Catholic nun becomes ‘symbol of Filipino spirituality’ as she chooses to stay in Gaza

In this file photo, people enter the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip before entering Egypt on Nov. 1, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 13 November 2023
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Catholic nun becomes ‘symbol of Filipino spirituality’ as she chooses to stay in Gaza

  • 111 Philippine nationals have so far been evacuated to Egypt through Rafah crossing
  • 26 Filipinos are still in Gaza, Department of Foreign Affairs says

MANILA: A Catholic nun who has categorically refused to leave her church in Gaza City and will likely remain as the last Philippine national there has symbolized Filipino spirituality and solidarity, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.  

Of the 137 Filipinos trapped in Gaza since Israel began its daily bombardment of the densely populated enclave last month, authorities have so far evacuated 111 people to Egypt through the Rafah crossing.  

The second group of 41 Filipinos and seven Palestinians evacuated from Gaza reached Manila on Sunday night, just days after the first group reached the Philippine capital, with some forced to leave their family members behind.  

Most of the Filipinos in Gaza are permanent residents, two-thirds of whom are Palestinian Filipinos who were born or raised there.  

Among the 26 Filipinos who are still in Gaza is a 63-year-old Catholic nun from the Missionaries of Charity, who has refused evacuation since the beginning of the attacks as her church in the besieged enclave became a refuge for hundreds of people.  

“She’s with the Missionaries of Charity … They will not leave. After all, they believe … that (what they are doing) is spiritual,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega told Arab News. 

“She will be the last Filipino left in Gaza, (and) is a symbol of Filipino spirituality and how we pray for solidarity with those suffering, and for world peace.”  

De Vega said the nun is “safe so far.” Though the Philippine Embassy in Jordan has kept in touch with the nun, she only asks them to “pray for her.”  

The Philippine government is still working to evacuate its other nationals in the Gaza Strip, where more than 11,100 Palestinian civilians have been killed.  

Evacuation efforts of foreign nationals have been delayed as continued Israeli bombardment caused transit suspensions at the Rafah crossing, which is the only entry point to Gaza not directly controlled by Tel Aviv.  

Some Filipinos who remained in Gaza are unwilling to leave because they feel attached to the place, while others chose to stay because their Palestinian spouses would be unable to join them, according to De Vega.  

“We are still trying to convince them to leave … We hope we can evacuate them all,” he said.


First-time asylum applications in EU fall 13 percent in 2024, Eurostat says

Updated 3 sec ago
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First-time asylum applications in EU fall 13 percent in 2024, Eurostat says

Eurostat reported 912,000 first-time asylum requests from non-EU citizens
Syrians made up the largest share of applicants

KYIV: First-time applications from people seeking asylum in European Union countries fell by 13 percent last year, the first decline in them since 2020, data from the bloc’s statistics office Eurostat showed on Thursday.
Eurostat reported 912,000 first-time asylum requests from non-EU citizens across the bloc’s 27 member states, down from more than 1 million in 2023.
Syrians made up the largest share of applicants, like every year since 2013, accounting for 16 percent of the first-time requests last year. The next biggest groups came from Venezuela and Afghanistan, accounting for 8 percent each.
Eurostat said nearly 148,000 first-time applications came from Syria in 2024, down 19.2 percent from a year earlier.
Of the total number of applications for international protection in EU countries, more than three quarters were received by Germany, Spain, Italy and France. Unaccompanied minors made up 3.9 percent of the applicants, Eurostat said.

Indian forces kill 30 Maoist rebels, one soldier dead

Updated 3 min 34 sec ago
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Indian forces kill 30 Maoist rebels, one soldier dead

  • An Indian paramilitary soldier was also killed in one of two separate skirmishes
  • Another four rebels were killed in a separate clash in the state’s south

