Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !
Recent Appearances... Rantburg

Afghanistan
UN: 250,000 Afghan Refugees return from Iran and Pakistan in April
2025-05-02
[KhaamaPress] In April, 250,000 Afghan refugees returned from Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and Pakistain, straining Afghanistan’s fragile resources amid ongoing economic and humanitarian crises.

The United Nations
...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense...
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported that approximately 250,000 Afghan migrants colonists returned from Iran and Pakistain in April 2025 alone.

Out of the total, nearly 96,000 were forcibly deported, while about 154,000 left voluntarily due to rising pressure and harsh policies in both neighboring countries.

UNHCR has warned that this large-scale return places immense pressure on Afghanistan’s fragile humanitarian resources, which are already strained and underfunded.

The report noted that such mass returns risk worsening the already dire living conditions for millions of Afghans struggling to survive amid economic collapse.

Mounting economic and political pressures, particularly stricter immigration enforcement in Iran and Pakistain, have triggered this rapid wave of repatriation in recent weeks.

Afghanistan, however, remains in the grip of widespread poverty, unemployment, and infrastructure breakdown, lacking the capacity to absorb and assist the growing number of returnees.

Humanitarian organizations are urging the international community to act swiftly by providing emergency aid, shelter, and reintegration support to prevent a worsening humanitarian disaster.
Related:
Afghan refugee 04/27/2025 Many former US allies in Afghanistan live in hiding, fearing persecution, says Middle East Institute
Afghan refugee 04/27/2025 EU allocates €250,000 to support Afghan migrants expelled from Pakistan
April 25, 2025

Afghan refugee 04/25/2025 Over 200 Afghan Refugees in Iowa ordered to leave US immediately

Link


Afghanistan
Mass Return: Over 130,000 Afghan Migrants Repatriated from Pakistan, Iran
2025-04-27
[To,oNews] The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that over 130,000 Afghan migrants colonists have returned from Pakistain and Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
between April 1 and 13.

According to the report, two million Afghans are expected to return from Iran and more than 1.6 million others from Pakistain this year.

The WHO stated: "These individuals have returned either forcibly or voluntarily, with 60% coming from Pakistain and 40% from Iran."

Raouf Mazou, Assistant High Commissioner for Operations at UNHCR, discussed the situation of Afghan migrants colonists in Pakistain with Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistain’s Special Representative for Afghanistan.

The Pak special representative wrote on X about the discussions during the meeting that: "International community resettled only 86,000 of Afghan nationals out of 800,000 who entered Pakistain after August 2021."

Reza Sakhi, an Afghan migrant in Pakistain, stated: "Migrant problems are numerous. Since March 31, the deadline, the issues have worsened—especially for those without documentation or expired visas. They have reapplied but received no assistance."

Link


India-Pakistan
Over 860,000 Afghan Refugees deported from Pakistan
2025-04-15
[KhaamaPress] Over 860,000 Afghan migrants colonists have been deported from Pakistain since September 2023, with the majority returning via Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Since September 2023, over 860,000 Afghan citizens have left Pakistain. Data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) indicates that more than half a million of these individuals crossed the border into Afghanistan through the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region. This mass return of migrants colonists has been closely monitored by both Pak authorities and international organizations.

The return of Afghan migrants colonists occurred in two main phases. The first phase, which involved undocumented Afghan migrants colonists, was marked by forced deportation. According to reports from the Pak newspaper Dawn on April 13, 2025, this was followed by the second phase, which started in early 2025. This phase affected Afghan citizens holding Afghan Citizen Cards (ECC), who were given a deadline to leave Pakistain by April 1, 2025.

On April 11, 2025, a significant number of Afghan citizens were deported from Pakistain, with 4,908 individuals expelled. Among these, 2,475 held legal documents (ECC), with over 2,000 departing voluntarily. However,
death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate...
around 350 individuals were forcibly sent back via the Torkham border. Additionally, 2,433 undocumented individuals were also expelled, with 1,900 departing voluntarily and 520 being forcibly removed through Torkham.

According to IOM data, from September 15, 2023, to April 5, 2025, a total of 861,763 Afghan migrants colonists returned to Afghanistan. This large-scale return highlights the ongoing migration trend, with significant movement across multiple border crossings, primarily through Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s two border posts, which accounted for the majority of the returnees.

