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Filipino Times
10-07-2025
- Filipino Times
CFO bolsters safeguards against fraudulent marriages and cross-border exploitation
The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) is ramping up efforts to protect Filipinos from deceptive foreign suitors and cross-border scams that lead to fraudulent or abusive marriages abroad. In a statement issued Wednesday, CFO Secretary Dante Ang II said the agency has implemented a watchlist mechanism to identify red flags, prevent exploitative unions, and track individuals involved in illegal matchmaking activities. 'This is more than just a campaign against fraudulent marriages. It is a commitment to uphold the dignity, safety, and rights of every Filipino,' Ang said. The CFO is currently monitoring 356 individuals flagged for suspicious activities, including 258 foreign nationals, 60 Filipinos, and 38 suspected marriage brokers. As part of its preventive campaign, the CFO launched a webinar series titled 'Human, Hindi Laruan (Not Toys),' aimed at raising public awareness on how seemingly well-intentioned foreign suitors may serve as fronts for trafficking and abuse. The sessions underscored the importance of vigilance in assessing online and offline romantic engagements. The webinars also highlighted Republic Act 10906, or the Anti-Mail Order Spouse Act, which criminalizes profiting from the arrangement of marriages between Filipinos and foreign nationals. Participants were warned about matchmaking methods that include informal 'reto' setups, social clubs, and online dating platforms. Citing data from the United Nations International Organization for Migration, the CFO noted that the Philippines remains one of the world's top migrant-sending countries. Filipino women account for 48.1 percent of all outbound migrants. As of the latest global estimates, there are around 281 million international migrants, representing 3.6 percent of the global population.
Miami Herald
11-06-2025
- Miami Herald
Gang violence in Haiti has displaced nearly 1.3 million people. It's a new record
The number of Haitians forced to flee their homes by terrorizing armed gangs has now hit nearly 1.3 million, the United Nations International Organization for Migration said Wednesday. The surge is the highest number of people ever displaced by violence in Haiti, and represents a 24% increase since December, according to a recently published Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) report by IOM. Metropolitan Port-au-Prince remains the epicenter of the violence with residents of the Grand Ravine neighborhood on Tuesday joining the ranks of those forced to flee after gunfire erupted. But the latest numbers also show that the gang violence is spreading to other regions of Haiti and inching close to the 1.5 million left homeless by Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake. In the North where fresh attacks in the Central Plateau have forced the closure of the country's modern University Hospital of Mirebalais in April and sent a municipal market up in flames this week, the number of people forced from their homes has grown by nearly 80%, IOM said. 'Behind these numbers are so many individual people whose suffering is immeasurable; children, mothers, the elderly, many of them forced to flee their homes multiple times, often with nothing and now living in conditions that are neither safe nor sustainable,' Amy Pope, IOM's director general, said in a statement. 'We need to act urgently. The strength of the Haitian people is humbling, but resilience cannot be their only refuge. This crisis cannot become the new normal.' READ MORE: As crisis in Haiti worsens, UN council calls meeting to push for international support The violence is disrupting all facets of Haitian life as businesses go up in flames, neighborhoods get overtaken by criminal gangs and Haitians find themselves without access to basic healthcare, schools and drinking water as members of a powerful gang coalition, Viv Ansanm, shutter hospitals and force refugees into schools and makeshift camps after deadly attacks. 'They kill people, they burn homes, they cut off roads,' said Masillon Jean, who serves as mayor of the Kenscoff community. Jean said with the help of the population, security forces were able to recover some of the areas where armed gangs had taken over such as the center of town, where a school and courthouse have reopened. But other areas of the community, located in the hills above Pétion-Ville, continue to be in the grip of gangs, particularly the community of Furcy, where a popular hotel, The Lodge, was burned by gangs along with private homes. Last year, more than 5,600 Haitians died as a result of gang-related violence. This year, the death toll stands at more than 1,600, the U.N. has said. At the same time, the worsening violence is also deepening the humanitarian crisis as more than 5.7 million Haitians struggling to find enough to eat with some facing famine-like conditions. In the rice-growing Artibonite department, where a well-known pastor and members of his congregation were beheaded last month by a self-defense brigade, there are now more than 92,000 people displaced by violence in the community of Petite Rivière alone. In the Central Plateau, where gangs set fire to a municipal market on Sunday, attacks in towns like Mirebalais and Saut-d'Eau have more than doubled the number of people on the run in just a few months, rising from around 68,000 to over 147,000 people. The Center Department also now hosts 85 makeshift displacement sites, IOM said, the sharpest increase in such sights whose overall numbers went from 142 in December to 246. The growing crisis is not only putting an enormous strain on overstretched families, but also on aid agencies, which are facing cuts as Washington pulls back funding to international organizations including the United Nations. Last week, the regional director for the World Food Program warned that despite the country's record hunger and its vulnerability to hurricanes and other natural disasters, its food stocks are dwindling and warehouses sit empty. IOM said in the past month the agency y have assisted over 20,000 people with essential household items such as buckets and cooking utensils, distributed over 3 million liters of clean water and provided basic health services to 6,000 people. Additionally, IOM has reinforced its mental health support, reaching over 8,500 displaced people. But the needs continue to expand, the agency said, issuing an appeal to the international community to scale up support as a humanitarian appeal by the United Nations for $908.6 million for Haiti only garners $75 million so far. 'Without immediate funding and access, millions remain at risk,' the agency said. Echoing the sentiments of Canada's permanent representative to the U.N., Robert Rae, who is hosting a special discussion on Haiti in New York on Wednesday, IOM stressed that while humanitarian assistance is essential, Haiti needs sustainable solutions to address the root causes of displacement, improve access to essential services and create viable alternatives to gang violence for youth. These measures are critical to breaking the cycle of violence and restoring stability, IOM said.
