Himself a survivor of the harsh journey across the Mediterranean Sea, Moses Von Kallon SOS Méditerranée’s Aquarius vessel in 2018 – a journey during which his rescue ship was turned away from Italian and Maltese waters. He told ISHR about how he started his organisation after Aquarius Supervivientes after settling in Spain and how he has wrestled with everyday racism. ‘Immigration is not a disease,’ he said, as he shared his hopes for a future where justice and free movement would be guaranteed to those who are forced to leave their homelands to find safety. Learn more about Moses and other human rights activists and defenders like him: https://ishr.ch/defender-stories/
EU negotiators have reached agreement on rules aimed at spreading the cost and responsibility for hosting asylum seekers across the bloc, limiting the number of people coming in and making it easier to deport those whose claims fail.
After all-night talks, representatives from national governments, the European parliament and European Commission “reached a deal on the core political elements” of the pact on asylum and migration, the EU’s Spanish presidency said on Wednesday.
During the last couple of decades, we have been witnessing a resurgence of interest in the thought and work of Karl Marx, author of major philosophical, historical, political and economic works — and of course, of The Communist Manifesto, which is perhaps the most popular political manifesto in the history of the world. This resurgence is largely due to the devastating consequences of…
Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill passes its first Commons vote but only after rebellion by a collection of rightwing Tory MPs
Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, a former lord chief justice of England and Wales, has said the government should not try to ignore the jurisdiction of the European court of human rights. In an interview for a podcast called the Judges, he said:
If you have subjected yourself to a court, and it was our voluntary decision to do so, then you have to take the rough with the smooth and if they’ve decided [the court] have this jurisdiction then you ought to follow it.
You can’t expect others to respect the law if you say you won’t respect the law of someone else.
You ought to actually be able, within a set period of time, say a fortnight, to investigate, decide, give him one right of appeal – why you should have more than one right of appeal I simply don’t understand – and remove them.” But, he concedes, it costs money.
Britain is a practical nation – always has been. People can’t afford Christmas. If they call an ambulance this winter – they don’t know if it will come. 6,000 crimes go unpunished – every day. Common sense is rolling your sleeves up and solving these problems practically, not indulging in some kind of political performance art.
This goes for stopping the boats as well. It’s not about wave machines, or armoured jet skis, or schemes like Rwanda you know will never work.
Highly skilled migrants that have been waiting months for visas in areas like cybersecurity and science research will have an outcome within a week under the federal government’s ambitious overhaul of the migration system announced on Monday. The fast-tracking of highly paid workers with in demand skills also recognises these migrants meet a “national need”…
Senior Tories from across the party are warning that Rishi Sunak’s emergency Rwanda plan will never become law in its current form, ahead of the most critical vote of his premiership.
Liberal Tories confirmed last night that, despite their desire to back the PM against the right, “serious concerns” remain about the plan and more reassurances will be required. Meanwhile, a self-styled “star chamber” of legal figures examining the proposals for the Tory right is understood to have found problems that are “extremely difficult to resolve”.
ERG lawyers conclude plans will not forestall court challenges, echoing concerns of goverment’s own legal team
Rishi Sunak has been dealt a fresh blow over his Rwanda legislation as a legal assessment for the Tory right has concluded that the prime minister’s plans are not fit for purpose.
Bill Cash, who chairs the “star chamber” of lawyers for the European Research Group, wrote in the Daily Telegraph that “at present” the legislation is not “sufficiently watertight to meet the government’s policy objectives” such as circumventing individual legal challenges by people seeking to remain in the UK.
The UK has suffered a sharp decline in its performance in the latest round of influential international academic tests, wiping out recent progress, as the widespread disruption caused by Covid continued to take its toll on education, the Guardian reports.
Yesterday, when he was being interviewed at the Resolution Foundation conference, Keir Starmer was asked by Zanny Minton Beddoes, the editor of the Economist, if he could say in what way his policies were different from the Conservatives’. Starmer was able to provide a half-decent answer, but he did not entirely dispel her suggestion that in many areas the policy overlap is getting more and more pronounced.
Today’s announcement is an admission of years of Tory failure on both the immigration system and the economy, as net migration has trebled to a record high under the Tories since they promised to reduce it at the last election.
