South Sudan says 8 men deported from the US are now in its custody
Apuk Ayuel, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, told reporters that the eight arrived at Juba International Airport on Saturday following 'standard deportation procedures undertaken" by the U.S. government.
The men are 'under the care of the relevant authorities who are screening them and ensuring their safety and well-being,' she said, without specifying where they are held.
U.S. authorities said on Friday that the eight men deported in May and held for weeks at an American military base in Djibouti arrived in South Sudan after the Supreme Court cleared the way for their transfer.
The men — from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Vietnam and South Sudan are part of a case that had gone to the Supreme Court, which had permitted their removal from the U.S. Administration officials said the men had been convicted of violent crimes in the U.S.
The deportations have raised safety and other concerns among some in this country.
'South Sudan is not a dumping ground for criminals,' said Edmund Yakani, a prominent civic leader in the country.
South Sudan's government has struggled since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011 to deliver many of the basic services. Years of conflict have left the country heavily reliant on aid that has been hit hard by sweeping cuts in U.S. foreign assistance.
Economic hardship has deepened in recent months because of declining oil revenues, with crude exports to Port Sudan affected by civil war in the neighboring country.
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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
You fit sell your NIN?
Di National Identity Management Commission don comot statement afta di tori say some pipo dey sell dia National Identification Number (NIN) among oda personal information give FInTech companies. For di statement, NIMC draw ear give Nigerians say dem no get hand for anytin wey spoil bicos of dis exchange of personal informate. Dem remind kontri pipo say dem don warn dem plenti times say make dem no tell dia NIN give any unauthorized pesin or joinbodi. All dis infromate for dia statement come afta Nigeria anti-corruption body drop informate on one "fraud scheme wey na young Nigerians dey carry am for head, dey carry small money between 1500 and 2000 naira ($1.31) give dia victims wey go give dem copy of dia personal information details bifor dem come carry di same informate give some FinTech companies dem for like 5000 naira ($3.27)". NIMC say di mata na serious security concern and also get ogbonge consequences for di NIN holders. But pesin fit carry dia full Idenitiy number sell give anoda pesin just like dat? NIMC ansa dat kwesion for di statement wey di Head of Corporate Communications, Dr Kayode Adegoke share wit tori pipo. Dem tok say anytime pesin present di NIN to fit get access to services, di NIN go dey "duly verified" bifor dem go allow any pesin make e use am. Dem dey use NIN match pesin wit dia biometric data and oda details wey dey di National Identity Databases. E also dey used to: Wetin dey linked wit your NIN Accoridng to NIMC, di National Identification Number dey link to pesin biometrics wit any oda informate wey dey di national database. But e dey also linked wit oda tins. For December 2020, di Nigerian Communications Commission [NCC] announce di compulsory update of NIN to dia SIM registration to fit improve di integrity and transparency of di process for Nigeria For 1 December 2023, di CBN bin announce to all Nigerians for one statement wey dem release give all banks say any bank accounts wey no get both NIN and BVN no go fit withdraw money for dia account. Sabi pipo say na to make am easier to monitor transactions and detect fraud. Tori dey say, two years ago FCT Minister Nyesom WIke make am compulsory say any pesin wey wan register C of O for dia property must to run am wit dia NIN and BVN togeda. According to di 2017 Mandatory Use of di NIN regulations, all transactions wey involve di purchase use or transfer of land or landed properties fall inside. Di NIN also get Biometic data of pesin dat one include pesin face and fingerprint information.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Rochdale grooming gang ringleaders could be deported 'in months' as Pakistan signals it's FINALLY willing to accept pair after years' refusals
