In The News

Arizona Republic: Plans to Cut US Family-Based Immigration

Daniel González September 7, 2018
As candidate, Donald Trump rejected conventional wisdom that immigration strengthens the United States and promised limits. Harsh policies targeting and separating families have followed. In the spring, US agents stopped asylum seekers at the border, separating children from parents, without explanation or a system for reunification. The courts blocked that policy, but more than 400 children are...

Al Jazeera: Rohingya Refugees Made Permanent, a Cycle Repeated

Linah Alsaafin September 2, 2018
As the United Nations invests in improved infrastructure and living conditions for refugees, risk emerges that temporary homes become permanent and discourage a return home. Camps housing 1 million Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, are overwhelming, writes Linah Alsaafin, and she compares the experiences with those of Palestinian refugees. The Rohingya camps confront challenges...

AP: Children Killed as Airstrikes Hit Bus in Yemen

Ahmed al-Haj August 10, 2018
Rebels in Yemen claim that a Saudi-led airstrike hit a market and schoolbus carrying children on a field trip. More than 50 people were killed and 75 were wounded. Associated Press reports: “U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the coalition air strike and called on all parties to spare civilians and ‘to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, in particular...

Globe and Mail: Saudi Arabia Breaks Ties With Canada

Steven Chase August 7, 2018
Canadian officials called for the release of civil-rights and women’s rights activists being held in Saudi Arabia and expressed concern about a crackdown on dissidents. “In response, Saudi Arabia expelled Canada's ambassador Sunday, recalled their ambassador and frozen new trade dealings with Canada, decrying what they called foreign interference in their domestic affairs,” reports Steven...

Wall Street Journal: For Immigrant Families, Scars of Separation Remain

Arian Campo-Flores and Melanie Grayce West July 21, 2018
Parenting styles vary with cultures around the globe. Earlier this year, the Trump administration launched a new policy of abruptly separating children from immigrants and asylum seekers, with no warning and no plan in place for eventual reunions. A US court gave officials deadlines to organize reunions for more than 2,000 children. Another court ordered a temporary end to deportations. Parents...

The Guardian: Israel Deploys Border Reinforcements as Syrians Flee Strikes

Patrick Wintour July 13, 2018
Efforts to facilitate a broad ceasefire in southwest Syria broke down at the end of June, prompting the Syrian military to initiate a fresh round of air raids in the Daraa province – an area inside the de-escalation zone agreed on by the US president, the Russian president and the Jordanian government. The Syrian government claims to control of more than half of the province. The increase in...

The Guardian: Accountability Only Way to End Violence in Myanmar

Yanghee Lee and Georgia Drake July 11, 2018
Local and international organizations have reported serious violations and abuses in Myanmar for decades, and sexual violence cases overwhelmingly feature members of Myanmar’s military, the Tatmadaw. Yanghee Lee and Georgia Drake report for the Guardian: “Myanmar has faced civil war since shortly after independence in 1948, and there are countless instances of its peoples facing serious...