From the beginning of April 2025, the rate of deportations has escalated. A total of 16,242 Afghan citizens holding ECC cards were deported. Of these, 9,439 were voluntary departures, while 6,803 individuals were forcibly expelled. This increase aligns with the approaching deadline for Afghan citizens in Pakistain to leave the country, further intensifying the deportation efforts.

UNHCR and IOM reported a rise in returns between March 1 and April 5, 2025, with 19,334 Afghans returning via various border crossings including Torkham, Chaman, and others. The return flow reached unprecedented levels in early April, with over 2,000 people being registered daily. This surge in returns has been attributed to the looming deadlines and the intensified pressure on Afghan migrants colonists to leave Pakistain.

In addition to border crossings, many Afghan migrants colonists from Islamabad and Punjab
...1. Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2. A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3. A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots
...
.
have been transferred to transit camps in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
and Landi Kotal. These migrants colonists undergo a registration process before being sent back to Afghanistan. This step ensures that the return process is orderly, although it further highlights the growing logistical challenges faced by both the migrants colonists and authorities involved in the repatriation process.

Related: Pakistan Deports 40,000 Afghans in Just 11 Days
Link


India-Pakistan
Sharp rise in forced deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan
2025-04-13
[KhaamaPress] Nearly 45,000 Afghan refugees have returned from Pakistain in ten days amid a sharp rise in forced deportations, UNHCR reports.

Since the second phase of the forced deportation campaign began, the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that 44,900 Afghan refugees have returned from Pakistain to Afghanistan in just ten days, from April 1 to April 11.

The report states that this figure marks a 31 percent increase compared to the first ten days of the original deportation wave in November 2023. Among the 44,900 returnees, 14,100 were forcibly expelled by Pak authorities, primarily through the Torkham and Spin Boldak border crossings.

The UNHCR expressed serious concern, highlighting that many of these refugees had originally fled to Pakistain due to economic collapse, insecurity, and human rights
...not to be confused with individual rights, mind you...
restrictions in Afghanistan. Forced deportation, especially of women and kiddies, exposes them to heightened risks including poverty, homelessness, and lack of access to basic services.

International human rights groups and the UN have repeatedly urged Pakistain to halt mass deportations and uphold international refugee protections, particularly the principle of non-refoulement. Despite this, Pakistain defends its stance by citing economic strain and security concerns as the main justifications for the crackdown.

The report also noted that the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other humanitarian partners have provided immediate assistance to 2,614 deportees. Nonetheless, challenges related to shelter and basic services for the large influx of returnees remain pressing.
Related:
Afghan refugees 04/11/2025 Bulgaria returns body of 2012 bus bomber to Lebanon
Afghan refugees 04/10/2025 Three Afghan Refugees acquitted of Greece’s Moria Refugee Camp Fire Charges
Afghan refugees 04/10/2025 Italy to Resettle 700 Afghan Refugees

Related:
Forced deportation: 2025-04-10 US aid cuts threaten life-saving services in Yemen: Amnesty
Forced deportation: 2025-04-10 Germany halts Refugee Resettlement through UNHCR
Forced deportation: 2025-04-03 Pakistan begins forced deportation of Afghan migrants after March 31 deadline ends
Link


International-UN-NGOs
Germany halts Refugee Resettlement through UNHCR
2025-04-10
[KhaamaPress] Germany has suspended its refugee resettlement program through UNHCR due to political shifts, halting future voluntary refugee intakes.

Germany has temporarily suspended its refugee resettlement program through the United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The Interior Ministry of Germany announced the decision on Tuesday, April 8, stating that the program, which has been active since 2016, is currently on hold.

This suspension comes at a time when a new coalition government is expected to be formed between the conservative CDU/CSU party, led by Friedrich Merz, and the Social Democratic Party. According to documents obtained by Rooters, the coalition parties have agreed to halt voluntary refugee intake programs, including the UN resettlement program, and not to launch any new programs.

Since 2016, Germany has been part of the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
’s resettlement scheme, which transfers refugees identified by the UNHCR in countries like The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, and Libya to European countries. As of 2024, Germany has accepted 4,711 refugees through this program.

Despite this temporary halt, Germany had committed to accepting 13,000 refugees under the program in 2024 and 2025. The Ministry of the Interior stated that cases already in advanced stages, where specific commitments have been made, will continue to be processed.

