UK

 

UK police arrest 45 at protest against migrant removals

By

 AFP

Police in London made 45 arrests on Thursday as protesters tried to stop the removal of migrants from their temporary accommodation, after the UK government began detaining people before controversial deportation flights to Rwanda.

Dozens of people surrounded a bus believed to be taking asylum seekers from a hotel in the Peckham area of south London to the Bibby Stockholm accommodation barge moored off the south coast of England.

Several other protests have been held or are planned around the country to stop immigration officers detaining migrants.

In Peckham, police moved in to disperse the protesters, who had formed a human chain around the bus and blocked the road in front of a hotel.

Most had their faces covered and hire bikes were put under the wheels of the bus, which reportedly had its tyres slashed or deflated.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan, from the Metropolitan Police, said officers were sent to remove people from the road.

“A total of 45 people have been arrested and taken into police custody for offences including obstruction of the highway, obstructing police and assault on police,” he said.

The bus left the scene without the seven migrants on board, according to protesters. Similar action in Margate, southeast England, on Wednesday also stopped migrants being taken to the Bibby Stockholm.

Interior minister James Cleverly was defiant and condemned those seeking to stop the removals.

“Housing migrants in hotels costs the British taxpayer millions of pounds every day,” he wrote on the social media platform X.

“We will not allow this small group of students, posing for social media, to deter us from doing what is right for the British public.”

Cleverly’s ministry this week confirmed that it has begun detaining asylum seekers before planned deportation to Rwanda, after parliament passed a law declaring it a safe country.

Several migrants were seen in photos and video footage released by the ministry being taken away in handcuffs by immigration officers.

– Channel crossings –

The ministry has not confirmed how many people have been held so far, but the government says it expects Rwanda to take 5,700 migrants this year.

The protests come after official figures published on Thursday showed that 711 people were brought ashore the previous day after trying to cross the Channel in small boats from northern France.

The number is the highest on a single day so far this year and comes even as London insists that its plan to “stop the boats” is working, including through the Rwanda deportation scheme.

The new high is more than the previous 2024 single-day record of 534 on April 14. 

It takes the total number of migrants who have made the Channel crossing so far this year to 8,278 — up more than a quarter on the same period in 2023.

The highest-ever single-day arrivals figure was 1,295 and was recorded on August 22, 2022.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said the figures demonstrated why the Rwanda plan was needed but the main opposition Labour party called it “unaffordable and unworkable”.

French police on Wednesday said they had rescued 66 people after their boat ran into trouble off the coastal town of Dieppe.

UK police have made several arrests as part of an investigation into the deaths of five people whose boat got into difficulties off the French coast on April 23.

Migration — both regular and irregular — has been a major political issue in the UK, given the government’s promise to tighten the country’s borders after leaving the European Union.

But doing so has proved a challenge, with the Conservative government desperate to trumpet successes as it goes into local elections on Thursday and a general election later this year.

Some 122,600 people have been intercepted in British waters and brought ashore since the UK began recording such arrivals in 2018.

by Henry NICHOLLS

Arrests made as protesters block coach taking asylum seekers to Bibby Stockholm



Police try to stop protesters forming a blockade around a coach in Peckham (Yui Mok/PA)
By PA ReportersToday at 11:55

More than 40 people have been arrested after protesters blocked a coach set to take asylum seekers to the Bibby Stockholm barge.

Police said they were called at around 8.40am on Thursday to reports of people obstructing a coach, which was parked outside a Best Western Hotel in Peckham, south-east London.

A total of 45 people were arrested after officers were assaulted whilst trying to stop the protesters from obstructing the coach, the Metropolitan Police said.

A large group of people, many with their faces covered, surrounded the coach and were seen linking arms and sitting in Peckham Road.

Pictures showed lines of police officers attending the scene, while footage captured some jostling with protesters at one point.

The demonstrators could be heard chanting “no borders, no nations, stop deportations”, “say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here”, and “when refugees are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back”.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said in a statement: “It saddens me greatly to say that a number of officers have been assaulted in the course of their duty following an incident in Peckham today where they sought to uphold the law.”



Police officers at the scene in Peckham (Yui Mok/PA)

He said that officers spoke to the coach driver and protesters “at length” and warned them that they could be arrested, and added: “After this demonstrators blocked the road and continued to prevent the coach, and police vehicles, from leaving.

