Latest news with #Rohingya


Indian Express
an hour ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
11 arrested in Punjab's Phagwara ‘beef packaging' case, forensic report awaited
Amid growing political friction over the alleged targeting of migrants from West Bengal in opposition-ruled states, the Punjab Police have so far arrested 11 people, including six from the eastern state in connection with an alleged beef packaging operation near Phagwara. The arrests follow a raid on July 2 based on a tip-off from Gurpreet Singh, national president of the United Gau Raksha Dal. Police also confirmed that one of the arrested accused is a minor and has been sent to a juvenile home. The 10 others are lodged at Kapurthala Central Jail. A Rohingya national from Myanmar is among the accused still absconding, with several others yet to be identified, police said. Police said that the raid was conducted at a cold storage unit operating behind Jyoti Vaishno Dhaba in Chachoki village, located along the Ludhiana side of the GT Road. Suspected beef was recovered during the raid, and samples were sent for forensic testing, the results of which are awaited. Those initially arrested included Mukhtiyar Alam, Azaad, Zakir Hussain, Rehana Alam, and Minjar Ali, and a juvenile all residents of Malda district in West Bengal; Taseem from Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh); Arsad from UP; and Madan Shah from Chachrari village in Jalandhar. Later, the alleged key accused — Vijay Kumar of Phagwara and Husan Lal of Chachoki village, Kapurthala — were also apprehended. Inspector Usha Rani, Station House Officer of Phagwara City Police Station, told The Indian Express that the accused were reportedly involved in this illegal operation for the past 2-3 months. However, she clarified that no slaughtering was done on-site; only packaging of meat was allegedly taking place at the unit. The case has triggered a political and religious backlash. Local leaders from Parshuram Sena and Brahmin Mandal condemned the incident and demanded that the case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a more transparent probe, citing its communal sensitivity. Inderjit Karwal, vice-president of Shiv Sena Punjab, also appealed to CM Bhagwant Mann and DGP Gaurav Yadav to investigate the potential connections between the accused and local politicians, administrative officials, and law enforcement personnel. The original complaint was lodged by Gurpreet Singh, who alleged that beef was being processed at the cold storage attached to Jyoti Dhaba and then supplied to Delhi and Srinagar. He claimed this posed a serious threat to communal harmony and urged for immediate police action. A case was registered under Sections 299 (hurting religious sentiments), 325 (mischief by killing animals), and 111 (organised crime) of BNS along with provisions of the Punjab Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955, and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.


Scoop
3 hours ago
- General
- Scoop
Aid Cuts Leave Refugee Agency Unable To Shelter Six In 10 Fleeing War In Sudan
Globally, $1.4 billion of the agency's programmes are being shuttered or put on hold, UNHCR said in a new report. 'We can't stop water, you can't stop sanitation, but we're having to take decisions when it comes, for example, to shelter,' said UNHCR Director of External Relations Dominique Hyde. 'We're have people arriving on a daily basis from Sudan, from the Darfur regions…arriving in Chad, not able to be given any shelter.' In an urgent appeal for flexible funding from donors, Ms. Hyde noted that up to 11.6 million refugees and others risk losing access this year to direct humanitarian assistance from UNHCR. The figure represents about one third of those reached by the organization last year. On the Sudan-Chad border, the UN agency is now unable to provide 'even basic shelter' to more than six in 10 refugees fleeing the conflict. Thousands more vulnerable people have been left stranded in remote border locations in South Sudan too. 'If we just had a bit more support, we could get them to settlements,' she insisted. Because of the funding cuts, basic activities have already been hit hard. These include refugee registration, child protection, legal counselling and prevention of and responses to gender-based violence. All aid sectors hit In South Sudan, 75 per cent of safe spaces for women and girls supported by UNHCR have closed. That means leaving up to 80,000 refugee women and girls without access to medical care, psychosocial support, legal aid, material support or income-generating activities. This includes survivors of sexual violence, UNHCR noted. 'Behind these numbers are real lives hanging in the balance,' Ms. Hyde said. 'Families are seeing the support they relied on vanish, forced to choose between feeding their children, buying medicines or paying rent, while hope for a better future slips out of sight. Every sector and operation has been hit and critical support is being suspended to keep lifesaving aid going.' Libya influx Many of those impacted by the war in Sudan have taken the decision to move from Chad and Egypt to Libya, into the hands of people smugglers who dangerously overload boats with desperate people seeking to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. 'What we're observing now is that in terms of arrivals in Europe of…Sudanese refugees, [it] has increased since the beginning of the year by about 170 per cent compared to the first six months of 2024,' said UNHCR spokesperson Olga Sarrado. Support slashed from Niger to Ukraine In camps hosting Myanmar's Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, education for some 230,000 children could now be suspended. Meanwhile in Lebanon 'UNHCR's entire health programme is at risk of being shuttered by the end of the year,' Ms. Hyde continued. In Niger and other emergency settings, cuts in financial aid for shelter have left families in overcrowded structures or at risk of homelessness. In Ukraine, financial aid has also been slashed, 'leaving uprooted families unable to afford rent, food or medical treatment', she noted. Assistance to returning Afghans has also become another victim of global aid cuts. Around 1.9 million Afghan nationals have returned home or been forced back since the start of the year, 'but financial aid for returnees is barely enough to afford food, let alone rent, undermining efforts to ensure stable reintegration', UNHCR said. Legal aid halted Overall, several UNHCR operations hit by severe funding gaps have now had to curtail investments in strengthening asylum systems and promoting regularisation efforts. In Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Mexico, any prolonged lack of legal status means prolonged insecurity for people on the move, the UN agency said. This results in deepening poverty 'as refugees are excluded from formal employment and greater exposure to exploitation and abuse', Ms. Hyde explained. Approximately one in three of the agency's 550 offices around the world has been impacted by the cuts, Ms. Hyde told journalists in Geneva: 'We're not in a position to do so much contingency planning; what we're able to do is make decisions on priorities and, at this point, the priorities as I mentioned are dramatic.' For 2025, UNHCR needs $10.6 billion. Only 23 per cent of this amount has been provided. 'Against this backdrop, our teams are focusing efforts on saving lives and protecting those forced to flee,' Ms. Hyde said. 'Should additional funding become available, UNHCR has the systems, partnerships and expertise to rapidly resume and scale up assistance.'


