Saturday, February 03, 2024

CANADA

Business insolvencies in 2023 had the largest increase in 36 years: report

Daniel Johnson , BNN Bloomberg

Business insolvencies had the sharpest increase in more than three decades last year, according to a new report, which highlights that Canadian firms are struggling with higher debt-carrying costs.

A new report released Friday from the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals (CAIRP) found that business insolvencies in Canada rose by 41.4 per cent in 2023 when compared to the previous year. The rise marked the largest annual increase based on 36 years of records from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (OSB).

“Businesses have been struggling to cope with a myriad of financial challenges over the past year, including higher input costs, wage costs, and debt servicing costs, exacerbating the rocky footing many have been on ever since the pandemic,” Andre Bolduc, the chair of CAIRP, said in a press release.

In total, 4,810 businesses filed for insolvency during 2023, which marked the largest annual volume in 13 years, the release said.

According to Bolduc, debt accumulated during pandemic lockdowns wore down Canadian businesses. He said that in some instances, debt levels hurt the viability of businesses, requiring them to seek restructuring options.

Across provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador had the highest percentage increase in insolvencies last year at 141.7 per cent, followed by British Columbia at 65.4 per cent and Nova Scotia at 55.6 per cent.

Bolduc said businesses will continue to face a difficult environment this year.

“Many businesses are already on a razor’s edge. The additional costs to service their debts due to higher interest rates will mean even less room to cover increasing costs of business going into 2024,” he said. ]

Consumer insolvencies

The report also highlighted that consumer insolvencies rose 23 per cent during 2023, which marked the fastest rate of increase in 14 years.

Over the course of last year, the report said 123,000 Canadian consumers filed for insolvency, with a daily average of around 337.

“Compounding the financial impacts of inflation and higher interest rates, many Canadians have not seen their income grow at the same pace as the cost of their daily expenses, making it increasingly difficult to manage bills and service debts,” Bolduc said.

“Without additional sources of income or a pay raise, households may feel they need to cut back further on spending habits or take on more debt to keep pace.”

Across provinces, Manitoba was found to have the highest percentage increase of consumer insolvencies last year, at 30.7 per cent, followed by British Columbia at 26.8 per cent and Ontario at 26.2 per cent.

Dominion Energy Gets Federal Approvals for Largest US Offshore Wind Farm

wind farm instalaltion — Dominion installed two pilot project wind turbines in 2020 and will now move into full construction

Dominion Energy received the last two major federal approvals needed to begin construction of its 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) to be located offshore near Virginia Beach. The largest offshore wind farm so far in the United States, it will now move into construction and is expected to be completed by late 2026.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) provided its final approval of CVOW's Construction and Operations Plan (COP), which authorizes construction offshore. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also issued its permit to allow for permitted impacts to U.S. waters, including the route of the electric transmission line that will connect the clean, renewable energy generated offshore to the electric grid onshore.

"Virginia is leading the way for offshore wind as we near the start of offshore construction for Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind," said Bob Blue, Dominion Energy's chair, president, and chief executive officer. "These regulatory approvals keep CVOW on time and on budget as we focus on our mission of providing customers with reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean energy."

CVOW will consist of 176 turbines and three offshore substations in a nearly 113,000-acre lease area off the coast of Virginia Beach. As a regulated utility, Dominion Energy has not faced the same financial challenges as commercial developers. CVOW is proceeding while Ørsted for example has canceled a larger two-phase project planned for the New Jersey coastline and another project in Maryland. Other commercial developers have also sidelined projects in New York State and Massachusetts as they look to rebid their power purchase agreements to reflect the impact of inflation, rising interest rates, and supply chain challenges.

"In an important step forward, we are thrilled to see the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project receive two major approvals that will place the nation's largest offshore wind farm right off the coast of Virginia," Senator Mark Warner, Senator Tim Kaine, and Representative Bobby Scott said in a joint statement.

Some onshore construction activities began in Virginia in November 2023 following BOEM's favorable Record of Decision for CVOW. The company reports that construction will quickly ramp up with these last approvals. In addition, initial offshore construction activities related to the export cable and the monopile foundation installation are expected to begin in the second quarter of this year.