Labour has said repeatedly that net migration should come down and called for action to scrap the unfair 20% wage discount, raise salary thresholds based on economic evidence, bring in new training requirements linked to the immigration system, as well as a proper workforce plan for social care. Immigration is important but the system needs to be controlled and managed. But whilst the Conservatives have finally been forced to abandon the unfair wage discount that they introduced, they are still completely failing to introduce more substantial reforms that link immigration to training and fair pay requirements in the UK, meaning many sectors will continue to see rising numbers of work visas because of skills shortages.
What that means is, if you’ve got a shortage occupation, not just health and social care workers – that might be also engineers, might also include now bricklayers – employers will still be able to recruit at less than the threshold. And yet the government is still doing nothing to tackle those skills.
We think the Migration Advisory Committee should look at this very swiftly before it is introduced, particularly at the impact this is going to have on British citizens who fall in love across borders.
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist and WBEZ, the NPR station in Chicago.
In a former industrial neighborhood in Chicago’s Southwest Side, protest signs hang off a chain link fence, many of them with the same message: “This land is contaminated.”
Welcome to Brighton Park, the proposed site of a winter tent camp for migrants, a controversial plan from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson that has drawn opposition from both residential neighbors and environmental advocates.
Construction is paused on the camp as the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency reviews a city-issued report released late last week detailing the contaminants found at the site and the efforts to clean them up, according to Jordan Abudeyyah, a spokesperson for Governor JB Pritzker.
“They have some outstanding questions for the consultants,” said Abudeyyah to Grist over email.
Arsenic, lead and mercury all turned up in soil sampling across the site, as well as toxic compounds including pesticides and PCBs, also known as polychlorinated biphenyls, according to the nearly 800-page report. While city officials say the majority of the contaminants have been cleared from the soil, the report notes that DEHP or bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate, a compound used to make plastics flexible, was found at the site and will not be amended until approximately December 8, 2023.
The tent city is being built by GardaWorld Federal Services, part of the multinational private security firm that inked a nearly $30 million deal with the city for its services in September. GardaWorld has faced scrutiny for its role in bussing migrants out of Florida and allegations of mistreating migrant children. In the past week, the company has raised the metal skeleton of several of the massive tent structures, spanning a city block. The full installation was scheduled to open later this month.
Protest signs hang near “no trespassing” signs at the controversial site of a tent city for migrants in Chicago.
Grist / Juanpablo Rameriz-Franco
Since August of 2022, more than 22,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Chicago from countries such as Colombia, Nicaragua and Venezuela. To date, nearly 13,000 are living in shelters across the city or are housed in police stations and O’Hare International Airport.
“It’s not a surprise,” said Anthony Moser, a founding member of Neighbors for Environmental Justice, a watchdog environmental organization based on the South Side of Chicago. “That when you pick an industrial lot in the industrial corridor, and it turns out to have contamination.”
The lot in Brighton Park was home to a freight terminal, zinc smelter and an underground diesel storage tank. Environmental advocates worry about potential health concerns for migrants who will be housed at the former industrial site. From the beginning, advocates like Moser said the city left the community in the dark.
“They did not announce when they started considering this site, they did not announce when they signed a contract for this site,” said Moser. “They did not announce when they found something as a result of environment testing, they did not announce that they were going to begin construction.”
In a press conference last week, Johnson pointed to approaching winter temperatures when defending his decision to raise the Brighton Park base camp before releasing the environmental analysis to the public. Johnson added that migrants will not be transferred to the encampment until the analysis has been completed.
Advocates are calling Johnson to cancel the contract for the tent city. They are also calling on the city’s Committee on Environmental Protection and Energy to hold meetings into the site was selected, as well as further oversight from state and federal agencies.
The state is footing the $65 million bill to build the tent encampment in Brighton Park and retrofit a nearby empty drugstore to shelter migrants. According to the governor’s office If the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency does not sign off on the report on the Brighton Park camp the state will not proceed with work there.
Initially, the plan was to transfer 500 migrants to the newly built base camp. According to the contract, the site capacity is between 250 to 1,400, but the city is aiming to shelter up to 2,000 migrants there.
A new legal framework to support climate-displaced people and guarantee their human rights is being served up ahead of COP28.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference opens tomorrow and is being held in the fossil fuel giant United Arab Emirates (UAE) from November 30 to December 12.
The human rights advocacy centre — the International Centre for Advocates Against Discrimination (ICAAD) — wants to ensure climate frontline communities will not be neglected.
The UN is estimating there could be 1.2 billion climate-displaced people by 2050.
ICAAD and partners are calling for climate mobility justice to feature on the agenda of COP28.