Qatar Tribune
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
US-Israel scheme dispenses Gaza aid; 180,000 displaced in 10 days
Agencies Gaza A controversial aid group engaged by Israel and backed by the United States says it has started operations in southern Gaza as the Israeli military continues its attacks across the enclave with the stated aim of taking over all of Gaza. This comes as more than 180,000 people were displaced in Gaza in just 10 days between May 15 and May 25, according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM). The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which bypasses aid distribution networks established by the UN and charities, said it distributed boxes of food to Palestinians on Tuesday after announcing it had opened its first distribution hubs in southern Gaza. The UN and international aid agencies have said they will not cooperate with the Switzerland-registered company, which is distributing aid under the protection of armed security contractors, amid concerns that the scheme could be used to 'weaponise' aid, causing further displacement of Palestinians. Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office, said the deliveries were a 'distraction from what is actually needed', instead calling for the reopening of all crossings into Gaza and more Israeli approvals for emergency supplies that are just outside Gaza's borders waiting to be let in. The GHF has gone ahead with its mission despite the resignation of executive director Jake Wood on Sunday, who said it could not adhere to 'humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence'. The new operation will rely on four main distribution centres in southern Gaza that will screen families for involvement with the Palestinian group Hamas, potentially using facial recognition or biometric technology, according to aid officials cited by the Reuters news agency. But many details of how the operation will work remain unexplained, not least the question of how Palestinians scattered across central and northern Gaza, many of them sick and weakened by a lack of food, will be expected to cover long distances to receive the aid. 'Only those who move southwards will get aid,' said Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. 'People will be forced to travel long distances under very dangerous security circumstances in order to get parcels that will be enough for a few days; and, later on, they will need to travel again.'
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
US-Israel scheme dispenses Gaza aid as UN says 180,000 displaced in 10 days
A controversial aid group engaged by Israel and backed by the United States says it has started operations in southern Gaza as the Israeli military continues its attacks across the enclave with the stated aim of taking over all of Gaza. This comes as more than 180,000 people were displaced in Gaza in just 10 days between May 15 and May 25, according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM). The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which bypasses aid distribution networks established by the UN and charities, said it distributed boxes of food to Palestinians on Tuesday after announcing it had opened its first distribution hubs in southern Gaza. The UN and international aid agencies have said they will not cooperate with the Switzerland-registered company, which is distributing aid under the protection of armed security contractors, amid concerns that the scheme could be used to 'weaponise' aid, causing further displacement of Palestinians. Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office, said the deliveries were a 'distraction from what is actually needed', instead calling for the reopening of all crossings into Gaza and more Israeli approvals for emergency supplies that are just outside Gaza's borders waiting to be let in. The GHF has gone ahead with its mission despite the resignation of executive director Jake Wood on Sunday, who said it could not adhere to 'humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence'.The new operation will rely on four main distribution centres in southern Gaza that will screen families for involvement with the Palestinian group Hamas, potentially using facial recognition or biometric technology, according to aid officials cited by the Reuters news agency. But many details of how the operation will work remain unexplained, not least the question of how Palestinians scattered across central and northern Gaza, many of them sick and weakened by a lack of food, will be expected to cover long distances to receive the aid. 'Only those who move southwards will get aid,' said Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. 