GENEVA: The United Nations’ refugees chief denounced Monday the politicization of migration in European elections, warning that demonizing refugees would only make the issue more difficult to deal with.
Filippo Grandi told AFP that his main concern after the weekend’s European Parliament elections, which handed significant gains to far-right parties across much of the continent, was that “the refugee-migration theme has become so politicized in these elections.”
That, he said, was “partly because some politicians have manipulated it, have portrayed it as a threat, as a risk.”
Many European countries have for years focused on tightening migration policies, and a heftier far-right representation is expected to make itself felt on the EU’s migration and asylum agenda.
Grandi acknowledged that swelling numbers of refugees and migrants could pose significant challenges, “first and foremost for the people that are on the move, but also for the people hosting and receiving them, for the countries, governments receiving them.”
“But to simply say: this is an invasion... (of) ill-intentioned people that come here to steal your jobs, threaten your values, your security, and therefore they have to go away, we have to build barriers... does not solve the problem,” he said.
“It’s not just wrong, because... these people have rights, whoever they are, but also because these positions do not solve the problem — they make it worse,” Grandi said.
“To build barriers actually increases irregularity of movements which are more difficult to manage,” he said.
Instead of demonizing refugees and migrants, he said countries would be far wiser to work together on addressing the root causes pushing people to leave their homes.
Such an approach would be in Europe’s “self-interest,” he said.
He pointed to the largely neglected conflict raging in Sudan that in recent months has spurred a “steep rise in the arrival of Sudanese refugees... into North Africa, Libya, Tunisia and then across to Italy.”
“There’s no point in screaming and anguishing about these flows when... not enough is done to stop the reasons why they’re coming,” he said.
Focusing on addressing root causes and dismal conditions along migration routes that spur people to keep moving may be “less sexy in terms of political attraction, but that’s the right way to go,” he said.
“Unless we do that, this problem will become bigger, and then there will be no slogans to counter it, because we will all be in deep trouble.”
Speaking to journalists, Grandi voiced hope that the anti-migrant rhetoric in Europe would die down now that the EU Parliament voting was over, and politicians would focus on getting “to work.”
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, “will work with whoever will be part of the European institutions,” he said.
But he warned the results could impact attitudes far beyond the continent.
“Everybody looks at Europe in terms of how they deal with these matters,” he told AFP.
Grandi noted that the majority of people on the move globally were not heading for Europe.
“The number of people who have crossed the Mediterranean in the first few months of this year is about 60-70,000, that we know about,” he said.
Chad meanwhile “has received 600,000 Sudanese (refugees) in a year: 10 times more.”
If rich countries backtrack on the principles guaranteeing people the right to cross borders to seek protection from violence and oppression, Grandi said he was “very worried that we will start hearing other countries backtracking too.”
UN warns of ‘politicized’ migration after EU’s far-right tilt
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UN warns of ‘politicized’ migration after EU’s far-right tilt
- Many European countries have for years focused on tightening migration policies, and a heftier far-right representation is expected to make itself felt on the EU’s migration and asylum agenda
Critics of Palestine Action ban say ‘key’ figures arrested
Defend Our Juries has organized several demonstrations against the government’s contentious July 5 Palestine Action ban, leading to hundreds of arrests with police charging scores of people under anti-terror laws.
The campaigners had been due to hold an online press conference later Tuesday ahead of another planned “Lift the Ban” protest in London this weekend, but postponed the briefing after what they called the “dystopian crackdown.”
“Counter-terrorism police arrested five of Defend Our Juries’ key spokespeople in dawn raids in London this morning over Lift the Ban protests,” it said in a statement.
“This is scandalous,” a spokesperson added, calling it “an unprecedented assault on free speech in our country.”
“This level of political repression is not what we expect in a democracy — it’s the kind of tactic typically associated with authoritarian regimes around the world,” the spokesperson said.
London’s Metropolitan Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Defend Our Juries vowed to press ahead with its latest planned demonstration on Saturday in Parliament Square, claiming that 1,000 people had pledged to hold signs saying “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
More than 700 people who have held up such signs at previous protests over the last two months have been arrested under anti-terror laws for showing support for a proscribed organization.
Police said Monday a further 47 people had been accused of showing support for a banned group, meaning 114 Palestine Action supporters have now been charged with the offense.
The arrests were made under the Terrorism Act 2000, which the government also used to proscribe Palestine Action.
Interior minister Yvette Cooper accuses it of orchestrating “aggressive and intimidatory attacks against businesses, institutions and the public.”
