West Africa bloc announces formal exit of three junta-led states

West Africa bloc announces formal exit of three junta-led states
People gather to celebrate the withdrawal of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Niamey on January 28, 2025. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 29 January 2025
Follow

West Africa bloc announces formal exit of three junta-led states

West Africa bloc announces formal exit of three junta-led states

LAGOS: The Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) on Wednesday announced the formal exit of junta-led Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger from the bloc following their withdrawal last year.
West Africa has been rocked by a spate of coups that has countries in the 15-member body under military rule in the past five years.
“The withdrawal of Burkina Faso, the Republic of Mali and Republic of Niger has become effective today, 29th January 2025,” ECOWAS said in a statement.
The three states announced their withdrawal from the bloc last January after ECOWAS demanded a restoration of democratic rule in Niger following a military coup in 2023.
Instead, the three breakaway states formed Alliance of Sahel States, an alternate bloc and launched their own biometric passports.
ECOWAS said on Wednesday the remaining members tentatively agreed to “keep ECOWAS doors open” by recognizing national passports and identity bearing the bloc’s logo from the countries, to continue trade under existing regional agreement, and to continue diplomatic cooperation with the countries.
In December, ECOWAS gave Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger a six-month grace period to rethink their exit.
“These arrangements will be in place until the full determination of the modalities of our future engagement with the three countries of by the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government,” ECOWAS said.


EU to suspend Syria banking, energy, transport sanctions

EU to suspend Syria banking, energy, transport sanctions
Updated 13 sec ago
Follow

EU to suspend Syria banking, energy, transport sanctions

EU to suspend Syria banking, energy, transport sanctions
  • Syria’s new leaders have been clamouring for the West to ease sanctions on the country imposed to target Assad’s regime during the civil war

BRUSSELS: The European Union will suspend sanctions on Syria’s banking, energy and transport sectors Monday, diplomats said, in a bid to help the country’s reconstruction after the ouster of Bashar Assad.
Syria’s new leaders have been clamouring for the West to ease sanctions on the country imposed to target Assad’s regime during the civil war.
But Europe and other powers have been reluctant to move before clear signals from the new Islamist-led rulers in Damascus that they are serious on having an inclusive transition.
The step due to be greenlit at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels is a formal move after the bloc struck a preliminary accord last month to suspend sanctions in key areas.
Diplomats talking on Friday said the sanctions could be reimposed if Syria’s new leaders break promises to respect the rights of minorities and move toward democracy.
The United Nations said on Thursday that at current growth rates, Syria would need more than 50 years to get back to its economic level before the outbreak of its devastating civil war.
Much of Syria’s infrastructure was destroyed and the country’s economy ravaged by years of international isolation after Assad’s 2011 crackdown on opposition sparked the civil war.
The EU and other international powers are jostling for influence in Syria after the ouster of Assad, who was backed by Russia and Iran.


Trump cancels protection for 500,000 Haitian migrants

Trump cancels protection for 500,000 Haitian migrants
Updated 21 February 2025
Follow

Trump cancels protection for 500,000 Haitian migrants

Trump cancels protection for 500,000 Haitian migrants
  • The number of Haitians eligible for protection has skyrocketed from 57,000 in 2011 to 520,694 in 2024
  • Temporary Protected Status extension afforded by Joe Biden was ‘far longer than justified or necessary’

