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Tories vote down plan to help reunite unaccompanied child refugees with UK families

Conservative MPs have been branded “inhumane” after defeating a bid to force Boris Johnson to act to reunite unaccompanied child refugees with relatives in the UK.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats had urged Tory MPs to rebel after the prime minister’s “disgraceful” decision to strip out a commitment to negotiate with the EU to reach an agreement.

Charities have warned that children seeking asylum will be left with “no options” but to turn to smugglers and take dangerous routes in order to escape desperate conditions and reach their families.

But an amendment to the withdrawal agreement bill, to restore the promise to seek a deal, was heavily defeated by 348 votes to 252, a majority of 96.

READ ALSO: No sanctuary for migrants

Safe Passage International, a charity providing legal support, described the vote as “a bitter blow for separated child refugees”.

“We have real concerns that children will hear about the government’s decision to remove protections and fear the route to family reunion will be closed by Brexit,” said Beth Gardiner-Smith, its chief executive.

READ COVID-19 driving Nicaraguan refugees to hunger, desperation

“And we know that, when legal routes aren’t available, children are more likely to be pushed into the hands of smugglers, and risk their lives taking dangerous journeys.”

And Tim Farron, the former Lib Dem leader, said: “These Tory MPs get irritated when they are labelled as insular and inhumane, but by blocking our amendment today they have earned those labels.”

The prime minister has faced increasing criticism of the removal of the commitment – granted by Theresa May’s government, in 2018 – to work with the EU to give refugee children sanctuary.

(www.independent.co.uk)

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With low refugee resettlement in 2020, UNHCR calls on states to offer places and save lives

South Africa. Congolese refugees resettled to France

A Congolese family heads to a new life in France, Cape Town International Airport, South Africa, March 2017. © UNHCR/James Oatway

Despite an estimated 1.44 million refugees in urgent need of resettlement globally, only 22,770 were resettled through UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, last year. This is according to annual statistics released by the agency today.

These are the lowest refugee resettlement numbers the agency has witnessed in almost two decades. The drop stems from low quotas put forward by states, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed departures and programmes.

“We can only hope that 2020 will be an extreme anomaly for refugee resettlement. We urgently call on governments to boost their programmes this year, offer more places, expedite the processing of cases and help us save lives of those most in need and at greatest risk,” said UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs.

READ Oyetola silent as Osun indigene held captive in Lebanon cries for help

“Last year was an extremely challenging one for people across the globe, but even more so for so many refugees who are already living on the margins, struggling to survive.”

Though the pandemic greatly impacted the numbers of refugees able to be resettled in 2020, UNHCR is encouraged by the fact that 20 countries still resumed their programmes, processing and receiving refugees throughout the year. Many of these implemented innovative and flexible ways to process cases throughout the pandemic.

“We have seen that refugee resettlement can be managed, even during a global health emergency, as long as there are proper and adequate health and safety protocols in place,” said Triggs.

The largest numbers of resettled refugees in 2020 originated from Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Myanmar.

With 85 per cent of the 20.4 million refugees under UNHCR’s mandate hosted in developing regions, resettlement is a tangible way in which states can better protect refugees, demonstrate solidarity and support host countries. Facilitated family reunion, as well as labour and education pathways are other opportunities for refugees that countries can support.

READ Second journey to ARMAGEDDON

These are key objectives of the Global Compact on Refugees, and envisaged in a three-year resettlement and complementary pathways strategy launched by governments, non-governmental organizations, civil society and UNHCR.

“The fact is that as long as wars and conflict continue, displacement remains protracted, and the least-resourced countries are left with the extremely disproportionate burden of hosting the majority of the world’s refugees, we need other countries to step up,” Triggs said.

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6 Nigerians deported from India

TWO Nigerians have been deported from India for overstaying their visas, the Delhi Police said on Thursday, bringing to six the total number of Nigerians expelled from the country since the beginning of this year.

According to a statement released on its official Twitter page, the Dwarka Police said the two Nigerians and a Sudanese were arrested and deported by officers from Uttam Nagar Police Station, after they were found to be living in India without valid visas and passports.

“2 #Nigerian Nationals & 1 from #Sudan were found living without having valid #Visa & #Passport during area #Patrolling duty, were deported by the staff of PS Uttam Nagar,” the statement read, using the hashtag #ActionAgainstIllegalStaying.

It was gathered that the two Nigerians recently deported were among 10 Nigerian nationals picked up by the police from the Uttam Nagar in Dwarka district on Wednesday, January 6.

Two Nigerian males were deported from the country on January 13th, 2021, by officers from the Mohan Garden Police Station and another male with one female were deported on January 11 in a similar sting operation by men from Uttam Nagar Police Division.

READ Migrants on Greek islands to receive €2,000 in new voluntary return initiative

The deputy commissioner of police, Dwarka, Santosh Kumr Meena, who confirmed the development, described their action as a gross violation of the Indian visa norms.

“Their visas have also expired but they are continuously staying in India which is a gross violation of the Indian visa norms. They have not provided any suitable reason and supportive documents for their overstay in India,” he said.

Over the years, several Nigerians residing in the country have been arrested and deported. The offences charged against them include illegal stay, internet fraud, online romance scams and drug peddling.

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Biden reverses Trump’s travel ban on Nigeria, Yemen, Eritrea, others

Mr Biden has now nullified the entry ban on citizens from over a dozen countries, including Eritrea, Yemen, Nigeria, and Sudan.

Newly sworn-in American president, Joe Biden, on Wednesday, issued an executive order nullifying a travel ban imposed on citizens of some Muslim-majority countries by his predecessor, Donald Trump.

Before his exit from White House on Wednesday, Mr Trump-led administration was notorious for its harsh policies against immigrants and asylum seekers, one of his many election campaign promises.

He tightened the policies amidst the coronavirus pandemic which rocked the globe, claiming his decision was to protect American populace.

However, Mr Biden, immediately after his inauguration on Wednesday, issued a number of executive orders undoing some of the policies and projects of his predecessor.

Reversals
Mr Biden has now nullified the entry ban on citizens from over a dozen countries, including Nigeria, Eritrea, Yemen, and Sudan.

“There’s no time to waste.

“These are just all starting points,” he said before signing the 17 executive orders in the White House, a statement that connotes the possibility of many more to come.

READ International standards of refugee protection severely tested in 2020-UNHCR’s Gillian Triggs

Mr Trump’s strict immigration policies have been condemned by leaders and civil groups in the past.

The American Civil Liberties Union, on Wednesday lauded Mr Biden’s decision berating his predecessor’s travel policy a “cruel Muslim ban that targeted Africans.

Culled from Premium Times