Students from a GSA-based primarily in Gyeonggi-do have a Lesbian Visibility Week meeting to discuss the role of GSAs in creating a supportive community for LGBTQ people.
Opinion by Chaeeun Shin – Junwoo Na – Minchae Kang (seoul & nonthaburi, thailand)
Inter Press Service
Seoul & Nonthaburi, Thailand, Jul 04 (IPS) – Recently, I watched a documentary titled Why We Can’t See Disabled People .
It chronicled how disabled people fought for their right to mobility throughout the past 20 years—and how the public has turned a blind eye to them time and time again.
South Korea is an incredibly unkind country when it comes to minorities. Disabled people are still fighting for the right to be seen in public. Many LGBTQ people live their lives afraid to come out, afraid to endure the violence and rejection that will ensue. Systems, governments, and communities are created for the “normal” Korean, which is demonstrably not the same for all Koreans.
Due to the collectivist culture, homogeneity is a highly regarded virtue here. I remember being taught in school that we are a danilminjok—in other words, monoethnic—like we were supposed to be proud of it. We grew up learning that the community was sacred and that it should be protected at all costs. There was power in belonging somewhere.
But I soon learned that this “community” was more exclusive than I’d once thought, riddled with unspoken eligibility requirements. For disabled protesters, “belonging” meant being able-bodied; for queer students like myself, it’s cisgender and heterosexual. I vividly remember the horror I felt when a lesbian couple faced expulsion for their sexual orientation in a local middle school. I also remember the momentary relief I felt when I learned that the charge was dropped—and the horror continued because the two were relentlessly ostracized and gossiped about until they graduated.
Because of this incident and many others like it, I started a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) with some of my friends last year, particularly to address the issues that LGBTQ teens face in East Asia. Here, I learned just how much queer students struggle to find—and, in my case, create—support systems.
In the United States, the official GSA Network provides educational and support opportunities to GSA clubs. But we couldn’t apply to be registered in their database because we weren’t based in North America. After exchanging emails with the directors, we had to accept that official registration was hopeless and that the legalities were too complicated to sort out. We were left to our own devices, which were limited to making Instagram posts and holding Zoom meetings.
Junwoo Na is holding a pride flag on the street in Bangkok to show support for the LGBTQ community. Credit: Junwoo Na/IPS
If I’ve learned anything in the past year, it’s that there are few “safe spaces” for LGBTQ teens, especially in countries like Korea. Visibility seems to be an issue: there’s little to no queer representation in Korean media, nor is there a curriculum explicitly addressing sexual orientation.
Only 9.6% of Koreans feel that LGBTQ rights are respected in their country. Public spaces like churches and schools often prove unsafe for LGBTQ students. Furthermore, the few safe areas that exist are inaccessible—the gay bars on the streets of Seoul, for instance—are both unavailable and incredibly dangerous to teens.
Consequently, many teens use the Internet to find the “safe space” they desperately need. It is easier to access than in-person clubs and meetings and guarantees anonymity.
Numerous Facebook groups, Twitter hashtags, and subreddits are dedicated to the LGBTQ community, and young people are not excluded in these spaces because they make up the majority of the user base. The development of new platforms like Yubo has amplified this trend. With “a dedicated community for youth aged 13 to 17,” it focuses on “making genuine connections and forming online friendships, rather than just trying to get ”.
These communities serve as a vital lifeline for many teens who find themselves ostracized and invisible at home or in school—they provide a place they can escape to when need be.
However, these spaces are not fully representative of the racial and ethnic diversity among queer people. These communities are mostly white and English-speaking. Consequently, the sense of safety and community from digital “safe spaces” often doesn’t extend to racial minorities.
On a societal level, studies suggest that “whites are more likely than non-whites to say society is a lot more accepting of LGBT adults now compared with a decade ago (58% vs. 42%)”.
“It’s urgent that we talk about Asian queerness because we are speaking the truth Asian American queer people exist—but not only exist: built movements and must be considered when creating inclusive spaces,” says Li-Anne in a recent blog post on North Carolina Asian Americans Together.
Many students have to deal with issues like getting disowned, expelled and bullied because of their identity. These experiences of isolation aren’t exclusive to my friends and me: many students are in the same position as us, having to choose between being safe and being themselves.
On May 27, 2022, students raised over 900 US dollars in an LGBT+ safe space campaign and donated it to the Korean chapter of Concern Worldwide.
Recently, we ran a fundraiser to advocate for the inclusion of LGBT+ youth and ended up ?1,200,000 (about 960 US dollars) to donate to Concern Worldwide, an international NGO. However, despite the successful campaign, there were some bumps in the road: Who would we advertise to? What types of slogans would be considered “appropriate”? How could we go about this in the best way possible?
At my GSA, I met a group of incredibly compassionate, dedicated people who want to help LGBT+ youth at risk or in danger. Over the last year and a half, we’ve run campaigns, started campaigns, and created digital support systems to make that happen. However, it often proved difficult to do so because of continued discrimination.
