Karen representatives today vowed to appeal against the recent Thai court verdict that ruled the authorities did not break the law in burning their properties to forcefully evict them from Kaeng Krachan National Park.Indigenous rights groups have called for effective…
Category: Migration
28 million children uprooted by global conflict: Unicef
United Nations (AP/UNB) — Some 28 million children around the globe have been driven from their homes by violent conflict, with nearly as many abandoning their homes in search of a better life, UNICEF said in a report.
Kuwait bans hiring workers from Bangladesh
Kuwait has once again imposed a ban on recruiting workers from Bangladesh, local media reports say.It comes months after the Gulf nation reopened its manpower market for Bangladesh under certain conditions, reports the Kuwait Times.It said the interior ministry took…
European ships rescue thousands of migrants off Libyan coast
Libya (AP/UNB) — Italian naval ships and vessels from non-government groups rescued thousands of migrants off the Libyan coast on Monday, the latest surge in desperate attempts to flee to Europe driven by war, poverty, and human traffickers.
Some 9,000 refugee children reported to have disappeared in Germany
Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt) has confirmed that by July 1, 8,991 unaccompanied refugee children and young people had been reported missing.The figures, which were requested by the German daily “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung,” showed the number of migrants no…
Trump changes mind on illegal immigrants
Washington (CNN) Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that he would allow exceptions to let some undocumented immigrants to stay in the US, vowing he wouldn’t grant them citizenship but telling Fox News, “there’s no amnesty, but we work with them.” For…
Slain imam’s body arrives from NY
Dhaka -The body of Bangladeshi expatriate imam Maulana Alauddin Akhonjee, who was shot to death along with his assistant by a gunman in New York City on Saturday, arrived home Thursday morning, UNB news agency reported.
Domestic helpers on display sparks controversy in Saudi Arabia
Recruitment company faulted for not respecting dignity and privacy of the helpers Manama: A recruitment company has waded into controversy and will face tough action after it displayed three of its domestic helper staff at a mall in the Eastern…
Saudi Arabia withdraws ban on BD workers
Dhaka – The Ministry of Labor and Social Development of Saudi Arabia has lifted the ban on the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers as of Wednesday, UNB news agency reported. The ban was in force for the past six years except…
Error puts Chinese tourist in German migrant hostel
A Chinese tourist spent nearly two weeks in a German migrant hostel after mistakenly applying for asylum when he actually wanted to report a theft.German media say the 31-year-old backpacker, who spoke neither German nor English, underwent a medical check…
How migrant workers can retire rich and worry free!
Gee Isa-al No one leaves their home country to work abroad, without wanting to build a better life for themselves and their families. Unfortunately, poor decisions often limit the benefits that the migrant worker experience delivers. Author Gee Isa-al is…
Narrow national interests threaten refugee agreement
Narrow national interests are threatening to derail an upcoming UN summit which aims to bring countries together to find a more humane and coordinated approach to large movements of refugees and migrants.The existing system, which was established after World War…
Climate victims – every second, disaster displaces one person
Climate change and related extreme weather events have devastated the lives and livelihoods of tens of millions of most vulnerable people worldwide– by far exceeding the total of all the unfortunate and unjustifiable victims of all terrorist attacks combined. However,…
Almost 3,000 drowned in Mediterranean crisis this year
Some 2,977 people have perished in the Mediterranean Sea so far this year, with people dying at a rate of around 20 a day since March.The benchmark of nearly 3,000 was reached faster this year than in any previous year…
Cabinet okays proposal to simplify Indo-Bangla extradition treaty
Dhaka – The Cabinet on Monday approved a proposal to amend the existing ‘Treaty between Bangladesh and India relating to extradition’ for simplifying the existing extradition process of accused between the two countries, UNB news agency reports.
Kuwait sets minimum wage for domestic workers
Kuwait has become the first Gulf Arab country to set a minimum wage for its hundreds of thousands of domestic servants.A notice published on the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry’s website on Thursday listed the minimum salary as 60 Kuwaiti dinars ($198)…
Dubai workers educational programme
Dubai workers training course on labours’ rights, dues, occupational health and safety has started, and so far 509 workers have attended the awareness educational programme.The workers received approved certificates from Major General Obaid Muhair Bin Surour, Chairman of the Permanent…
Singapore court jails 4 Bangladeshis for attack plans linked to IS
Dhaka — A Singapore court has sentenced four Bangladeshi workers to jail terms of up to five years for allegedly planning attacks linked to the Islamic State group in Bangladesh, UNB news agency reported. The four are Mizanur Rahman, 31,…
Agreement for social security of Nepali migrant workers in Oman
Muscat: To benefit expatriate workers, the government of Nepal and Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide social security and (pension) provident fund to migrant workers.
The Gulf States’ expat dividend
How should policymakers in the Middle East’s Gulf States manage their countries’ large expatriate workforces? In Saudi Arabia, foreign nationals account for roughly one-third of the population. In Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, nine out of every ten residents…
65 million people displaced in 2015, a new record: UN
Geneva, (AP/UNB) – The U.N. refugee agency says persecution and conflict in places like Syria and Afghanistan raised the total number of refugees and internally displaced people worldwide to a record 65.3 million at the end of last year. The…
Kuwait domestic helper offices’ owners slam new law
Kuwait: In a recent session, the parliament approved amending the law to establish a closed shareholding company to recruit domestic helpers and referred it to the government. The first article of the law stipulates establishing a closed shareholding company that…
Migrants rescued as boat runs aground near Greek island
Dhaka-Greece’s coast guard rescued 57 migrants or refugees from a sailboat which ran aground off the coast of the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos Thursday, and arrested two suspected smugglers who had also been on board, authorities said.
‘Remittances bring economic stability to families, countries’
Rome – On the International Day of Family Remittances, 16 June, Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), calls for greater recognition of the vital financial contribution migrants make to the economic stability of their…
Bangladeshi male domestic workers’ recruitment allowed in Kuwait
KUWAIT: Kuwait Interior Ministry’s Assistant Undersecretary for Citizenship and Passport Affairs Major General Sheikh Mazen Al-Jarrah issued a circular to immigration departments in Kuwait’s six governorates allowing citizens to bring Bangladeshi domestic helpers.
Deadly Week in the Mediterranean
Judith Sunderland Over 880 women, men, and children are feared drowned in the Mediterranean last week. While smugglers bear direct responsibility for sending overcrowded and unseaworthy boats from the coast of Libya and elsewhere, European governments share moral and political…
Hiring illegal maid: 100,000Riyal fine, 6-month jail
Jeddah – The Passport Department has confirmed that those who hire, harbor or protect illegal maids will be fined SR100,000 and spend six months in jail, with expatriates involved deported.
Mediterranean black hole: Over 700 feared dead in ship wrecks
Pozzallo (AP/UNB) — Survivor accounts have pushed to more than 700 the number of migrants feared dead in Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks over three days in the past week, even as European ships saved thousands of others in daring rescue operations.…
Over 4,000 migrants rescued in single day
Rome (AP/UNB) — More than 4,000 would-be refugees were rescued at sea Thursday in one of the busiest days of the Mediterranean migrant crisis, and at least 20 died trying to reach Europe as Libyan-based smugglers took advantage of calmer…
Bangladesh’s urban slums swell with climate migrants
By Rafiqul Islam Dhaka (IPS) – Abdul Aziz, 35, arrived in the capital Dhaka in 2006 after losing all his belongings to the mighty Meghna River. Once, he and his family had lived happily in the village of Dokkhin Rajapur…