Latest news with #Magango
The Sun
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
UN rights office 'concerned' as Kuwaitis lose citizenship
DUBAI: The United Nations' human rights office voiced concern on Wednesday after tens of thousands of Kuwaitis were stripped of citizenship, many of them women. More than 37,000 people, including at least 26,000 women, have lost Kuwaiti nationality since August, according to an AFP tally of official figures, although media reports suggest the real number could be much higher. The mass revocations have been cast as part of a reformist agenda spearheaded by Kuwaiti emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, in power since December 2023. 'We are deeply concerned about Kuwait's recent nationality revocations, particularly of individuals who renounced previous citizenships, and about the extension of such revocations to their dependents,' UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango told AFP. 'Stripping people of their nationalities has a serious impact on their economic, social, cultural, and political rights.' The new ruling applies to women who became Kuwaitis through marriage since 1987. Official data show 38,505 women were naturalised by marriage from 1993 to 2020. It also targets people with dual nationality, which Kuwait does not allow and those who were naturalised for their achievements. The campaign has left thousands of people in a legal grey area and scrambling to restore their previous nationality. Kuwait has set up a committee to hear appeals, with more than 14,000 applying so far, according to the official Kuwait News Agency. However, Magango said: 'Their inability to challenge these decisions in court also raises serious concerns. 'This risks further marginalisation and social exclusion in Kuwait.' Anyone found to have obtained citizenship by forgery or fraud also loses their Kuwaiti nationality, along with their descendants. 'Retroactively revoking citizenship... and extending this to their descendants, raises serious human rights concerns,' Magango said. The UN office has urged Kuwait to 'review the nationality law to ensure it complies with international human rights standards and consider sustainable solutions to prevent statelessness', he added.
The Sun
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
UN Slams Kuwait for Revoking 37,000 Citizenships
DUBAI: The United Nations' human rights office voiced concern on Wednesday after tens of thousands of Kuwaitis were stripped of citizenship, many of them women. More than 37,000 people, including at least 26,000 women, have lost Kuwaiti nationality since August, according to an AFP tally of official figures, although media reports suggest the real number could be much higher. The mass revocations have been cast as part of a reformist agenda spearheaded by Kuwaiti emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, in power since December 2023. 'We are deeply concerned about Kuwait's recent nationality revocations, particularly of individuals who renounced previous citizenships, and about the extension of such revocations to their dependents,' UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango told AFP. 'Stripping people of their nationalities has a serious impact on their economic, social, cultural, and political rights.' The new ruling applies to women who became Kuwaitis through marriage since 1987. Official data show 38,505 women were naturalised by marriage from 1993 to 2020. It also targets people with dual nationality, which Kuwait does not allow and those who were naturalised for their achievements. The campaign has left thousands of people in a legal grey area and scrambling to restore their previous nationality. Kuwait has set up a committee to hear appeals, with more than 14,000 applying so far, according to the official Kuwait News Agency. However, Magango said: 'Their inability to challenge these decisions in court also raises serious concerns. 'This risks further marginalisation and social exclusion in Kuwait.' Anyone found to have obtained citizenship by forgery or fraud also loses their Kuwaiti nationality, along with their descendants. 'Retroactively revoking citizenship... and extending this to their descendants, raises serious human rights concerns,' Magango said. The UN office has urged Kuwait to 'review the nationality law to ensure it complies with international human rights standards and consider sustainable solutions to prevent statelessness', he added.