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration canceled on Thursday an extension of Temporary Protected Status that was granted to more than 500,000 Haitians by former president Joe Biden.
The United States grants Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.
It had been extended for Haitians by 18 months, to February 2026, by the Biden administration, but will now expire on August 3.
“President Trump and I are returning TPS to its original status: temporary,” Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem said in a department statement.
“This is part of President Trump’s promise to rescind policies that were magnets for illegal immigration and inconsistent with the law,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statement said.
The number of Haitians eligible for protection has skyrocketed from 57,000 in 2011 to 520,694 in 2024, according to the US government’s estimates.
The TPS extension afforded by Biden was “far longer than justified or necessary,” said a DHS spokeswoman.
Trump – who during his election campaign said that immigrants were “poisoning the blood” of the United States – quickly ordered a review of the whole TPS program on returning to office.
During his campaign he made baseless claims that Ohio city had seen a recent influx of Haitian migrants who were stealing and eating residents’ cats and dogs.
“The Trump administration is ripping stability away from half a million Haitians who have built their lives here -children, workers, parents, and neighbors who have become integral to American communities and contributed to our economy,” said Beatriz Lopez, Co-Executive Director of the Immigration Hub, an organization working on advancing policy solutions for aspiring citizens.
“This reckless decision doesn’t just harm them; it destabilizes the very businesses, families, and local economies that rely on them.”
Last month, the Trump administration revoked protection from deportation for more than 600,000 Venezuelans in the United States.
“The people of this country want these dirtbags out. They want their communities to be safe,” Noem said on Fox News in January.
Struck by a devastating earthquake in 2010, Haiti has suffered from chronic political instability for decades and more recently from increasing violence by armed groups.
Despite the election of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime in November and the deployment of a UN-backed security mission to support Haiti’s national police, violence persists.
At least 5,601 people were killed by gang violence in Haiti in 2024, according to the UN.


Myanmar returns 300 more Chinese scam center workers

Myanmar returns 300 more Chinese scam center workers
Updated 21 February 2025
Follow

Myanmar returns 300 more Chinese scam center workers

Myanmar returns 300 more Chinese scam center workers
  • Thousands of foreigners are expected to be sent home from scam compounds in Myanmar over the coming weeks
  • The compounds are run by criminal gangs and staffed by foreigners, many of whom say they were trafficked

BANGKOK: Myanmar handed over 300 Chinese scam center workers to be repatriated through Thailand on Friday, as authorities intensify a crackdown on the illegal operations.
Thousands of foreigners are expected to be sent home from scam compounds in Myanmar over the coming weeks, with the first batch already flown out on Thursday.
The compounds are run by criminal gangs and staffed by foreigners, many of whom say they were trafficked and forced to swindle people around the world in protracted Internet scams.
Myanmar’s junta said in a statement that a second group of 300 Chinese nationals was handed over on Friday via the Thailand-Myanmar Friendship Bridge 2 at the Thai border town of Mae Sot.
The statement also said the junta has been working “to identify, arrest, and take action on foreigners who are involved in online scam centers and those who are behind it.”
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun hailed the “thunder-style cooperation” between China, Myanmar and Thailand to tackle the scam centers.
“China and various countries are firmly determined to fight cross-border online gambling and telecom fraud and protect the lives and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens,” Guo said.
Live footage on Thai media outlet The Reporters showed people disembarking from two double-decker coaches and boarding a Southern China Airlines plane, a scene similar to that witnessed by AFP journalists on Thursday.
It said that the first 50 Chinese nationals boarded a 10:40 am (0340 GMT) flight, with the rest expected to depart on five additional flights throughout the day.
A last set of flights is expected to return more Chinese nationals on Saturday.
Many of those freed from scam centers say they were duped into working in them and held against their will, but the Chinese government and state media have described them all as “suspects.”
Chinese police officers are accompanying them on the repatriation flights and a state TV report on Thursday showed the returnees, handcuffed and dressed in brown jumpsuits, being frogmarched off the plane in China with a police officer on each arm.
They had boarded uncuffed, in casual clothes, without any luggage.
The Thai government said Thursday that biometric data would be collected from repatriated Chinese nationals to prevent “future misuse of Thailand as a criminal transit hub.”
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinwatra also met with her Laos counterpart on Thursday to discuss joint efforts to combat scam centers along their shared border.


