Tag: COVID-19

UN to Italy and Malta: Let the Mediterranean Migrant Flow Continue!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Invasion of Europe news….

The Chinese Virus crisis has caused legitimate concern to European frontline countries which have been the target of migrant boats launching from Libya.

In recent weeks, Malta and Italy have been forcing ‘rescue’ boats back toward the Libyan coast infuriating ‘aid’ agencies and the UN which claim that, “departures from Libya during the first quarter of the year rose four-fold over the same period in 2019.”

It’s been awhile since I reported on the Mediterranean route to Europe from the north African coast, primarily from Libya.

Hillary and her gal pals are directly responsible for the hell hole that is Libya today.

Just a reminder that the chaos that is Libya today is a direct result of the Obama Administration’s policy then crafted by Hillary Clinton (with Rice and Power) that brought down the government of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, not exactly a decent guy, but his absence opened up the sea route, a fast lane, for the invasion of Europe.

See my Hillary and Libya archive here.

From Middle East Monitor:

UN urges EU member states to disembark rescued migrants

Two UN agencies on Thursday called on Malta and other European countries to speed up efforts to bring to dry land some 160 rescued refugees and migrants from Libya, who remain at sea aboard two private vessels after two weeks, Anadolu Agency reports.

 

Earlier this month, Italy impounded the German rescue ship, Alan Kurdi, after its latest batch of migrants was quarantined offshore for two weeks due to the virus crisis in Italy.  https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1063592

 

Middle East Monitor continues:

The UN Refugee Agency and International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned that direct or indirect state involvement through the commercial Captain Morgan vessels in the return of the rescued migrants and refugees to Libya might violate international law.

“UNHCR and IOM unequivocally reiterate that no one rescued at sea should be returned to Libya,” said the statement.

“The misery and risk to life posed by intensifying conflict, arbitrary detention, and widespread human rights violations, amongst other factors, meaning it cannot be considered a place of safety.”

Necessary health measures undermine reception capacities in some Mediterranean States due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, prompting the UN agencies to offer support for the effective and speedy processing of new arrivals.

[….]

The UNHCR and IOM noted that the Mediterranean countries had been at the forefront of receiving sea arrivals in recent years and that their efforts, along with non-governmental organizations’ search and rescue vessels, had prevented many tragic deaths.

“However, the UNHCR and IOM are also deeply concerned about reports that States have been ignoring or delaying responses to distress calls, especially amid a sharp decrease in state-led and NGO search and rescue capacity,” said the statement.

More here.

See my ‘Invasion of Europe’ archive for more than a decade of news on the subject.

Cox’s Bazar Update: Eleven Cases of COVID So Far, No Deaths

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment
Mayyu Ali is a young Rohingya poet, writer, and humanitarian activist who runs the Youth Empowerment Centre in the refugee camp at Cox’s Bazaar. https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2019/spring/rohingya-refugee-mayyu-ali

As I said in my post a week ago, I have been following the international news for two months now warning of the impending disaster that would soon befall some of the big refugee camps around the world as the Chinese Virus continues to spread.

I said I would report on a regular basis on the topic.

So far, the “carnage” has not arrived as we learn from an Op-Ed written by a young Rohingya political activist whose opinion piece was posted at the Washington Post on Thursday.

One of his complaints is that the country of Bangladesh, where the largest Rohingya Muslim communities are located at Cox’s Bazar, is that internet access is not available in the camp and was shut off last September.

However, if you are interested you can search activist/author Ali and see that he has access to the media at facebook/twitter and including here at the Washington Post on Thursday:

The world’s largest refugee settlement is in the crosshairs of a cyclone and a pandemic

On March 24, Bangladesh confirmed the first covid-19 case in the city of Cox’s Bazar. Since then, the government imposed a lockdown in the area, including for the camps where more than 1 million Rohingya refugees — myself included — are surviving. On May 14, Bangladesh reported the first two confirmed cases within the camps itself — a Rohingya refugee and a local Bangladeshi person.

The nightmare of what we and the world have feared for months had finally arrived at our doorsteps — and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

The very next day, humanitarian groups used loudspeakers to warn us about Cyclone Amphan, a super-cyclone that was the strongest storm on record in the Bay of Bengal. The groups raised two red flags together in camps, one to signal the detection of the coronavirus in refugee camps and the other to signal the cyclone.

Wednesday night marked the Night of Decree for Muslims, the night when the Koran was first sent down from heaven to the world. Rohingya refugees in camps were waiting for the night to seek safeguard from Allah. While thousands were preparing for prayers, heavy rain and wind started to strike.

Cyclone petered out….

Cyclone Amphan may soon dwindle in Cox’s Bazar, but the monsoon season is just about to arrive. No monsoon leaves the Rohingya refugee camps without devastation. Every year, there are accounts of landslides, shelters destroyed and flooding in camps.