Two Rochdale grooming gang ringleaders could finally be deported to Pakistan by the end of this year, officials there have revealed - after a decade's delay. British officials have been trying to deport Qari Abdul Rauf, 55, and Adil Khan, 54, following their leading roles in the grooming gangs scandal. The UK this month dropped a ban on direct flights between the two countries dating back five years yet still the two men have remained in the Greater Manchester town. But after Pakistan's government was believed to have used the pair's detention as a 'bargaining chip', there are suggestions now they could take the men back. That would be in return for Britain's decision to lift a previous five-year ban on Pakistani International Airlines. A senior Pakistani government official involved in talks on Rauf and Khan has now indicated his nation's interior ministry must now give legal clearance for their return. He was quoted by the Times as saying: 'I believe a resolution could be reached within a month or two, although there are some legal and political complexities involved. 'Currently, the case is being handled by Pakistan's interior ministry. Once they provide clearance, it will be passed to the foreign ministry, which will finalise the acceptance of Rauf and Khan.' The two groomers were at the heart of a child abuse ring where girls as young as 12 were groomed with free booze and drugs before being gang-raped. They held dual British-Pakistani citizenship but were stripped of their British nationality when they were convicted and jailed in 2012. Both men then renounced their Pakistani citizenship, in a cynical move that made them stateless and consequently much trickier to deport due to international law. In 2022, they both lost an appeal against deportation after a seven-year legal battle that cost the British taxpayer a fortune, but they kept living in Rochdale because Pakistan would not take them back. But Islamabad's position could now change, according to reports, now that UK ministers have given the green light for direct flights to resume between the two countries. The country's national carrier PIA was barred from operating inside the EU and UK in 2020. That followed an incident on May 22 that year when a passenger flight from Lahore to Karachi crashed, killing 97 out of the 99 people on board as well as an additional victim on the ground. Married father-of-five Rauf, a religious studies teacher at a Rochdale mosque, would drive schoolgirls to other men who would rape and abuse them. He walked free in 2014 after serving just two and a half years of a six-year prison sentence. Last month, the Daily Mail revealed how he built a house in his native Pakistan – despite receiving £285,000 of taxpayers' money in a battle against being deported, casting fresh doubts on claims he had cut ties with Pakistan. Khan was convicted of sex trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. The offender, who had a baby with one of the victims aged just 13 at the time, served four years of an eight-year jail term before being released in 2016. Rauf ferried victims from Rochdale to sex parties as far away as Leeds and Bradford, in a scandal that ultimately led to nine men being convicted for trafficking and abusing almost 50 girls. Officials in Islamabad last month told the Times that Pakistan could finally agree to take the two men once direct flights are resumed. And the British High Commission in Pakistan subsequently confirmed PIA was once again legally allowed to fly non-stop routes into the UK. A spokesperson said: 'After a sustained, independent and technically driven process, the UK's Air Safety Committee has lifted its restrictions on Pakistani carriers. 'It will take time for flights to resume, but this is an important step, and a testament to Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority's air safety improvements. 'Individual airline carriers will still need to apply for permits to operate to the UK through the UK Civil Aviation Authority.' Jane Marriott, the UK high commissioner to Pakistan, added at the time: 'I'm grateful to aviation experts in the UK and Pakistan for their collaborative work to drive improvements to meet international safety standards. 'While it will take time for flights to resume, once the logistics are in place, I look forward to using a Pakistani carrier when visiting family and friends.' An estimated 1.6million people of Pakistani heritage are believed to be living in the UK. Paul Waugh, Labour MP for Rochdale, has now said following the latest reported progress: 'Ever since I was elected, I have been working constantly with ministers to deport these Rochdale grooming gang ringleaders to Pakistan. 'The last government failed to boot these vile paedophiles out of Britain. That's totally unacceptable to me, to the people of Rochdale and most of all to their victims. 'I know that we are having to deal with a complex diplomatic and legal process, but I've ensured this is a high priority within government and I'm encouraged that progress sounds like it is being made. The sooner we see the back of them, the better.' Earlier this year, MailOnline revealed that Rauf was working in Rochdale as a delivery driver, prompting fears he might meet one of his victims during the course of his work. His neighbours in Rochdale were disgusted that he was still allowed to live in the same town where he carried out his vile crimes. One mother, who lives just a few doors away, said: 'Nobody can believe that monster is still here, after what he did to those young girls. 