“More officers were sent to the scene to safely remove people from the road, allow the vehicles to leave and for the road to reopen.

“A number of officers have reported being assaulted. Thankfully I’m glad that none of those are seriously hurt.”




Police remove a protester after demonstrators formed a blockade around the coach (Yui Mok/PA)

But protesters claimed police had been “pushing and shoving” peaceful demonstrators.


Laurence Smith, founder of the charity Lewisham Donation Hub, said two of his organisation’s volunteers, who are asylum seekers, had been threatened with being sent to the barge.

He told the PA news agency: “I came down today to make sure our volunteers left that hotel and went to the private accommodation that we found.”




Protesters formed a blockade around the coach which was set to take asylum seekers to the Bibby Stockholm barge (Yui Mok/PA)

He added that he had spoken to Superintendent Matt Cox, from the Metropolitan Police, at 10am to try to defuse the situation.

Jennie, 34, who did not want to give her surname, is a member of one of the groups who were involved in the protest.

She told PA: “We’re now trying to support the asylum seekers who weren’t removed.”


Jennie, who had visible cuts and bruises on her arms and hands, said police were “pushing and shoving” people and that she needed medical attention.

PA understands the asylum seekers were taken off the coach and have not yet left the hotel.

No amount of chanting, drum banging or tyre-slashing by a noisy few will prevent us doing what is necessary to deliver the firm but fair approach that the British people expectJames Cleverly, Home Secretary

The Home Office has not confirmed whether there are plans to try again to move the asylum seekers to the barge on another day or if the move had been abandoned, but Home Secretary James Cleverly said protests would not deter the “firm but fair approach the British people expect”.

He said: “We will continue to remove those with no right to be here, despite continued efforts by the Labour Party and a coalition of disparate student groups to stop us.

“No amount of chanting, drum banging or tyre-slashing by a noisy few will prevent us doing what is necessary to deliver the firm but fair approach that the British people expect.


“I’d like to thank the police for their swift and professional action. They have my full support in clamping down on unacceptable criminality, racism and intimidation regardless of where it comes from.”

It comes as the Home Office abandoned plans to move a group of asylum seekers to the barge in the wake of protests in Margate last week.

Bird flu likely circulated in US cows for 4 months before diagnosis

Dairy farmer Brent Pollard's cows stand in their pen at a cattle farm in Rockford, Illinois, US, April 9, 2024.

PUBLISHED MAY 02, 2024 

CHICAGO — Bird flu likely circulated in US dairy cows on a limited basis for about four months before federal officials confirmed the disease that has now spread to nine states, according to a new federally funded research paper.

The US Department of Agriculture reported the first-ever H5N1 virus infection in a dairy cow in Texas on March 25, following reports of decreased milk yields in multiple states.

The USDA has said it believes wild birds, which can carry the virus, introduced H5N1 to cattle. The outbreak then expanded as cows were shipped to other states, according to the paper released on Wednesday that was funded by USDA, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"Data support a single introduction event from wild bird origin virus into cattle, likely followed by limited local circulation for approximately four months prior to confirmation by USDA," the paper said.

A team of academic scientists led by University of Arizona evolutionary biologist Michael Worobey pieced together raw genetic sequences released by USDA on April 21 without dates or locations and concluded a week ago that a single transmission event occurred in late 2023.

Scientists have criticised USDA for not releasing details of the data that would allow academic researchers around the world to trace the evolution of the virus.

One person, a Texas farm worker, has tested positive for H5N1 in the current outbreak, though the only symptom was conjunctivitis, believed to be caused by contact with cow milk. The CDC has said the general public faces a low risk for infection.

Bird flu has long been on the list of viruses with pandemic potential, and any expansion to a new mammal species is concerning to scientists.

Carol Cardona, a bird flu expert at the University of Minnesota, said the virus was able to spread during the four months it was undetected.

"By the time it was recognised, we were beyond our ability to contain the outbreak," she said.

Veterinarians observed dairy cattle displaying unexplained reductions in milk production and changes in milk quality, along with reduced feed consumption, starting in January, according to the paper. It was published an open-access preprint server for the biological sciences called bioRxivon.

Members of USDA's network of laboratories that monitors for diseases identified influenza A virus, which includes bird flu, in milk and nasal swabs from cows at a Texas dairy, the paper said, without specifying a date.

They forwarded samples to USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories, which respond to animal-health emergencies, for testing as epidemiologic investigations continued elsewhere, the paper said.

USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Overall, it's wonderful that these data have been shared," virologist Angela Rasmussen of the University of Saskatchewan's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organisation, who worked on sequencing the virus with Worobey, said in a post on X.

Edward Snowden's 'free speech' retort to Elon Musk's poll on dissent

In his reply to Elon Musk's online poll, US whistleblower Edard Snowden suggested that it would rather be a good idea to take those using the right to free speech to McDonald's to eat.


India Today World Desk
New Delhi,

UPDATED: May 3, 2024
Written By: Vivek Kumar

In Short

Elon Musk posts online poll on university protests in US

Edward Snowden retorts with a 'free speech' post

Snowden suggests taking dissenters to McDonald's to eat

Americans' freedom of expression is 'constitutionally protected' for a very good reason, US whistleblower Edward Snowden responded to X owner Elon Musk after the latter created a poll as to what should be done with a person who 'disrespects the American flag'.

"Proposed law: if someone tears down the American flag and puts up another flag in its place, that person should get a free (but mandatory) one-way trip to that flag’s country," Tesla chief Elon Musk on Thursday posted on X with options 'Yes' or 'No.'

Proposed law: if someone tears down the American flag and puts up another flag in its place, that person should get a free (but mandatory) one-way trip to that flag’s country

Among many hits and replies to the post, one came in from whistleblower Edward Snowden, whose revelations about alleged espionage by the US National Security Agency (NSA) shook the world back in 2013.

"First of all, Americans' freedom of expression, which includes all manner of flag-trampling and other unlikable acts, is constitutionally-protected for a very good reason. Secondly, what are you going to do when they tear it down and replace it with this?," Snowden posted on X with a picture of fast food giant McDonald's in his reply.




Elon Musk's post apparently referred to the ongoing pro-Palestine protests at university campuses across the United States and how those protesters should be treated.

Musk followed his online poll with a comment on his own post that read "I’m not saying they can’t come back, but they have to experience that country for some period of time before returning."

Meanwhile, Snowden seemed to be suggesting that it would rather be a good idea to take those using the right to free speech to McDonald's to eat.

Edward Snowden had fled the US and was given asylum in Russia after leaking secret files in 2013 that revealed vast domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by the NSA, where he once worked.

China to launch first probe to return samples from Moon’s far side


ByAFP
May 2, 2024

A guard stands watch near the launch platform for the Chang'e-6 lunar mission - Copyright AFP Hector RETAMAL
Hector Retamal with Qian Ye

China is set Friday to launch a probe to collect samples from the far side of the Moon, a world first as Beijing pushes ahead with an ambitious programme that aims to send a crewed lunar mission by 2030.

A rocket carrying the Chang’e-6 lunar probe is scheduled to blast off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China’s Hainan province just before 5:30 pm (0930 GMT), officials have said.

It is the latest leap for China’s ambitious space programme, which Washington has warned is being used to mask military objectives and an effort to establish extraterrestrial dominance.

The Chang’e-6 aims to collect around two kilograms of lunar samples from the far side of the Moon and bring them back to Earth for analysis.

It is a technically complex 53-day mission that will also see it attempt an unprecedented launch from the side of the Moon that always faces away from Earth.

“Chang’e-6 will collect samples from the far side of the Moon for the first time,” Ge Ping, vice director of China’s Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center, told journalists.

The probe is set to land in the immense South Pole-Aitken Basin, one of the largest known impact craters in the solar system.

Once there, it will scoop up lunar soil and rocks, and carry out other experiments in the landing zone.

It must then lift off from the Moon’s surface and retrace its steps back home.



– Space dream –



Plans for China’s “space dream” have been put into overdrive under President Xi Jinping.

Beijing has ploughed huge resources into its space programme over the last decade, targeting a string of ambitious undertakings in an effort to close the gap with the two traditional space powers — the United States and Russia.

The country has notched several notable achievements, including building a space station called Tiangong, or “heavenly palace”, to which it sent a fresh crew of three astronauts last month.

Beijing has landed robotic rovers on Mars and the Moon, and made China only the third country to independently put humans in orbit.

China aims to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030, and plans to build a base on the lunar surface.

The United States is also planning to put astronauts back on the Moon by 2026 with its Artemis 3 mission.

The rapid advance of China’s space programme has raised alarm bells in Washington, with the head of NASA warning last month that the US was now in a “race” against Beijing.

