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Recent Appearances...

Africa Horn

Khartoum begins relocating refugees, foreigners, citing security concerns - Sudan Tribune

2025-05-31

[SUDANTRIBUNE] Authorities in Sudan
Sudan

...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
's Khartoum state on Thursday began relocating refugees and other foreigners to three states near Sudan's borders, part of efforts to remove all foreign nationals from the capital, officials said.

The move follows earlier steps to register refugees for relocation after Khartoum authorities said they confirmed some foreigners, mainly from South Sudan and Æthiopia, had fought alongside the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during the RSF's earlier control of the state.

Khartoum Governor Ahmed Osman Hamza told news hounds his government had ''begun implementing the first phase'' of relocating foreigners and refugees from the capital to camps in White Nile, Gedaref, and Kassala states.

The first convoy included a number of Æthiopian refugees residing in Khartoum without formal status, Hamza said.

Before the current conflict erupted in Sudan, the government did not strictly enforce regulations on the residence or employment of foreigners and refugees in residential areas.

Sudan hosts 824,000 refugees, 69% of whom reside in camps, according to an April 24 update from 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 relocation will include all foreign nationals without exception, Hamza said, adding they would be received in camps equipped with basic services and prepared in coordination with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and international organizations.

Security forces will continue efforts to apprehend foreign nationals within Khartoum state, the governor added.

Al-Sadiq Suleiman, Assistant Commissioner for Refugees at the Interior Ministry, said the relocation process was coordinated with Khartoum state authorities and that humanitarian aspects for families and children, such as food, healthcare, and shelter, were being provided in the camps

Link

Afghanistan

Pakistan Deports Over 20,000 Afghan Families in 5 Months

2025-05-27

From time to time we check on the countries around Afghanistan to see that yes, they continue to send back more of the millions of Afghan refugees that have been accumulating in the near-abroad since the Soviet era. The profits for hosting them dried up after the Biden-Harris Politburo gave Kabul to the Taliban.

[ToloNews] In the past five months, Pakistan has forcibly deported more than 20,000 Afghan families through the Torkham crossing.

Baz Mohammad Abdul Rahman, Director of Refugees and Repatriation in Nangarhar, told TOLOnews that seventy percent of these families have been resettled in Nangarhar province.

He stated: “The number of returnees is 97,883 individuals, with 70 percent of them settled in Nangarhar and the remaining 30 percent relocated to other provinces. In Nangarhar alone, 14,316 families—comprising 68,591 individuals—have been resettled.”

According to recent UN statistics, since 2023, Iran and Pakistan have forcibly returned more than three million Afghan migrants to Afghanistan.

Many of the families deported from Pakistan have faced serious challenges in finding shelter and a place to live upon returning to Afghanistan.

They are calling on the interim government and aid organizations to assist them in securing shelter.

Arman Khan, a recently deported returnee, said: “When we crossed through Torkham, the Pakistani police told us we had to pay two thousand rupees. We paid the money and were allowed to pass.”

Mir Ahmad Khan, another deportee, said: “If we are supported for even one year, we can stand on our own again. A hand of cooperation must be extended to us.”

According to recent UN statistics, since 2023, Iran and Pakistan have forcibly returned more than three million Afghan migrants to Afghanistan.

Afghanistan Faces Continuing Waves of Deportees

[ToloNews] Seven years ago, Ghulam Nabi, along with his wife and six children, left for Iran to escape poverty, insecurity, and unemployment.

But today, after years of living in exile, he is once again in Kabul—not by choice, but by force.

Ghulam Nabi, deported from Iran, describes his challenges: “We left here because of poverty and hardship, hoping for a better life there. For the first two or three years, no one bothered us, but in recent months, the pressure increased significantly. We were always running from the police, but eventually, around four o'clock, they caught us all and took us to a camp.”

Alongside him, thousands of other families are returning—people who had lived in Iran or Pakistan for years but now have to rebuild their lives in Afghanistan from scratch.

Arefa, deported from Iran, said: “We returned from the border and are now facing many difficulties. We lived in another country for a while, and now we’ve come back to our homeland. We ask our government to help us.”

Aziz, deported from Pakistan, said: “We were working and earning a living in Pakistan, but now that we’ve returned to Afghanistan, we are facing many problems and need cooperation and support.”

According to a recent report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 107,000 Afghan migrants were deported from Iran and Pakistan in just one week—from May 11 to May 17.

