Latest news with #NationalSecurityCouncil
Bangkok Post
an hour ago
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
Refugees in policy limbo
Time is running out. In less than two weeks, over 80,000 refugees on the Thai–Myanmar border will be left without food, health care, or protection. With US aid permanently cut, Thailand can no longer look away. The government must act before this humanitarian crisis spins out of control. These refugees, mostly ethnic Karen minorities fleeing war and persecution in Myanmar, have lived in limbo for over 40 years. Many were born in the camps, their hopes for resettlement long dashed, with nowhere else to go. The humanitarian crisis began with US President Donald Trump's executive order freezing all foreign aid for a 90-day review on Jan 20, immediately followed by a stop-work order for US-funded NGOs, including those serving nine refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border. Now, the cuts have become permanent. Even with US assistance, food and medicine were barely enough. Without it, how long can people endure hunger, illness, and despair? The Thai government must act before this desperate situation turns into a disaster. When the National Security Council meets this Thursday, it must go beyond temporary relief. A dignified and realistic solution is to allow them to work. With income, they can stand on their own feet, thus significantly reducing the burden on the government. To be fair, the government acted swiftly by providing emergency health care. But food aid is drying up. Other donors offer only minimal support. Without proper food or income, families face starvation or breaking the law by slipping out of the camps to find work. Let's be clear: these camps are no longer shelters. They are holding pens. People are locked in, barred from working or leaving. Thai is not even taught in the camps, making communication harder. Yet many are skilled and ready to contribute. Thailand has done better before. The country has hosted refugees from Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, even China and Nepal. When repatriation proved impossible, Thailand gave them "displaced person" status with legal IDs, the right to work, and the chance to live with dignity. Reclassifying these refugees as migrant workers would be a mistake. That status limits them to manual labour, tight controls, and nearly no chance of changing jobs. The migrant worker label is neither fair nor productive. After all, refugees didn't migrate to find jobs, they were running away from a civil war. Their situation is different and deserves a different solution. One proposed solution is to classify them as "displaced persons from Myanmar". This is possible under the Immigration Act, allowing legal stay and work rights in jobs not reserved for Thai nationals. This term enables security agencies to monitor and manage the process properly. Many of these refugees are Karen, sharing cultural ties with Thai-Karen communities. Integration, especially in border areas, would not be difficult. Furthermore, only about 30,000 of these refugees are of working age. The labour market will have no problems absorbing the extra manpower. Without intervention, the risks are clear: illegal work, trafficking, and an increase in crime. These problems can be prevented if the government acts now. No one is asking the government to feed 80,000 mouths forever. People want the chance to stand on their own two feet. Give them that chance before it's too late.
UPI
4 days ago
- Politics
- UPI
Peru shows signs of institutional crisis similar to Ecuador's
Public trust in institutions continues to erode. According to polls conducted in June, only 4% of Peruvians approve of President Dina Boluarte's performance. File photo by Santiago Fernandez/EPA July 17 (UPI) -- Peru's Congress has passed a controversial law granting "humanitarian" amnesty to nearly 900 military and police officers convicted or facing charges for serious human rights violations committed between 1980 and 2000 -- as long as they were not sentenced for terrorism or corruption and are overage 70. The law, passed July 9 and widely condemned by human rights groups, would leave more than 150 convictions unpunished and halt more than 600 ongoing cases. Analysts say it adds to a growing list of congressional measures that have deepened Peru's institutional crisis and eroded its democracy. "Democracy in Peru is being undermined from within -- by the very democratic institutions that have failed to resolve the country's longstanding problems," said Max Hernández, executive secretary of the National Accord, a dialogue forum that brings together the government, political parties and civil society organizations to establish long-term state policies for sustainable development. "Never before in Peru have the branches of government been so weakened and at odds with each other as they are now," political analyst Coco Salazar said. "The executive branch is in conflict with the judiciary, the judiciary with Congress and Congress with the executive. All branches are at odds and trying to undermine one another. "Today, for example, Congress filed a new constitutional complaint against the attorney general. Yesterday, President Dina Boluarte convened the National Security Council to address public safety issues and invited everyone -- except the attorney general's office, which is a key member of the Council." Public trust in institutions continues to erode. According to