The Guardian’s Post

My latest article for InfoMigrants highlights the challenges faced by Uyghur refugees in Turkey, as they confront heightened surveillance and detention risks, raising concerns within the diaspora and among rights groups. #InfoMigrants #UyghurRefugees #HumanRights

I am writing today to ask you to support an effort by The Syria Campaign to stop the appointment of an EU Special Envoy to Syria. Below is a letter and link you can use. This information comes from Afraa and the team at The Syria Campaign Please also forward this email to friends: Dear friends, In the past weeks, international media from Politico to The Financial Times has exposed that the European Union is working behind closed doors to appoint a special envoy for Syria for the first time since 2011. My name is Afraa and as a human rights activist, Syrian refugee and mother of three, I am deeply concerned. My family fled from the intensive shelling and siege in my city, Aleppo,. It is inhumane that the European Union is now moving towards reopening relations with the same criminal, dictatorial regime that we fled. The EU may hope this will go largely unnoticed as the world’s attention shifts away from Syria, but if we raise the alarm together now, before the European Commission officially appoints an envoy, we could prevent it from happening. It is important that we put pressure on both the European Commission – the EU's executive body that holds the power to stop this decision – and European leaders who have expressed concerns and could play a crucial role in blocking the appointment. Appointing a Syria envoy is particularly dangerous because some EU states are seriously working to force refugees to return to Syria, working in collaboration with the UN refugee agency and the corrupt Syrian regime – that remains in power through ongoing aerial attacks, widespread torture and enforced disappearance, and is funded by a mafia trafficking Captagon narcotics. Italy and seven other EU states have proposed to establish so-called 'safe zones' in Syria, and the EU has already partnered on deportation facilities inside Turkey. This is despite European courts, human rights groups and the UN clearly stating that no part of Syria is safe for refugees to return to. The European Union must listen to the voices of Syrian refugees: we who survived and were able to flee the ongoing atrocities of Assad and have yet to experience a stable life, even in exile. The nightmares of persecution, arrest, bombings, and kidnappings still haunt us daily and I regret to say that we fear being forced to return to Syria. Syria is now a land of underground torture dungeons detention centers, bombings, mafias, and militias. The thought of being forced to return fills us with fear and terror. We must oppose an EU envoy in every way possible. There is a danger that it will help legitimize Assad in the eyes of the international community: Assad is a war criminal and the only legitimate course of action is for him to face trial in national and international courts for the crimes against humanity he has committed and continues to commit. Thank you. https://lnkd.in/dkMKcnkj

The Extremity of #Terror and #Hostility of #Iranian police against Afghan Refugee. Recognition of Enmity: Afghans are aware of the face of enmity; #Iran must understand this. #Accountability Demand: All Afghans demand accountability for the police officer responsible for brutal actions. #Incident Overview: Reports and videos reveal police brutality against 15-year-old Afghan refugee #Syed #Mahdi in Absard, Damavand, resulting in severe injuries, including a broken neck. #Human Rights Violation: The actions of the police constitute a clear violation of human rights and migrant rights, which is unacceptable and requires immediate action. #Call to Action for Iranian Authorities: #Investigate Thoroughly: Conduct a comprehensive investigation into the incident. #Hold Perpetrators Accountable:Ensure judicial proceedings against those responsible. #Ensure Refugee Safety: Guarantee the safety and security of all refugees in Iran. #Solidarity Statement: Refugees, especially children, deserve dignity, respect, and protection. We stand in solidarity with Syed Mahdi and all victims of police brutality. #Humanrights #refugeesrights #UN #UNAMA #Internationaljustice Land Rights Defenders Inc Nana Kwesi Osei Bonsu