The IOM stated in its report that between May 11 and 17, there were 58,200 entries from Iran and 49,245 entries from Pakistan into Afghanistan, recorded by the organization.

Experts warn that the mass deportation of migrants without any preparedness for their reintegration could trigger a new humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

Mohammad Khan Talebi Mohammadzai, a migrant rights activist, said: “As long as the return of migrants is not voluntary and supported by international organizations, such actions are considered a violation of human rights. International organizations and humanitarian bodies must negotiate with host governments about harsh migration policies to ease the difficulties faced by migrants.”

Meanwhile, the International Crisis Group has urged the European Union to apply political pressure on Pakistan to halt the forced deportation of Afghan refugees.

The Crisis Group said in a report: “The EU should also scale up its response within Afghanistan, enhancing assistance for returnees and host communities."

Alireza Karimi, another migrant rights activist, echoed this view: “EU pressure can be somewhat effective, especially if it is accompanied by threats of financial aid cuts and reduced diplomatic ties. However, to fully prevent deportations, a multilateral solution is needed.”

Previously, a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stated that 380,000 Afghan migrants have been deported from neighboring countries this year alone and stressed that Afghanistan is not prepared to accommodate this number of returnees.

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.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

UNRWA says it is carrying on aid work despite Israeli ban on agency

2025-02-01

UNRWA is the PLO’s charity wing at the UN. In Gaza that means Hamas, and a large number of UNRWA employees are double dipping as Hamas turbans of one sort or another. Some even joined in the fun of the 10/7 invasion of Israel, and/or partook in the myriad pleasures of holding some of the hostages for Hamas over the past fifteen months. One can understand Israel’s revulsion.

[IsraelTimes] Official says organization ‘continues to be the backbone of the international humanitarian response’ in Gaza

The UN’s Paleostinian relief agency said Friday its humanitarian work across the West Bank and Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
was still ongoing despite an Israeli ban that took effect a day before and what it described as hostility towards its staff.

An Israeli law adopted in October bans operations by UNRWA (United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
Relief and Works Agency for Paleostine Refugees) on Israeli land — including East Jerusalem — and contact with Israeli authorities from January 30.

Britannia, La Belle France and Germany on Friday reiterated their concern over Israel implementing the new law, which humanitarian agencies say will have a huge impact on devastated Gaza as staff and supplies transit to the Paleostinian enclave via Israel. Israel says other organizations are already handling the majority of aid work in Gaza.

"We continue to provide services," Juliette Touma, director of communications of UNRWA, told a press briefing in Geneva. "In Gaza, UNRWA continues to be the backbone of the international humanitarian response. We continue to have international personnel in Gaza, and we continue to bring in trucks of basic supplies."

She said any disruptions to its work in Gaza would put a ceasefire deal that halted the war between Israel and Hamas
Hamas

..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
at risk.

"If UNRWA is not allowed to continue to bring and distribute supplies, then the fate of this very fragile ceasefire is going to be at risk and is going to be in jeopardy," she said.

Tens of thousands of Paleostinian refugees in East Jerusalem also receive education, healthcare and other services from UNRWA.

Touma said that its Paleostinian staff in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are facing difficulties, citing examples of stone-throwing and hold-ups at checkpoints and protests at its sites, blaming "Israeli hard boys."

"They face an exceptionally hostile environment as a fierce disinformation campaign against UNRWA continues," she said. "It has been a really rough ride, it has not been easy. Our staff have not been protected."

Israeli protesters vandalized a UN sign on Thursday outside one of its East Jerusalem compounds by spray-painting a blue Star of David on it.

International staff have already left after their visas expired, she added. The agency has reported more than 270 of its staff killed in the 15-month Gaza war and called for investigations.

Israel has long been critical of UNRWA, saying it perpetuates the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict by bestowing refugee status to the descendants of refugees — a designation not afforded to any other refugees in the world. It has also accused the agency of promoting hatred in its schools, fostering Paleostinian dependence on aid over decades through its system, and allowing snuffies to infiltrate its ranks, with some taking part in the October 7 atrocities and hundreds more having ties to terror groups.

The ceasefire deal has allowed for a surge in humanitarian aid

and enabled the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for Paleostinian prisoners held by Israel, many of them convicted murderers.