Americans, Russians have discussed Ukraine war through Swiss side channel, sources say

Americans, Russians have discussed Ukraine war through Swiss side channel, sources say
Updated 21 February 2025
Follow

Americans, Russians have discussed Ukraine war through Swiss side channel, sources say

Americans, Russians have discussed Ukraine war through Swiss side channel, sources say
  • Talks described as ‘Track Two’ conversations
  • Attendees not government officials, unclear if they were sent by governments
WASHINGTON: US and Russian participants have met in Switzerland for unofficial talks about the Ukraine war in recent months, including as recently as last week, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.
While the attendees have diplomatic and security experience, they are not government officials and it was not immediately clear if any were sent by their governments, two of the sources said. The sources declined to identify the attendees. The sources described the talks as a side channel with some contacts occurring during the transition period following US President Donald Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory.
At least a small number of advisers to Trump are aware of the encounters, said one of the sources, who had direct knowledge of the matter.
Many other details remain unclear, including whether Ukrainians were present, when the encounters began and what the meetings’ agendas covered.
But the previously undisclosed meetings highlight behind-the-scenes US and Russian efforts to explore ways to end the Ukraine war despite a near-freeze on official contact under Trump’s predecessor, former President Joe Biden. Trump, in office for just a month, has upended the US approach toward the three-year-old Ukraine conflict, engaging directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin and pushing for a quick deal to end the war. On Tuesday, top US officials met with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
One of the sources described the Switzerland talks as “Track Two” discussions — diplomatic parlance for unofficial dialogue geared toward improving communication and floating ideas, rather than developing concrete proposals.
The White House National Security Council, the Ukrainian government and Russia’s foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
The Swiss foreign ministry said meetings are regularly held in Switzerland between parties involved in the Ukraine conflict on a Track Two basis, and that it was informed of them.
Organized by non-state actors, they enabled exchanges not directly involving governments, it said in a statement.
“These activities help to sustain diplomatic efforts relating to the conflict,” the ministry said.
Two of the sources said at least one encounter took place in Geneva during last week’s Munich Security Conference, a gathering of international political leaders and security chiefs in the German city. Reuters reported last year on separate Track Two talks in 2023 and early 2024, when Putin sent signals that he was willing to consider a ceasefire in Ukraine. Those talks appeared to come to nothing.
Historically, Track Two talks have helped build dialogue among deeply distrustful counterparties in the hope that better communication might lead to diplomatic breakthroughs.
In 2023, NBC reported that former US national security officials held secret talks with Russians believed to be close to the Kremlin, with some members eventually meeting with Lavrov, the foreign minister.
One of the sources suggested Track Two talks may have lost much of their relevance as US and Russian officials have established official channels of dialogue in recent weeks.

Kremlin: ‘No specifics yet’ on possible Trump-Putin meeting

Kremlin: ‘No specifics yet’ on possible Trump-Putin meeting
Updated 21 February 2025
Follow

Kremlin: ‘No specifics yet’ on possible Trump-Putin meeting

Kremlin: ‘No specifics yet’ on possible Trump-Putin meeting
  • Mutual understanding about the need for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Friday that there was a mutual understanding about the need for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but that the details of such an encounter had yet to be worked out.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two sides agreed at talks in Riyadh this week — their first on how to end the Ukraine war before more formal negotiations — that the two leaders should meet, but “there are no specifics yet.” He noted that both men had said they were keen to talk in person.

“There is a desire of the two presidents, which they expressed, and there is also an instruction to prepare this meeting well so that it will be as productive as possible. It is during the preparation that all the nuances will be discussed,” Peskov said.

Trump said after the Saudi meeting on Tuesday that he would probably meet Putin before the end of the month.

Putin said on Wednesday that the meeting needed to be carefully prepared in order to achieve results.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a Putin-Trump meeting would largely depend on whether progress could be made on ending the war, and Trump wanted to know if Putin was serious about that.

Peskov restated that Putin was open to negotiating a settlement to the conflict.

“We have our goals, connected with our national security, with our national interests, and we are ready to achieve these goals by means of peace talks,” he said.

He denied a Financial Times report that Russia, at the talks in Saudi Arabia, had demanded the withdrawal of NATO forces from eastern Europe — something it sought in negotiations with the United States in the months before the start of the war, whose third anniversary falls on Monday.

Asked about that milestone, Peskov said it was too early to sum up the results of what Moscow calls its special military operation.

“The special military operation continues. All the goals set by the head of state and the supreme commander-in-chief must be achieved,” he said.