NEW DELHI: Indian forces killed at least 30 Maoist rebels Thursday in one of the deadliest jungle clashes since the government ramped up efforts to crush the long-running insurgency.
More than 10,000 people have been killed in the decades-long “Naxalite” rebellion, whose members say they are fighting for the rights of marginalized people in India’s resource-rich central regions.
An Indian paramilitary soldier was also killed in one of two separate skirmishes that broke out in central Chhattisgarh state, both of which carried on through the day, according to police.
Bastar Inspector General of Police Sundarraj Pattilingam told AFP that the soldier had been killed during a skirmish that broke out in Bijapur district, where 26 guerrillas had also been killed.
Another four rebels were killed in a separate clash in the state’s south.
Searches at both battle sites saw security forces recovering caches of arms and ammunition from both areas.
“The (Narendra) Modi government is moving forward with a ruthless approach against Naxalites and is adopting a zero tolerance policy against those Naxalites who are not surrendering,” interior minister Amit Shah wrote on social media platform X.
The rebels, known as Naxalites after the district where their armed campaign began in 1967, were inspired by the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong.
Shah has repeatedly vowed that India’s government would crush the remnants of the rebellion by the end of March next year.
A crackdown by security forces killed around 287 rebels last year, an overwhelming majority of them in Chhattisgarh, according to government data.
More than 80 Maoists had already been killed so far this year, according to a tally on Sunday by the Press Trust of India news agency.
The Maoists demand land, jobs and a share of the region’s immense natural resources for local residents.
They made inroads in a number of remote communities across India’s east and south, and the movement gained in strength and numbers until the early 2000s.
New Delhi then deployed tens of thousands of troops in a stretch of territory known as the “Red Corridor.”
The conflict has also seen scores of deadly attacks on government forces. A roadside bomb killed at least nine Indian troops in January.


Putin must stop ‘unnecessary demands’ that prolong war, Zelensky tells EU

Updated 30 min 49 sec ago
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Putin must stop ‘unnecessary demands’ that prolong war, Zelensky tells EU

  • “Sanctions must remain in place until Russia starts withdrawing from our land,” he said

BRUSSELS: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow must stop making “unnecessary demands” that extend the war, calling for sanctions on Russia to remain in place until it begins pulling out of Ukrainian territory.
“Putin must stop making unnecessary demands that only prolong the war and must start fulfilling what he promises the world,” he told EU leaders by video call, according to an official transcript.
“Sanctions must remain in place until Russia starts withdrawing from our land and fully compensates for the damage caused by its aggression.”


UK PM Starmer: We must be ready to react quickly if Ukraine peace deal struck

Updated 40 min 53 sec ago
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UK PM Starmer: We must be ready to react quickly if Ukraine peace deal struck

  • “(Our) plans are focusing on keeping the sky safe, the sea safe and the border safe and secure in Ukraine,” Starmer said

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday it was important Britain and its allies were able to react immediately should there be a peace deal struck between Russia and Ukraine.
His comments, made during a visit to a nuclear submarine facility, come on the day military chiefs from dozens of countries meet in Britain to discuss planning for a possible peacekeeping force in Ukraine.
“(Our) plans are focusing on keeping the sky safe, the sea safe and the border safe and secure in Ukraine, and working with the Ukrainians,” Starmer told reporters.
“We’re working at pace because we don’t know if there’ll be a deal. I certainly hope there will be, but if there’s a deal, it’s really important that we’re able to react straight away.”


Georgetown University scholar has been detained by immigration officials, prompting legal fight

Updated 20 March 2025
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Georgetown University scholar has been detained by immigration officials, prompting legal fight

  • Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral scholar at Georgetown University, was accused of “spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media”
  • The deportation effort comes amid legal fights over cases involving a Columbia University international affairs graduate student and a doctor from Lebanon

VIRGINIA: A Georgetown University researcher has been detained by immigration officials, prompting another high-profile legal fight over deportation proceedings against foreign-born visa holders who live in the US
Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral scholar at Georgetown University, was accused of “spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media” and determined to be deportable by the Secretary of State’s office, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said late Wednesday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The deportation effort comes amid legal fights over cases involving a Columbia University international affairs graduate student and a doctor from Lebanon.


Politico, which first reported on Suri’s case, said that masked agents arrested him outside his home in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday night and told him his visa had been revoked, citing a legal filing by his lawyer.
His lawyer didn’t immediately respond to an messages seeking further comment Thursday. An online court docket shows that an urgent motion seeking to halt the deportation proceedings was filed Tuesday against the Trump administration.
A Georgetown University webpage identifies Suri as a postdoctoral fellow at Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the university. The university said his areas of interest include religion, violence and peace processes in the Middle East and South Asia. The bio said that he earned a doctorate in India while studying efforts to introduce democracy to Afghanistan and Iraq, and he has traveled extensively in conflict zones in several countries.
The university said in a statement Thursday that Suri is an Indian national who was “duly granted a visa to enter the United States to continue his doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity, and we have not received a reason for his detention,” the school said. “We support our community members’ rights to free and open inquiry, deliberation and debate, even if the underlying ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable. We expect the legal system to adjudicate this case fairly.”
The US Customs and Immigration Enforcement detainee locator website lists Suri as being in the custody of immigration officials at the Alexandria Staging Facility in Louisiana.
Separately, Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil, a legal US resident with no criminal record, was detained earlier this month over his participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and is fighting deportation efforts in federal court. And Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist who previously worked and lived in Rhode Island, was deported over the weekend despite having a US visa.