It’s time for Asia—as much as Europe and North America—to protect and pay increased attention to “safe spaces” that promote the inclusion of LGBTQ youth.
Chaeeun Shin (team leader ), Junwoo Na, and Minchae Kang are high school learners living in Asia. They participated in a joint APDA, and IPS training on developing opinion content. Hanna Yoon led the course and edited the opinion content.
There were four confirmed cases of Ebola and one probable case, all of whom died, the WHO said in a statement. The outbreak was the third in Congo’s north-west Equateur province.
In the previous outbreak in Equateur Province that lasted from June to November 2020, there were 130 confirmed cases and 55 deaths.
“Thanks to the robust response by the national authorities, this outbreak has been brought to an end swiftly with limited transmission of the virus,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
According to WHO, the just ended outbreak saw a total of 2,104 people vaccinated, including 302 contacts and 1307 frontline workers.
To facilitate the vaccination rollout, an ultra-cold chain freezer was installed in Mbandaka which allowed for vaccine doses to be stored locally and safely and be delivered effectively.
‘We can stay a step ahead’
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has now recorded 14 Ebola outbreaks since 1976, six of which have occurred since 2018.
“Africa is seeing an increase in Ebola and other infectious diseases that jump from animals to humans impacting large urban areas,” said Dr. Moeti.
Noting that “crucial lessons” had been learned” from past outbreaks and they have been applied to deploy an ever more effective Ebola response, Dr. Moeti stressed that: “We need to be ever more vigilant to ensure we catch cases quickly. This outbreak response shows that by bolstering preparedness, disease surveillance and swift detection, we can stay a step ahead.”
Staying vigilant
The UN health agency supported the DRC in implementing a strong national strategy developed early to guide response coordination; decentralizing operations to the lowest level to work closely with communities; basing the response on evidence; and regularly analyzing the epidemiological risk to rapidly adjust the response.
Although the outbreak in Mbandaka has been declared over, health authorities are maintaining surveillance and are ready to respond quickly to any flare-ups.
It is not unusual for sporadic cases to occur following an outbreak, WHO cautioned.
The municipality of Puchuncaví in central Chile turns greens after days of rain, but next to it are the smokestacks of the industries located in this development pole that turned this town and the neighboring town of Quintero into “sacrifice zones”, with the emission of pollutants that damaged the environment and the health of local residents, which will finally begin to be dismantled. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi / IPS
by Orlando Milesi (quintero, chile)
Inter Press Service
QUINTERO, Chile, Jul 04 (IPS) – A health crisis that in 20 days left 500 children poisoned in the adjacent municipalities of Quintero and Puchuncaví triggered the decision to close the Ventanas Smelter, in a first concrete step towards putting an end to a so-called “sacrifice zone” in Chile.
The measure was supported by President Gabriel Boric who reiterated his determination to move towards a green government.
The decision by the state-owned National Copper Corporation (Codelco), the world’s leading copper producer, was announced on Jun. 17, following a temporary stoppage of the plant eight days earlier, and was opposed only by the powerful Federation of Copper Workers.
The union reacted by calling a strike, which ended after two days, when the leaders agreed to discuss an organized closure of the smelter, which will take place within a maximum of five years. The smelting and refining facility will be replaced by another modern plant at a site yet to be determined.
The smelter is an outdated facility that has suffered repeated episodes of sulfur dioxide pollution, one of the chemicals causing the deteriorating health of the inhabitants of Quintero, a city of 26,000, and Puchuncaví, population 19,000.
In the last three years Codelco invested 152 million dollars to modernize the smelter but without success, admitted Codelco’s president, Máximo Pacheco.
Pacheco argued that the closure was due to “the climate of uncertainty that has existed for decades, which is very bad for the workers, their families and the community.”
Sara Larraín, executive director of the non-governmental organization Sustainable Chile, said the definitive closure of the plant does justice.
“It is the first step for Quintero and Puchuncaví to get out of the category of damage that is called a ‘sacrifice zone’ where for decades the emission standards have been exceeded,” she told IPS.
“Sacrifice zones” are areas that have suffered excessive environmental damage due to industrial pollution. Residents of poor communities in these areas bear a disproportionate burden of pollution, toxic waste and heavy industry.
The back of the Ventanas Smelter reveals the poor operating conditions of the copper processing facility in Chile, which will be replaced by a new one within a maximum of five years at an as yet undefined site. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi / IPS
The two adjacent municipalities, 156 kilometers west of Santiago, qualify as a sacrifice zone, as do Mejillones, Huasco and Tocopilla, in the north, and Coronel in southern Chile, because the right to live in a pollution-free environment is violated in these areas.
In Quintero and Puchuncaví the main source of sulfur dioxide is the Ventanas Smelter, responsible for 61.8 percent of emissions of this element, causing widespread health problems.
Fisherman-diver forced to move away returns to Quintero
Carlos Vega, a fishermen’s union leader in Quintero, is the third generation of divers in his family.
“My grandfather, a fisherman, taught me how to make fishing nets. He had a restaurant on the coast,” he told IPS, visibly moved, adding that his two brothers are also fishermen and divers, who catch shellfish among the rocks along the coast.