“We believe that a lot of their so-called civilian space program is a military program,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson told lawmakers on Capitol Hill.



– Dark side of the Moon –



Chang’e-6 is the first of three high-wire uncrewed missions to the Moon planned by China this decade.

Its successor, Chang’e-7, will scour the lunar south pole for water, while Chang’e-8 will attempt to establish the technical feasibility of building a planned base, known as the International Lunar Research Station, with Beijing saying a “basic model” will be completed by 2030.

Scientists say the Moon’s dark side — so-called because it is invisible from Earth, not because it never catches the sun’s rays — holds great promise for research as its craters are less covered by ancient lava flows than the near side.

That might mean it is more possible to collect material that sheds light on how the Moon formed in the first place.

“The samples collected by Chang’e-6 will have a geological age of approximately 4 billion years,” Ge said.

“Collecting lunar samples from different regions and geological ages, and conducting experiments is of great value and significance for humanity.”

 

Canada emissions rose in 2022 but ‘on track’ for 2030 goal: govt

By

 AFP

Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions rose in 2022 from a pandemic dip the prior year but were still 7.1 percent below a 2005 benchmark, a government report showed Thursday.

Annual total emissions — including carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gasses — were 708 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent, or 7.1 percent below revised 2005 levels.

“The report shows that Canada remains on track to meet our emission reduction goals of 2026 and on track towards 2030,” Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said at a news conference.

Canada has committed to reducing emissions by 40-45 percent below 2005 levels by the end of the decade.

The government report however showed that emissions had risen over 2021, as the economy roared back to life from Covid-19 pandemic disruptions, with increases in the transportation sector, the construction and housing sector and parts of the oil and gas industry.

Guilbeault acknowledged the emissions increase, but insisted the overall trend was curving downward.

The report showed that despite the total emissions increase in 2022, a metric of emissions per GDP had continued to steadily decline.

The oil and gas sector remained by far Canada’s most emitting, responsible for 217 megatonnes of CO2 equivalent, or 31 percent of total emissions, according to the annual report.

That was followed by transportation — which is undergoing a massive transformation with a push toward electric vehicles — at 156 megatonnes or 22 percent of the total.

The energy sector, meanwhile, was the biggest driver of CO2 reductions, thanks to a phase out of coal-burning power plants.

Guilbeault said the government would continue to “keep up the momentum with new measures like an oil and gas emissions cap and investments in electric vehicle supply chains.”

Canada has lured several automotive giants such as Honda, Volkswagen and Stellantis to set up electric vehicle and battery plants in Canada, by offering billions of dollars in incentives.

Guilbeault said draft regulations on capping the oil and gas sector’s emissions would be unveiled “by the fall” of this year.

For the first time, Ghana’s Asante King displays long-lost treasure looted by British forces in 1800s

Stephen NarteyMay 02, 2024  

Photo credit: Manhyia Palace

Ghana’s Asante king Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has unveiled the long-lost treasure of the kingdom that was plundered during colonial times by British military forces.

After a decades-long wait, the British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum relinquished 32 gold and silver treasures that were looted during the Anglo-Asante Wars in the 19th century. Among the returned artifacts are the state sword referred to as Mpomponsuo and the gold badges of officials responsible for purifying the king’s soul.

There’s also a gold lute harp gifted by Asantehene Osei Bonsu to British diplomat Thomas Edward Bowdich during an 1817 trade agreement, according to RTE News.

Addressing the gathering during the event “Homecoming: adversity and Commemoration,” Otumfuo Osei Tutu II said the first exhibition of the artifacts at Manhyia Palace reflected the “soul of the Asante people”.

DARPA’s Manta Ray UUV 'Underwater Drone' Could Transform the U.S. Navy

DARPA has successfully completed the first in-water testing of the Manta Ray uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) prototype, developed by Northrop Grumman.

by Peter Suciu

May 2, 2024


Summary: DARPA has successfully completed the first in-water testing of the Manta Ray uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) prototype, developed by Northrop Grumman. This testing phase, conducted off the coast of Southern California, confirmed the UUV's hydrodynamic capabilities and operational readiness through various propulsion and steering methods.

-The Manta Ray is designed for extended, autonomous missions in remote oceanic environments, featuring modular construction for easy transport and field assembly. Its efficient buoyancy-driven propulsion and multiple payload bays make it adaptable for diverse naval missions.