Before the agreement, experts had warned of imminent famine in parts of northern Gaza, a charge Israel repeatedly rejected. Supplies have since risen and the World Food Programme said that more than 32,000 tons of food had entered Gaza since the January 19 deal took effect.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has said Israel was committed to facilitating humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, saying aid should go through other international agencies and NGOs.

"Humanitarian aid doesn’t equal UNRWA and those who wish to support the humanitarian aid effort in the Gaza Strip should invest their resources in organizations alternative to UNRWA," he said in a statement. "We will abide by the law and we will continue to facilitate humanitarian aid."

UNRWA is now banned from operating on Israeli soil, and contact between it and Israeli officials is also forbidden.

The ban was passed by the Knesset in November with a wide majority, with the support of opposition parties, amid a series of revelations about employees of the agency who were actively involved in terror groups in the Gaza Strip, participation of some of its staff in the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion and slaughter, and repeated use of UNRWA infrastructure for terror activities.

Israel has also provided evidence that the agency’s schools incited hatred of Israel and glorification of attacks against Israelis.

UNRWA was established in 1949 following Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. It provides aid, health and education to millions of Paleostinians in Gaza, the West Bank and neighboring Arab countries — Syria, 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....
and Jordan.

Some 5.9 million people are registered as Paleostinian refugees by UNRWA, because they are descended from Arabs displaced in the war surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948.

It is one of only two UN refugee agencies. While UNRWA caters to Paleostinians, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is responsible for all other refugees around the world.

Government front man David Mencer told journalists on Wednesday that "UNRWA is riddled with Hamas operatives," adding that "if a state funds UNRWA, that state is funding terrorists."

"UNRWA employs over 1,200 Hamas members, including snuffies who carried out the October 7 massacre," Mencer said. "This isn’t aid, it’s direct financial support for terror."

UN chief António Guterres
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
on Monday demanded that Israel rescind its order.

"I regret this decision and request that the government of Israel retract it," he said, stressing that UNRWA was "irreplaceable."

The agency’s chief, Philippe Lazzarini, said UNRWA’s capacity to distribute aid "far exceeds that of any other entity."

He called Israel’s actions against UNRWA a "relentless assault... harming the lives and future of Paleostinians across the occupied Paleostinian territory."

Israel has provided evidence that a dozen UNRWA employees were involved in the deadly 2023 attack and insists that other agencies can pick up the slack to provide essential services, aid and reconstruction — something the UN and many donor governments dispute.

A series of investigations, including one led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some "neutrality-related issues" at UNRWA, but claimed Israel had not provided evidence for its headline allegation.

Under US President Donald Trump
...The Hero of Butler, Pennsylvania...
, who returned to the White House earlier this month, Washington has thrown its weight behind Israel’s move, accusing UNRWA of overstating the impact of the decision.

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

-Land of the Free

How Barack Obama's peaceful ideology led to failed foreign policy - opinion

2025-01-08

[JPost] The Obama administration’s decisions left a significantly more fragmented and futile world than the one he inherited.

When Barack Obama took the oath of office as US president in 2009, he ignited a wave of hope and a belief in transformative change that would define his presidency. His foreign policy, however, remains a topic of heated debate.

While Obama aimed to position the United States as a moral leader on the world stage, his actions often fell short of American expectations, leaving behind a legacy of instability and unfulfilled promises, particularly in the Middle East.

Obama’s approach to foreign policy was often summed up by the phrase “lead from behind.” This strategy prioritized building alliances and avoiding unnecessary wars, reflecting a preference for diplomacy over military intervention. While the philosophy seemed ideal, its practical application led to unintended, devastating consequences.

WHEN OBAMA'S FOREIGN POLICY BACKFIRED
In 2012, for instance, Obama declared a “red line” against the use of chemical weapons by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Yet, when evidence showed Assad’s regime continued to use such weapons, the Obama administration opted for a Russian-led deal to dismantle Syria’s chemical stockpile rather than taking military action.

Obama’s decision was widely criticized. Although it avoided immediate conflict, it failed to deter future chemical attacks. The Syrian Civil War raged on, killing over 500,000 people and displacing more than 13 million, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The war’s continuation fueled a humanitarian crisis of massive scale; more decisive US action may have prevented the suffering of millions.

The effort to sanction Syria for its use of chemical weapons only adds to Obama’s growing list of setbacks in handling the crisis, as he was ultimately ineffective due to strong opposition and substantial support for Syria from Russia and China. In 2015, for example, Russia intervened directly in the Syrian conflict by providing aerial military support to the Syrian Army, significantly strengthening the Assad regime. China used its veto power alongside Russia in the UN Security Council to block resolutions against Syria, preventing further international sanctions and interventions.