'It's disgusting. What is the country coming to? Why is he still here?' And furious neighbours of Rauf in Rochdale described how they were terrified to let their children out of sight after the 55-year-old was released. The convicted paedophile was told he would be deported back to Pakistan after completing his sentence in 2014 - but he remains living in the Greater Manchester town more than a decade later. Rauf claims to be stateless after renouncing his Pakistani nationality – however, his claim to have cut ties have now been thrown into doubt. Neighbours in the remote village which he left to move to Britain in the 1990s have revealed that the father-of-five has built a house there. They said his intention was to live in it when he is finally kicked out of the UK. They also contradicted his claim during his battle against deportation that he would be at risk in Pakistan due to 'public opinion' because of his convictions, saying his family remains 'influential' there. Rauf was one of a nine-strong gang of Asian men who sexually assaulted 47 girls, some as young as 12, after plying them with drink and drugs. Their conviction in 2012 shocked the country and sparked years of campaigning by victims, which earlier this month finally prompted Sir Keir Starmer to agree to a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal. Rauf – who moved to the UK in 1997 – lost an appeal against being stripped of British nationality in 2018. But he appealed against deportation on the grounds he had already renounced his Pakistani citizenship and would therefore be rendered stateless. Rauf has received a staggering £285,000 in legal aid as he bids to avoid being thrown out of the country, it emerged earlier this year. Despite losing the case, he remains in Rochdale where he works as a takeaway delivery driver as Pakistan won't accept him without valid travel documents. But inquiries by MailOnline in his home village of Charhoi in Pakistan-administered Kashmir suggest he has retained close links. According to villagers who know the family, he has sent back money to fund the construction of a new house near the bazaar with the intention of living there himself. They said he initially allowed his elder brother to live there with his family – but had now asked him to vacate the building. 'His brother lived there for few months but came back to his old home when his children told him to leave Abdul Rauf's home and go back to his old one,' the resident said. As part of his 2022 appeal against deportation, Rauf claimed that if he was sent back to Pakistan, he 'would be at risk due to the public opinion of the criminal conviction' and would not be 'protected' by the authorities there. But a villager cast doubt on his claim, saying that while locals knew about the case, he would be safe as a result of his family ties. 'Since they are influential and financially strong people in their street, this topic was not much discussed,' the resident said. Before his conviction, Rauf was seen as a pillar of Rochdale's Muslim community because of his role as a 'qari', a cleric who reads from the Koran. But the men's trial heard how he trafficked a 15-year-old girl for sex, driving her to secluded areas to have sex with her in his taxi and ferrying her to a flat in Rochdale where he and others had sex with her.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
US workers say Trump's immigration crackdown is causing labor shortages: ‘A strain on everybody'
Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration is piling pressure on US factories, according to employees and union leaders, as veteran workers from overseas are forced to leave their jobs. As economists warn the administration's full-scale deportation ambitions could ultimately cost millions of jobs, workers at two sites – in Michigan and Kentucky – told the Guardian that industrial giants are grappling with labor shortages. The US president has moved to strip more than a million immigrants of their legal status in the US, including by shutting down the Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans (CHNV) Parole Program, which allowed hundreds of thousands to work legally in the country. It has meanwhile ramped up immigration arrest operations with prospective daily quotas of 3,000 arrests per day. Such moves have piled pressure on industries across the US economy – including the food, hospitality, construction, transportation and care sectors – which rely on large numbers of migrants to do essential work. At a GE Appliances plant in Louisville, Kentucky, more than 125 workers were abruptly forced out of their jobs in the spring due to programs cancelled as part of Trump's immigration crackdown, according to an employee. GE Appliances makes home appliances including refrigerators, microwaves and dishwashers. 'In three different buildings, on a couple of different shifts, stewards reported that they lost production so they weren't able to make all the products they were supposed to make,' said Jess Reese, a replacement operator at the plant and organizer for IUE-CWA Local 83761. 