The Human Rights Centre wants discussions around how to expand protections for climate-displaced persons to ensure their dignity is upheld now and in the future.
ICAAD director and facilitator Erin Thomas said more than 40 indigenous and climate activists and researchers from eight Pacific Island countries were advocating for COP28.
‘Right to life of dignity’
“This is part of our right to life of dignity project which we have been working on over a number of years,” she said.
“But one of the thornier issues that the international community has yet to respond to effectively is protecting those who are displaced across borders.”
The group warned that climate change is already creating human rights abuses, especially for those already migrating without access to dignified migration pathways.
At the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) annual meeting in Rarotonga two weeks ago, regional leaders noted that more than 50,000 Pacific people were displaced due to climate and disaster related events annually.
The leaders endorsed a Pacific regional framework on climate mobility to “provide practical guidance to governments planning for and managing climate mobility”.
They also called on development partners to “provide substantially greateer levels of climate finance, technology and capacity to accelerate decarbonisation of the Blue Pacific”.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
A new legal framework to support climate-displaced people and guarantee their human rights is being served up ahead of COP28.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference opens tomorrow and is being held in the fossil fuel giant United Arab Emirates (UAE) from November 30 to December 12.
The human rights advocacy centre — the International Centre for Advocates Against Discrimination (ICAAD) — wants to ensure climate frontline communities will not be neglected.
The UN is estimating there could be 1.2 billion climate-displaced people by 2050.
ICAAD and partners are calling for climate mobility justice to feature on the agenda of COP28.
The Human Rights Centre wants discussions around how to expand protections for climate-displaced persons to ensure their dignity is upheld now and in the future.
ICAAD director and facilitator Erin Thomas said more than 40 indigenous and climate activists and researchers from eight Pacific Island countries were advocating for COP28.
‘Right to life of dignity’
“This is part of our right to life of dignity project which we have been working on over a number of years,” she said.
“But one of the thornier issues that the international community has yet to respond to effectively is protecting those who are displaced across borders.”
The group warned that climate change is already creating human rights abuses, especially for those already migrating without access to dignified migration pathways.
At the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) annual meeting in Rarotonga two weeks ago, regional leaders noted that more than 50,000 Pacific people were displaced due to climate and disaster related events annually.
The leaders endorsed a Pacific regional framework on climate mobility to “provide practical guidance to governments planning for and managing climate mobility”.
They also called on development partners to “provide substantially greateer levels of climate finance, technology and capacity to accelerate decarbonisation of the Blue Pacific”.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Covid tier system introduced in October 2020 and imposed different restrictions on English regions in effort to contain spread of virus. This live blog is closed
At the Covid inquiry Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said that he was not getting information from the government in February about Covid. He said he was “disappointed” by that.
In late February and early March he was getting information from other cities around the world instead, he said. He said this happened even though his foreign affairs team consisted of just three people.
The government generally does give us information about a variety of things happening. I’m disappointed the government weren’t giving us information in February about what they knew then.
Moving is never easy — and it’s even harder in the era of global warming. Beyond the usual concerns like jobs, affordability, and proximity to family and friends, people are now considering rising seas, wildfire smoke, and heat waves. According to a recent survey, nearly a third of Americans named climate change as a motivation to move.
Some are headed to “climate havens,” the places experts say will be relatively pleasant to live in as the world heats up, like Duluth, Minnesota; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Burlington, Vermont. Researchers have pointed to the Great Lakes region, and Michigan in particular, as a destination for people seeking to escape the storm-ravaged Southeast or the parched Southwest. The Midwest holds special appeal with its abundant fresh water, cooler summers, and comparatively little risk from hurricanes and wildfires.
But as the federal government’s comprehensive Fifth National Climate Assessment detailed last week, there’s nowhere you can truly hide from climate change. This summer, historic wildfires in Canada sent unhealthy smoke swirling into the Midwest and Northeast, bringing apocalyptic skies from Minneapolis to Buffalo, New York, and all the supposed refuges in between. Heavy rain in July caused devastating flash floods in Vermont. Three years earlier, a ProPublica analysis had identified the hardest-hit place in the state, Lamoille County, as the safest county in the U.S. “It’s time to put the idea of climate safe havens to rest,” the climate news site Heatmap declared this summer.