Obama aimed to weaken Assad’s regime through economic sanctions; however, substantial assistance from Russia and China counteracted his efforts.

Obama’s inaction in Syria also had repercussions for Israel. The ongoing chaos in Syria enabled Iranian-backed militias, such as Hezbollah, to expand their influence near Israel’s borders. According to a 2017 report from the Israel Defense Forces, Hezbollah built an arsenal of over 150,000 rockets, many of which were transferred through Syria.

These developments heightened tensions in the region and posed a direct threat to Israeli security, further illustrating the ripple effects of Obama’s Syria policy. In 2018 alone, Israel conducted over 200 airstrikes in Syria targeting Iranian assets to prevent further threats, showcasing the security challenges made possible by US inaction.

THE 2011 NATO-led intervention in Libya is another example of Obama’s disastrous foreign policy. The operation successfully toppled Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi but failed to establish a stable government in his place. Libya descended into chaos, becoming a failed state plagued by civil war and hardship.

The increase of weapons from Libya, perpetuated by the war, fueled conflicts across Africa and the Middle East. For instance, weapons from Libya were used in Mali’s civil war and reportedly fell into the hands of extremist groups like Boko Haram in Nigeria. Even Obama acknowledged this failure, calling the lack of planning for Libya’s aftermath the worst mistake of his presidency in a 2016 interview with Fox News.

The consequences of the Libyan intervention were global. In addition to regional instability, Libya became a hub for human trafficking and extremist groups, including ISIS. By 2017, Libya’s migrant crisis had worsened, with thousands risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean, contributing to Europe’s refugee crisis. According to the International Organization for Migration, over 3,000 migrants died attempting the journey in 2017 alone.

Obama’s biggest failure was the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The agreement aimed to halt Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions. While some viewed it as a diplomatic success, others criticized it for being a freebie to Iran. The US Treasury Department reported that the deal unfroze approximately $150 billion in Iranian assets, a significant boost for a country with a GDP of around $408 billion.

The JCPOA failed to ensure Iran’s compliance with its terms. Reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency revealed gaps in monitoring, such as Iran’s refusal to grant inspectors access to suspicious sites like the Karaj facility.

Israeli intelligence further highlighted these issues, uncovering evidence that Iran continued developing missile technology and maintaining capabilities that could facilitate a rapid nuclear breakout. In 2018, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented a 55,000-page document proving that Iran had lied about its nuclear program, further undermining confidence in the deal.

The JCPOA also sparked controversy within the United States. Obama bypassed Congress by treating the agreement as a deal rather than a treaty, avoiding the Senate’s ratification process. This decision drew criticism for ignoring constitutional norms.

The deal’s impact on regional stability remains questionable, as it emboldened Iran’s regional influence without addressing its ballistic missile program or support for terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas.

A 2017 US State Department report emphasizes that Iran’s support for terrorism remained “unabated,” with the country providing over $700 million annually to Hezbollah alone – money that may have very well been given to Iran by the US through the Nuclear Deal.

Despite a peaceful ideology, Obama often struggled with execution. While he sought to redefine America’s role in the world through diplomacy and alliance, his administration’s actions led to greater instability.

Whether Obama’s foreign policy ranks the worst in recent history depends on one’s perspective. The evidence, however, suggests that his administration’s decisions left a significantly more fragmented and futile world than the one he inherited.

For all his rhetorical brilliance and strategic aspirations, Obama’s foreign policy ultimately highlights the inability to govern a nation solely based on ideology.

The writer is a high school student from Great Neck, New York, passionate about advocacy and government. Through his writing and activism, he engages others in meaningful conversations about US politics, international relations, and Israel’s significance as both a homeland for the Jewish people and a key ally of the United States.

Link

International-UN-NGOs

NYT: Documents show top administrators at UNRWA schools were Hamas fighters

2024-12-09

[IsraelTimes] Terror group’s internal records identify 24 school employees as operatives, half of whom were issued rifles, grenades; one principal was known to wear Hamas fatigues after school

Some two dozen teachers, counselors, administrators at UNRWA schools in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
are members of Hamas
Hamas

..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
or other terror groups, according to a foreign media report published Sunday, based on documents provided by Israel.