I won’t be surprised if Uyghurs are deported back by the Cambodian authorities. I don’t know how true this is but I’m told that the #PRC’s largest overseas operational hub of the United Front Work Department is stationed in Cambodia. An Excerpt from UK-China Transparency on UFWD:  ( Source: https://lnkd.in/epzhuYnh ) “Historically, the ‘United Front’ was described by Chairman Mao Zedong as one of the CCP’s ‘three big magic weapons’, along with the People’s Liberation Army and the CCP’s internal ‘party building’. The United Front Work Department (UFWD) is one of the six important departments of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is responsible for ‘United Front’ work. The UFWD’s main role is domestic: to create a ‘United Front’, bringing together non-Party elements and sectors within China to support the CCP and its aims. The UFWD is in charge of the vast system of ‘political consultative conferences’, through which it both takes the temperature and also disseminates its policies. It controls and co-opts non-CCP groups, from private business, religious and ethnic minorities to cultural and sports organisations. Only 7% of the Chinese population are CCP members, so this work is of great breadth and importance. Xi Jinping has greatly strengthened ‘United Front’ work, reinvigorated efforts to use the ‘United Front’ to expand CCP power, and reformed the UFWD. Xi’s programme of reform has included the strengthening of the UFWD’s control over what is referred to as ‘Overseas Chinese Affairs’, or the qiaowu 侨务 system.”

This is outrageous and shameful. 48 hours after the collapse of the Assad regime, European states have agreed to stop asylum applications for Syrians. It’s very revealing that this is what the UK and European countries have prioritised as a response to the momentous and historical overthrow of Assad’s regime by the people of Syria. The right to asylum is enshrined in international law. Syrians, like all people seeking sanctuary from human rights violations and persecution, have the right to seek asylum, and these rights must be upheld by the UK and European governments. We are seeing the all too inevitable narrative shift in the UK, where Syrians are again being viewed as possible security threats and the demise of the regime is seen as posing a risk to Europe and its borders. This singular story is dehumanising and dangerous. Syrian asylum seekers in limbo as countries stop applications. https://lnkd.in/eS27hAfr #syria #refugees

Being a refugee claimant is like being the prosecutor of your own criminal trial. You bear the onus of proving that the worst events in your life actually did happen, without the benefit of police officers gathering facts on your behalf or the ability to find and cross examine suspects. For example, how is a survivor of domestic abuse supposed to prove that their abuser will follow them from city to city and that therefore they are at risk throughout their country? How is a member of an ethnic minority supposed to prove that an attack on them is based on their ethnic identity, and not, for example, financially motivated? Even when represented by a lawyer, a refugee claimant can only gather the facts that they have immediately at hand. Treating refugee claimants as if they are the Crown in their own claims is how we end up refusing the claims of people who are legitimately at risk. It is dangerous.

The end of the Assad regime in Syria is definitely a cause for optimism. That optimism should not extend to a policy of immediate refugee return. The prospects for a lasting peace are still highly uncertain, and stability cannot be aided by forced or coerced return, nor by having massive waves of returnees arriving in winter to a country that has sustained deep infrastructural damage over the past thirteen years. This sets a dangerous precedent of treating regime change as a sole condition for safe return.

‘Israeli’ War Crimes Caught on Camera: Executions of Civilians in Al-Shati Refugee Camp Newly emerged video footage from the early days of ‘Israel’s’ ground invasion in Al-Shati Refugee Camp, Gaza, reveals shocking war crimes in real time. ‘Israeli’ forces are seen deliberately targeting Palestinian civilians—men who were trying to help others—executing them on the spot. This is not warfare. This is the cold-blooded murder of unarmed civilians. 1. Under international law, the execution of civilians is a war crime. 2. Targeting those offering aid is a war crime. 3. Massacring the occupied population is a war crime. Yet ‘Israel’ continues to commit these atrocities with complete impunity. A genocide is unfolding in real-time, and the so-called ‘international community’ does nothing but issue hollow statements. How many more war crimes need to be filmed before action is taken?

Terrorism

Last month, a new office in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, was established by Italian officials. It will serve as a focal point for coordinating efforts to combat human trafficking in the Balkans. With the region facing a massive surge (approximately 35,000 migrants, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency or UNHCR in 2023) in irregular border crossings and criminal activities related to migrant smuggling, the office aims to foster collaboration among local authorities and international organizations to address it. By focusing on supporting and protecting victims, this office plans to develop a more effective and unified approach to tackling this problem there. To learn more, visit: https://buff.ly/3Kk5ke3 Source: Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) #PreventionFriday #PTSDAwareness #EndHumanTrafficking #FightHumanTrafficking #Liluye #LiluyeSpirit