-The U.S. Navy sees the Manta Ray as a potential game-changer for long-duration undersea operations, including mapping, mine detection, and surveillance, enhancing security for both military and commercial maritime activities.
DARPA's Manta Ray UUV Prototype Triumphs in Initial Sea Trials

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has moved forward with its Manta Ray uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) prototype and completed the first in-water testing. The Manta Ray, which was built by defense giant Northrop Grumman, completed full-scale, in-water testing off the coast of Southern California earlier this year. The tests demonstrated at-sea hydrodynamic performance, including submerged operations using all of the vehicle’s modes of propulsion and steering: buoyancy, propellers, and control surfaces.

“Our successful, full-scale Manta Ray testing validates the vehicle’s readiness to advance toward real-world operations after being rapidly assembled in the field from modular subsections,” said Kyle Woerner, DARPA program manager for Manta Ray. “The combination of cross-country modular transportation, in-field assembly, and subsequent deployment demonstrates a first-of-kind capability for an extra-large UUV.”

Like a Fish in Water

As previously reported, the Manta Ray’s design was modeled on the aquatic creature, and it is reported to be outfitted with two rear propellers for movement, while it was also designed to operate for extended periods in oceanic environments inaccessible to humans. The UUV was developed in partnership with Seatrec—a renewable energy company—to enhance the understanding of marine environments and operate independently for extended periods.

The prototype was shipped in subsections from the build location in Maryland to its test location in California. The demonstrated ease of shipping and assembly supports the possibility of rapid deployment throughout the world without crowding valuable pier space at naval facilities.

“Shipping the vehicle directly to its intended area of operation conserves energy that the vehicle would otherwise expend during transit,” said Woerner. “Once deployed, the vehicle uses efficient, buoyancy-driven gliding to move through the water. The craft is designed with several payload bays of multiple sizes and types to enable a wide variety of naval mission sets.”

Northrop Grumman completed the assembly of the Mantra Ray earlier this year.
Long-Haul UUVs

The United States Navy aims to develop and demonstrate a new class of long-duration, long-range, payload-capable UUVs ready for persistent operations in dynamic maritime environments. DARPA is engaging with the sea service on the next steps for testing and transition of this technology.

According to Northrop Grumman, the Manta Ray is “payload-capable to support a variety of missions,” while it can operate without the need for on-site human logistics. It can anchor to the seafloor and hibernate in a low-power state, while it is also modular, which could allow for different mission-specific components.

The U.S. Navy hasn’t disclosed exactly what roles the UUV could be employed in, nor have the Manta Ray’s dimensions been disclosed. However, it is apparently large enough that it could serve as a mother ship for smaller UUVs. It was designed for easy transport and assembly on-site from five standard shipping containers, so it could likely be launched from a dock or even a ship at sea.

There has been speculation that the Mantra Ray could be outfitted to conduct undersea mapping, mine detection, and passive surveillance. In the latter role, it could be utilized to monitor for underwater threats to a carrier strike group or even aid in protecting commercial shipping.

Northrop Grumman was awarded a Phase 2 contract in 2021 to continue work on the Manta Ray program that began a year earlier. Phase 2 called for North Grumman Systems Corporation and Martin Defense Group to each build a full-scale tech demonstrator. It now appears the tests are well underway with the demonstrator.

A second Manta Ray performer, PacMar Technologies, is continuing testing of its full-scale energy harvesting system.

Author Experience and Expertise: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.

  

Wally, the emotional support alligator once denied entry to a baseball game, is missing

By CNN

May 3, 2024

Emotional support animals registrations in the United States reached 115,832 last year, by an industry group's count.

But in the eyes of reptile rescuer Joie Henney, there's only one:

"Wally Gator" - his "gentle" certified emotional support alligator.

And now, Wally has gone missing – far from home.

Joie Henney, 65, sits with his emotional support alligator, Wally, at his home in York Haven, Pennsylvania in 2019. The gator was just a year old and 50cm long when he took him in. (Heather Khalifa/AP via CNN)

While Henney, of northeast Pennsylvania, was visiting Brunswick, Georgia, on April 21, Wally disappeared from his outdoor pen, according to the Wallygator Facebook page.
A Georgia Department of Natural Resources "permitted trapper responded to a nuisance alligator call in Brunswick on 4/21," the agency confirmed to CNN in a statement.