Its outlawing came after the group took responsibility for breaking into a Royal Air Force base in June and spraying two aircraft with red paint, causing an estimated £7 million ($10 million) in damage.
Palestine Action said its activists were protesting Britain’s support for Israel amid the war in Gaza.
Critics, including the United Nations and groups such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace, have condemned the group’s proscription as legal overreach and a threat to free speech.
India, UAE review CEPA progress, target $100bn in non-oil trade
- UAE, Indian ministers highlight digital infrastructure, healthcare as emerging sectors
- Non-oil exports from India to UAE reached $27.4bn in fiscal year 2023–24
NEW DELHI: India has announced plans to strengthen its Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the UAE, aiming to boost non-oil bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030, amid changing global trade dynamics and sharp increases in US tariffs.
UAE Foreign Trade Minister Thani Al-Zeyoudi visited India over the weekend for talks with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and business leaders in Mumbai.
“The meeting reviewed the progress made under CEPA and reaffirmed the shared vision of expanding bilateral trade towards the target of USD 100 billion non-oil, non-precious metals trade by 2030,” India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement on Monday.
“Discussions included collaboration in emerging sectors such as renewable energy, digital infrastructure, supply chain resilience, and healthcare.”
The ministers co-chaired meetings with representatives of the pharmaceutical and food sectors.
“In the pharma sector, key issues were discussed in light of evolving geopolitical challenges,” the ministry said.
“Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al-Zeyoudi underlined that despite global turbulence, the India–UAE partnership has emerged as a resilient driver of growth.”
The announcement to boost UAE-India ties under CEPA comes as many sectors in India look for ways to offset the impact of the Donald Trump administration’s recent 50 percent tariff hike on Indian goods — expected to significantly slow India’s exports to the US, which has been a top market.
In effect since May 1, 2022, the UAE-India CEPA has reduced tariffs on about 80 percent of all goods and provided zero-duty access to 90 percent of Indian exports.
Bilateral non‑oil trade reached $65 billion in 2024, according to UAE Ministry of Economy data.
Non-oil exports from India to the UAE reached $27.4 billion in the financial year 2023–24, marking an average annual growth of 25.6 percent since the CEPA came into effect. The surge has been led by sectors such as gems and jewelry, electrical machinery, chemicals, and smartphones.
“We are looking to diversify our trade basket, our products and also looking at important markets in the Gulf and Middle East. We can work on alternative markets for our products,” Manish Mohan, senior director for the Gulf and Middle East at Confederation of Indian Industry, told Arab News.
“UAE is a very important gateway to Africa, Europe and Central Asia … We have already achieved a great success in CEPA, and we are looking at deeper investment and economic opportunities.”
Putin says Trump administration is listening to Russia’s arguments on Ukraine war
In Beijing, Putin struck an apparently amenable tone about possible progress in some aspects of the discussions to stop the fighting
BEIJING: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that USPresident Donald Trump’s administration is listening to the Kremlin’s justifications for its invasion of neighboring Ukraine and claimed that Moscow and Washington have come to a “mutual understanding” about the conflict.
Putin said during a visit to China that “the (Trump) administration is listening to us,” as he complained that former President Joe Biden paid Moscow’s arguments no heed.
“Now we see this mutual understanding, it’s noticeable,” Putin said at a bilateral meeting with Slovakian President Robert Fico after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. “We are very happy about this and hope this constructive dialogue will continue.”
But Russia faces possible punitive actions by Trump, who has expressed frustration at Putin’s lack of engagement in US-led peace efforts and threatened unspecified “severe consequences.” The American president has made ending the three-year war one of his diplomatic priorities and hosted Putin at a summit in Alaska last month.
Putin attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in the Chinese city of Tianjin with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who are also facing pressure from Trump. The SCO started out as a security forum viewed as a foil to US influence in Central Asia but it has grown in influence over the years.
After the summit, the Russian leader held talks with Xi in Beijing, and on Wednesday he was to attend a massive military parade there commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
In Beijing, Putin struck an apparently amenable tone about possible progress in some aspects of the discussions to stop the fighting, although his comments reflected no substantial change in Russia’s position. Western leaders have accused Putin of marking time in peace efforts while Russia’s bigger army seeks to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses.
On the key issue of possible postwar security guarantees for Ukraine to deter another Russian invasion, Putin said “it seems to me that there is an opportunity to find consensus.” He didn’t elaborate.