Staging for the eventual construction of the wind farm began last October with the arrival of the first monopiles at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal. DEME has been contracted for the installation of the monopolies when the project reaches that stage.

Dominion Energy in 2020 completed the installation of two 12 ME turbines as a pilot project 27 miles off Virginia Beach. They were the first commercial wind turbines installed in U.S. federal waters.

UK Funds Project to Develop Rotor Sails for Mid-Range Vessels

rotor sails on bulker — UK funding will help the project to develop a smaller size rotor sail for mid-range vessels (Anemoi)

The UK through its Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition is funding a year-long project which seeks to expand the applicability of rotor sails to more classes of vessels. Anemoi Marine Technologies reports that its project involving a range of partners including Victoria Steamship and Lloyd’s Register will develop and demonstrate a smaller sized rotor sail suitable for mid-range vessels as an innovative new drive system suited for the new application of wind -assisted propulsion.

The funding will support the design, building and tests of the new drive system which will be a smaller version of the commercially available rotor sails. The new model will have an approximately 11.5 foot diameter and stand 80 feet off the deck (3.5 meters x 24.5 meters). According to the company this will me the rotor sail better suited for mid-range vessels, such as Handysize and Ultramax bulkers, chemical and product tankers, and RoRos.

The project which is expected to cost £1.9 million ($2.4 million) is eligible for over £1.2 million ($1.5 million) in funding. This will include the manufacturing of a test rig by Pressure Design Hydraulics which will be housed at the VINCI Technology Center. According to Anemoi, the project will enable the company to assess the performance of its new design in a safe and controlled environment close to its UK design offices.

UK-based Victoria Steamship highlights that it will contribute technical know-how on bulk carrier operations, along with essential vessel data and feedback throughout the project. The approach will include evaluation of representative vessels, advice on conforming to vessel regulatory requirements, risk mitigation and confidence-building measures.

By expanding Anemoi’s product range, the company promotes that even more vessels can make use of wind propulsion, helping to make a bigger difference to the shipping industry as it continues its decarbonization journey.

Anemoi’s current rotor design is for a larger 16.4 diameter and offered in heights of 79-, 98-, and 115-foot sizes (5-meter x 24-, 30-, or 35-meter). The larger rotor is already being installed on Kamsarmax bulkers and VLOC tankers. Last year, for example, Brazilian mining giant Vale announced that it would install five of Anemoi’s rotor sails onboard a 400,000 dwt Valemax, the world’s largest ore carrier. That installation is scheduled for the second quarter of 2024. The company completed is first Kamsarmax installation, the TR Lady, an 82,000 dwt bulk carrier, in June 2023.

The company was launched a decade ago to develop a modern version of the technology first pioneer a century ago. They completed the first demonstration installation in 2018 and continue to advance the technology.

They look to build on their experience in the bulker segment highlighting that the first installation the Afros (63,000 dwt), an Ultramax vessel, has sailed successfully for 6 years with the rotors. Anemoi has also developed a longitudinal rail deployment system. This rail deployment system, which allows the rotor sails to be moved along the deck to ensure cargo operations are unimpacted, will be retained for the new smaller sized rotors.

The grand is part of the Round 4 awards made by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) as part of the competition. The aim of this competition is to fund real world demonstrations, trials and feasibility studies into clean maritime technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Settlement in Australian Terminal Dispute Crippling Container Operations

Australia container port — Job actions had lasted four months in the dispute between DP World and the MUA (DP World file photo)

DP World and the Maritime Union of Australia reached an in-principle agreement in the long-running contract dispute that had been crippling container terminal operations in Australia’s four primary ports. The settlement came after three days of facilitated negotiations overseen by the country’s Fair Work Commission and shortly after the MUA reported that it was planning to extend the rolling job actions into a fifth month.

The dispute began after the contract expired at the end of September 2023 covering the dockworkers at terminals operated by DP World in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Fremantle. Collectively the terminals handle approximately 40 percent of the container movements in Australia servicing leading carriers such as Maersk. Other terminals, including those operated by the other leading company Patrick had remained open but periodic work stoppages at the DP World facilities along with refusals to undertake overtime and other work rules, resulted in large disruptions to operations. Maersk had reported skipping scheduled port calls, rerouting containers through transshipment between ports, and the use of extra loaders as the job actions continued.