However, our greatest fear is still the spread of the novel coronavirus in the overcrowded camps. Every day brings new confirmed cases in Cox’s Bazar. By Wednesday, there were reportedly 11 confirmed cases in Rohingya refugee camps.

The patients are kept in the isolation facilities that have been newly constructed by United Nations agencies in refugee camps. Refugees who were in contact with those patients were placed in quarantine in Cox’s Bazar, a densely populated area where social distancing is a fantasy. [As I have said previously, we will now have the ultimate test of whether social distancing is significant or not in slowing the spread.—ed]

[….]

Every morning, we hear about new cases in refugee camps and fall deeper into fear.  [But, only 11 so far, right? No deaths?—ed]

Those who fall ill with fever and coughing are afraid to go to the international NGO-run clinic in camps. There are rumors that those who are found with this virus are shot to death. Many refugees are afraid of getting tested for the virus.

Read it all.

I sure hope Mr. Ali and other political activists are out trying to dispel that ignorant rumor, or there could be a Chinese virus crisis at Cox’s Bazar. Sometimes I think the mainstream media is secretly wishing for that outcome.

See over 200 additional posts on Rohingya in my Rohingya Reports category.

 

Female Genital Mutilation on the Rise in Africa Due to Chinese Virus (huh?)

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The dreadful practice is increasing, says Canadian author and women’s rights activist, Farzana Hassan, because aid workers/support networks are no where to be found due to the virus crisis and the social and economic decline it is causing worldwide.

You can be sure that Somalis resettled by the tens of thousands in America brought some of these “entrenched social norms” with them.

From the Toronto Sun:

HASSAN: COVID-19 brings FGM increase to Africa

Writer Farzana Hassan

COVID-19 has caused widespread illness, death and economic misery everywhere. It has also given rise to social problems, exacerbating crimes like female genital mutilation in the developing world.

Recent reports from Somalia, the country with the highest percentage of FGM, show a disturbing trend. This brutality inflicted on underage girls has reportedly increased during these weeks of confinement and isolation.

This is not entirely unexpected.

In fact, humanitarian agencies across the world predicted the figures would get worse. The economic crisis caused by COVID-19 has resulted in an increase in all forms of violence toward girls, partly because their access to the support networks put in place by humanitarian agencies has been blocked.

Any small gains previously made toward gender equality and the basic human rights of women and girls have suffered a serious blow.

They had been getting this support at school or in the workplace, but now they are confined to their most dangerous environment: home. The pressure is on parents and guardians to provide for them under these economically stressful times. The solution for families is to get these girls married off, and in Somalia only girls who have undergone FGM stand any chance of marriage.

Regrettably, the mutilation is not confined to Somalia. In other African countries, like Sudan and Sierra Leone, the practice is also prevalent. It is a manifestation of entrenched social norms rooted in gross gender inequality right across the continent.

A staggering 98% of African females have endured the painful and traumatic procedure of having parts of their outer genitalia cut off by women who have made a profession out of this. Of these victims, 40% happen to be under the age of 15.

More here.

The first time I ever heard of this sick and depraved practice was when I read Ayan Hirsi Ali’s first book ‘Infidel’ in 2007. The author describes in graphic detail what was done to her.

If you don’t know exactly what the procedure involves, see this short Youtube video:

Dozens of Australia’s Rejected Asylum Seekers Arriving in the US Right NOW!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

“It’s an absolutely brutal time to be arriving in America.”

(Ben Winsor, co-founder of Ads-Up a group that is helping them get settled)

 

A couple of those who arrived previously are infected with the Chinese virus and others have no jobs.  So it makes sense that more are coming?

Sure why not!  You can’t travel safely!  You may be jobless.  And, the virus is costing trillions of taxpayer dollars so what the heck, a few more mouths to feed shouldn’t matter, right!

From SBS:

Dozens of refugees flown from Australia and PNG to US despite coronavirus travel bans

Dozens of refugees who have spent years in Australia’s offshore processing regime have been flown to the United States for resettlement, despite COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Transfers from Papua New Guinea and Australian immigration detention centres under the US resettlement program are continuing as the US struggles to contain the pandemic that has killed more than 93,000 people there.

Thirty-five refugees departed Port Moresby on Thursday morning bound for the US via Singapore,and one refugee is due to fly to Finland, according to sources and documents obtained by SBS News.

A handful also departed Australia for the US this week, including several from the Kangaroo Point hotel being used as an “alternative place of detention” (APOD) in Brisbane and from community detention in Melbourne.

[….]

The men are due to arrive in Los Angeles and then be resettled in 18 cities across the US.

[….]

“It’s an absolutely brutal time to be arriving in America,” Ben Winsor, co-founder of Ads-Up, told SBS News.

Ben Winsor who is working to bring them to America. ttps://twitter.com/benbwinsor

“These guys are landing with barely more than the clothes on their backs and they’ll be looking for work alongside millions of recently unemployed Americans.