The decision to suspend the program follows rising domestic pressure, particularly the increasing popularity of the far-right party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), and several violent mostly peaceful incidents attributed to refugees. These developments have pushed conservative German parties to adopt stricter immigration policies.

The suspension of the UNHCR refugee resettlement program in Germany reflects the growing challenges faced by European countries in balancing humanitarian commitments with rising political pressures. With the formation of a new government, the future of Germany’s refugee policy remains uncertain.

Many human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
groups have criticized the move, arguing that it will reduce the support available to refugees who have already been displaced by conflict. The halt in resettlement programs also raises questions about Germany’s role in the broader European refugee crisis.
Related:
UNHCR: 2025-04-03 Pakistan begins forced deportation of Afghan migrants after March 31 deadline ends
UNHCR: 2025-03-09 Widespread killing, rape, disease and war make Democratic Republic of Congo hell on earth
UNHCR: 2025-02-20 Shakeeb: Pakistan Has Decided to Expel All Afghan Refugees
Link


India-Pakistan
Pakistan begins forced deportation of Afghan migrants after March 31 deadline ends
2025-04-03
[KhaamaPress] Pakistain has started deporting Afghan migrants colonists after the March 31 deadline, with no extension granted for voluntary departure.

The Pak government has begun deporting Afghans living in the country without legal documents, starting today, Tuesday, April 1st, after the deadline for voluntary departure expired.

Pak media reports that after the expiration of this deadline, the process of deporting Afghan migrants colonists has formally begun. Despite widespread concerns, international organizations and human rights
...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state...
groups had urged the government to extend this deadline.

Geo News reported on Tuesday, April 1st, that officials in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province confirmed the operation to expel Afghan migrants colonists will proceed without extending the previous deadline.

From the morning of Tuesday, April 1, reports from major cities in Pakistain, including Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...

, Lahore, Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
, and Islamabad, indicated the start of security forces’ operations to identify and detain illegal migrants colonists.

Illegal Afghan migrants colonists, after being arrested, are transferred to temporary centers and then deported through border crossings to Afghanistan. Eyewitnesses report that police and security forces are conducting patrols in areas with large migrant populations and carrying out house-to-house inspections.

The United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
, through the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has repeatedly warned about the humanitarian consequences of these deportations.

These organizations have assessed that many Afghan migrants colonists, who fled to Pakistain after the Taliban
...Arabic for students...
’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, face serious risks such as harassment, insecurity, and lack of basic necessities if returned to their home country.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have also criticized the forced deportations, arguing they violate international laws, particularly the principle of "Non-Refoulement." Amnesty has called on Pakistain to halt this process.
Link


Africa Subsaharan
Widespread killing, rape, disease and war make Democratic Republic of Congo hell on earth
2025-03-09
[FoxNews] State-sponsored terror, violence haunts African nation

It is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman – or a Christian. Disease is rampant, and children as young as 4 are being forced to work in mines.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is 95% Christian, yet the faithful are being targeted by jihadists. Just last month, Islamist ADF terrorists, who want the eastern part of the country to become a Muslim Caliphate, rounded up 70 Christians and beheaded them – in a church.

Women are under threat too. According to the U.N., 895 cases of rape were reported in the last two weeks of February alone – an average of more than 60 a day.

In the east, "Sexual violence and human rights abuses remain rampant, as is the looting and destruction of civilian homes and businesses," Patrick Eba, deputy director of UNHCR’s Division of International Protection, said this week.

Eba added that "hundreds of thousands of people (are) on the move", fleeing the violence, with many crossing into neighboring countries.

Over 150 women inmates were raped, and many of them then burned to death, in Goma in October last year. As M23 rebels advanced on the city, prison guards at the local jail fled. Hundreds of male inmates are said to have jumped over a wall and raped the women, before escaping.

The sick are also at risk. Earlier this week, the U.N. humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) reported that armed men had raided at least two hospitals in North Kivu’s capital Goma, abducting dozens of patients.

Disease also stalks people – with three mystery "outbreaks" in the past six months in the DRC. In the latest, the World Health Organization stated late last month that 60 have died and a further 1,318 have shown symptoms of suffering from an as yet unidentified serious illness in Equateur Province.

The agency said the disease spreads through the body fast "with a median time from onset of symptoms to death of one day." Tests for Ebola and the Marburg virus have come back negative so far.