While Putin reiterated that Moscow will not accept NATO membership for Ukraine, he also noted that he had never objected to Ukraine joining the European Union.
He also said Russia “can work with our American partners” at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest and one of the 10 biggest atomic power plants in the world. Its fate has been a central concern of the war due to fears of a nuclear accident.
Putin said Russia could also work with Ukraine on the Zaporizhzhia question — “if favorable conditions arise.”
German authorities warn people against becoming ‘disposable agents’ for Russia
- Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office said it is seeing increasing activity in Germany and elsewhere in which Russian intelligence services apparently use social media to recruit people for espionage or sabotage
BERLIN: German security authorities are warning people against becoming “disposable agents” as worries mount about Russia using social media to find recruits for spying and sabotage in or against Germany.
Western officials have accused Russia and its proxies of staging dozens of attacks and other incidents across Europe since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. They worry that the risks are rising as untrained saboteurs are increasingly used. German officials have voiced concern over the use of “low-level agents.”
Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office said Tuesday that, along with the country’s domestic, foreign and military intelligence services, it is seeing increasing activity in Germany and elsewhere in which Russian intelligence services — directly or via intermediaries — apparently use social media to recruit people for espionage or sabotage.
It said the so-called “low-level agents” or “disposable agents” carry out crimes without receiving intelligence training, for only a little money and often without knowing who is ordering the activities or what their purpose is.
“They are ‘used’ and then ‘thrown away,’” the police office said in introducing a campaign titled “Don’t become a disposable agent.” It warned that “anti-constitutional sabotage” carried a maximum sentence of five years in prison and espionage can carry a 10-year sentence.
It urged people to get in touch with Germany’s domestic intelligence agency if they or acquaintances have been contacted by strangers offering them money to engage in activity such as spreading pro-Russia slogans, scoping out people or property, or causing damage.
Several suspected cases are currently under investigation in Germany, involving among other things arson, damage to property, drone overflights and suspicious filming and photography, police said.
Suicide behind one in every 100 deaths globally — WHO
- In 2021, last year data was available, there were an estimated 727,000 suicides worldwide
- Sicide leading cause of death among young people across geographies, socioeconomics
GENEVA: More than one in every 100 deaths globally is due to suicide, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, calling for urgent action to stem a mounting mental health crisis among young people especially.
The WHO said that, while global suicide rates had fallen somewhat in recent years, progress in combating the issue was far too slow.
In 2021 — the last year for which data was available — there were an estimated 727,000 suicides worldwide, the United Nations’ health agency said.
“Globally, suicide accounts for more than one in every 100 deaths, and for each death, there are 20 suicide attempts,” said Devora Kestel, the interim head of the WHO’s non-communicable disease and mental health department.
Those suicides “affected countless more lives and livelihoods, as friends, carers and loved ones were forced to grapple with unimaginable hardship,” she told reporters.
The WHO’s World Mental Health Today report highlighted that suicide remains a leading cause of death among young people across geographies and socioeconomic contexts.
In 2021, it was the second leading cause of death for girls and women aged 15 to 29, and the third leading cause for males in the same age category, it found.
Despite a 35-percent global decline in the age-adjusted suicide rate between 2000 and 2021, the world is still falling short of its goal: instead of the targeted one-third reduction in suicide rates between 2015 and 2030, current progress suggests only a 12 percent decrease will be achieved, according to the WHO.
Decreases were seen in every region — except in the Americas, where the suicide rate increased by 17 percent in the same period.
Nearly three-quarters of all suicides take place in lower-income countries, where most of the global population lives.
Although wealthier countries have a higher suicide rate, as a proportion of population, it is difficult to compare since they also tend to have better data available than lower-income countries, the WHO pointed out.
The agency cautioned that, while suicide rates have been slowly declining, the prevalence of mental disorders like anxiety and depression has been swelling.
“Between 2011 and 2021, the number of people living with mental disorders increased faster than the global population,” the report said.
According to the latest findings, more than one billion people are living with mental health disorders.
The WHO voiced particular concern about growing mental health distress among young people.
While there are likely a long line of drivers behind the increase, Mark van Ommeren, head of the WHO mental health unit, said “the two main hypotheses are social media and the impact of the Covid pandemic.”
In this context, WHO voiced alarm at a “stagnation” in mental health investment around the world, with median government spending on mental health remaining at just two percent of total health budgets — unchanged since 2017.
Globally, only nine percent of people with depression get treatment, it found.
“Transforming mental health services is one of the most pressing public health challenges,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