“Fishing was profitable here. We were doing well and making money,” he said.
He added that people are well-organized in the area. “At one time we were the largest producer” of seafood and fish for central Chile, “because we had management and harvesting areas. But they had to close because of the pollution,” he said, describing the poverty that befell the local fishers in the late 1980s.
Then the health authorities found copper, cadmium and arsenic in the local seafood and banned its harvest. As a result, the small fishermen’s bay where they keep their boats and sell part of their catch lost their customers.
The crisis forced him to move to the south where he worked for 15 years as a professional diver in a salmon company.
Carlos Vega, a fisherman, diver and trade union leader, and Kata Alonso, spokeswoman for Women of Sacrifice Zones in Resistance, pose for a photo in the bay of Quintero, during the celebrations in that town and in neighboring Puchuncaví for the announcement of the definitive closure of the Ventanas Smelter of the state-owned Codelco copper company, whose polluting emissions have damaged the local environment and made local residents sick for decades. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi / IPS
Today, back in Quintero, with two sons who are engineers and a daughter who is a teacher, he continues to dive, albeit sporadically. He participates along with 27 fishermen in the management area granted to the north of the sacrifice zone, where they extract shellfish quotas two or three times a year.
“The social fabric was broken down here, that is the hardest thing that has happened to us,” said Vega.
Codelco is not the only polluter
Codelco is the main exporter in Chile, a long narrow country of 19.1 million people sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains where the big mines are located. In 2021 it produced 1.7 million tons of copper and its pre-tax income totaled nearly 7.4 billion dollars.
“Chile is the leading global copper producer and the world is going to become more electric every day,” said Pacheco. “And copper is the conductor par excellence, there is no substitute. We have to be ready for copper to be increasingly in demand in this energy transition.”
The president of Codelco emphasized that the wealth does not lie in exporting concentrate, which has 26 percent copper, but anodes with 99 percent purity, “and for that we need a smelter and a refinery.”
Young residents of Quintero and Puchuncaví came out in a drum line to celebrate the closure of the Ventanas Smelter and participate in a Festival for Life which lasted eight hours and was joined by a hundred local and national artists. Thousands of people gathered in the square which is on the edge of Quintero on Saturday, Jun. 25. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi / IPS
But the smelter, he explained, must be modern and not like Ventanas, which only captures 95 percent of the gases released. In the last three years, Codelco has lost 50 million dollars in the Ventanas smelter, which has a production scale of 420,000 tons. A modern Flash furnace produces 1.5 million tons and captures 99.8 percent of the gases.
The Ventanas Smelter employs 348 people and another 400 in associated companies. Half of them do not live in the area but in Viña del Mar, Villa Alemana or Quilpué, towns that are also in the region of Valparaíso, but are located far from the pollution.
The smelter is part of an industrial cluster that includes 16 companies.
After the latest health crisis, the authorities decreed contingency plans in plants and maritime terminals of six companies for emitting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and applied an Atmospheric Prevention and Decontamination Plan.
Four coal-fired thermoelectric plants also pollute the area, one of which was definitively closed in December 2020 and another that was to be closed last May, although the measure was postponed.
According to environmentalist Larraín, when the smelter and the four thermoelectric plants are closed “better standards can be achieved, at least with respect to sulfur dioxide and heavy metals,” in Quintero and Puchuncaví.
View from the road of the Ventanas Smelter, in central Chile, which has been temporarily shut down since Jun. 9 and whose antiquated facilities will be permanently closed in a maximum of five years. They are adjacent to populated areas that have been turned into so-called “sacrifice zones” where local residents periodically suffer environmental and health emergencies due to sulfur dioxide fumes. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi / IPS
Kata Alonso, spokeswoman for the Mujeres en Zona de Sacrificio en Resistencia (Women in Sacrifice Zone in Resistance) collective, told IPS that “the prevention plan is good so that people don’t continue to be poisoned, so that they can breathe better, and so that the companies that pollute can close their doors, instead of the schools.
“There are companies that were built before the environmental law was passed that have not taken health measures. So what we are asking is for each company to be evaluated, and those that do not comply with the regulations must leave,” she said.
The repeated crises occur despite the fact that Chile’s environmental standards are below those of the World Health Organization (WHO).
For level 10 particulate matter, the mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets in the air, the ceiling in Chile is 150 milligrams per cubic meter (m3) and the WHO ceiling is 50.
For particulate matter 2.5 (fine inhalable particles), in Chile the limit is 50 milligrams per m3, while the WHO guideline is 25. And the Chilean ceiling for sulfur dioxide is 250 milligrams per m3 compared to the WHO’s limit of 20.
Three years ago, the Chilean Pediatric Society and the Chilean Medical Association requested that Chile raise its emission standards to WHO levels.