In the Eastern Kivu provinces of the DRC, hundreds of thousands have been displaced, as rebel groups, often foreign-backed, push back government troops in a war "playing out in one of the poorest regions of earth," analyst Frans Cronje told Fox News Digital, adding, "Thousands have been killed, disease pandemics are commonplace, (and) women live under the constant fear of rape and abuse."

"The conflict in the DRC is essentially about control of critical minerals", Cronje, an advisor for the Yorktown Foundation for Freedom, continued. "Scores of rebel groups and some state actors are engaged in the conflict. The two Kivu provinces contain vast deposits of these minerals that could be used in applications from defense and AI to green energy."

Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and editor of the Long War Journal, told Fox News Digital, "I would argue that the minerals are only partially, or even tangentially, related. The main violence plaguing Congo runs from regional political issues, like Rwanda/M23 (rebel group), to ethnic like CODECO, (an association of militia groups) to religious, like Islamic State Central Africa Province, aka ADF, (rebel group) to just general localized banditry. And some groups do control and make money from artisanal mines, but not all."

And, for more than a decade, children in some DRC areas have faced extreme exploitation and abuse, reportedly from China, forced to mine deep underground in its quest for metals such as cobalt. An estimated 70% of the world’s cobalt is produced in the DRC, according to Michigan State University’s Global Edge Research Organization. China is said to either own, or co-own with the DRC’s government, 80% of the DRC’s cobalt mines.

This modern-day child slavery continues despite outcry. A report to a joint House and Senate Committee in November 2023 stated that the DRC "is a country that has been brutally pillaged throughout history, fueled by corrupt men’s unquenchable thirst for power, riches, land, rubber, copper, palm oil, and now cobalt, all at the expense of innocent women, men, and children."

"Children as young as 4 are forced to mine cobalt, "Jason Isaac told Fox News Digital last year. Isaac is the founder and CEO of the American Energy Institute.

The FDD’s Bill Roggio told Fox News Digital there are steps the Trump administration could take, "from counter-terrorism against one of IS' most active global branches (ISCAP) to walking back a potential massive regional war, or even to improving good governance, a more stable, secure and prosperous Congo would do wonders for the global economy and regional security."
Related:
Democratic Republic of Congo: 2025-02-28 DRC: deadly explosion at M23 rally wounds dozens, rebel leaders say
Democratic Republic of Congo: 2025-02-23 70 Christians Beheaded in DRC and Mainstream Media Is Nowhere to Be Found
Democratic Republic of Congo: 2025-02-12 At least 52 people were killed in an alleged attack by the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) militia
Related:
M23 rebels: 2025-02-28 DRC: rumours of forced recruitment by M23 spark panic in Goma
M23 rebels: 2025-02-28 DRC: deadly explosion at M23 rally wounds dozens, rebel leaders say
M23 rebels: 2025-02-17 Cheers and confusion as M23 rebels enter Bukavu city centre
Related:
Goma: 2025-02-28 DRC: rumours of forced recruitment by M23 spark panic in Goma
Goma: 2025-02-28 DRC: deadly explosion at M23 rally wounds dozens, rebel leaders say
Goma: 2025-02-22 Rebel offensive in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo clouds future for Israeli NGO
Related:
CODECO: 2025-02-12 Good Morning
CODECO: 2025-02-12 At least 52 people were killed in an alleged attack by the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) militia
CODECO: 2023-06-13 Deadly attack by militia group claims over 45 lives in eastern Congo's Ituri province
Related:
ADF: 2025-02-23 70 Christians Beheaded in DRC and Mainstream Media Is Nowhere to Be Found
ADF: 2025-01-28 Al-Shabaab and ISIS suspects among 37 Arrested in Multi-Nation East Africa Operation
ADF: 2024-11-02 PM of Hungary accuses Harris of being an owned tool of Soros
Link


India-Pakistan
Shakeeb: Pakistan Has Decided to Expel All Afghan Refugees
2025-02-20
[ToloNews] The Embassy of the Islamic Emirate in Pakistain has announced that Pakistain has decided to expel Afghan refugees from all parts of the country, including Islamabad and Rawalpindi, in the near future.

According to a statement from the Embassy of the Islamic Emirate in Islamabad, this decision is final and includes the expulsion of all Afghan refugees, including those holding ACC (Afghan Citizen Card) and PoR (Proof of Registration) cards.