The creature was secured and "later released in a remote location", the department's Wildlife Resources Division spokesperson Melissa Cummings said.
"The agent trapper's handling of a nuisance alligator was appropriate and routine," she told CNN.
The department "routinely" gets calls about "nuisance alligators", she said, and refers callers to a permitted alligator agent trapper, per its protocols.
Whether the animal released after the April 21 call was Wally, however, remains an open question: The Georgia Department of Natural Resources has no information to confirm it – nor any further information about Wally's whereabouts, Cummings said.
Still, the search is on.
A GoFundMe campaign Henney organised to cover travel, advising and possible legal and veterinary costs to "Bring WallyGator Home!!" is nearly a third of way to its $30,000 goal.
Henney did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment on Wally's disappearance.
Wally, for his part, is no stranger to public attention, usually interacting with fans at events in his home state, as well as being the subject of popular TikTok and Instagram accounts organised by Henney.
Wally is often shown letting others pet and hold him, with Henney telling CNN in 2022, "He doesn't show anger. He doesn't show aggression. He hasn't since the day he was caught. We never could understand why."
Henney has had Wally since the reptile was a little over a year old and just 50 centimetres long.

Wally wanders around Love Park in Philadelphia. (Halle Sivalingam via CNN)

He got the critter from Florida, where there is an "overabundance of alligators" and they are considered nuisances and often euthanised or put in captivity, he told CNN.
Even so, Henney often has gotten criticism over Wally, he said, because people "don't know the story behind everything".
In fact, Wally has provided companionship and support through Henney's radiation treatments for cancer.
"He's just loveable," Henney said.
"He sleeps with me, steals my pillows, steals my blankets. He's just awesome."
Pennsylvania has no law barring alligators as pets: The state Fish and Boat Commission does "not regulate possession of non-native species of reptiles and amphibians", its website states.
Georgia law, however, lets "only licensed or permitted individuals … retain alligators in captivity," Cummings said.
"Most native species of wildlife cannot be held without permits or licenses. These licenses are not issued for the purpose of having native wildlife as pets."
And the Peach State isn't the only place Wally hasn't exactly been welcome.
His fame reignited last year when the alligator was denied entry to a Philadelphia Phillies game.
According to Citizens Bank Park, any animals – excluding service dogs – are prohibited.
"Wally has been into other baseball games, so we assumed that it was OK," Henney said.
"We never asked or checked with it, but they only allow service animals, such as dogs and horses, into the stadium, not (emotional support) animals."
Similarly, the US Department of Transportation in 2020 announced airlines "are not required to recognise emotional support animals as service animals".
The latter is "a dog … trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a qualified individual with a disability", while emotional support animals are prescribed by mental health professionals to provide their owners with comfort and support but don't have to be trained in specific tasks.
Henney at the time of the Phillies rejection made clear: "There was no disagreement, there was no arguing, there was no conflict at all. It was all good."

 

UN: Hundreds of thousands of people forced to scam

Cambodia and Myanmar are the epicenters of a new human trafficking scourge in Southeast Asia, report says.

By Alex Willemyns for RFA
2023.08.29

Barbed wire rings a shuttered Great Wall Park compound in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, where authorities said they found evidence of human trafficking, kidnapping and torture, Sept. 21, 2022.

 Cindy Liu/Reuters

Hundreds of thousands of people across Southeast Asia have been enslaved and forced to carry out online scams worth billions of dollars, a new U.N. report says, with Cambodia and wartorn Myanmar the worst affected and Thailand serving as a major trafficking hub.

The report from the U.N. human rights office notes the latest scourge of human trafficking to hit Southeast Asia is markedly different from the type that historically impacted the region: outflows of uneducated and poor citizens for forced sex work and manual labor elsewhere.

Instead, the new multi-billion dollar trafficking industry that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic has been marked by inflows of foreign citizens – some even with higher educations – for scamming.

The report says “many of the victims are well-educated, sometimes coming from professional jobs or with graduate or even postgraduate degrees, computer-literate and multi-lingual” and are being recruited by traffickers “under the pretence of offering them real jobs.”

Many come from other Southeast Asian countries, but there are also many victims from China, South Asia, East Africa and the Middle East, it says. They often arrive in one country, such as Thailand, expecting to work there, but are then surreptitiously ferried into a second country, such as Myanmar or Cambodia, where their passports are taken.