The Maritime Union of Australia issued a statement Friday morning saying that the new four-year agreement “delivers fair pay, safety and fatigue management measures, and provides job security and a fair work-life balance for Australian wharfies.” The proposed contract still requires approval by the workers, but the MUA immediately filed a notice withdrawing all its planned protected industrial actions.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports the terms of the in-principle agreement include a 23 percent pay increase starting with an immediate eight percent increase and back pay to October 2023 as well as a sign-on bonus. The subsequent years will see a seven percent, followed by four, and four-and-a-half percent increases.

The two sides had been at an impasse and faced calls from business groups and the opposition political party for government intervention to settle the strike. In January 2024, Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke met with both sides and expressed government frustration calling on them to resume negotiations and reach an agreement. He however refused to directly intervene or order the Fair Work Commission to impose a settlement, a step the minister said today had ensured the negotiations and led to a faster resolution.

“The past fortnight has shown how quickly a fair and sustainable deal can be resolved once both the workforce and the employer are fully engaged in the negotiation process,” said Adrian Evans, the Union’s Assistant National Secretary, in a prepared statement.

Trade associations however are critical of the settlement saying that it will lead to higher costs. They noted that the terms provide for wage increases significantly above the current rate of inflation, while the union argues workers were being fairly compensated for their efforts in keeping the supply chain flowing during the pandemic. DP World demanded work rules changes that it said were critical to reflect changes in port operations and its competitive position.

DP World said its focus would be on restoring the operations and the supply chain with the union promising that all workers would immediately return to their jobs. Estimates are that the strike was costing the Australian economy as much as A$50 million (US$33 million) per week and that more than 50,000 containers are backlogged. Reports are that it could take six weeks or more to clear the port congestion but it will help to alleviate feared shortages of basic materials across Australia.

Artificial Intelligence as Human Resource

Rather than parroting pledges on ESG, maritime employers could key into advanced thinking on recruitment and training to overcome shipping’s worsening seafarer shortage, says Yogesh Pasrija, Acting Global Head of Crewing, of leading ship manager Wallem Group.

Evidence that the maritime sector is proving less attractive than other industries to next-generation talent is not only anecdotal, but data-based.

Drewry’s reported a nine percent supply shortfall of ships officers in its ‘Manning Annual Review and Forecast 2023/24 – almost double the figure one year earlier, and the highest since the global consultancy started counting, in 2006.

COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine added to the negatives that have led many to turn away from seafaring as a career, Drewry’s reported.

At the same time, world events - including recent developments in the Middle East – show just how reliant the global economy is on its maritime professionals.

For Wallem Group, this means decent seafarer pay and working conditions are a prerequisite. It also means that other matters within its control - such as ‘nurturing the talent pipeline’, investing in seafarer wellbeing, competence, and career development, and maintaining positive working experiences – become business imperatives rather than aspirations.

Converting these agreed aims into tangible actions demands an understanding that ‘Generation Z’ seeks meaningful, purpose-driven employment, and has different values than its predecessors on work-life balance, opportunities for growth, and diversity.

Today’s seafarer, for example, discriminates between employers based on connectivity, and will also prefer to work for organisations whose values it shares.

Over many years, Wallem has developed a mature approach to training, based on investing in local centers, collaborating with technology providers, crafting courses at the microlearning level, offering simulation-based and on-the-job support, mentorship, and coaching. Over time, it has also become increasingly aware that recruiting and retaining the best available candidates in today’s competitive global labor market demands more from the maritime employer.

In doing so, it has not only upheld the highest ESG standards on occupational health and safety but gone on to develop flexible work hours and telecommuting, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies, proactive training to overcome unconscious bias, and enforced supplier diversity. It has also insisted on engagement between senior managers and front-line staff, to encourage the open and collaborative culture on which enhancing ship safety relies and cultivate employee participation in decision-making.

What is more, against a backdrop of reporting that sometimes portrays AI and machine learning as shortcuts to replacing seafarers, Wallem believes that – used responsibly – these tools can enhance safety management, improve crew health and welfare, and identify, nurture, and build maritime talent.