polls conducted in June, only 4% of Peruvians approve of Boluarte's performance. Support for Congress is even lower -- just 2% approve of its work, while 95% disapprove. The attorney general's office reports that 67 of Peru's 130 lawmakers being investigated for crimes that include corruption, organized crime, money laundering, aggravated collusion and homicide. The accused come from nearly every political party. Some, like Luis Picón of Podemos Perú and Alejandro Soto of APP, face dozens of open case files for a range of alleged offenses. But analysts say the greater concern is not just the number of lawmakers under investigation -- it's how Congress is using its power to weaken oversight, protect the accused and guarantee impunity. That pattern mirrors what happened in Ecuador between 2018 and 2022: a weakened state, criminal infiltration of politics and the dismantling of judicial institutions. As a result, the country went from having one of the lowest homicide rates in South America to leading the region in 2024, with more than 8,000 killings in a single year, according to official data. Between 2023 and April, Peru's Congress approved 34 laws and legislative measures aimed at weakening the rule of law, particularly the state's capacity to combat corruption and organized crime, according to a recent report by Human Rights Watch. "Ideally, Congress should be made up of the country's best technical and political minds to help build the nation and uphold democracy. That doesn't happen in Peru because traditional political parties no longer exist," Salazar said. A combination of long-term decline, corruption scandals and a lack of internal renewal has contributed to the collapse of political parties.. In the 1990s, the regime of Alberto Fujimori promoted an anti-party narrative that weakened the political system. That was followed by high-profile judicial scandals involving prominent figures such as former President Alan García, along with the parties' failure to adapt to new social demands. Amid institutional weakness, so-called "rental parties" emerged -- temporary electoral platforms with no ideology or structure. Electoral rules were loosened, lowering the bar for candidate and party registration and fueling fragmentation and the rise of outsiders and media personalities with no institutional ties. Today, Congress has been taken over by groups representing specific economic interests, such as those tied to illegal mining, who lobby to block regulation, Salazar said. He added that this has contributed to political instability and the growing reach of organized crime in public life. "One of the issues we're working on in the National Accord is how to preserve democracy. I believe we need to trust young people who are thinking about how to prevent corruption and strengthen political participation -- something that has been neglected in recent years," Hernández said. Peru is to hold presidential and congressional elections in April 2026, with at least 43 presidential hopefuls and nearly 15,000 congressional candidates -- a reflection of the country's deep political fragmentation.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Trump adviser Mike Waltz faces 'Signalgate' grilling in Senate hearing for UN post
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump cast his dismissal of Michael Waltz as a step up when he reassigned the Republican at the center of the "Signalgate" to a plumb ambassador position. Waltz would leave the National Security Council, he said, to become his nominee for United States ambassador to the United Nations. 'You could make a good argument that it's a promotion," Vice President JD Vance said. The Senate-confirmed position is higher profile. And it comes with a cushy New York apartment. But unlike eight years ago, when future presidential candidate Nikki Haley held the job, Trump has decided against making it a top role. That could help Waltz, who's expected to get a grilling from Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at his nomination hearing on July 15. The lower designation will allow Waltz to testify alongside two other Trump nominees. Waltz's testimony will still be the focal point of the hearing. The former Trump aide was one of the president's more hawkish advisers. He is almost certain to face difficult questions about the president's approach to foes such as Russia and Iran — not to mention Trump's criticisms of United Nations leadership and his withdrawal from the institution's human rights council. "This will be a chance for senators to question the former national security advisor and nominee to be U.N. ambassador, which has historically been a significant foreign policy post," Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat who sits on the committee, told USA TODAY last week. He said that likely topics will be Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East and ongoing tension between the U.S. and its allies over Trump's stinging tariffs. Still, the toughest questions Waltz could face are over the text messages in which senior officials discussed strikes on Houthi militants in Yemen before they'd happened. Waltz inadvertently invited a journalist to the chat in an encrypted text messaging app. "He will be asked several times by several senators about his misuse of Signal," Coons said, referring to the commercially available encrypted messaging app. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vance and other Cabinet officials weighed in on strikes while in the unsecure chain. Waltz took 'full responsibility' for the blunder, after it came to light. Trump initially declined to fire him or anyone else over the incident. He fired scores of staff members later in a National Security Council shakeup. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, an ally of Waltz' who served with him in the House, acknowledged that Democrats were likely to zero in on the Signal scandal. "Yet what are they bringing up? An entirely successful military operation, that was precise, that no Americans or American infrastructure or interests were harmed in any kind of way? In the end, that's what he has to answer for," Mast said in an interview. Trump said on May 1 that he would nominate Waltz as his United Nations ambassador, hours after news outlets reported on his ouster. Yet, he did not officially do so for more than a month, raising questions about whether Waltz still had Trump's backing for the job. The president yanked his first pick, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, in late March amid concerns about the GOP's narrow House majority. Trump eventually signed the necessary paperwork for Waltz in mid-June after USA TODAY asked the White House why Trump had not formally put him forward. Career diplomat Dorothy Shea has represented the United States at the United Nations for the past six months. More: Trump shakes up national security team: Waltz tapped for UN post United Nations ambassadors have often served in presidential Cabinets. Trump's first United Nations ambassador, Nikki Haley, had an official seat at the table. But the Republican president downgraded the position after the former South Carolina governor left the job. A White House official who was not authorized to go on the record confirmed to USA TODAY that the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. role would not be part of the Cabinet. That means that Waltz will report to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who's been acting as Trump's national security adviser since the switch occurred on May 1. Mast said the role is still a "tremendous stepping stool" for Waltz, a former Green Beret and Florida congressman who served on the House Foreign Affairs, Armed Services and Intelligence committees. "It's also a Senate-confirmed position, which puts him under a different level of scrutiny," Mast said. "It's a very different role than what he was doing previously." Waltz will need a simple majority of senators to vote in his favor in the chamber where the GOP holds the majority in order to be confirmed. Sen. Bill Haggerty, a Tennessee Republican who served as U.S. ambassador to Japan, said he expected Waltz to have a successful hearing. He'll have "a big challenge dealing with the United Nations," Haggerty said. He told USA TODAY: "Mike's a competent professional." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michael Waltz to face 'Signalgate' grilling in hearing for top UN post
Politico
6 days ago
- Business
- Politico
India didn't get a tariff ‘deal' from Trump last week. That signals a real one may be near.
Even as Trump has set Aug. 1 as his new deadline to impose steep new tariffs on dozens of countries, with the goal of fixing trade imbalances, he's also threatening new and unrelated tariffs that could further complicate trade talks. Trump has been particularly frustrated with a group of emerging market nations, known as BRICS, which includes India. The president is threatening a 50 percent tariff on Brazil in part because of recent efforts from the bloc to move away from the dollar as the international standard, along with a 10 percent levy on all BRICS member nations. He's also threatening a 100 percent tariff on nations that purchase oil and gas from Russia amid the ongoing war in Ukraine; India is the second-largest purchaser of fossil fuels from Russia. Whatever agreement is announced between India and the U.S., it is expected to be only the first phase of a trade deal, with a more robust and comprehensive agreement to come in the fall. And in Trump's Washington, no deal is done until the president says it is, as his last-minute intervention in a recent 'deal' reached with Vietnam made clear. 'This is Trump,' said Lisa Curtis, deputy assistant to the president and senior director for South and Central Asia on the National Security Council during the first Trump administration. 'Until everything is signed, sealed, and delivered, there's going to be a certain amount of nervousness.' A White House official, granted anonymity to share the administration's plans, confirmed that no more tariff letters to countries were in the works as of Tuesday, though they added that it's a 'fluid situation.' India was one of the first countries to begin trade negotiations with the U.S., launching talks in February as Trump began to unveil his ambitious agenda to remake global trade. Trump has teased a deal with the country since late June, though his repeated talk about brokering peace between India and Pakistan this spring has complicated U.S.-India relations and may make it harder for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sell the deal domestically. Trump has come close before. During his first term, the U.S. worked to secure a bilateral trade deal with India — similar to agreements the administration negotiated with Japan and South Korea — but the deal fell apart amid disagreements over how to handle agricultural disputes and other tension points.