Part of the audience at the Festival for Life, which celebrated the closure of a copper smelter, that along with 15 other industrial plants turned the municipalities of Quintero and Puchuncaví into “sacrifice zones” in central Chile. Performances by musicians and other artists from around the country were interspersed with messages calling for a life free of pollution in the area. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi / IPS
Alonso the activist said that “my two neighbors died of cancer, whoever you ask in Puchuncaví has relatives who died of cancer. Today people are dying younger, breast and uterine cancer have increased in young women, and there are so many miscarriages.
“The statistic we have is that one in four children in Puchuncaví are born with severe neurological problems, down syndrome, autism. Here in Quintero there are two special education schools and many children with learning disabilities,” she said.
Larraín called for “government support for those who have been affected by irreversible diseases, asthma, lung cancer and others that have been proven to be caused by coal combustion and heavy metals.”
The Catholic University conducted a study using data on hospitalizations and mortality in Tocopilla, Mejillones, Huasco, Quintero and Puchuncaví.
“The rates for cardiovascular disease associated with industrial processes are clear. In some cases they are 900 percent higher. Calling them sacrifice zones is real, it refers to impacts that are occurring today,” said Larraín.
The environmentalist said it would be difficult to revive Quintero Bay “because it has a gigantic layer of coal at the bottom, dead phyto and zooplankton because water is used for cooling in industrial processes and is dumped back out with antialgaecides that kill marine life.”
She believes, however, that “over the years, the capacity for regeneration is possible, even in agriculture that has been lost due to sulfur dioxide emissions. There may also be a recovery in fishing and tourism.”
But Larraín demanded “a just transition that restores healthy levels and regenerates ecosystems so that local communities can sustain their economy in a healthy and ecologically balanced environment.”
Speaking in Geneva, Mohamed Auajjar, chair of the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya, told journalists that a culture of impunity still prevailed across the war-torn country, representing “a great obstacle” to national reconciliation, truth and justice for the victims and their families.
Regarding Tarhuna specifically, the report gathered testimonies and found evidence of “widespread and systematic perpetration of enforced disappearances, extermination, murder, torture and imprisonment amounting to crimes against humanity, committed by Al Kani (Kaniyat) militias”.
Technology aide
The Mission chair noted that its investigations had identified “previously undiscovered mass graves in the town”, which is around 65 kilometres from the capital, Tripoli, through the use of advanced technology. “We don’t know how many, now need to be excavated. But there have been hundreds of persons who have not yet been discovered, who have been disappeared.”
More than 200 individuals are still missing from Tarhuna and the surrounding area, causing “untold anguish to their families, who are entitled to know the truth about the fate of their loved ones”, Mr. Auajjar continued.
Targeted for speaking up
Women and girls have not been spared the fall-out of Libya’s destructive spiral since the overthrow of former President Muammar Gaddafi, in 2011.
Today, despite significant recent progress in trying to resolve longstanding differences, the internationally-recognized Government in Tripoli is still at odds with a rival administration and parliamentary authority in the east.
Among the Fact-Finding Mission report’s many disturbing findings is the fact that when women stepped forwards to present themselves in yet-to-be-held national elections, they became the target of discrimination or violence.
Some have been abducted, part of pattern of enforced disappearances which “continue unabated in Libya”, Mr. Aujjar said, pointing to Member of Parliament Sihem Sirgiwa, who was taken in 2019.
“Discrimination and violence are a feature of daily life for most women and girls in Libya,” Mr. Aujjar continued. “Of particular concern to the Mission is that the failure of the domestic law to provide protection against sexual and gender-based violence is inherent to and contributes to impunity for such crimes.”
Lack of judicial force
Despite the welcome creation of two dedicated courts to rule on cases of violence against women and children, the rights expert warned that youngsters have faced “summary executions, arbitrary detention, sexual and gender-based violence, and torture”.
These include those accompanying adult migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers who have been detained in Libya’s notorious detention facilities, according to the Fact-Finding Mission, which is to present its third report to the Human Rights Council on Wednesday 6 July.
BRUSSELS, Jul 04 (IPS) – A mass attempt on June 24, 2022, of about 2000 African migrants to scale the border fence between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla left at least 37 people dead.
Several human rights organizations call for an investigation into what ranks as the deadliest day in recent memory along this section of the EU’s only land border with Africa. Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, congratulated the coordinated action of the Spanish Civil Guard and the Moroccan security forces. He blamed the mafias and smugglers for the deaths.
On the other hand, Moussa Faki Mahamat, the head of the African Union Commission, expressed “my deep shock and concern at the violent and degrading treatment of African migrants attempting to cross an international border from Morocco into Spain.”
Also Esteban Beltrán, director of Amnesty International Spain, stated: “It is time to put an end to this policy which allows and encourages serious human rights violations. A ‘business as usual’ approach is no longer valid amid the blood and shame”. It is essential “to understand our double standards and ensure that all refugees have the opportunity – as Ukrainians have had – to escape war and repression by seeking asylum through legal and safe channels”.
Mixed Migration Centre
The Mixed Migration Centre (MMC) is a global network engaged in mixed migration data collection, research, analysis, and policy and program development. Their June 2022 report, entitled “Security costs: How the EU’s exclusionary migration policies place people on the move toward Italy and Greece at greater risk – a quantitative analysis”, puts the migration issues in perspective.