While shipping automation could reduce human error and increase safety, Wallem firmly believes that shipping’s “Future is Human”. AI and automation are likely to assist seafarers, but not replace them. Nevertheless, AI’s ability to analyze large datasets of resumes, social media profiles, and other information – for example – may be invaluable for identifying and reaching out to individuals with the skills, experience, and potential to be successful in shipping careers.

Again, AI and ML can be used to personalize the onboarding process for new hires by providing them with personalized training, career development and mentorship programs that work at the pace of the individual, also continuously analyzing their needs.

At the ‘meta’ level, meanwhile, AI and ML can interpret datasets on current and future work requirements to predict skill gaps in the maritime workforce, rather than simply identifying existing ones. Training and development programs can cover emerging maritime skills issues.

From the maritime employers’ perspective, AI could also be used to analyze anonymized data on employee satisfaction, engagement, and motivation, so that employers can respond with initiatives to encourage the more positive and supportive work environment. The HR professional could even benchmark the effectiveness of his or her own HR initiatives.

In a shipping industry often ready to tie itself up in knots on the advance of the autonomous ship, levels of automation and the pros and cons of computer-based training, there is irony in identifying the maritime HR professional as a possible key beneficiary of AI.

For Wallem, however, tools that deliver agility in responding to the changing profile of the seafaring workforce and promise to identify candidates best equipped to stay the course can only be beneficial for shipping as a whole.

This article is sponsored by Wallem Group. For more information please visit https://www.wallem.com/

ILWU and Portland Terminal Settle Long Dispute Which Bankrupted the Union

Portland Oregon container terminal — The long-running dispute between ILWU and terminal operator ICTSI in Portland, Oregon was settled for $20.5 million (Portland file photo)

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and International Container Terminal Services settled a more than decade’s long dispute involving the operation of Portland, Oregon’s sole container terminal which forced the ILWU to file for bankruptcy in September 2023. The ILWU had previously been found liable for damages caused to the terminal’s operations due to a series of “unlawful labor actions,” meant to coerce the terminal into changing work rules in favor of the union.

The two sides in the dispute as well as the International Transport Workers Federation reported that the agreement has been reached to settle the dispute which started in September 2012 and has been in the courts since 2017. The case had been pending a retrial on the damages award but was stayed by the 2023 bankruptcy filing.

“The ILWU settlement arises from the parties’ participation in several days of mediation during the ILWU’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case,” they reported. The bankruptcy will be voluntarily dismissed as part of the terms of the settlement. ICTSI which alleged it had lost millions of dollars in business and was forced to abandon terminal operations will receive $20.5 million under the terms of the settlement.

The National Labor Relations Board had sided with ICTSI in 2015 saying that the union had encouraged members to operate in a “slow and nonproductive manner.” The dispute was an inter-union rivalry that has also more recently appeared in Seattle. Electricians from rival union IBEW Local 48 were assigned the job of plugging and unplugging refrigerated containers, a job the ILWU asserted should be handled by its members while handling and moving containers in Portland.

The ILWU wanted the two positions handling the electrical connections reassigned to its members and starting in 2012 organized slowdowns as it demanded the Port of Portland reassign the tasks. The NLRB in its finding said the union had refused to hoist cranes in a bypass mode, refused to move two 20-foot containers at a time, and refused other tasks that reduced the efficiency of the terminal. Carriers by 2017 had largely suspended operations to the terminal.

ICTSI caught in the jurisdictional fight between the two unions sued the ILWU and in 2019 a federal jury ruled in its favor. The jury initially awarded the operator $94 million in damages, but in 2020 it was reduced to $19 million. A retrial on damages was pending.

The ILWU last year filed bankruptcy saying it only had less than $12 million in assets. They said the bankruptcy would be used to implement a plan to resolve the long-running dispute.

“The ITF welcomes this important development and commends the unity and strength of our brothers and sisters in the ILWU during this long and uncertain period,” said Paddy Crumlin, International President of the ITF.

Similar inter-union jurisdictional disputes have plagued other ports. In Seattle, a similar dispute centers on which union can handle maintenance and repair work and specifically tasks related to the use of cold ironing shore power at Terminal 5. In April 2023, the NLRB ruled against the ILWU in that dispute which is also in the courts. It also threatened to derail the master contract negotiations for all the West Coast ports in 2023.