Still, the new assessment demonstrates that some places are safer than others. The report says that moving away from more dangerous spots to less precarious ones is a solution that’s already happening — not only in coastal areas in the Southeast, but also in flood zones in the Midwest. The assessment also makes it clear that vulnerability is often created by city planning choices. Climate havens may not be something nature hands us, but something we have to build ourselves. And finding refuge doesn’t necessarily entail moving across the country; given the right preparations, it could be closer to home than you think.
“While the climate is going to change, how we respond as a species, as a society, as individuals, I think will really determine what is a ‘refuge’ for us and what isn’t,” said Vivek Shandas, a professor at Portland State University whose research focuses on how cities can adapt to climate change. Shandas, who worked on the Northwest chapter of the report, says that it points to how human choices — policies and urban design decisions — have either put people more in harm’s way or brought them greater safety.
Wildfire smoke from Canada casts a thick haze over St. Paul, Minnesota, June 15, 2023.
Michael Siluk / UCG / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Tulsa, Oklahoma, was once the country’s most frequently flooded city, according to the assessment. After a disaster in 1984 submerged 7,000 homes and killed 14 people, the city came together to fix the problem with an aggressive flood-control plan. They constructed a network of drainage systems, created green spaces to soak up water, and put strict rules on where new homes could be built. Over the last three decades, Tulsa has also cleared roughly 1,000 buildings out of flood zones through a buyout program. Officials say the effort has saved the city millions of dollars, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency gave Tulsa its top risk-reduction rating last year.
That’s the kind of tough work that lies ahead of any Midwest city aiming to protect its residents. With dam failures and overflows from combined sewer and stormwater systems common, the region is unprepared to handle the volume of water now coursing in. “Just being more sheltered from certain dangers does not make you a haven,” said Julie Arbit, who researches equity and the environment at the University of Michigan. And flooding isn’t the only problem. Purported climate havens like Minneapolis, Duluth, Ann Arbor, and Madison, Wisconsin, will see some of the greatest temperature increases in the country in the coming decades. Residents of Michigan and Wisconsin face some of the longest power outages in the country.
The idea that any city could be a climate haven traces back to Jesse Keenan, a professor of urban planning at Tulane University — though he suspects the phrase itself was invented by journalists. “People often associate me with coining that concept, but I don’t think I’ve ever used that phrase in any of my talks or writing,” Keenan said (though he did come up with “climate-proof Duluth.”) In 2018, the journalist Oliver Milman wrote an article for The Guardian looking at the parts of the U.S. that might be less miserable as the climate changes, calling Duluth and Buffalo “safe havens.” That framing took off the following year, making the headlines in Reuters, Yale Climate Connections, and Bloomberg.
Keenan said he probably wouldn’t have used the phrase “climate havens,” though he does take credit for the proposition behind it. “The general idea is that there are places that people are going to move to, whether we like it or not, whether we plan for it or not,” he said. “We need to help those places and guide those places to prepare.”
The idea of climate havens caught on, in part, because it was a hopeful message for post-industrial cities in the Great Lakes region, raising the prospect of filling vacant homes and revitalizing sluggish economies. Over the last two decades, more than 400,000 people left the Midwest for other regions of the United States. In 2019, Buffalo’s mayor called his city a “climate refuge.” The title is still embraced by some city planners: The 2023 Green Cincinnati Plan names the city a “climate haven.”
Several days after heavy rains flooded Detroit, Michigan, in June 2021, a car remains inundated on I-94.
Matthew Hatcher / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
The reality of climate change has weakened the phrase’s charm. Another factor that could be dampening enthusiasm for havens, according to Shandas, is that researchers aren’t getting much federal funding for their proposals to identify the role climate change plays in propelling migration patterns. The National Climate Assessment, for instance, points out that there’s yet not enough data to “make a strong statement” on how climate change might drive migration to the Midwest.
Beth Gibbons, an author of the Midwest chapter of the report and the national resilience lead with the consulting group Farallon Strategies, says she’s heard many anecdotes of people moving to the Great Lakes in search of a less hostile climate. Most locals, however, don’t share politicians’ enthusiasm for a wave of climate migration to the Midwest. Interviews across Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Western New York have found that people are nervous about the prospect, Gibbons said.
“By and large, the sense in communities is that we have a lot of challenges as it is,” Gibbons said, “and they’re not sure that this sounds like something that is really an opportunity, but rather something else that they may have to be dealing with.” Environmental justice advocates also worry that “the idea of being a climate haven is going to become a distraction from caring for people who are already here.”