The MMC report clearly documents the main protection risks faced by Asian and African migrants and refugees as they travel to Europe along the Central Mediterranean Route (CMR), the Eastern Mediterranean Route (EMR) and the Western Balkans Route (WBR).
The report confirms that a ‘securitized approach’—one that often criminalizes refugees and migrants— coupled with a lack of legal and safe mobility pathways is reducing the protection space for people moving along the main migration routes to and through Europe.
Since its inception in 2014 and through early 2021 MMC’s 4Mi survey has conducted more than 75,000 interviews (that’s about 1,000 interviews per month). The refugees and migrants who took part in the surveys feel that their journey to Europe poses serious risks, including detention, physical and sexual violence, robbery, bribery/extortion and even death.
Children are also exposed to similar protection risks, including detention. The three routes each pose their own specific protection risks, but also share common challenges. Militias are most prevalent on the CMR, and ‘state’ actors on the EMR and the WBR, while criminal gangs are frequently reported across all three routes.
Smugglers are a concern among respondents but are rarely considered to be the main perpetrators of abuse. The CMR—and Libya in particular—is more often reported as dangerous. On the EMR and the WBR routes, migrants and refugees often indicate Turkey, Iran, and Greece as locations where protection incidents are more likely to occur.
Refugees and migrants use a number of strategies to mitigate the risks they expect to face, such as traveling in groups and carrying cash. The latter to prevent them from having to work (under lousy exploitative conditions) to pay for their travels, or to buy themselves ‘free’ and avoid other problems.
Opinions on protection risks are in line with what other studies and reports have noted: that abuse, violence and death are common when migrants and refugees travel through the countries where European externalization policies are implemented — most notably Libya, Niger and Mali across the CMR, and Turkey in the EMR.
Against this background, the externalization policies of the EU and its Member States, and their partnerships with authorities in third countries, remain a major concern in terms of their ethical and financial costs and their impact on the protection of people on the move. Only for the EU does this policy seem effective because arrivals in Europe along various migration routes have been reduced.
In fact, however, it is very likely that the current approach increases the protection risks of migrants and refugees. Indeed, studies have confirmed how these measures violate international and human rights standards set for the protection of people on the run.
A case in point is Europe’s ongoing collaboration with the Libyan coast guard to intercept and return large numbers of migrants and refugees to Tripoli, the city most often considered to be dangerous by the migrants, and one that human rights groups and international organizations have often mentioned in connection to severe forms of violence against, and the unlawful detention of migrants and refugees.
A 2021 report by Amnesty International, for example, highlighted that physical violence and other abuses in Libya had shown no indication of diminishing over the past decade.
The awareness of migrants and refugees of the protection risks in the CMR also points to something else: that there is a feeling that such risks are inevitable on these migration journeys to Europe. One explanation could be that increasingly restrictive border controls and the lack of legal routes mean that migrants and refugees seeking to enter Europe have no other options. Greece is a case in point.
Numerous reports and studies have demonstrated how the EU-Turkey Statement and tighter border controls across the WBR have stemmed the flow of people and exposed migrants to considerable protection risks by forcing them to take highly perilous routes.
Also, the widespread tendency to indiscriminately incarcerate migrants entering the country for lengthy periods of time, in line with the implementation of the EU-Turkey deal, as well as the practice of pushbacks by the Greek coast guard might have led migrants and refugees to opt for the more dangerous, yet more available, paths to Europe.
Bangladeshis, for example, for whom it seems “easier” and safer to use the EMR route, have chosen to try the dangerous crossing via the CMR from Libya to Italy. The question is therefore: why do respondents in the survey continue to use certain routes and locations, despite the many known and very real risks?
The tightening of border controls increases the reliance on smugglers to evade border controls, with smugglers decreasing the chances of arrest by employing increasingly dangerous strategies, ultimately increasing the risks to refugees and migrants.
Such strategies include departing on longer and therefore more dangerous sea and desert routes, choosing unsafe embarkation and boarding points and dumping people on ‘boats’ in rough seas.
The findings of this study regarding the most common perpetrators of abuse across the three routes raise questions about the implications of the EU approach to protecting people on the move.
The prominence of militias and armed gangs are the main perpetrators of abuse reported by respondents who have traveled the CMR. In addition, they traverse areas marked by ongoing political instability, conflict and insecurity, and the collapse of the rule of law.
Nevertheless, the role played by militias and gangs in the protection risks faced by migrants and refugees cannot be separated from the EU’s externalization policies or its interaction with local political economies.
Libya and Niger have been systematically engaged by the EU to stem migratory flows and fight migrant smuggling and human trafficking. Local militias have sometimes even become involved in fighting smuggling groups and/or intercepting refugees and migrants at sea and returning them to Libya.
In summary, while it would be simplistic to argue that EU border policy alone creates all the protection risks faced by migrants and refugees, there seems to be a worrying alignment between the perpetrators the migrants fear most and the actors who secured the funding mobilized by the EU for migration management and the fight against people smuggling.