Galveston LNG Bunker Port Sets Site for Proposed LNG Bunkering Facility

Provide Clean Fuel to the Maritime Industry in the Greater Galveston Bay Area

Galveston LNG Bunker Port (GLBP) has announced its lease-agreement with the City of Texas City for 140 acres of land on Shoal Point in Galveston County, Texas, adjacent to the Texas City Ship Channel and in close proximity to the maritime centers of Texas City, Galveston, and Houston.

Galveston LNG Bunker Port is a Joint Venture between Seapath and Pilot LNG to develop, construct, and operate the US Gulf Coast’s first dedicated facility supporting the fueling of LNG-powered vessels and will be located on 140 acres of prime deep-water marine industrial real estate in Galveston County, Texas. GLBP was announced in September of 2023 as a joint-venture between Seapath Group (Seapath), a maritime subsidiary of Libra Group, and Pilot LNG, LLC (Pilot), a Houston-based clean energy solutions company. Pilot and Seapath anticipate announcing the Final Investment Decision (FID) details of the GLBP project on Shoal Point by the second half of 2024, with operations commencing in late 2026.

Texas City Mayor, Dedrick Johnson says: “Texas City is excited to be partnering with GLBP to develop Shoal Point. Shoal Point and Texas City are an integral part of the maritime economy both in the State of Texas and throughout the U.S. We are very happy to have GLBP in our City and look forward to the jobs and economic opportunities that the project will bring to Texas City.”

Jonathan Cook, CEO of Pilot LNG stated: “GLBP is fortunate to have a collaborative partner in Texas City, and we believe this is the best possible site in the entire Galveston Bay region for our clean energy facility. Its strategic location and proximity to the key ports of Texas City, Galveston, and Houston is critical in ensuring the successful delivery of this LNG marine fuels project. We look forward to more announcements in the coming weeks and months as additional milestones are achieved towards the successful delivery of the project.”

Since the project was announced in September, GLBP has assembled a top team of advisors and continues its ongoing front-end engineering and design development for the project. The project as designed is for a two train and two tank facility producing 600,000 gallons per day. The first phase of the GLBP project is expected to produce 300,000 gallons per day of LNG for sale into the marine bunker fuel market in the Galveston Bay, and Western Gulf of Mexico region. GLBP estimates it will file applications with the necessary federal and state agencies to permit, construct, and operate the small-scale LNG terminal for marine fuel in early 2024.

This article is sponsored by Seapath. For more information on the LNG project visit www.galvestonlng.com

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.

South Africa’s Historic Antarctic Vessel Delivered for New Lease on Life

South Africa training ship — S.A. Agulhas is an icebreaker that after her research career became a training ship (SAMSA)

A South African polar research vessel that was synonymous with Antarctica expeditions for decades and later became a much-loved training ship was delivered to her new owner on January 30 in Cape Town. The 47-year-old S.A. Agulhas is set for a new lease of life continuing her training as well as expeditions and tourism after being acquired by German firm J*S Maritime Partners.

The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) announced that after years of trying to find a new owner for S.A. Agulhas, which over the past decade has been playing a pivotal role in the training of seafarers, J*S Maritime emerged as the ideal buyer. The ship was given an elaborate sendoff celebrating the launch of the new partnership for her future.

SA Navy band during the celebration of the new partnership

New German owners took delivery this week in Cape Town

The Hamburg-based firm committed to repurposing the vessel to enable it to continue supporting marine research, in particular the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development program. J*S Maritime is an official partner of the program that seeks to identify, generate, and use critical ocean knowledge to manage the vast waters sustainably.

“We will start a larger German-South African bilateral cooperation, the ‘Sea Experience’ project, which will begin with a cadet training partnership program and employment and will be followed by other cooperations and support for the South African maritime cluster, for marine, environmental and climate research, marine technology, research voyages and sustainable tourism in South Africa,” said Capt. Stefan Bülow, who founded J*S Maritime in 2018.

