In The News

Rohingya Crisis and Ambivalence: South Asia Journal

Kalam Shahed May 19, 2019
The United Nations labeled persecution of Rohingya people in Myanmar as ethnic cleansing. More than 3 million Rohingya fled with one-third living in makeshift, isolated camps along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, and two-thirds living throughout Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Myanmar’s nationalism and hatred for the minority has not subdued. “While there has been a considerable Western outcry...

Trump Plan to Release Immigrants: Washington Post

Isaac Stanley-Becker May 17, 2019
UPDATE: The acting chief of the US Department of Homeland Security says the agency will not relocate migrants to Florida. Far-right policies on trade, foreign aid, family planning, climate change and global security from the United States and other developed nations disrupt economies of developing nations and spur immigration. The US president tries harsh measures to deter immigration and spur...

Common Sense on the Border Crisis: RAND

Blas Nuñez-Neto May 4, 2019
Apprehensions of undocumented immigrants at the US-Mexico border rise despite the US trying family separations, deployed military personnel, Mexico sheltering asylum-seekers, a declared national emergency and strengthened border security. The policies do not work, and there is a humanitarian crisis. “This massive surge in migration is driven almost entirely by families and children from Central...

Guardian: Disfigured Syrian Girl Refused US Visa

Amanda Holpuch January 23, 2019
Under Donald Trump’s travel ban, the United States denied a visa to a 16-year-old Syrian refugee seeking medical treatment for burns from a bomb attack that left her disfigured. The Guardian notes that Marwa had settled in Nuremberg, Germany, with her family. There, doctors advised the family to seek advance treatment in the United States, “following 13 operations to repair trauma from third-...

BBC News: Europe and Nationalism

September 10, 2018
Nationalist and far-right parties are making electoral gains throughout Europe. The most recent example: Sweden Democrats winning about 18 percent of the vote on September 9. BBC News points to common themes including opposition to immigration and refugees, Islam and the European Union project: “In part, this can be seen as a backlash against the political establishment in the wake of the...

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...

Los Angeles Times: Syria Prepares for Final Showdown With Rebels

Nabih Bulos August 29, 2018
The Syrian government is eager to end the civil war that has raged since 2011 and prepares “for a multi-front offensive it hopes will provide a path for finally ending a grinding civil war, the fate of Idlib province and its 3 million residents is now the subject of diplomatic jockeying among the world powers that have had a hand in the war,” reports Nabih Bulos for the Los Angeles Times. After...