The materials, seized from terror groups during the ongoing war that began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre, shed further light on Israel’s long-standing contention that the United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
agency responsible for aid to Paleostinians — and which administered some 288 schools in the enclave before the war — has fostered radicalism, and been used by terror groups in their efforts against Israel.

The documents viewed by The New York Times

...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
identify 24 employees at 24 different UNRWA schools — the majority of them principals or deputy-principals — who are registered members of Hamas or Paleostinian Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
; about half of them had documented possession of lethal weaponry, including assault rifles and hand grenades, provided by the terror groups, or participated in their training exercises.

Gaza residents interviewed by the Times said Hamas’s presence in UN schools was something of an open secret, with one UNRWA educator "regularly seen after hours in Hamas fatigues carrying a Kalashnikov," according to the report.

Another school principal, a Hamas member who was issued an assault rifle and a handgun, reportedly has a photo on his Facebook page depicting him standing in front of a Hamas banner.

The report also noted the presence of Hamas tunnels in UNRWA schools, and cited internal Hamas documents listing two schools in particular to be used for hiding weapons, calling schools and other civilian sites "the best obstacles to protect the resistance." Israel has frequently encountered Hamas operatives in school buildings throughout the war.

The principal with the Hamas banner in his Facebook photo oversaw a school that was directly on top of a tunnel. UNRWA discovered the tunnel in 2017 and issued a statement at the time condemning Hamas for its use of the school, and saying it had moved to seal the tunnel’s entrances.

Betcha they didn’t stay sealed…

However in several cases examined by the Times, the Israeli government provided written warnings to UNRWA that specific employees were terror group operatives, but the employees were not fired.

The Foreign Ministry alerted UNRWA in 2011, for example, that Naji Abu Aziz, the principal of the Khuza’a Prep Boys School, was connected to Hamas. Records seized more recently have shown that Abu Aziz is part of the chemistry unit of Hamas’s military manufacturing department. He is still listed as the principal of the school.

Philippe Lazzarini, the agency’s commissioner-general, told the Times that UNRWA has trouble getting information from Israel that would allow it to take action against employees connected to terror groups. The UN official also said it was "extraordinarily interesting" that Israel had shared the Hamas documents with the newspaper, rather than with the UN itself.

Another bet: the information Israel shared was discounted and ignored, because we’ve watched UNRWA do exactly that repeatedly over the past year.

Israel has long had a combative relationship with UNRWA, which it argues has perpetuated the Paleostinian refugee crisis by allowing the status to be passed down through generations. Frustration with UNRWA in Jerusalem has picked up over the past decade as Israel has found the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group embedded within the agency’s infrastructure.

That anger peaked after Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, in which a number of UNRWA staffers were found to have participated, including kidnapping and killing Israelis. Israel has alleged that 10 percent of the UN agency’s staff in Gaza have ties to terror groups — a charge of which the agency says it has no evidence.

On November 1, the Knesset passed a bill banning UNRWA from operating from Israeli territory and prohibiting government agencies from working with UNRWA. The bill will take effect in early 2025.

The UN has previously said nine UNRWA staff members may have been involved in the attack and had been fired. The head of UNRWA’s teacher’s union in Leb
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. 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. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
was also killed by Israel recently, in his capacity as a Hamas commander there.

In October, UNRWA confirmed that a Hamas Nukhba commander killed in an Israeli strike, who led the killing and kidnapping of Israelis from a roadside kaboom shelter near Kibbutz Re’im during the Hamas attack last year that started the war, had been employed by the agency since July 2022.

In February, the IDF revealed the existence of a subterranean Hamas data center directly beneath UNRWA’s Gaza Strip headquarters. The IDF has also repeatedly targeted Hamas command centers and button men hiding out in UNRWA schools.

UNRWA was established in 1949 following Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. It provides aid, health, and education to millions of Paleostinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and neighboring Arab countries — Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan.

It is one of two UN refugee agencies. While UNRWA caters to Paleostinians, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is responsible for all other refugees around the world.

The United Nations has repeatedly argued there is no alternative to UNRWA. Israel says its job can be carried out by other agencies it views as less corrupted by terror support.

Not uncorrupted, mind you. Just less corrupted.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran to expel 2.5 million undocumented Afghan migrants by year-end

2024-11-28

[KhaamaPress] Ahmad Masoumifar, the head of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative office, has warned that by the end of this year, 2.5 million undocumented Afghan migrants will be expelled from Iran.

