Photo Credit: REUTERS/ UMIT BEKTAS
Debates over EU responsibility to rescue and save these migrants from drowning have become more contentious in recent years and at the center of the current debate are the humanitarian NGOs trying to fill the gap left by the EU’s increasingly draconian migration policies.
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Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos with FARC’s top leader Rodrigo Londoño Credit: UN Mission in Colombia
Colombia marked a major milestone this week in ending its 52 year-long conflict with FARC when the UN certified disarmament of the rebel group as complete. This is a step — and a very consequential one — toward an enduring peace for the country.Still, despite this accomplishment, the road to a lasting peace is still quite long–with some big obstacles in the way.
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Afghan refugees in Iran Photo credit: EU/ECHO Pierre Prakash
Afghanistan is witnessing a particularly violent month with multiple bombings, street protests and a violent crackdown by police.And in this mayhem, several countries are actively deporting Afghan refugees back to the country.
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A young girl carrying a teddy bear and waving a white flag, heads towards an army outpost in the Samah neighbourhood on the eastern outskirts of Mosul, away from the heavy fighting engulfing the city. Photo: UNHCR/Ivor Prickett
The Battle of Mosul that began last October is becoming increasingly deadly for the civilians still trapped in the city. Recent reports of civilian casulaties have led to questions about the level of scrutiny potential targets are given before being attacked. Further afield, the growing death toll also raises questions about criminal accountability for these civilian deaths — both now and in the future.
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Hamid Karzai and George W. Bush - Photo Credit: Paul Morse
A member of the court since 2003, there is ample evidence that serious crimes have been committed in Afghanistan by all sides of the conflict. But the prospect of opening a formal investigation there also means that US forces and officials could come under scrutiny by the ICC, a development that could have major ramifications for the court.
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Jennilyn Olayres holds her partner alleged drug pusher Michael Siaron, a pedicab driver, who was shot and killed by unidentified riding in tandem suspects along LRT Pasay Rotonda, Edsa on July 23, 2016, via Instagram user raffylerma
It is understandable that policymakers would want to clamp down on drug use within the country. But after campaigning for tough reforms, the approach that Duterte and his government is taking has shocked people both inside and outside the country.
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Photo Credit: TIKSA NEGERI / Reuters
Nearly a year of protests against land reform issues and heavy-handed government policies is starting to take its toll on Ethiopia, who earlier this month announced a six-month state of emergency. Often hailed as a rising star and economic stronghold of Africa, the growing discontent highlights the limits of authoritarian development as well as the hypocrisy of the West when it comes to human rights abuses.
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Photo Credit: UNHCR/Christophe Vander Eecken
This week France started the long-awaited shutdown of the notorious Jungle refugee camp outside the city of Calais. Billed as a humanitarian measure, the eviction of nearly 7,000 refugees and asylum seekers in the camp is becoming just as controversial as the camp itself as questions remain about what will happen to those who once called the Jungle home.
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According to the International Organization for Migration, for at least the third year in a row the Mediterranean represents the most deadly migratory route in the world. With three main methods of crossing the Mediterranean, known deaths in the Mediterranean account for almost 75 percent of global migrant deaths.
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Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi at the opening of his trial © ICC-CPI
Yesterday saw the trial of Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi at the International Criminal Court for the intentional destruction of world heritage shrines in Timbuktu during the 2012 occupation of the city by the Islamic rebel group Ansar Dine. The trial marks two important milestones for the court: this is the first time a suspect plead guilty, and also the first case of cultural destruction as a war crime.
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