Sardar Ahmad Shakeeb, the chargé d'affaires of the Embassy of the Islamic Emirate in Islamabad, stated: "The officials of Pakistain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs have informed us that from now on, Afghans can only stay in Pakistain with a visa. The ACC and PoR cards will no longer be valid. However,
there's more than one way to stuff a chicken...
their cabinet has extended the validity of the PoR cards until June 30. After that, they will have no legal status—those who leave voluntarily can do so, but others will be forcibly deported."

At the same time, some Afghan refugees living in Pakistain consider this decision one-sided and call for their concerns to be addressed. They say this decision has caused anxiety among Afghan refugees in Pakistain.

"The Pak government should coordinate with the current Afghan authorities and the UNHCR in a tripartite agreement to establish a policy that guarantees all the rights of refugees," said Atiqullah Mansoor, an Afghan refugee in Pakistain.

"According to Pakistain's latest decision to expel all Afghan refugees from Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and other areas, this move has deeply worried Afghan refugees in Pakistain," said Mohammad Reza Sazish, another Afghan refugee in Pakistain.

This comes as Pakistain hosts the largest number of Afghan refugees, and previously, the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
had also urged Pakistain to halt the forced deportation of Afghan refugees.
Link


Government Corruption
President Donald Trump's deputies have frozen an expanding federal bureaucracy used by elite-run groups to import migrant workers via a private door in the nation's borders.
2025-02-02
[Breitbart] President Donald Trump’s deputies have frozen an expanding federal bureaucracy used by elite-run groups to import migrant workers via a private door in the nation’s borders.

The shutdown comes just before the private migration groups were to be aided by a $5 billion migration fund created by Congress in 2024 for additional migration inflows in 2025.

Trump’s deputies froze the bureaucracy by delaying the approval of paperwork needed by migrants to get into the United States. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency announced it is “pausing acceptance of Form I-134A, Online Request to be a Supporter and Declaration of Financial Support until we review all categorical parole processes as required,” the agency announced on January 28.

The form is critical to get migrants through the border doorway operated by the elite-backed, private-sector migration group Welcome.US.

The group claims to have already welcomed “200,000+ newcomers.” since it was approved in 2023 by President Joe Biden’s pro-migration, pro-investor border chief Alejandro Mayorkas.

The “Honorary Co-Chairs” of Welcome.US include Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush,
…clearly thrilled to get to sit with the kewl kids, no longer tarred as the Hitler of his time..
and Bill Clinton.
Three former presidents pushing this thing. Oy.
The group also boasts of a “Welcome Council” with many CEOs, Walmart’s PR chief, several journalists including NBC’s news chief, business lobbyists, many migration advocates, multiple Muslim leaders, and even former governor Jeb Bush.
Why Muslims? But Jeb Bush makes sense — he needs something to do, since he doesn’t get to be an ex-president like Papa and Bro Bush.
The Welcome.US group also served as the PR face of President Joe Biden’s Welcome Corps government program. The program merged government and private efforts to further inflate the U.S. economy and stock market with an enlarged inflow of foreign workers, renters, and consumers.

The group’s migrants flood Americans’ workplaces, communities, housing markets, schools, and civic support agencies. That inflow lowers wages, raises rents, crowds schools, and jams waiting rooms — but also spikes stock prices for Wall Street investors.

Under Biden, this merger of government and private advocacy helped support roughly 100,000 people via the formal refugee programs. It was also expected to import 125,000 more refugees in 2025 — plus hundreds of thousands of additional picked migrants in the next few years,
Saved by the bell. Whew!
But this expanded migration program damages the moral claim that justifies the refugee programs, said Nayla Rush, a migration expert at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Refugee programs are supposedly all about saving unfortunate people from poverty, crime, and war,

But the Welcome Corps program allows migrants to help pick the next wave of migrants, said Rush. For example, the program allows new migrants to provide refugee status — and then citizenship — to their siblings and cousins even when they face no dangers, or to grant that status to people eager to pay for green cards and U.S. citizenship, according to Rush.

“A program meant to ‘save [refugee] lives‘ had been turned into one that resettled people who [know]… somebody [who] made it to the United States and gotten a green card,” Rush wrote on January 24. She added:

By launching the “Welcome Corps”, a private sponsorship program within the [refugee program], the former administration chose not to resettle the most vulnerable, but rather to privilege those who happen to have friends or family who made it here before them. It opened the door to non-refugees to be picked for resettlement by non-citizens based in the United States.

Sponsored individuals did not need to actually be [endangered] refugees according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Refugee Status Determination, let alone in that subset of refugees determined by the UN to be in “need of resettlement”. And the sponsors could themselves be earlier refugees or other newcomers.

The “Welcome Corps” was further expanded to include the “Welcome Corps on Campus”, bringing “refugees” straight to U.S. campuses; the “Welcome Corps at Work”, bringing them straight to [employers and] U.S. jobs; and the “Welcome Corps for Afghans” allowing U.S.-based non-citizens to sponsor Afghan nationals through USRAP. Another branch, the “Welcome Corps for Refugees in Latin America”, offered individuals of any nationality who are in Latin America “a path to permanent legal status in the United States.”

The “Welcome Corps at Work” program recreates President George W. Bush’s “Any Willing Worker” program because it allows U.S. employers to hire cheap, subordinate, and government-funded migrants, regardless of the damage to Americans’ right to a fair labor market.

The Welcome Corps site said:

The Welcome Corps enables U.S. employers to recruit from a diverse, qualified pool of refugee candidates abroad. As an employer participant in Welcome Corps at Work, you will be able to review resumes from our pool of refugee candidates abroad, interview candidates, and offer employment to the refugee candidates directly. Welcome Corps at Work then helps those refugees navigate the process of being considered for resettlement in the United States through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) …

Federal spending to import more people multiplied fivefold under Biden, Rush wrote:

Under the Biden-Harris administration, the estimated “Funding for Refugee Processing and Resettlement” totaled $2.8 billion in FY 2024 and were set to amount to $5.1 in FY 2025. For comparison, the estimated cost was $2.2 billion in FY 2023, $1.4 billion in FY 2022, $967 million in FY 2021, $932 million in FY 2020, and $976 million in FY 2019.

Much of the funding was intended to accelerate the inflow of migrants through the Department of State’s refugee programs and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). In 2024, Biden’s deputies described their plan to spend the 2025 funds on the parole programs that were pulling many Haitians and Cubans into the United States:

In addition to refugee arrivals through the USRAP, ORR is projecting to serve 531,500 other arrivals in FY 2025, the majority of whom are expected to arrive as Cuban and Haitian Entrants through [supposedly] lawful pathways.

The ORR program has long been used by government agencies and cartels as a convenient waystation for delivering left-behind foreign children to their illegal migrant parents in the United States.

Congress also expanded the ORR rules to allow funding for job-seeking migrants from Cuba and Haiti, including the Haitian migrants who crowded into Springfield, Ohio.

The 2025 money would also have supported the “Labor Neighbors” program that was intended to import cheap workers from South America for jobs that otherwise would have gone to better-paid Americans.

The 2025 spending plan statement also described plans to import more diverse and expensive groups of people into Americans’ society:

Innovations and efficiencies made over the last three years have provided new hope and opportunities to refugee applicants in the USRAP, including longstanding refugee populations from Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Syria, as well as Rohingya refugees who are facing increased threats and dwindling assistance, among many others. In FY 2025, the United States will remain focused on these populations while continuing to expand the resettlement of other key populations of concern, including vulnerable people from Latin America and the Caribbean; Afghan allies; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) individuals; and individuals persecuted for their religious beliefs.

Biden’s deputies were “changing the meaning of resettlement, which was to save lives… [to allow] somebody, a friend or a neighbor or something, say ‘Hey, we want that person,'” Rush told Breitbart News. “It’s a good thing that [Trump is] just shutting down the whole system,” she added.
Related:
Welcome Corps: 2023-01-21 US Launches Private Refugee Sponsorship Prgram
Welcome Corps: 2023-01-21 Biden admin launching pilot program that would allow Americans to sponsor refugees for $2,275 each
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Nearly 200,000 Syrian refugees have returned since Assad regime fell, UN says
2025-01-20
[IsraelTimes] Hundreds of thousands more came back earlier in 2024 from Lebanon, fleeing Israel-Hezbollah conflict; Turkey allowing 3 round trips per refugee family to prepare for resettlement

Nearly 200,000 Syrian refugees have returned home since the fall of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
’s regime in early December, the UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said Saturday ahead of a visit to the region.