According to the state-run news agency IRNA, the reduction in the entry of illegal Afghan migrants into Iran has been significant.

He emphasized that the deportation of unauthorized nationals does not require an agreement with any country and that, based on decisions made within the Iranian system, Afghan nationals without legal documentation must leave Iran.

The Iranian official also stated, “If their return is voluntary, that is preferred; otherwise, the relevant authorities will take action.”

The report mentioned that the de facto administration also understands this situation and it is natural for them not to defend individuals who have entered Iran illegally and remained there.

In recent months, the process of expelling Afghan migrants from Iran has intensified.

According to statistics from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), currently, 4.5 million Afghan migrants, both with legal migration documents, long-term visas, or no legal documentation, are living in Iran.

The Iranian government’s decision to expel undocumented Afghan migrants has sparked significant concerns about the well-being of those affected. Many fear the hardship they will face upon their return to Afghanistan, which remains in a state of instability and economic difficulty.

Link

Afghanistan

Over two million Afghan migrants return home in past year

2024-11-16

[KhaamaPress] The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) released a report stating that over the past year, 2.2 million Afghan migrants have returned to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan.

On Wednesday, November 13, USAID, quoting the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), reported that these returnees arrived between August 15, 2023, and September 2024.

According to the report, 734,817 Afghan migrants returned from Pakistan alone.

USAID noted that of these returnees, 588,000 received assistance to help with their resettlement.

Previously, the Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation had also reported that around 2 million Afghan migrants had returned from Iran and Pakistan in the past year, while approximately seven million Afghans remain in other countries.

The report comes amid an increasing trend of Afghan migrants being expelled from Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey, with hundreds of families being deported daily.

Recently, Iranian officials warned that by the end of this year, around 2 million undocumented Afghan migrants would be expelled from Iran.

Link

International-UN-NGOs

For 75 years, UNRWA has sought to undermine Israel, perpetuate conflict

2024-10-30

[Jpost] In the wake of Israel passing two bills that essentially block the activity of the UN Relief and Works Agency in areas under Israeli control, UNRWA’s work is under scrutiny.

Many circles worldwide have condemned Israel’s actions. UNRWA is a "lifeline," the UK says. UNRWA has claimed Israel’s vote is against the UN "charter." The organization is "irreplaceable," the head of the World Health Organization said on Monday.

What is most interesting about UNRWA is that the organization exists at all. Established by a UN General Assembly resolution in 1949, it began its work in 1950 toward providing direct relief and work programs for "Palestine refugees" — meaning, at the time, the hundreds of thousands of Arabs who had fled the fighting in British Mandate Palestine and, later, areas that became part of the State of Israel in 1948.

...The UN stepped in to try to help the situation. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established only in 1950, essentially meaning that the UN’s focus on Palestinian refugees predates its interest in other refugees around the world.

This largely explains why the Palestinian refugees became a unique issue and how the UN ended up perpetuating their refugee status and essentially adopting the Palestinians as a singular cause.

What has UNRWA done since its founding? The organization has 58 recognized refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and Gaza. Since UNRWA’s establishment, the number of "refugees" has increased. Today, for example, there are some 900,000 registered "refugees" in the 19 UNRWA camps in the West Bank.

The UN estimates that around one-third of the overall number of people considered "refugees" live in the 58 camps, meaning that many of them have moved to towns and other areas. In some cases, such as in Lebanon, they are often restricted to the camps.

UNRWA maintains not only the camps but also a large number of facilities linked to the camps and refugees. For instance, UNRWA says it has 155 facilities in Gaza, where it enabled 1.5 million internally displaced people to shelter in January 2024. There are eight refugee camps in Gaza; the Khan Yunis camp, for example, has almost 100,000 people registered in it.

IT’S WORTH thinking of UNRWA not as the organization it was after its founding, when it provided essential services that were actually needed, but rather as the empire of perpetual suffering that it has become.

This is a crucial point; UNRWA, as an organization, including the refugees it deals with, is larger than approximately 80 of the countries that are members of the UN. Despite the good intentions that may have been behind its creation in 1950, UNRWA has transformed into something entirely different. The only reason to maintain an organization like UNRWA, which keeps millions of people dependent, is to use them as a proxy against Israel.

In retrospect, it’s important to look at UNRWA as an organization that was created to thwart the establishment of Israel. The UN approved the Partition Plan for British Mandate Palestine in 1947. Israel declared independence in 1948.