GMA Network
5 days ago
- Politics
- GMA Network
UN rights office ‘concerned' as thousands of Kuwaitis lose citizenship
DUBAI — The United Nations' human rights office voiced concern on Wednesday after tens of thousands of Kuwaitis were stripped of citizenship, many of them women. More than 37,000 people, including at least 26,000 women, have lost Kuwaiti nationality since August, according to an AFP tally of official figures, although media reports suggest the real number could be much higher. The mass revocations have been cast as part of a reformist agenda spearheaded by Kuwaiti emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, in power since December 2023. "We are deeply concerned about Kuwait's recent nationality revocations, particularly of individuals who renounced previous citizenships, and about the extension of such revocations to their dependents," UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango told AFP. "Stripping people of their nationalities has a serious impact on their economic, social, cultural, and political rights." The new ruling applies to women who became Kuwaitis through marriage since 1987. Official data show 38,505 women were naturalized by marriage from 1993 to 2020. It also targets people with dual nationality, which Kuwait does not allow and those who were naturalized for their achievements. The campaign has left thousands of people in a legal grey area and scrambling to restore their previous nationality. Kuwait has set up a committee to hear appeals, with more than 14,000 applying so far, according to the official Kuwait News Agency. However, Magango said: "Their inability to challenge these decisions in court also raises serious concerns. "This risks further marginalization and social exclusion in Kuwait." Anyone found to have obtained citizenship by forgery or fraud also loses their Kuwaiti nationality, along with their descendants. "Retroactively revoking citizenship... and extending this to their descendants, raises serious human rights concerns," Magango said. The UN office has urged Kuwait to "review the nationality law to ensure it complies with international human rights standards and consider sustainable solutions to prevent statelessness," he added. — Agence France-Presse
Arab News
20-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
UN raises alarm on civilian deaths in Khartoum attacks
Geneva: Dozens of civilians have been killed by shelling and bombardments in and around Khartoum, the United Nations said Thursday, as fighting for control of the Sudanese capital intensifies. The UN Human Rights Office demanded an end to the 'lawlessness and impunity' in war-ravaged Sudan, where the SAF regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a battle for power since April 2023. 'We are receiving troubling reports of escalating violence against civilians in Khartoum, amid continued intense hostilities,' spokesman Seif Magango said in a statement. 'Dozens of civilians, including local humanitarian volunteers, have been killed by artillery shelling and aerial bombardment by the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces in eastern Khartoum and north Omdurman since March 12.' The war has escalated in recent months, with the army seeking to reclaim territory in Khartoum and beyond. Less than a kilometer now separates army units in central Khartoum from the presidential palace, overrun by RSF troops at the start of the war. Nearly two years of fighting have left large swathes of the capital unrecognizable. Magango said credible reports indicated that the RSF and allied militia had raided homes in eastern Khartoum, carrying out summary killings and arbitrary detentions, and looted food and medical supplies from community kitchens and medical clinics. The UN rights office has also received allegations of sexual violence in the Al Giraif Gharb neighborhood. Meanwhile SAF and affiliated fighters are also reported to have engaged in looting and other criminal activities in areas they control in Khartoum North and East Nile, Magango said, amid widespread arbitrary arrests in East Nile. 'We call once again on both parties — and all states with influence over them — to take concrete steps to ensure the effective protection of civilians, and to bring an end to the continuing lawlessness and impunity,' Magango said. The fighting has plunged Sudan into what the UN calls the world's largest humanitarian catastrophe.
Saudi Gazette
07-02-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
150 female inmates raped and burned to death during Goma jailbreak
GOMA — More than 150 female prisoners were raped and burned to death during a jailbreak last week when fleeing male inmates set fire to a prison in Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a United Nations spokesperson has Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango told CNN that most of the 165 female prisoners who were raped by escaping male inmates died in the nine and 13 female inmates, 'all of whom had also been raped,' survived the blaze, Magango added, citing a judicial source in the DRC.'We did not independently verify the judicial official's report ourselves, but we do consider his account to be credible,' Magango told CNN male inmates, some of whom were killed by prison guards, plotted a mass escape on January 27 as the M23 rebel alliance battled with Congolese forces in Goma over control of the city, the UN-sponsored Radio Okapi reported than 4,000 detainees fled the Muzenze prison that day, it added, stating that the facility was now 'completely empty' and left in communications minister Patrick Muyaya confirmed the rape of the 165 women, telling CNN Wednesday that 'the government condemns with the greatest energy this barbaric crime.'The killings and mass rape mirror recurring scenes of conflict-related sexual violence that have plagued the DRC for Friday, the UN's Human Rights Office said it had received reports of other cases of sexual violence involving the DRC's army and its allied forces.'We are verifying reports that 52 women were raped by Congolese troops in South Kivu, including alleged reports of gangrape,' said Jeremy Laurence, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement has contacted the Congolese military for comment on the allegation. This week, the M23 rebel group, which has claimed to have captured the city of Goma, called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire after clashes with government forces left nearly 3,000 people killed. — CNN
