Group items tagged

Guatemalan officials are trying to block 9,000 Honduran immigrants from entering their borders. Apparently Guatemala requires a negative covid test to enter. Mark Morgan, the commissioner of the US Customs and Border Protection has siad that the asylum seekers shouldn't "waste their time and money"

About 2,000 people have gathered between the US and Mexico border. Neither of the countries are willing to accept them currently, citing Covid concerns as a reason. However, recently, the frequency of migrants arriving at US borders has been increasing, and I am curious on how this administration will handle it.

Truly devastating. The United States needs better policies to accept immigrants and process asylum/refugee visas, especially from nations like Haiti, which have been ravaged by poverty, political violence, and natural disasters.I doubt these deportations will stop them from coming, and sounds like there are thousands more on their way.

And there's a super interesting connection with Chile. . . .

A decision by the German government to tighten inspections along its border with Austria has fueled serious concerns in Athens as thousands of refugees and migrants continue to arrive on Greece's islands from neighboring Turkey. Greek government officials warn that the move could lead to the collapse of the country's already problematic system of response to the migration crisis.

"Istanbul (CNN)One of the world's most volatile regions was roiled further Tuesday when Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Turkish-Syrian border. Turkey said it hit the plane after it repeatedly violated Turkey's airspace and ignored 10 warnings. "

If you're on break and don't have time to really read the article: - one of the two pilots was killed in the Russian jet that was shot down (they were military personnel) -Putin says this will result in "serious consequences" in reference to the relationship between Russia and Turkey -There are no ISIS members in this area so it makes the people who are allied with the USA in the fight against ISIS are enemies too, which takes the focus away from defeating ISIS -NATO called an emergency meeting which indicated the severity of the situation as far as international diplomacy goes and it seems like more officials (President Obama included) think that there is a high risk for this incident to lead to an escalation or a breaking point in the Middle East for the current tension between countries.... so essentially the takeaway is: this is really bad

In recent months European nations have worked to block the main route taken by migrants fleeing war and upheaval. This article shows different countries' approaches to increasing border security. May be useful for research on individual countries for long block

Super helpful map of migrants meeting blockades and what happens next. Great find, Quinn!

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy called on Thursday for the suspension of the Schengen accord that lets people travel without passport checks between 26 European countries, saying the continent's migration crisis had made it unworkable. France also wants to establish a law that makes the goal of the asylum to ultimately result in sending the refugees back to their country once the threat is terminated.

Interesting Finding on Mexican drug smugglers across the border.

This article does a good job laying out the different effects of such smuggling, being not only illegal immigration and drug smuggling, but damage done to the town itself.

This article uses the Erez Crossing to reflect on the Israel-Palestine conflict. This crossing, which was built to hold 45,000 a day in 2007, is an example of the sudden separation of the Israelis and Palestinians due to this conflict. After the Hamas takeover, Israel limited passage to around 400 people a day and drastically heightened security. The author concludes by likening the current state of the crossing to a sci-fi film. The strange procedures that travelers must follow make the trip feel nearly unreal.

Under the Northern Ireland protocol, Northern Ireland will continue to follow the EU's customs rules on product standards even after Brexit. The purpose of this is to keep the UK-ROI border free from any border post infrastructure, so as to not create political instability. As a result of the protocol, tariffs may be charged on goods being shipped from the rest of the UK into Northern Ireland, but as long as the goods stay in Northern Ireland, the tariff would be refunded.

It is interesting that all of these different protocols are necessary to maintain political stability. I am still a bit confused as to how this tariff will keep political stability, but I think that is a function of my lack of knowledge regarding Brexit and what happened with Northern Ireland. As such, I would be interested in learning about this on a deeper level so I can have the context necessary to understand this article.

I wonder if the seemingly perpetual nature of this pandemic will cause the people to question government legitimacy. Japan's isolation, while drastic compared to most places, has been beneficial to health, but it may hinder many other areas of potential growth.

President Vladimir Putin is "doubling down" the security across all of Russia, especially along the border. This is due to the counterattack from Ukraine which has taken some of Russia's own territory but also continues to attack Russian settlements along the border of the country. To carry out President Putin's decree, all regional governors have been ordered to set up "operational headquarters" which are ordered to "meet the needs of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, other troops and troop formations"

population Africa Europe

Months after the Ukraine crisis, Ukrainian officials still rely on Russia for gas sources. Interestingly, the economic fighting between Russia and Ukraine allows Russia and rebels in Ukraine to shift the focus of negotiations with Kiev from securing the border between Russia and Ukraine to the current economic problem. The pro-Western government in Kiev is forced to compromise with Moscow in order to receive essentials for the upcoming chilly winter. The deal shows that the Kremlin is switching from a military to an economic strategy to fight Ukraine's efforts to align itself with the West. Russia now imposes a trade war threat. Ukraine is the transit route for Russian gas supplies to 28 other countries. Ukraine cannot afford an economic shock from fuel shortages, because its economy is already expected to shrink this year by 7 percent.