USA Today
7 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Former Trump adviser Mike Waltz faces 'Signalgate' grilling in Senate hearing for UN post
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump cast his dismissal of Michael Waltz as a step up when he reassigned the Republican at the center of the "Signalgate" to a plumb ambassador position. Waltz would leave the National Security Council, he said, to become his nominee for United States ambassador to the United Nations. 'You could make a good argument that it's a promotion," Vice President JD Vance said. The Senate-confirmed position is higher profile. And it comes with a cushy New York apartment. But unlike eight years ago, when future presidential candidate Nikki Haley held the job, Trump has decided against making it a top role. That could help Waltz, who's expected to get a grilling from Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at his nomination hearing on July 15. The lower designation will allow Waltz to testify alongside two other Trump nominees. Waltz's testimony will still be the focal point of the hearing. The former Trump aide was one of the president's more hawkish advisers. He is almost certain to face difficult questions about the president's approach to foes such as Russia and Iran — not to mention Trump's criticisms of United Nations leadership and his withdrawal from the institution's human rights council. "This will be a chance for senators to question the former national security advisor and nominee to be U.N. ambassador, which has historically been a significant foreign policy post," Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat who sits on the committee, told USA TODAY last week. He said that likely topics will be Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East and ongoing tension between the U.S. and its allies over Trump's stinging tariffs. Still, the toughest questions Waltz could face are over the text messages in which senior officials discussed strikes on Houthi militants in Yemen before they'd happened. Waltz inadvertently invited a journalist to the chat in an encrypted text messaging app. "He will be asked several times by several senators about his misuse of Signal," Coons said, referring to the commercially available encrypted messaging app. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vance and other Cabinet officials weighed in on strikes while in the unsecure chain. Waltz took 'full responsibility' for the blunder, after it came to light. Trump initially declined to fire him or anyone else over the incident. He fired scores of staff members later in a National Security Council shakeup. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, an ally of Waltz' who served with him in the House, acknowledged that Democrats were likely to zero in on the Signal scandal. "Yet what are they bringing up? An entirely successful military operation, that was precise, that no Americans or American infrastructure or interests were harmed in any kind of way? In the end, that's what he has to answer for," Mast said in an interview. U. N. role remained vacant for months Trump said on May 1 that he would nominate Waltz as his United Nations ambassador, hours after news outlets reported on his ouster. Yet, he did not officially do so for more than a month, raising questions about whether Waltz still had Trump's backing for the job. The president yanked his first pick, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, in late March amid concerns about the GOP's narrow House majority. Trump eventually signed the necessary paperwork for Waltz in mid-June after USA TODAY asked the White House why Trump had not formally put him forward. Career diplomat Dorothy Shea has represented the United States at the United Nations for the past six months. More: Trump shakes up national security team: Waltz tapped for UN post Trump demotes ambassador role United Nations ambassadors have often served in presidential Cabinets. Trump's first United Nations ambassador, Nikki Haley, had an official seat at the table. But the Republican president downgraded the position after the former South Carolina governor left the job. A White House official who was not authorized to go on the record confirmed to USA TODAY that the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. role would not be part of the Cabinet. That means that Waltz will report to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who's been acting as Trump's national security adviser since the switch occurred on May 1. Mast said the role is still a "tremendous stepping stool" for Waltz, a former Green Beret and Florida congressman who served on the House Foreign Affairs, Armed Services and Intelligence committees. "It's also a Senate-confirmed position, which puts him under a different level of scrutiny," Mast said. "It's a very different role than what he was doing previously." Waltz will need a simple majority of senators to vote in his favor in the chamber where the GOP holds the majority in order to be confirmed. Sen. Bill Haggerty, a Tennessee Republican who served as U.S. ambassador to Japan, said he expected Waltz to have a successful hearing. He'll have "a big challenge dealing with the United Nations," Haggerty said. He told USA TODAY: "Mike's a competent professional."