While the data shows that smugglers remain a major concern for people fleeing to Europe, respondents say they are rarely among the most common perpetrators of violence. These findings indicate that an EU approach mainly focused on ‘securitisation’ and the fight against people smuggling – an approach based on the argument that breaking the so-called business model of smuggling would ensure the safety of refugees and migrants by ending making their perilous crossing of the Mediterranean — may not be as effective as portrayed in political and policy circles.
Recommendations
The Center for Mixed Migration calls on policy makers and authorities to improve European migration management policies, in particular the full implementation of the objectives set out in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees. The EU and its Member States should:
• Provide detailed and evidence-based analyzes of the impact of EU cooperation with third country partners on both human rights and local economies affected by the implementation of EU externalization measures. These analyzes should be performed on a case-by-case basis for all affected communities in each partner country;
• Support the sharing of information on perpetrators of human rights violations between law enforcement actors at national and international level, including outside Europe, while ensuring that all cooperation is in line with international human rights and refugee law;
• Expanding cooperation with the Government of Turkey to increase its capacity in all provinces to properly implement refugee status and provide international protection, taking into account age-, gender- and diversity-specific vulnerabilities and protection challenges (e.g. Afghans, single women with children and young men);
• All aid that contributes to the interception, return and often detention of refugees and migrants in shutting down Libya, as it is not a safe place. Also ensure that no one is at risk of inhumane and degrading treatment in Libya and support humanitarian programs that respond to the needs of the people;
• Improving the monitoring of deaths along migration routes to Europe by including more details in the data systems on deaths along the route;
• Open new channels of legal entry and strengthen existing ones by granting humanitarian visas, creating humanitarian corridors between transit countries and Europe, expanding Member States’ resettlement programs and facilitating alternative legal routes, such as family reunification, university scholarships and training programmes.
SYDNEY — More than 30,000 residents of Sydney and its surrounds have been told to evacuate or prepare to abandon their homes on Monday as Australia’s largest city braces for what could be its worst flooding in 18 months.
Parts of the city of 5 million people are facing a fourth flooding emergency in a year and a half after torrential rain since Friday caused dams to overflow and waterways to break their banks.
“The latest information we have is that there’s a very good chance that the flooding will be worse than any of the other three floods that those areas had in the last 18 months,” Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
The current flooding might affect areas that managed to stay dry during the previous floods, Watt added.
New South Wales state Premier Dominic Perrottet said 32,000 people were impacted by evacuation orders and warnings.
“You’d probably expect to see that number increase over the course of the week,” Perrottet said.
Emergency services had made 116 flood rescues in recent days, 83 of them since 9 p.m. Sunday, he said. Hundreds more requests for help were made by Monday morning.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology manager Jane Golding said some areas between Newcastle, north of Sydney, and Wollongong, south of Sydney had received more than a meter (39 inches) of rain in the previous 24 hours. Some has received more than 1.5 meters (59 inches).
“The system that has been generating this weather does show signs that it will ease tomorrow, but throughout today, expect more rain,” Golding said.
Rain was forecast across New South Wales’s coast, including Sydney, all week, she said.
The flooding danger was highest along the Hawkesbury River, in northwest Sydney, and the Nepean River in Sydney’s west.
“The water is flowing really quickly,” Golding said. “It’s dangerous out on the rivers and we do have some more rain to fall which means the flash-flood risk is not over yet.”
State Emergency Services Commissioner Carlene York said strong winds had toppled trees, damaging rooves and blocking roads. She advised against unnecessary travel.
Off the New South Wales coast, a cargo ship with 21 crew members was drifting at sea after losing power. Local reports said the ship that left Wollongong on Monday morning was anchored near the coast and a tugboat was working to keep it from nearby cliffs and rocks.
A more powerful tugboat was heading to the location to tow the stranded cargo ship to sea. A plan to airlift the ship’s crew to safety was abandoned because of bad weather.
Repeated flooding was taking a toll on members of a riverside community southwest of Sydney, said Mayor Theresa Fedeli of the Camden municipality on the Nepean River.
“It’s just devastating. They just keep on saying ‘devastating, not again,’” Fedeli said.
“I just keep on saying … ‘We’ve got to be strong, we will get through this.’ But you know deep down it’s really hitting home hard to a lot of people,” she added.
Perrottet said government and communities needed to adapt to major flooding becoming more common across Australia’s most populous state.
“We’re seeing these flood events more regularly, there’s no doubt about that,” Perrottet said.
“To see what we’re seeing right across Sydney, there’s no doubt these events are becoming more common. And governments need to adjust and make sure that we respond to the changing environment that we find ourselves in,” he added.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rican superstar Ricky Martin on Sunday denied allegations that led to a restraining order against him, with police noting that he has not been charged with any crime.
Police said Saturday that a judge had issued the order against Martin, but authorities trying to serve the order were unable to find the singer in the Puerto Rican town of Dorado, where he lives. The order was filed under Puerto Rico’s domestic violence law and police spokesman Axel Valencia said he could not provide further details, including who requested the order.