There, the U.N. says, they are kept under the watch of armed guards and forced to work in industrial-scale online scam operations, using elaborate scripts – and posing as romantic flames or investors – to trick people in wealthy countries to send money back to their captors via trusted cryptocurrency platforms like Binance or Coinbase. 

“The scams are often sophisticated; fake websites are built to showcase fraudulent data in order to convince the target that there are significant profits to be made,” the report says. “People who are targeted can also receive small amounts of money to convince them of the legitimacy of the platform. The scam is usually a long process in which targets are approached for weeks or months to build trusted relationships.”

A victim of a Chinese scamming gang shows a scar on his leg after being tortured, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sept. 27, 2022. (AFP)

The carefully prepared scripts are used to target people on popular services including Facebook, Grindr, Hinge, Instagram, Line, LinkedIn, Meet Me, Muslima, OkCupid, TikTok, Tinder, WeChat and WhatsApp, among other online-dating and social-networking platforms.

Victims who don’t comply, or don’t meet revenue targets, are tortured, it says. Many are told they are working off a debt incurred to transport them to the country in the first place. The debt increases when they are “sold” to new captors, and their families often extorted to free them. 

Cambodia and Myanmar

Online-scam slave compounds are believed to have generated at least $7.8 billion in revenue globally in 2021, the U.N. says, with “billions” of that arriving in Southeast Asia, thanks to the region’s many casinos and “special economic zones,” where law enforcement can be lax.

Exact figures about such trafficking are “difficult to estimate because of its clandestine nature and gaps in the official response,” it notes. But “credible estimates” indicate at least 120,000 people have been held in scam compounds in Myanmar and 100,000 more in Cambodia, where the problem is centered on the coastal casino town of Sihanoukville.

A combination of weak government institutions, rampant corruption and visa-free travel across the region have all conspired to make the region vulnerable to scam slavery, the U.N. report says, with traffickers also becoming adept at seamlessly shifting operations across borders.

“States may not have the necessary capacity in, or experience with, the types of investigative techniques required for the investigation and prosecution of allegations of human rights abuses in the context of organised crime and cross-border operations,” the report says.

At best, many officials may not be trained to recognize when foreigners are being trafficked into the country, and many victims furthermore have rights to visa-free entry into the countries, either under each country’s own immigration laws or under the ASEAN visa-free travel program, which waives visa requirements for citizens of the bloc.

But the report also notes the role that corruption plays, and the widespread pattern of officials either turning a blind-eye to – or even actively protecting – the scam compounds for a cut of proceeds.

That has made Myanmar, torn apart by conflict since the February 2021 military coup d’etat, particularly impacted by such trafficking.

“The military coup, ongoing violence and armed conflicts in Myanmar, and the resultant breakdown in the rule of law, have provided fertile ground for an exponential rise in criminal activity,” the report says.

“Following the coup, transnational organised criminal actors were able to widen their existing activities within the country by working with factions within the armed forces and various militia groups,” it says. 

“Many of the scam centres in Myanmar are located in weakly regulated – and often porous – border areas which are characterised by a lack of formal law enforcement structures, oversight and accountability.”

Fixing the problem

The emergence of scam compounds since the COVID-19 pandemic has become an increasing focus of world governments, given the transnational nature of its impacts, with victims on both ends of the scam coming from an increasing array of countries worldwide.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June awarded Cambodian journalist Mech Dara with a Hero Award for his groundbreaking work uncovering scam compounds in Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken presents Cambodian journalist Mech Dara with the TIP Report Hero award in Washington, D.C., June 15, 2023. (Sarah Silbiger/Reuters)

But the problem keeps popping up in new places. This week, the mother of a teenage Laotian girl trapped in a scam compound in Myanmar told Radio Free Asia that her daughter said she would be beaten with a metal bar 50 times if found using a cellphone. 

To help end the problem, the U.N. report recommends that Southeast Asian governments focus on training immigration officials to better recognize trafficking of foreigners into their countries, and continuing to combat official corruption that has protected many scam compounds.

But it also says those who come forward about their time trapped in the scam compounds should not be punished for carrying out scams, or for being in the country “illegally” and for working without a labor permit. 

“A human rights-based approach to trafficking in persons works to avoid re-victimisation and thus recognises that punishing a victim of trafficking for unlawful acts committed as a consequence of their being trafficked is unjust and hinders the possibility of their recovery,” it says.

Forced to work as maids in Saudi Arabia, Cambodians beg to be repatriated

The women say they have been denied food and medicine while awaiting help from their embassy.

By RFA Khmer
2024.05.02

Dozens of Cambodian women trafficked to work as maids in Saudi Arabia are demanding their embassy arrange for their return home, seen here in an image posted on a Cambodian government telegram page, April 30, 2024.

Cambodia Government Spokesperson Unit

Dozens of Cambodian women trafficked to work as maids in Saudi Arabia are demanding that their embassy arrange for them to return home, saying that since authorities rescued them nearly two weeks ago, they have lacked access to adequate food and their health is rapidly deteriorating.

On April 18, Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor confirmed that 78 Cambodian migrant workers had been tricked into working in Saudi Arabia, but have now been rescued and placed in hotel rooms under the care of the Cambodian Embassy.

The ministry said 51 of the women are in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, 15 in the capital Riyadh, and 12 in Dammam, on the coast of the Persian Gulf.

The Ministries of Labor and Foreign Affairs, along with the Cambodian Embassy, claimed to be purchasing flights for the victims to return to Cambodia, promising to return 29 on April 19, 27 on April 20, and the final 22 on April 21.

However, on April 27, RFA Khmer received videos from several of the victims in which they claimed to remain stranded in Saudi Arabia.

In the videos, the women call for help from former Prime Minister Hun Sen, his wife Bun Rany, and their son Prime Minister Hun Manet.

They said the companies that brought them to Saudi Arabia had “violated their contracts,” leaving them mired in legal issues surrounding their salaries and basic rights. They claim several of them were subjected to physical abuse by the households where they worked, including being denied food and sleep.

They singled out Saudi firm BAB, which places workers from Cambodia-based company Fatina Manpower, for allegedly threatening them and accusing them of working illegally in the country. Some of the victims said they were unable to leave the country because BAB had refused to terminate their contracts.

The women told RFA that since their rescue, some of them had been “confined” to their hotel rooms “without proper access to food,” and said they were appealing for help because they could “no longer wait for the government” to send them home.

According to Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor, nearly 1.4 million people were provided with employment opportunities to work abroad in 2023, more than 93% of which are in Thailand, while the remainder are in South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.

Stranded in Saudi Arabia

RFA contacted one of the women, Thaing Sokyee, who said she had been forced to work as a maid in multiple homes each day without being provided enough food to eat before she was rescued, and is now suffering from health issues.

“I’ve called on the [labor] ministry and the embassy to find prompt solutions for us so that we may return to Cambodia,” she said. “We’ve faced mounting difficulties; our bodies have deteriorated as we were forced to work without food.”

Doeun Pheap, another victim who said she is sick as a result of her working conditions, told RFA that she has been confined to her room since her rescue and has not been permitted by embassy staff to go outside to purchase medicine.

She said the staff told her to wait for the government to send her home and that she was advised to record a video clip “saying that my health condition is getting better and that I have been provided with enough food to eat.”

“I still hurt all over my body – I’m able to stand up, but my waist and my back still hurt,” she said, adding that embassy staff had provided her with “rice, but not food.”

“I didn’t do it [record the video] because I was too hungry and exhausted; I couldn’t bear doing anything.”

Other victims claimed that Uk Sarun, Cambodia’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, had “threatened to abandon us if we continue to publicly call for help.”

Trafficking designation

On Monday, Ambassador Uk Sarun confirmed to RFA Khmer that only 16 of the 78 women had been returned home so far. He said that some of the women had faced a shortage of food due to the ongoing holy month of Ramadan, during which Muslims fast during the day and only eat at night.

He did not address claims by victims that he had threatened to withhold assistance if they continued to speak out about their situation.

The Khmer Times reported last week that 29 of the 78 had been safely repatriated as of April 19, while the rest were awaiting documentation to leave, but provided no attribution for the numbers.

The report said that the embassy was providing the victims with food and accommodation and cited Cambodian Ministry of Labor spokesman Katta Orn as saying that the ministry was conducting an investigation into the employment scam.

RFA spoke with Bun Chenda, a Cambodia-based anti-human trafficking officer for labor rights group CENTRAL, who said the women had been “exploited” when they were sent to Saudi Arabia without proper compliance with labor contracts.

“We are not sure if the government is treating their cases as human trafficking,” he said. “If they are being rescued as human trafficking victims, intervention would likely be easier and they wouldn’t be subject to legal action by a Saudi Arabian company.”

Translated by Yun, Samean. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.