'It was hard to cover certain job tasks on the assembly line, and so that created chaos, and it was just hard to get things done.' Reese expressed concern about the threat of more workers being forced out. Trump's efforts to revoke protected status for Haiti could impact an additional 200 union members next February, she said. 'Hundreds of workers kind of disappearing at the drop of a hat is no joke, as we've seen with the last wave of mass terminations.' A spokesperson for GE Appliances said: 'We added additional staffing where needed and continue to follow the law.' At a Kraft-Heinz plant in Holland, Michigan, meanwhile, workers are said to have been mandated to work overtime. The firm is one of the largest food and beverage companies in the world, behind brands including Philadelphia cream cheese and Jell-O deserts. 'We had people there for 20 years, and all of a sudden they get notification their immigration authorization is revoked,' Tomas Torres, a maintenance mechanic of 13 years, and president of RWDSU Local 705. 'And they can't be there anymore, and that just puts a strain on everybody,. 'The lack of people on the lines. There are employees running two machines; it should be one person per machine. Manager and supervisors are all stressed out, and cancelling vacations for people because they don't have enough to run the machines.' Torres has been working 12- to 14-hour days, he said: part of a first shift, all of a second shift, and part of a third shift. 'I'm tired. And you catch people falling asleep on the line, and it's a big safety issue,' he added. 'All of this that has happened has affected everybody at the plant. It's crazy, because I hear people complain every single day.' Kraft Heinz refuted the plant is experiencing labor shortages due to immigration policy changes, but did not say how many workers were lost at the plant due to the changes. 'Kraft Heinz has strict work authorization verification processes that comply with all applicable laws and regulations,' said the firm in a statement. 'Overtime is driven by the needs of the business, and we are currently in one of our busiest seasons of the year.' As Trump's officials press ahead, economists have warned that deporting millions of immigrants from the US could have drastic consequences. The Economic Policy Institute estimated this month that 4 million deportations would result in the loss of 3.3 million jobs held by immigrants in the US and 2.6 million US-born employees, hitting industries including construction and childcare. The American Enterprise Institute, a conservative thinktank, meanwhile found that Trump's immigration policies would likely lead to a negative net migration into the US for the first time in decades and result in a decrease in US gross domestic product of between 0.3% and 0.4%, or $70.5bn to $94bn in economic output, annually. 'One day they are there,' said Maria Jose Padmore, a human services assistant for Fairfax County in Virginia. 'And the next day, I'm looking for my coworker, and he's gone because their Temporary Protected Status expired. 'Forget about the fact that I now have to share my coworkers' job. Let's think about my coworkers' family: how are they going to put food on their table?' Padmore was speaking at a panel on how Trump's immigration polices are affecting workers, organized by the AFL-CIO in Washington DC this month. Gwen Mills, President of Unite Here, the largest hospitality union in the US, said they were 'wreaking havoc across the families of our coworkers and in our communities'. 'Oftentimes within the labor movement, we find ourselves divided by industries,' said Jimmy Williams, president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, which represents construction workers. 'When it comes to immigration, it's gotta be the one single thing that puts a thread between a hotel worker, a construction worker, a service worker, a public employee, a teacher. This is something that affects every single working person in this country.' The Trump administration alleges that CHNV and other temporary protected status programs were abused, a claim challenged by groups such as Refugees International. 'There is no shortage of American minds and hands to grow our labor force, and President Trump's agenda to create jobs for American workers represents this Administration's commitment to capitalizing on that untapped potential while delivering on our mandate to enforce our immigration laws,' said Abigail Jackson, White House spokesperson. But its policies are already causing apprehension on the factory floor. 'This has a real impact on immigrant workers, obviously, but it also has a real impact on non immigrant workers,' Reese, at the GE Appliances plant in Louisville, said. 'It's really important that we stick together, because we all want the same things. 'We want safe workplaces. We want good wages. We all want to go home to our family in one piece. We want to live in a safe place. We want to be free. These are things we all share, and we're only going to get that stuff if we stick together.'