Martin said in a tweet that the order is based on “completely false” allegations and that he will face the process “with the responsibility that characterizes me.”
“I appreciate the innumerable gestures of solidarity and I receive them with all my heart,” he wrote.
He said that since it was an open legal issue, he could not comment further.
Representatives for Martin earlier issued a statement and described the allegations as “completely false and fabricated.” It did not name the representatives.
“We are very confident that when the true facts come out in this matter our client Ricky Martin will be fully vindicated,” they said in a statement shared with The Associated Press.
El Vocero, a Puerto Rico newspaper, said the order states that Martin and the other person dated for seven months. The report quotes the order as saying they broke up two months ago, but the petitioner says Martin did not accept the separation and has been seen loitering near the petitioner’s house at least three times.
“The petitioner fears for his safety,” El Vocero quoted the order as saying.
The Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an immense protected area covering around 11 percent of the national territory, is recognized for its tabletop mountains and endless biodiversity – some believed to be undiscovered – and remains for the most part inaccessible and unaffected by human activity.
From above, the rainforest canopy was painted with countless shades of green, with some treetops covered in waves of orange or even purple flowers. Along the way, the mighty Coppename River, as well as the upstream parts of the Lucie, Saramacca, and Suriname Rivers flowed by the trees in what looked like a landscape painting.
UN News/Laura Quiñones
The Central Suriname Nature Reserve, pictured here, comprises 1.6 million ha of primary tropical forest of west-central Suriname.
However, before reaching the protected area, the UN chief could see that Suriname’s forests are seriously threatened by the activities of the mining sector and timber production, both fuelled by incentives to boost economic activities. Strikingly visible above the deep green canopy, the brownish patches of deforestation, evidence of destructive gold mining and flooding were difficult to miss.
UN News/Laura Quiñones
Suriname is the most forested country in the world, but its pristine rainforests are being threatened, among others, by mining for gold, bauxite and kaolin.
A moment of ‘maximum peril’
Although Suriname is part of the South American continent, it is considered a Caribbean nation due to its history, culture, and the similar challenges it faces with the small island nations.
Later on Sunday, the UN chief arrived at the Assuria Event Centre in Paramaribo, to attend the opening of the 43rd Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) Conference.
Mr. Guterres’s arrival was met with four distinct music and cultural performances. The short walk showcased Suriname’s unique ethnic diversity, a product of its long history and Dutch colonization. Afro-Surinamese, East Indian, Indigenous natives, Chinese and Javanese descendants presented their traditional dances and folkloric sounds
At the podium, the Secretary-General highlighted the region’s diversity and climate action leadership, while outlining a series of actions to be taken in the face of the planetary crisis, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and global financial challenges.
“Rich in diversity, uniting land and sea, and protecting fragile coastal ecosystems, mangroves are a fitting symbol of Caribbean nations – facing challenges, seizing opportunities, preserving natural gifts,” the UN chief told the region’s Heads of State and Government on Sunday, inspired by his isit to these coastal carbon-sink wonders in Paramaribo a day before.
Mr. Guterres recognized that the small island low-lying coastal states of the Caribbean are especially vulnerable to what he called “the biggest challenge facing our world today” — the climate crisis.
“The Caribbean is ground zero for the global climate emergency,” he said, underlining that unfortunately, it is not the only challenge that the region is facing.
“This year’s CARICOM summit comes at a moment of maximum peril – for people and planet alike,” he added, referring to the devastating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on health systems and tourism, as well as on economic growth and foreign investment, now exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.
UN News/Laura Quiñones
A group of Chinese-Surinamese dance and sing while Heads of State and Government arrive to the 43rd CARICOM Conference in Paramaribo, Suriname.
Bold solutions
The Secretary-General told the CARICOM leaders that bold solutions were necessary to tackle these issues, highlighting three.
1. Match climate action to the scale and urgency of the crisis
Mr. Guterres called for urgent and transformative emissions reduction to halt global warming at a 1.5C, support for adaptation from climate impacts, and financial assistance to secure resilience.
“I thank Caribbean leaders for helping to show the way. I am inspired by your many efforts to safeguard your incredible biodiversity and natural gifts, including by the efforts of the indigenous communities,” he said.
He added that more ambition and climate action are needed by all, but specially the G20 who account for 80 per cent of global emissions.
“The war in Ukraine cannot lead to short-sighted decisions that shut the door on 1.5C. With the commitments presently registered, emissions are still predicted to grow by 14 per cent through 2030. This is simply suicide – and it must be reversed.”
The UN chief stressed that wealthier countries need to lead the way in a just and equitable “ renewables revolution ”, and they need to fulfil their promise to deliver $100 billion in climate finance for adaptation starting this year.
“And it is time for a frank discussion and space for decision-making regarding the loss and damage that your countries are already experiencing,” he emphasised.
UN News/Evan Schneider
UN Secretary-General António addresses the opening ceremony of the 43rd regular meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which is taking place from July 3-5 in Paramaribo, Suriname.
2. Reform ‘morally bankrupt’ global financial system and spur sustainable recovery
The Secretary General underlined that developing economies need access to financing at no or low costs, as well as debt relief and restructuring.