The “climate havens” conversation has largely revolved around the Midwest, but new research suggests that other parts of the country might be getting overlooked. The Climate Vulnerability Index, released by the Environmental Defense Fund and Texas A&M University last month, maps out risk across the United States on a neighborhood level, measuring environmental dangers alongside factors that make it harder for people to deal with hazards, such as income levels and access to health care. According to data provided to Grist, the least vulnerable counties are mostly rural and scattered across the northern part of the country, from Nantucket County, Massachusetts, to Juneau County, Alaska. The only Midwest spot to make the top 10 was Oneida County in Wisconsin. And the only place with a large population (numbering 600,000 people) on the list was Washington County, Oregon, which includes the east side of Portland.
Portland residents rest in a cooling center on June 27, 2021, during a historic heat wave.
Nathan Howard / Getty Images
Portland has been named as a potential climate haven before, but the idea has recently fallen out of favor after the Pacific Northwest was struck by an off-the-charts heat dome in June 2021. It brought 116-degree temperatures to Portland, melting streetcar power cables and buckling pavement. In a region largely unaccustomed to owning air-conditioning units, roughly 1,000 people died across Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. “‘Nowhere is safe’: Heat shatters vision of Pacific Northwest as climate refuge,” read a headline in The Guardian at the time.
Two years later, Portland and Seattle are more prepared for heat. “The Northwest went bananas with distributing heat pumps and AC units all over the place,” Shandas said. One bad disaster doesn’t necessarily cross a given place off the “havens” list; people can learn from past events and work to better survive the next disaster.
And the reality is that most people are unlikely to pack up their belongings and move across the country to find refuge. There’s “no doubt that most people will be moving relatively locally,” Keenan said. He says that climate migration, even at a more local level, presents another opportunity to get it right when it comes to urban development. “We can either recreate crap suburban sprawl and high-carbon sprawl, or we can try to do it the right way. But we will branch into new cities in America, and those may be closer to home than we realize.”
“Local refuges” might provide a better framework for discussing how to escape the worst of climate change, Shandas said. He borrowed the concept from the field of ecology, where the Latin “refugia” refers to areas where the climate conditions stay relatively safe over time, despite change happening around them. A local refuge could be a community center with air conditioning during a heat wave. Or it could mean moving out of a wildfire danger zone, or up the hill to escape frequent flooding.
“For me, that’s a wonderful thought,” Shandas said, “because it allows humans to actually not be the victim of, like, ‘Oh my God, no matter where we go, we’re going to be crushed by this climate.’ And it’s like, ‘No, actually, there are things we can do.”
Downing Street says ignoring ECHR and parts of UN refugee convention could delay emergency bill
Downing Street has ruled out a proposal by rightwing Conservatives to override international law to remove asylum seekers to Rwanda, prompting threats that rebel MPs will simply seek to amend planned legislation.
Rishi Sunak has promised to introduce a bill to parliament to get around Wednesday’s supreme court ruling that flights to Rwanda could not take place because of the risk that people could be wrongly returned to their home countries.
Prime minister says he ‘will do whatever it takes’ as senior Tory criticises former home secretary’s hardline proposals
Downing Street has not ruled out asking MPs to spend some of what is meant to be their Christmas break dealing with the PM’s “emergency legislation” on Rwanda.
This is one proposal made by Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, in her Telegraph article this morning. (See 10.01am.)
I think we are prepared to do whatever is necessary to ensure that we can get this in place and get flights off the ground.
I wouldn’t speculate on parliamentary process but I cannot impress [enough] the importance that the prime minister places on this necessary legislation to deliver for the public on the important priority of stopping the boats.
Sunak suggested he would blame Labour if the Lords refuses to pass his “emergency legislation” on Rwanda (see 11.40am) quickly. Asked if he would call an early election if the Lords block the law, he replied:
It doesn’t have to take a long time to get legislation through – and that is a question for the Labour party.
We’re determined to get this through as quickly as possible. So the real question is: is the Labour party going to stand in the way and stop this from happening, or are they going to work with us and support this bill so we can get it through as quickly as possible?
Sunak declined to say whether favoured holding an early election on the issue of Rwanda deportations if his bill got held up. Earlier today Sir Simon Clarke suggested this. (See 10.56am.) But, for obvious reasons, the prospect might not appeal.
Sunak claimed he was making “real progress” on stopping small boats. He said:
I think people just want the problem fixed. That’s what I’m here to do, and this year, we’ve already got the numbers down by a third.