“Since COVID-19 hit, more than 100 refugees reached out to us for help, they’ve lost jobs and are struggling to pay rent and for basic supplies.

“Refugee resettlement agencies were already overstretched and providing only very basic support, now they’re at breaking point.”

Many of the refugees have underlying health conditions after years of detention and medical neglect on Manus Island and Nauru.

“Their condition puts them at higher risk from COVID-19,” Mr Winsor said.

“We are in daily contact with two refugees in Texas who have contracted COVID-19.”

[….]

In Senate estimates in March, the Home Affairs Department said 702 refugees had been resettled in the US under the agreement reached by then Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and US president Barack Obama in 2016. [Trump called it a “dumb deal” but went along with it!—ed]

Under the deal, up to 1,250 refugees who were in offshore processing on Manus Island and Nauru could be resettled in the US at its discretion after clearing “extreme vetting” procedures.

The department said a further 260 were approved but had not yet departed, and some were transferred to Australia under the now-repealed medevac laws for medical treatment.

Our government is interviewing more of Australia’s illegal aliens who will soon be on the way!

More here. See that there is no Muslim ban!

A “deal” implies both sides offer something!

Yet, I haven’t heard one word recently about Australia’s part of that deal. They are supposed to take in refugees from Costa Rica and that begs the question, why are those refugees our problem?

In exchange for the US considering to resettle 1,250 refugees from Australia’s offshore camps, Australia has agreed to take refugees from US-run refugee camps in Costa Rica.

See my ever-expanding archive on the Australia dumb deal  by clicking here.

The whole thing is maddening!

I wonder how many Australians were planning dream vacations to America or conversely how many Americans had been planning to travel to Australia for work or pleasure and have been forced to cancel their plans, yet, these unhealthy young men who tried to break into Australia are flown to the US and resettled on your dime!

And, as we learned in the SBS story, no quarantine is required for them!

Minnesota County Plans to Vote on Refugee Resettlement Permission on Tuesday

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

This news was a surprise.  I had been assuming all along that since the President’s Executive Order had been halted in the courts and that the Chinese virus crisis had halted almost all (but not all!) refugee resettlement that county governments had simply swept the sore subject under the proverbial rug.

Not so in St. Louis County, MN where a vote is expected on Tuesday although the public will not be there as they were here in January (seems strange that there were actually crowded meetings like this only a few months ago!):

Such meetings a thing of the past?

 

From the Duluth News Tribune:

Controversial county board meeting moved out of Buhl

Meetings will still be held online. Tuesday’s proceedings on refugee resettlement consent had figured to draw a large crowd.

 

The St. Louis County Board has seen its controversial upcoming Tuesday meeting moved out of Buhl and made online-only. The online meeting will emanate from the Virginia [MN] Government Services Center, county administration said in a news release Wednesday.

Meetings at the courthouse in Duluth and other locations throughout the county have been moved online for the past two months, since the county’s emergency declaration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We want to make sure everyone is safe,” Commissioner Frank Jewell, representing downtown Duluth, said during an online board workshop Tuesday, May 19.

Commissioner Keith Nelson, of Virginia, has been adamant the meeting — scheduled for the Buhl Senior Center and set to address the politically charged issue of refugee resettlement consent — should be a physical meeting held in public.

Earlier this month, he described the idea of moving the meeting as “a travesty.”

“We listened for many hours on multiple occasions to folks very much in support of this resolution,” Nelson said May 12. “I have listened to many hours, too, from constituents of mine that are absolutely not in support. They are asking when do they get their turn?”

The subject of refugee settlement consent had been tabled to Tuesday, May 26, during a board meeting in Duluth in January, following three hours of public testimony. Other board meetings, including one in Hibbing prior to COVID-19 restrictions, have also included several members of the public addressing the refugee resettlement issue. Citizens to date have been predominantly in favor of consenting to refugee resettlement.

[….]

The issue of refugee resettlement consent sprang up last winter, after President Donald Trump issued an executive order requiring counties to consent to resettlement. Notably, Beltrami County in Minnesota voted against giving its consent. Many counties, including neighboring Carlton County, declined to take it up after a federal judge blocked the order, nullifying the need for boards to act.

Still, because the St. Louis County Board tabled its consent resolution, it will come up Tuesday.

Citizens of St. Louis County have a few days to comment!

In its news release Wednesday, the county said citizens can submit public comments for the public comment portion or for specific board agenda items prior to the meeting by emailing them to publiccomment@stlouiscountymn.gov, or by calling 218-726-2110 and leaving a recorded comment, or by raising your “virtual hand” while using the Webex software during the board meeting.

More here.

I have no idea of where the Executive Order court case stands these days, but with the COVID slowdown and a Presidential election in a few short months, there is not much happening with the UN/US Refugee Resettlement Program.

I do know this!  If Joe Biden (or any Dem wins in November) the refugee floodgates will be thrown open.