The vessel is a 6,100-ton icebreaker. She is 367 feet (112 meters) in length. SAMSA acquired S.A. Agulhas in 2011 after more than three decades of polar research under the ownership of the South African National Antarctic Program (SANAP). During her first career, S.A. Agulhas built in Japan served as a supply vessel to the three SANAP research stations in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica as well as doing various research voyages.

The ship also carried out numerous rescue missions, with the most famous being the rescue of Magdalena Oldendorff in 2002. The vessel had become stuck in the ice during severe weather conditions while en route from a Russian Antarctic base to Cape Town.

In 2012, the steel-hulled, ice-strengthened vessel built in 1977, was retired from polar supply missions and replaced by the ultra-modern icebreaking ship SA Agulhas II. She took on her new role as a training vessel but after six years SAMSA decided that she was too costly to continue to operate. In addition, she requires much-needed overhauls and updating.

The new owner of S.A. Agulhas has committed to invest in a complete refurbishment of the vessel to prepare her for the new roles that will include chartering for research missions and polar tourism. The company reports it will invest at least $55 million for this conversion into a modern polar explorer with the plan calling for thruster repairs, hull repairs and repainting, ballast water tank work, as well as an upgrade of the sewage system and refurbishing of the cabins. The engines will be overhauled with an eye to running the ship on methanol or green methanol.

Pro-migrant pastors on a bus plan to meet ‘God’s Army’ convoy at Texas border town

Doug Pagitt, a Minnesota pastor who runs the anti-Christian nationalism organization Vote Common Good, hopes to engage the anti-immigrant contingent and convince them it is migrants who are most in danger. 'We're just going to be around and try to humanize the situation,' he said.

Migrants line up after being detained by U.S. immigration authorities at the U.S. border wall, seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023.

(AP Photo/Christian Chavez)

February 2, 2024
By Fiona André

(RNS) — Members of the self-proclaimed “God’s Army” are heading to a small town in Texas this weekend to denounce what they say are the Biden’s administration lax policies at the United States’ Southern border. Faith leaders who support immigration reform and migrant rights plan to meet them to engage in peaceful dialogue.

The God’s Army campaign, called “Take our Border Back” and led by Christian nationalist figures, has called on supporters to form convoys at sites in Arizona, California and Texas on Feb. 3 and to kick off their journey to the border with prayer rallies.

“This is a peaceful assembly of Americans from all political classes and ethnicities who will be praying for an end to the immigration crisis,” said the organizers in a Jan. 29 press statement.

Take Our Border Back’s website points out the dangers posed by “wide open Southern borders” and invites “retired law enforcement and military veterans, mama bears, elected officials, business owners, ranchers, truckers, bikers, media, and law-abiding, freedom-loving Americans” to join the movement.

The campaign was launched Jan. 12 by Kim Yeater and Scotty Saks, two figures known for their involvement in Christian nationalist and far-right spheres. Saks is the host of Sovereign Radio, a syndicated show emanating from San Diego. Yeater is a life coach and radio host, also in San Diego. In a YouTube video posted to her channel, Yeater said she started the campaign after receiving a vision from God.

“We are on the brink of losing our country; it is imperative that we take our border back and that we take our border back right now,” she said on One America News.

The three convoys will head to Yuma, Arizona; Eagle Pass, Texas; and San Ysidro, California, and will share their progress south and east in real time on social media.

The convoy headed to Texas departed from Virginia on Jan. 29 and will end its trip at the Cornerstone Children’s Ranch in Quemado, Texas, near Eagle Pass, after a stop at Dripping Springs, Texas.

Doug Pagitt, a Minnesota pastor who runs the anti-Christian nationalism organization Vote Common Good, hopes to meet the drivers and engage with them in Quemado. “We’re just going to be around and try to humanize the situation. And not have it be primarily about the disagreement,” he said.

Pagitt said he learned about the campaign last weekend and decided to head south on his organization’s bus, decorated with blue banners that say “Confronting Christian nationalism for the common good” on one side and “Faith, Hope, and Love supporting democracy for all” on the other.

Doug Pagitt. (Courtesy photo)

Vote Common Good’s bus, which started in Minnesota, has stopped in Michigan and Missouri, where it was joined by other faith leaders. Having arrived in Eagle Pass on Friday, they hope to meet for a prayer service at the Children’s Ranch on Saturday with groups of locals who help migrants crossing the border.