'People will be forced to travel long distances under very dangerous security circumstances in order to get parcels that will be enough for a few days; and, later on, they will need to travel again.' Abu Azzoum said many Palestinians were concerned about GHF's ties to the Israeli government, 'raising massive concerns regarding the use of aid as a political tool … to control the movement of Gaza's population'. As the GHF operation began on Tuesday, Gaza's Ministry of Health said the death toll from the conflict had surpassed 54,000. European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen denounced Israel's deadly wave strikes on civilian facilities during its expanded military offensive as 'abhorrent'. Her comments followed Israel's bombing of a Gaza City school the previous day, which killed 36 people – mostly women and children. The GHF announcement came as Israel faced global condemnation over conditions in Gaza, its population of 2.1 million subjected to constant attack amid a looming famine. Former UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness blasted the new scheme as 'aid washing'. 'It's quite simply the use of humanitarian aid to justify the weaponisation of humanitarian assistance, but also to justify ethnic cleansing and genocide,' Gunness told Al Jazeera. He also raised concerns about the use of security contractors to monitor the operation, saying the 'subcontracting of aid to mercenaries' could lead to a similar disaster as last year's 'flour massacre', in which at least 112 people were killed while waiting for food southwest of Gaza the United Kingdom and Canada have said they will take 'concrete actions' if Israel does not 'cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid'. They were joined by Germany this week, which said the humanitarian toll of Israel's offensive 'can no longer be justified as a fight against terrorism'. On Tuesday, Germany and Finland called for nations to 'put pressure' on Israel to allow urgently needed humanitarian aid into Gaza. Earlier, Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the European Union should impose sanctions on Israel. Defying international critics, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel's far-right national security minister, said on Tuesday that Gaza should be denied aid. 'I say to the prime minister: 'Dear prime minister, we must not give them humanitarian aid. We must not give them fuel …' Our enemies deserve only a bullet to the head,' he told a large crowd participating in the controversial 'Jerusalem Day' march on occupied East Jerusalem. On Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had intercepted a missile and another projectile fired from Yemen, where Houthi rebels have regularly launched attacks in self-proclaimed solidarity with Palestinians under attack in Gaza. The Houthis have fired missiles and drones at Israel since the start of the war in October 2023. They paused their attacks during a two-month Gaza ceasefire that ended in March, but resumed them after Israel restarted its campaign in the territory. While most of the projectiles have been intercepted, a missile fired by the group in early May hit the perimeter of Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv for the first time. Israel has also carried out several attacks on Yemen in recent months, including on ports and the airport in Sanaa.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pakistan accelerates deportation of Afghans: UN
Pakistan has ramped up the forced mass deportation of Afghan refugees and migrants, with nearly 60,000 having crossed the border since the start of April, the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. Nearly three million Afghans in Pakistan are facing deportation after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced in October a three-phase plan to send them back to their home country. The IOM said in a statement on Tuesday that it has assisted more than one million people returning from Pakistan and Iran. Amid the second phase of the plan, the IOM said it had registered a sharp rise in forced returns. Between April 1 and April 13, nearly 60,000 individuals crossed into Afghanistan through the Torkham and Spin Boldak border points, it noted. 'With a new wave of large-scale returns now underway from Pakistan, needs on the ground are rising rapidly – both at the border and in areas of return that are struggling to absorb large numbers of returnees,' said Mihyung Park, head of the agency's Afghanistan mission. In March, Islamabad set an early April deadline for some 800,000 people carrying Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) issued by Pakistani authorities to leave the country. Families with their belongings in tow have crowded key border crossings of Torkham in the north and Spin Boldak in the south, recalling scenes in 2023 when tens of thousands of Afghans fled deportation threats in of the Afghans have been living in Pakistan for decades after fleeing successive conflicts in their country and following the Taliban's return to power in 2021. The deportation order came amid a dramatic increase in armed attacks across Pakistan, with the government blaming groups and nationals based in Afghanistan, an allegation the Taliban government in Kabul has rejected. Among those facing deportation is Afghan journalist Freshta Sadid, who holds a valid exit permit, according to the Joint Action Committee for Refugees. The group is calling for 'urgent action' to protect Sadid, warning that she is on the Taliban 'hit list'. Pakistan is not a signatory to the UN's 1951 Refugee Convention that protects the rights of refugees. The country also lacks domestic laws to protect refugees, as well as procedures to determine the status of individuals seeking international protection within its borders.
