NEWSWORTHY
9% rise in overstayers detained over six months puts spotlight on 'provisional release' program
The rise seems to correlate with a Justice Ministry crackdown on “provisional releases,” which detainees allegedly abuse to earn money before deportation.
Japan's refugee-screening system sets high bar
Last year, Japan granted refugee status to just 20 out of a record-high 19,629 applicants. After the figure was released in February, global and domestic coverage was noticeably polarized. Some slammed Japan's strict asylum policy, saying that the world's third-largest economy has failed to meet ...
Japan and Bangladesh agree to help realize early return of Rohingya refugees
The foreign ministers of Japan and Bangladesh agreed Monday to help realize the early return of Rohingya refugees to their homes in Myanmar. "Japan will continue to encourage collaboration (between Bangladesh and Myanmar) and will provide necessary support," Foreign Minister Taro Kono said at a ...
It's tough for asylum-seekers to keep their hopes up in Japan, where only 1 in every 1,000 applicants was granted refugee status last year. While waiting, which takes more than 10 months on average, they practically have nothing to do. Only those whom the Justice ...
Australia says asylum seekers using New Zealand as 'back door' into country
People smugglers are marketing New Zealand as a back door into Australia, an Australian government minister said Monday after Malaysian authorities intercepted a boat carrying Sri Lankan asylum seekers. More than 130 Sri Lankans believed to be heading for Australia and New Zealand were intercepted ...
Seventy men, women and children poured through a U.S. port of entry early Friday to seek asylum, the largest single group yet accepted by U.S. officials from the caravan of Central American migrants that enraged President Donald Trump. Fleeing Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, the ...
In new memoir, John McCain slams Trump for undermining U.S. values and praising 'tyrants'
U.S. Sen. John McCain rebukes President Donald Trump in a new memoir, accusing his fellow Republican of failing to uphold U.S. values by showering praise on international "tyrants," discrediting the media, ignoring human rights and demeaning refugees. "Flattery secures his friendship, criticism his enmity," wrote ...
Trump presents teaching award to educator of teen refugees but skips mention of her students
President Donald Trump presented the National Teacher of the Year award on Wednesday to a Washington state educator who gave him a stack of letters from some of the teenage refugees she teaches that talk about what coming to the U.S. has meant to ...
60 activists launch march from Italy to London to advocate for migrants and refugees
Around 60 activists began a march from the French-Italian border to London on Monday, calling for Europe to do more to welcome migrants and refugees. The 1,400-km (870-mile) route, starting from the Italian town of Ventimiglia, will see people walk on 60 different stages, stopping ...
After traveling through Mexico with great fanfare for a month under the Trump administration's watchful eye, nearly 200 Central American migrants attempting to seek asylum in the United States were stopped in their tracks when border inspectors said that a crossing facility didn't have ...
Syrian army tightens noose around Islamic State-held Palestinian camp in Damascus
Syrian troops on Sunday tightened the noose around a Palestinian refugee camp held by Islamic State militants in southern Damascus where hundreds of civilians face an uncertain future, state media, witnesses and residents said. Nearly two weeks into a campaign to capture the last area ...
In Lebanon camp for years, hundreds of refugees return to Syria area recaptured by regime
Several hundred Syrians who have lived for years as refugees in Lebanon left for their home country on Wednesday in a rare case of a mass return of those who left the country since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. Nearly 500 people, including ...