Pagitt, whose organization has worked to counter the rise of extremist Christian nationalists since 2018, said God’s Army differs from “old-school Christian nationalists,” calling them “a variance to the Christian nationalism disease, that is particular to the time that we live in.” He characterized their mission as “a very fringe view.”

Pagitt pointed to calls for violence from certain “God’s Army” members — some have called to “hunt down migrants” — and said he feared some protesters might come with the same belligerent spirit as the Jan. 6 protesters who stormed the U.S. Capitol.

By meeting with them on Saturday, Pagitt also hopes to show them that the real danger is not for Americans but for the migrants crossing the river.

Lori Mercer, a resident of Quemado, has run the Cornerstone Children’s Ranch since 1998. On Saturday, she will host hundreds of members of the Take Our Border Back campaign for a prayer breakfast. Together, they will be “praying and trusting the Lord to do a miracle on the border,” she said.

The Cornerstone Children’s Ranch is a Christian organization that serves ministers on both sides of the border “who have been affected by migrants,” she explained.

“The situation is we live on the border, across the street is Mexico, and we have illegals coming through here. They’re causing problems. It’s horrible. It’s just been gradually getting worse,” Mercer told RNS.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott also plans to join the convoy at Eagle Pass on Sunday.

The Take Our Border Back movement is also supported by U.S. Rep. Keith Self, a representative for Texas’ third district in Congress, who said he will attend the Texas gatherings.

The campaign was also promoted on Tucker Carlson’s podcast and the far-right conspiracy network InfoWars.

Kathryn Post contributed to this story.

Sikh Americans, citing ‘transnational repression,’ vote for an independent homeland

(RNS) — More and more Sikh Americans are fearful about an ‘alarming rise’ in transnational repression, according to several Sikh advocacy organizations.

Tens of thousands of Sikhs rally near San Francisco City Hall for the California Khalistan Referendum, Jan. 28, 2024, in San Francisco. (Photo courtesy of Karam Singh)

February 1, 2024
By Richa Karmarkar

(RNS) — Last Sunday (Jan. 28), more than 120,000 Sikhs of all ages and occupations took part in a historic referendum in San Francisco on the creation of an autonomous homeland in northwestern India. They braved hourslong lines after already long commutes, in many cases from neighboring states, to reach the polling place in the City by the Bay.

These Sikhs, almost all of them U.S. citizens and residents, were voting aspirationally for the creation of Khalistan — a hoped-for but nonexistent “land of the pure” that would stand separate from the nation of India.

Organized by Sikhs for Justice, an activist group that is banned in India, the vote was aimed at raising the profile of Sikh efforts to convince the government of India to allow Punjab, the state where the Sikhi faith was born, to secede.

Though only symbolic, the vote for self-determination, said Harjeet Singh, a Seattle resident who voted in the referendum, was taken to “shake up and wake up” the Indian government to take accountability for their “historical oppression” and hold a binding referendum in Punjab.

Harjeet Singh at San Francisco City Hall, Jan. 28, 2024.

(Photo courtesy of Harjeet Singh)

“There are people who are proposing a solution to a problem. Now they have launched a peaceful, democratic expression of their will through a referendum,” said Singh. “This is a beautiful way to show that Sikhs as a community, we are not happy with the system, and we want change.”

The vote is especially timely, say Sikh advocates, after recent incidents outside of India of surveillance, intimidation and censorship of dissidents, or what several Sikh advocacy organizations refer to as “transnational repression.”

In June of last year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of involvement in the assassination of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in a Surrey gurdwara parking lot. In November, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a document revealing an attempted assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in New York — this time the legal adviser of Sikhs for Justice, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who was present at the referendum.

More and more Sikh Americans are fearful about an “alarming rise” in such incidents, which Kavneet Singh of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund said are “indicative of a broader, more systematic threat to the basic human rights of American citizens and residents.”

Bobby Singh, a member of Sikhs for Justice, was reportedly warned by the FBI for his own safety after the organization was informed of a credible threat to his life.