Those returns came after a lightning offensive by an Islamist-led coalition of rebels ousted Assad in December, raising hopes of an end to a 13-year civil war that killed over half million dead and sent millions seeking refuge abroad.

Between December 8 — when the regime fell — and January 16, some 195,200 Syrians returned home, according to figures published by Grandi on X.

"Soon I will visit Syria — and its neighboring countries — as UNHCR steps up its support to returnees and receiving communities," Grandi said.

Some half a million Syrians total returned home last year. Many of those who returned before the regime fell did so from Leb
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
, amid fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group there, who have since agreed to a ceasefire.

It was not immediately clear how many of those who went to Syria escaping that conflict may have returned to Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah reached a ceasefire in November, or whether they may have been counted twice.

Footage shared online in the wake of Assad’s fall purported to show thousands in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...a NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and structure....
member, but not the most reliable...

driving toward the border and into Syria to return to their homes.

Turkey, which shares a 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Syria, hosts some 2.9 million Syrians who have fled since 2011.

Ottoman Turkish authorities, who are hoping to see many of those refugees return to ease growing anti-Syrian sentiment among the population, are allowing one member of each refugee family to make three round trips until July 1, 2025, to prepare for their resettlement.

Turkey is also involved in Syria itself, backing gangs that oppose the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the country’s north.
Link


International-UN-NGOs
You'll Never Guess Who's Funding the Invasion
2025-01-18
[TennesseeStar] Todd Bensman Uncovers Billions of U.S. Taxpayer Money Funding United Nations Agencies, NGOs Aiding and Assisting Illegal Migrants

Todd Bensman, a senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, is bringing attention to the billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars that are continuing to fund United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that work to aid and assist migrants in crossing into the country illegally.

In a recent article published by the Daily Wire, Bensman revealed that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) continue to be funded with billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to support migrants “engaging in transit and onward movements” to the U.S. southern border.

Bensman’s report is based on data published in the UN’s 2025-2026 Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan.

“There are hundreds of these organizations that have grown very fat with profit, even though they’re nonprofits, to aid, assist, and abet the mass migration to our border. A lot of them are U.S.-based, a lot of other ones are international, but the United Nations put together an organization of them, a coordinated group, a conglomeration, of NGOs and about 15 UN agencies together in Latin America in 2019 and every year they’ve been spending $1.5 billion handing out food supplies, cash debit cards, transportation, shelter, basically supporting the migration and even incentivizing some of that to our border – predominantly paid for by U.S. taxpayers,” Bensman explained on Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.

“They’re just being showered with U.S. tax money. That’s how this whole thing works,” Bensman added.

Bensman said taxpayer money funding the UN-based groups encouraging illegal immigration into the U.S. is still expected to flow under the incoming Trump administration in an effort to “induce failure” during the new administration.

“They’re still looking at $1.4 billion to support all of those migrants, to keep the pressure on the U.S. border, maybe to induce failure, this is my speculation, or just to not to give up and keep 2.5 million migrants, foreign nationals, sustained and on the trail pushing ever forward or to just wait out the Trump administration and hope a friendlier Democrat gets into office in four years. The point is, it’s still going on there,” Bensman said.

Bensman said the funding of such agencies is a “legitimate public policy debate” which Republican lawmakers – given their majorities in the U.S. House and Senate as well as the White House – should discuss.

“Maybe there ought to be some defunding. Maybe there ought to be some accountability or transparency. Maybe they ought to be rolled back, because the American people don’t like this. They don’t like this,” Bensman said.

Link


Good Morning
2025-01-04



Biden to present Hillary Clinton, George
Soros and 17 others the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Saturday 01/04/2025

BillieBurke
Science & Technology
Carnage from the sky: Experts warn of
new terrorist drone threat to U.S. after New Orleans
Israel-Palestine-Jordan
'His disguise was a facade': How IDF
revealed identities, Hamas's plans in hospital - N12
Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iranian plane searched at Beirut
airport over ''suspicious'' items
Africa North
Egypt bans entry of Syrians from anywhere in the world
Syria-Lebanon-Iran
115,000 Syrians returned home
from neighbouring countries: UNHCR
International-UN-NGOs
UN urges PA to reverse ban on al-Jaazeera
US soldier arrested after allegedly
posting hacked Trump and Harris call logs

Link



Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-12 More