In The News

To Save Lives in Darfur, Back African Peacekeepers and Demand War Crimes Accountability, Says ICG's Prendergast

August 4, 2004
According to John Prendergast, special aid to the president of The International Crisis Group (ICG), the United States and other world actors such as the European Union, the Arab League, Japan, and China, need to back the deployment of an African Union-led force to protect civilians in Sudan’s Darfur region. Though he acknowledges that genocide is difficult to prove, Prendergast believes that...

NK Defectors in China Remain Concern

Seo Hyun-jin July 30, 2004
Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans are seeking asylum in neighboring countries. Those that escape to the South are welcomed by the South Korean government, which has been embracing all escapees. Those that flee to China are not so lucky, however, and human rights activists are pressuring South Korea to step in. Between 50,000 and 300,000 North Koreans seek refuge in China every year, but...

Domestics Dump Sponsors while on Holiday in London

Sanaa Maadad July 23, 2004
During the hot summer months, wealthy residents of the United Arab Emirates often go on holiday to cooler destinations, such as England. Recently, however, some have found that the foreign domestic workers they take with them when they travel 'run away' in hopes of pursuing a life in Europe. Many of these maids and servants are Sri Lankans, Filipinos, Indonesians, Ethiopians, or...

Protests as Italy Expels Migrants

July 22, 2004
With its long coastline, Italy is one of most Europe’s most vulnerable countries in terms of illegal immigration. Largely African and Asian groups of migrants come via boat from places like Libya, where Italian officials believe up to 2 million more migrants may be waiting for transit into the European Union. In response to the influx of people, Italy put a tough anti-immigration law into...

Hmong Journey

Ben Stocking July 18, 2004
Over the next several months, 15,000 of the Laotian Hmong currently living in Thailand will move to the USA, settling in California, Minnesota and Wisconsin, where there are large pre-existing Hmong communities. This population-in-transition is composed of soldiers or the descendents of soldiers who fought alongside American troops during the Vietnam War, a conflict which resulted in the death...

Manila's Iraq Pullout Due to Clout of Overseas Workers

Luz Baguioro July 16, 2004
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo faced a political conundrum of global proportions this week when deciding whether to pull troops from Iraq after Iraqi militants threatened to behead a Filipino truck driver. In deciding to withdraw troops from Iraq, the Philippines angered the United States, a country with whom military and trade connections are of the greatest importance. Arroyo's final...

EU Faces Rise in Welfare Migration

Hans-Werner Sinn July 12, 2004
Traditionally Western Europe has faced both “good” and “bad” immigration, the former being the result of international income differentials and a healthy economy, and the latter being the result of immigrants seeking to take advantage of the welfare state. Hans-Werner Sinn, an economist at Munich University, contends that the adoption of the EU’s new directive on freedom of movement will result...