That’s because I’ve got new deals with the French, a new deal with Albania. We’re working with Turkey and Bulgaria, multiple other countries. We’re tackling the criminal gangs, we’re cutting through the backlog.
Sunak said he would “take on” people trying to stop Rwanda flights taking over, whether it was Labour or the House of Lords. He said:
We can pass these laws in parliament that will give us the powers and the tools we need. Then we can get the flights off and whether it’s the House of Lords or the Labour party standing in our way I will take them on because I want to get this thing done and I want to stop the boats.
He said his patience was “wearing thin” with this issue. He said:
People are sick of this merry-go-round. I want to end it – my patience is wearing thin like everyone else’s.
Downing Street says legislation will make clear ‘Rwanda is safe’ and will address court’s concerns after policy ruled unlawful. This live blog is closed
At his Institute for Government Q&A Sir Mark Rowley, commissioner of the Metropolitan police, refused to say what he felt about Lee Anderson, the Conservative party deputy chair, declaring yesterday that ministers should just ignore the supreme court judgment saying the Rwanda police was unlawful. Asked to respond, Rowley just said:
Politicians hold me to account, I don’t hold them to account.
Starmer travelled north of the border just hours after a revolt within his party over a ceasefire in Gaza resulted in the resignation of eight of his frontbenchers.
The Labour leader highlighted what he described as the “failure” of the UK government to negotiate a trade deal with India, a key exporter for Scotch whisky.
More than half of the 92 people in immigration detention the Australian government warned it would have to release if it lost a landmark high court decision had their visas cancelled by ministers due to serious concerns about criminality.
A document tendered in the high court, seen by Guardian Australia, reveals the majority (78) are owed protection, including citizens of war-torn or authoritarian countries such as Afghanistan, Iran and Sudan. Half a dozen have been in detention for over a decade.
More than half of the 92 people in immigration detention the Australian government warned it would have to release if it lost a landmark high court decision had their visas cancelled by ministers due to serious concerns about criminality.
A document tendered in the high court, seen by Guardian Australia, reveals the majority (78) are owed protection, including citizens of war-torn or authoritarian countries such as Afghanistan, Iran and Sudan. Half a dozen have been in detention for over a decade.
Thousands of lone child asylum seekers have been left in limbo by the Home Office without a decision on their protection claims, with dozens waiting more than five years, official data has revealed.
Home Office data shows that over the past three years more than 7,500 children who travelled alone to the UK waited more than a year for an initial decision on whether or not to accept their asylum claim.
Suella Braverman signs ‘migration and security agreement’ with Austrian counterpart in move to work more closely together
Austria is seeking to adopt a Rwanda-style deal to deport asylum seekers to a third country, having agreed a deal to work with the UK on migration.
Suella Braverman signed a “migration and security agreement” with her Austrian counterpart, Gerhard Karner, in which the two countries agreed to work more closely together.
Concerns over alleged political interference in the command and control of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force are among the grounds that will be pursued by the suspended Chief of Defence, Major-General Mark Goina, if the court grants him leave to appeal.
Goina seeks leave to review the decision of the National Executive Council (NEC) that suspended him from his substantive role as the major-general of the PNGDF on August 17, 2023, and appointed Commodore Philip Polewara as acting commander of the PNGDF.
While pursuing his application for leave to review at the Waigani National Court yesterday, General Goina, through his lawyer David Dusal, when giving the background of the matter, submitted that the Minister for Defence Win Bakri Daki, who is the third defendant in the proceeding, had been allegedly interfering with the command, control and operation of the PNGDF.
It was submitted that Goina became gravely concerned in recent times of the minister’s insistence and instructions to the general as the commander of the PNGDF to appoint and discharge certain officers within the PNGDF, which raised significant concerns of
political interference into the functions of the military.
It was submitted that such authority was vested in the Commander of the Defence Force and not, the minister, nor was the commander subject to directions from a civilian.
In his affidavit, General Goina indicated that the minister had to sponsor the NEC submission for him to be suspended without him being informed on the reasons for his suspension.
Presiding judge Justice Oagile Dingake had to direct Goina’s lawyer to first make submissions on leave to review and not on the substantive merits of the case until leave was decided.
Leave requirements met
General Goina’s lawyer Dusal then submitted that leave should be granted since Goina had met all the requirements of leave.
It was submitted that Goina, as the plaintiff, had standing as a person directly affected by the decision of the NEC on August 16, 2023, and the subsequent gazettal by the Governor-General on August 17, 2023, giving effect to the NEC decision.
It was also submitted that General Goina had arguable grounds on the basis that there was an error of law relating to his suspension since it was made without consultation with the Public Services Commission under s.59 of the Constitution and that he was not given the right to be heard.
It was further submitted that there was also no delay in the filing of the leave application.
The state through lawyer Alice Kimbu opposed the application for leave and argued that Goina’s suspension was still active and the proceeding would pre-empt or interfere with a pending inquiry into the death of two soldiers during a military training.
Kimbu further argued that although she had no issue with the plaintiff’s standing or the delay in filing of the application, leave should not be granted and must be refused on the basis that the proceeding would be destructive to the inquiry.
Justice Dingake noted that although General Goina may have met all requirements for leave, it had reached the third month of Goina’s three-month suspension period and there would be “no utility” in pursuing the matter further.
Suspension coming to end
“Suspension is almost coming to an end, what’s the utility?” he asked.
“Just when it is coming to an end, you’re coming to the court.
“Am I entitled to take into account that the suspension is coming to an end?
“What happens if I reserved my decision for six months?” Justice Dingake asked.
Lawyer Dusal in response submitted that as indicated in the suspension instrument, it was indicated that General Goina be suspended for three-months or, pending the final outcome of the inquiry.
He submitted that the inquiry would take six to 12 months and the status of General Goina’s suspension would depend on the final outcome.
Kimbu for the state argued that the grant of leave was discretionary and as per the circumstance, the court should not grant leave.
Justice Dingake reserved his ruling to a date to be advised.
Jacob Pokis a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.
Today the Guardian has published an investigation into labor conditions at the Persian Gulf locations of major US and UK brands, including Amazon, McDonald’s and the InterContinental Hotels Group.
Almost 100 current and former migrant laborers spoke to reporters, and many claimed they were misled into taking poorly paid jobs, subject to extortionate and arbitrary fees, or had their passports confiscated. These practices are broadly considered to be indicators of labor trafficking.
There were so many warnings it would fail. How did it get this far?
On the afternoon of 14 June 2022, as the clock ticked nearer to takeoff, Hamza was sitting alone in a van, handcuffed, crying. Like dozens of other men selected for removal to Rwanda, he had come to Britain in search of refuge after fleeing mortal danger in his home country. The first he had heard of Rwanda was when he received a letter from the Home Office in mid-May, sent to the detention centre where he was being held a few weeks after he crossed the Channel from France.
“I’m being relocated to Rwanda – what does this mean for me?” read the title of a factsheet Hamza was later given. “Rwanda is a fundamentally safe and secure country,” the document continued. “It is known as ‘the land of a thousand hills’ due to its striking landscape and is home to a wide array of wildlife.” Rwandans, it added, “are friendly to visitors”.
A Tongan RSE worker, whose case sparked an independent review of Immigration New Zealand’s “out-of-hours compliance visit” practices, is still on edge.
Pacific community members have compared the actions to the infamous “Dawn Raids”.
Keni Malie’s lawyer, Soane Foliaki, said his client’s case should have ended such exercises.
However, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) Immigration Compliance and Investigations team has only temporarily suspended “out-of-hours compliance visits” to residential addresses.
“At least until this work is completed,” MBIE Immigration Investigations and Compliance General Manager Steve Watson said.
He said the visits would not resume until new standard operating procedures came into effect and staff had been fully trained in the new procedures.
It is uncertain how these new procedures will be different, and what this will mean for migrant workers.
Detained in front of wife, family
In the early hours on April 19 this year immigration officials showed up at Keni Malie’s residence and detained him in front of his wife and children. He was then taken away and shortly after served with a deportation order.
An overstayer who cannot be named for privacy reasons sharing his story at a public meeting in Ōtara on 6 May 2023 that was sparked by a recent Dawn Raid of a Pasifika overstayer in Auckland. Image: RNZ Pacific/Lydia Lewis
“Four children were in the house, with three sleeping downstairs and at least one woken up by the activity,” the independent review states.
Malie’s lawyer broke the story to the media, out of desperation. The story gained traction and following a public outcry, Immigration New Zealand admitted this was not a one-off incident.
Keni Malie has since been granted a temporary visa while he and his lawyer work though his residency application but he said he was still nervous about it.
Malie explained in Tongan, as his lawyer translated:
“The hardest thing for me was trying to make sure that I can put a loaf of bread on the table for my children. I hope for the day that I can feel secure and get residence,” Malie said.