“On the debt side, we need immediate relief for developing countries whose debt is about to become due,” he said.
The UN chief added that he fully supports the creation of a Caribbean Resilience Fund and the reform of the international financial system to help the region better respond and prevent massive vulnerability to external shocks.
“Clearly, our old metrics have failed us. It’s time to change them,” Mr. Guterres said, proposing to move beyond the financial system’s preoccupation with per capita income, and establishing a ‘multidimensional vulnerability index’ to determine access to financial support.
“For your countries, this would mean ensuring that the complex and interdependent factors of debt and climate change impact are captured in any eligibility analysis for debt relief and financing,” he told the Caribbean Heads of State and Government.
3. Keep up the combat against the COVID-19 pandemic
The Secretary-General made a push for governments, organizations and pharmaceutical companies to work better together to locally produce tests, vaccines and treatments.
“We’re not out of the woods yet… And we need to continue working closely together to stop the spread of the virus across the Caribbean through proven public health measures and prepare for future pandemics through bold investments in preparedness and training,” he stated, and stressed that countries must never again be so unprepared.
Finally, Mr. Guterres reaffirmed the support of the United Nations to the Caribbean to work towards these solutions.
Britain will unveil a major aid package for the rebuilding of Ukraine at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano, Switzerland, on Monday, the U.K. Foreign Office announced.
The aid package includes an offer of an additional $525 million in World Bank loan guarantees, bringing total British fiscal support to about $1.5 billion, along with funding for energy infrastructure repairs, demining efforts and other programs meant to expedite Ukraine’s civic and economic recovery.
“Ukraine’s recovery from Russia’s war of aggression will be a symbol of the power of democracy over autocracy,” Liz Truss plans to say at the conference, according to a news release. “It will show Putin that his attempts to destroy Ukraine have only produced a stronger, more prosperous and more united nation.”
The Foreign Office said the aid package would support immediate humanitarian needs and long-term development and democratic reforms, such as anti-corruption and e-government initiatives. The U.K. also plans to host the next Ukraine Recovery Conference in 2023.
“The U.K. is resolute in its support of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and will remain at Ukraine’s side as it emerges as a strong, thriving and cutting-edge democracy,” Truss’s planned remarks say.
Truss also plans to announce that the U.K. will back the Ukrainian government’s Reconstruction and Development Plan, set to be presented during the two-day conference in Switzerland. The plan runs about 2,000 pages, according to Bloomberg News.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address Saturday that rebuilding the country will be a “large-scale international event” requiring “colossal investments.”
“This is the largest economic project of our time in Europe and extraordinary opportunities for every state, for every company that we will invite to work in Ukraine to prove themselves,” he said.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A gunman opened fire in a Copenhagen shopping mall, one of the largest of its kind in Scandinavia, killing an unspecified number of people and wounding several others on Sunday, police said.
The suspected gunman, who is in custody, is a 22-year-old Danish man who was detained near the Fields shopping mall on the southern outskirts of the capital, said police inspector Søren Thomassen, head of the Copenhagen police operations unit.
“We know that there are several dead” and “several injured,” Thomassen told a news conference, adding that terror can’t be ruled out. “We do not have information that others are involved. This is what we know now.”
He didn’t provide any further details on the victims or supsect, or say how many people were killed or wounded. The shopping center is on the outskirts of Copenhagen just across from a subway line that connects the city center with the international airport. A major highway also runs adjacent to Fields, which opened in 2004.
Images from the scene showed people running out of the mall, and Denmark’s TV2 broadcaster posted a photo of a man being put on a stretcher. Witnesses said people were crying and hid in shops.
Laurits Hermansen told Danish broadcaster DR that he was in a clothing store at the shopping center with his family when he heard “three-four bangs. Really loud bangs. It sounded like the shots were being fired just next to the store.”
Copenhagen Mayor Sophie H. Andersen tweeted: “Terrible reports of shooting in Fields. We do not yet know for sure how many were injured or dead, but it is very serious.”
Police said they were first alerted to the shooting at 5:36 p.m. (1536 GMT; 11:36 a.m. EDT). A huge presence of heavily-armed police officers arrived at the scene, with several fire department vehicles also parked outside the mall.
“One person has been arrested in connection with the shooting at Fields. We currently are not able to say more about the person concerned,” Copenhagen police tweeted. “We have a massive presence at Fields and are working on getting an overview.”
A concert by former One Direction band member Harry Styles was scheduled to be held at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT; 2 p.m. EDT) at the nearby Royal Arena. It was unclear whether the concert would go ahead.
On Snapchat, Styles wrote ”My team and I pray for everyone involved in the Copenhagen shopping mall shooting. I am shocked. Love H.”
Shortly after the shooting, the royal palace said a reception with Crown Prince Frederik connected to the Tour de France cycling race had been canceled. The first three stages of the race were held in Denmark this year, the palace said in a statement. The reception was due to be held on the royal yacht that is moored in Soenderborg, the town where the third stage ended.
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