...The concept of UNRWA is to keep Palestinians dependent, living in refugee camps generation after generation, while using its young men as foot soldiers to fight Israel. Winding down the camps and having the people live normal lives and believe in two states and peace could have potentially resulted in peace. However, the UNRWA mandate was never to embrace peace, two states, and coexistence.
(a) Anyone who really cares about "Palestinian Refugees" would work toward them building new lives in their places of refuge.
(b) There was an equivalent number of Jewish refugees from the Arab world.

The UN, however, did very little to help the Jewish refugees — the world Jewish community and Israel funded and handled their resettlement in Israel on their own.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Assad regime strikes kill two in rebel-held Idlib: Monitor

2024-10-01

[Rudaw] At least two civilians were killed and three injured on Monday in artillery strikes carried out by the Syrian army on the northwestern Idlib province, the last remaining rebel bastion in the area, a war monitor reported.

“Two civilians were killed and three others were injured as a result of artillery shelling by regime forces targeting homes in the city of Sarmin, east of Idlib city,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor.

Half of Idlib province, as well as parts of Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia provinces, are the last rebel-held bastions in the country after President Bashar al-Assad seized back swathes of territory over the course of the brutal Syrian civil war, which erupted in 2011.

Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the former Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, is the prominent force among dozens of different rebel factions operating in the rebel-held northwest. It controls large swathes of Idlib and parts of Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia provinces.

It has been internationally recognized as a terrorist organization.

A ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey has been in place in northwest Syria since March 2020, but the area has witnessed a recent flare-up in violence.

Over 13 million Syrians have been displaced since the start of the civil war, more than six million of which are refugees who have fled the war-torn country, according to a report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Link

Afghanistan

Iran and Pakistan deport more than 350 Afghan families in a single day

2024-09-15

[KhaamaPress] The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation stated that more than 350 Afghan families have been deported 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.

In a statement released on Saturday, September 14, the ministry said that over 350 families were deported from both countries in a single day and have now returned to Afghanistan.

The deportation of Afghan refugees from Iran and Pakistain has intensified recently, with Iranian authorities escalating the deportation of undocumented Afghan nationals by arresting and expelling them.

Recently, images have surfaced showing that selling bread to Afghan nationals has been banned in Kerman Province, Iran.

Meanwhile,
...back at the argument, Livia had made her point with her knee to Jane's stomach...
some families who have returned from Pakistain say that the country’s police confiscate all their belongings, leaving them to return to Afghanistan empty-handed.

At the same time, data from the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) shows that since August 2021, when the Taliban
Taliban

...Arabic for students...
regained control of Afghanistan, more than 600,000 Afghan citizens have fled to Pakistain.

In addition, Iranian officials, including Hassan Kazemi Qomi, the special representative for Afghanistan affairs, presented a new plan to address Afghan refugees in a meeting on September 4.

Meanwhile,
...back at the argument, Livia had made her point with her knee to Jane's stomach...
Mojtaba Abdullahi, the governor of Alborz City in Iran, recently stated that in the past year, more than 50,000 Afghan refugees have been deported from this city alone.

The increasing deportations and restrictions against Afghan refugees highlight the growing tensions and challenges they face in neighboring countries. With mounting pressure, regional and international organizations must address the humanitarian needs of Afghan refugees and ensure their protection.

An earlier Khaama Press article reports:

On September 11, 269 families were repatriated to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan, as reported by the Taliban-run Bakhtar News Agency. The families crossed into Afghanistan through various border points.

The families entered Afghanistan via the Nangarhar, Kandahar, Nimroz, and Herat provinces. Specifically, 18 families returned through the Torkham crossing, 39 through the Spin Boldak border, 89 through Pul-e-Abrisham, and 123 through Islam Qala.

Since the Taliban regained control in August 2021, over 600,000 Afghans have fled to Pakistan, according to estimates from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Iranian officials have introduced new measures to manage Afghan refugees. Hassan Kazemi Qomi, Iran’s special representative for Afghanistan, and Mojtaba Abdollahi, the governor of Alborz province, have reported significant deportations of Afghan migrants from Iran.

In the past year, over 50,000 Afghan migrants were expelled through Alborz province, with 27,915 deported in the last five months alone. Iran plans to complete the deportation of undocumented Afghan migrants by March 20, 2025.

Link

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