Immigration New Zealand has confirmed it has been conducting out-of-hours compliance visits — known as “Dawn Raids” — for the past eight years.
Auckland lawyer Soane Foliaki represented a Tongan man who was arrested for overstaying in New Zealand. He spoke at a meeting on overstaying and Dawn Raids in Otahuhu, Auckland. Image: Lydia Lewis/RNZ
Figures released under the Official Information Act show Pacific community members were the third highest after Indian and Chinese nationals of the total number of people located, between July 1, 2015, and May 2, 2023.
Out of 95 out-of-hours compliance visits, which in some cases multiple people were found, 51 were Chinese, 25 Indian and 17 Pacific.
There was one from the USA and one person from Great Britain on the list.
MBIE reviews An independent review of what Pasifika community leaders have called MBIE’s Dawn Raids-style visits has now been completed.
Leaders and members of the Pacific, Indian and Chinese communities were interviewed, along with immigration lawyers and advisers and representatives.
One of the reasons given for this review was that the raids of the 1970s were a “racist application of New Zealand’s law”.
“Immigration officials and police officers entered homes of Pacific people, dragged them from their beds, often using dogs and in front of their children. They were brought before the courts, often barefoot, or in their pyjamas, and ultimately deported,” Heron report reads.
Tongan community leaders were outraged to find out Keni Malie, who is Tongan, went through what they see as a similar trauma.
According to the report, Malie was in New Zealand as an RSE worker when he did not turn up to work because he was getting married.
Added to ‘process list’
After being stopped by police for driving without a licence, Crime Stoppers were also sent a notification for another issue. He was then added to Immigration’s National Prioritisation Process list.
In the Immigration Officers’ view, their “compliance visit” to Malie was carried out reasonably and respectfully.
“They stressed that the operation was calm, respectful and did not require any use of force,” the review states.
But his lawyer, Soane Foliaki disagrees that it was “respectful”.
“In the dark of the night they were back at it, you know, without any consideration? Why did the Prime Minister apologise?” Foliaki said.
To him this was reminiscent of the Dawn Raids. Something the former Prime Minister had only just apologised for.
An INZ spokesperson told RNZ Pacific at a Pacific community event earlier this year that in some cases officers sit down with a cup of tea to build rapport with overstayers.
Trauma for community
“I want to again acknowledge the impact the Dawn Raids of the 1970s had on the Pacific community and that the trauma from those remains today,” MBIE’s Steve Watson said.
We know we have more to do as we learn from the past to shape the future. This continues to be at the centre of our thinking as we move forward,” he said.
Lawyer Soane Foliaki who has been fighting for justice for 30 years still has hope, hope for his client and hope that there will be change.
“We always felt that New Zealand was always a decent country, they’ll always give us a fair go. This is also our home here,” Foliaki said.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The proceeedings in the main hall at the Conservative conference opened this morning with a speech from a member praising the party’s record on gay rights. Steve Barclay, the health secretary, is speaking now, and he will be announcing plans to ban trans women from female hospital wards. The Daily Telegraph has splashed on the story.
On a visit this morning Suella Braverman, the home secretary, said she backed the idea. She said:
Trans women have no place in women’s wards or indeed any safe space relating to biological women.
And the health secretary is absolutely right to clarify and make it clear that biological men should not have treatments in the same wards and in the same safe spaces as biological women.
Home secretary uses populist speech at Tory conference to attack Human Rights Act and ‘luxury beliefs’ of liberal-leaning voters
Suella Braverman has warned of a “hurricane” of mass migration and attacked the “luxury beliefs” of liberal-leaning people in a populist speech aimed at cementing her position as a standard bearer of the Conservative right.
In a claim that will anger lawyers, judges and some within her own party, the home secretary told delegates at the Tory party conference that the Human Rights Act should be renamed the “Criminal Rights Act”.
But, as hopes faded on Thursday of a deal being struck, ministers said they expected “fine tuning” in coming days to lead to a pact that would apply in the event of a sudden refugee crisis such as that of 2015 when more than 1 million people arrived from Syria and beyond.
Suella Braverman has been criticised by two Conservative MPs for an “alarmist” speech about the need for human rights reform due to the “existential challenge” posed by illegal migration.
Speaking from Washington DC on Wednesday, the home secretary riled some in her party by suggesting that being gay or a woman and fearful of discrimination should not be enough to qualify as a refugee in the UK.