Deccan Herald
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Deccan Herald
BJP govt in Assam threatening Bengali-speaking people, alleges Mamata
The TMC supremo has been accusing the Centre and the BJP-ruled states of systematically targeting Bengali-speaking migrants by branding them as 'illegal Bangladeshi' or 'Rohingya'.


New Indian Express
20 hours ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
'Divisive agenda' of BJP in Assam 'crossed all limits,' people will 'fight back': Mamata Banerjee
KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday slammed the BJP government in Assam for threatening Bengali-speaking people in the northeastern state, who want to "peacefully coexist, respecting all languages and religions." Banerjee also asserted that the "divisive agenda" of the BJP in Assam has "crossed all limits." The TMC supremo has been accusing the Centre and the BJP-ruled states of systematically targeting Bengali-speaking migrants by branding them as "illegal Bangladeshi" or "Rohingya." "The second most spoken language in the country, Bangla, is also the second most spoken language of Assam. To threaten citizens, who want to coexist peacefully respecting all languages and religions, with persecution for upholding their own mother tongue is discriminatory and unconstitutional. This divisive agenda of the BJP in Assam has crossed all limits and people of Assam will fight back," she said in a post on X.


The Print
21 hours ago
- Politics
- The Print
BJP govt in Assam threatening Bengali-speaking people: Mamata
The TMC supremo has been accusing the Centre and the BJP-ruled states of systematically targeting Bengali-speaking migrants by branding them as 'illegal Bangladeshi' or 'Rohingya'. Banerjee also asserted that the 'divisive agenda' of the BJP in Assam has 'crossed all limits'. Kolkata, Jul 19 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday slammed the BJP government in Assam for 'threatening' Bengali-speaking people in the northeastern state, who want to 'peacefully coexist, respecting all languages and religions'. 'The second most spoken language in the country, Bangla, is also the second most spoken language of Assam. To threaten citizens, who want to coexist peacefully respecting all languages and religions, with persecution for upholding their own mother tongue is discriminatory and unconstitutional. 'This divisive agenda of the BJP in Assam has crossed all limits and people of Assam will fight back. I stand with every fearless citizen who is fighting for the dignity of their language and identity, and their democratic rights,' she said in a post on X. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had alleged on Thursday that his West Bengal counterpart was only concerned about Bengali-speaking Muslims. 'The question is whether Mamata Banerjee likes Bengalis or only Muslim-Bengalis. My answer is only Muslim-Bengalis,' Sarma had said in Guwahati, responding to the Bengal CM's recent accusation against the BJP of weaponising linguistic identity to achieve political goals. 'If she comes to Assam for the Muslim-Bengalis, the Assamese people and Hindu-Bengalis will not spare her,' he asserted. Banerjee had also taken out a protest march in Kolkata on Wednesday against the alleged torture of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states. PTI SCH RBT This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.