On Tuesday, SALDEF announced that four U.S. House members — including Illinois Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, both Indian-American — are co-sponsoring a bill that would offer greater resources and expanded protections for the minority community.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom published a statement in December denouncing the “severe escalation of India’s efforts to silence religious minorities and human rights defenders both within its country and abroad.”

On Friday, the FBI released a public service announcement in the Punjabi language, warning citizens of the increase in threats.

The FBI “is reaching our community particularly in the language they speak, getting to them at their very core and heart,” said Kavneet Singh. “This is very clearly showing that they see our community, and that this is a legitimate issue.”

While the referendum organizers expected tens of thousands to come out for the vote, the massive turnout in San Francisco meant that some 30,000 voters were turned away. A second vote will occur on March 31.

Karam Singh, a board member for the California Sikh Youth Alliance, says the turnout ”unequivocally” demonstrated where Sikhs in America stand on the Khalistan issue.

“At the end of the day, this is a political grievance,” he said. “It’s a matter of persecution. It’s a matter of a community feeling neglected. Even if it was an advisory vote, even if it was non-binding, it was still a statement that Sikhs are not safe in India, and they firmly believe in independence.”

Sikhs rally near San Francisco City Hall for the California Khalistan Referendum, Jan. 28, 2024, in San Francisco. (Photo courtesy Harjeet Singh))

The 26-year-old graduate student drove two hours to cast his ballot, feeling a responsibility as a Sikh raised in the U.S. to “share the stories of pain and violence” that older generations, many of whom fled political persecution for supporting Khalistan, “didn’t have the tools to tell.”

“Sikhs from a very young age are taught a history of valor and honor,” he said. “That history is always a part of us. Although we are victims of genocide, at the same time, we’re also survivors. Sikhs see this as continuing that lineage of resistance. That history has a big part of Sikh psyche in America and even among young people.”

Tensions between Sikhs and the Indian government can be dated back to Indian independence in 1947, when support for the Khalistan movement gained traction against the backdrop of a division of Punjab into two parts — one in predominantly Muslim Pakistan and one in Hindu-majority India. In the resulting unrest, scholars estimate, 200,000 to 2 million people died, and up to 20 million were displaced.

In the 1980s, India’s then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered an army operation called Operation Blue Star that was meant to silence prominent Khalistani leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his militants in the holy Golden Temple in Amritsar, in Punjab. In retaliation for Bhindranwale’s death and the killing of many innocent civilians at the temple, Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikh nationalist bodyguards.

In October of 1984, an anti-Sikh pogrom in New Delhi took the lives of more than 3,000 Sikh Indians. A year later, Khalistani separatists based in Canada bombed an Air India flight en route from Toronto to New Delhi, killing all 329 people on board in the deadliest aviation attack before 9/11.

But activists such as Harjeet Singh and Karam Singh stress mutual Sikh and Hindu tolerance. The strife of the past was never a Hindu-Sikh religious battle, they say, but instead one about political representation. They point to the unity shown in 2020-2021, when hundreds of thousands of farmers, most of them Punjabis of both faiths, demonstrated peacefully against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agricultural reforms that they claimed would worsen ecological and economic conditions. After months of sit-ins and rallies, Modi agreed to repeal the laws.

Indian farmers participate in a tractor rally in a protest against new farm laws at Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of New Delhi, on Jan. 7, 2021. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)

Harjeet Singh, an Indian army veteran who moved to the U.S. in 2013, said the general public is flooded with misinformation about the Khalistan movement, including that it is a “terrorist,” “fringe” or “militant” movement that supports a “theocracy.” He calls this propaganda from Indian media and government officials.

“Sikhs have a saying that when good Sikhs sit together, then the Guru himself sits there,” he said, referring to Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism.

“We Sikhs, we act almost as a nation. Whether it is a gathering for a political purpose or a gathering for a spiritual purpose, you always have a feeling of being with your family,” he added.

For Kavneet Singh, this fight also boils down to the aspects of the Sikhi faith that drive each Sikh’s pursuit of social justice.

“Our tradition has always had a concept of vigilance for justice for all,” he said.
“That is a cornerstone of our faith. It is embedded in our DNA that we are to endeavor to stand up for what is right. If we see something unjust, or if we see someone who is being denied justice, it is our job to stand up and stand with them.”

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment