Haitians in facilities with poor conditions. Among those fleeing to the Dominican Republic are girls and boys, many of whom are sent back to Haiti through different border points, where they have been received by UNICEF partners at the border, according to the organisation. The information was first reported by CNN, and confirmed by UNICEF, which declined to comm

Judge orders US govt to lift Trump-era asylum restrictions at border

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Biden administration to lift the Trump-era asylum restrictions that have been a cornerstone of border enforcement since the beginning of COVID-19. US District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled in Washington that enforcement must end immediately for families and single adults, calling the ban "arbitrary and capricious". The administration has not applied it to children travelling alone. Sullivan, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, wrote in a 49-page ruling that authorities failed to consider the impact on migrants and possible alternatives. The ruling appears to conflict with another in May by a federal judge in Louisiana that kept the asylum restrictions. If Sullivan's ruling stands, it would upend border enforcement. Migrants have been expelled from the United States more than 2.4 million times since the rule took effect in March 2020, denying migrants rights to seek asylum under US and international law on grounds of preventing the spread

US mulls Ukrainian-type parole for Venezuelan migrants, says officials

The Biden administration is developing plans for Venezuelans with financial sponsors to be granted parole to enter the United States, similar to how Ukrainians have been admitted after Russia's invasion, U.S. officials said Tuesday. Four officials offered broad outlines of the plan to deal with a large increase in Venezuelans arriving at the U.S. border with Mexico. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly. Venezuelans who cross the border illegally on land would be immediately returned to Mexico, two officials said. Currently, Mexico only accepts migrants expelled under Title 42 authority a pandemic-era rule that denies migrants rights to seek asylum and is designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 if they are from Guatemala, El Salvador or Honduras, in addition to Mexico. Venezuelans who qualify for parole would enter the U.S. at airports, two officials said, mirroring a program introduced in April that allows Ukrainia

UK needs more migrants to boost growth, says CBI business lobby survey

Three-quarters of respondents believe a lack of access to labor is threatening the UK's competitiveness as a place to employ people, the Confederation of British Industry said Tuesday.