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Mexico to deal prudently with new migrant flow

The migrant caravan, comprising 2,000 to 3,000 people, is continuing its advance through the southern Mexican state of Chiapas towards Mexico City…reports Asian Lite News

Mexico will deal prudently with the latest migrant caravan with thousands of Central American migrants advancing toward the country’s capital and even the US, Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard said.

“We will act with prudence and respect for human rights …” Ebrard said at a press conference, adding that the Mexican authorities will be careful to avoid any conflict, as there are many children in the caravan, reports Xinhua news agency.

He also reiterated Mexico’s call for a “fundamental solution” to mass migration driven by poverty and violence, and highlighted agreements reached with the United States to address the issues including investment in southern Mexico and Central American countries.

The migrant caravan, comprising 2,000 to 3,000 people, is continuing its advance through the southern Mexican state of Chiapas towards Mexico City, looking forward to regularising their immigration status.

The caravan has travelled more than 25 km so far, with the National Institute of Migration (INM) and Mexican National Guard members accompanying it following a slight confrontation on Saturday that failed to prevent the migrants’ advance.

The two state agencies contained and broke up some other caravans between August and September.

The operations sought to protect the migrants’ rights and prevent them from being exposed to greater dangers, such as kidnappings by criminal gangs, said President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Between January and August of this year, the Mexican authorities registered 147,000 undocumented migrants, according to INM figures.

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‘EU expects no improvement in migration situation’

EASO has already dispatched 77 employees to Lithuania to help with the reception and registrations of refugees as well as with the processing of the requests for asylum…reports Asian Lite News.

The situation on the EU border with Belarus will most likely see no improvement in the number of irregular migrant crossings, the Executive Director of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) Nina Gregori told Funke media group.

Gregori noted that this will primarily affect Latvia and Lithuania. The latter has registered over 2,500 requests for asylum form refugees from Belarus since the beginning of the summer, which is five times more than usual, Gregori added.

EASO has already dispatched 77 employees to Lithuania to help with the reception and registrations of refugees as well as with the processing of the requests for asylum.

Lithuania, Latvia and Poland have all reported a rise in the number of illegal migrants on the border with Belarus, and accused Minsk of creating a migration crisis. Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland have repeatedly accused Belarus of facilitating the illegal border crossings. Poland declared a state of emergency in the border regions and deployed additional police and army forces to the area.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that his country could no longer hold back the migration to Europe due to a lack of money and manpower caused by EU sanctions. The Belarusian border guard has accused Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland of forcefully pushing migrants across the border back into Belarus. (ANI/Sputnik)

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Covid, Brexit impact on UK dreamers

Many old job roles in the UK may become redundant post-pandemic and there may be a need for skills up-gradation or adaptation as per the demand…writes Siddhi Jain.

The UK is a dreamland for many students and workers in India for having better education and getting a dream job. It has been among the most popular destinations.

However, the recent completion of Brexit, a new student route in October 2020, and skilled worker route from December 2020 along with the current pandemic situation are bound to impact those coming to the UK on student/work visa, says Dattatraya Kadikar, Immigration expert and Founder of HSMP Services UK.

Kadikar further writes:

The new post-Brexit Immigration Rules state that The Graduate Route will allow two years of unsponsored stay in the UK after completing a bachelor’s or master’s degree, and three years after completing a PhD.

Whereas the work visa route, which replaced Tier-2 General Visa, will offer opportunities to IT, Healthcare, Legal and R&D professionals from India.

With the introduction of Brexit alone, students from India are supposed to have better opportunities for studies and work visa. However, the Brexit and pandemic collectively have had a huge impact on UK businesses and industry. It appears that the demand for talent has changed in the past couple of years. New entrants in the UK must ensure that their skills and experience are in demand in the UK in this post-Brexit, post-pandemic period.

Many old job roles in the UK may become redundant post-pandemic and there may be a need for skills up-gradation or adaptation as per the demand.

The UK has been a global hub for the finance and R&D industry. With changes in the UK immigration policies, UK is also attracting innovative start-ups to come and set up their businesses in the UK.

In spite of this, healthcare professionals, IT professionals, and teaching experts will be in demand in the UK, which would mean better opportunities for migrants from India. With the huge demand for teachers and education support jobs, teachers from India will need to obtain special certification to be eligible to work in the UK.

The UK Government has announced a special Health and Care visa for medical doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers who are in great demand in the UK due to pandemic. People applying under Health and Care visa will not be required to pay Immigration Health Surcharge, which is per person per year.

UK also has announced new Start-up visa and Innovator visa to complement the existing Global Talent Visa.

A new Highly Skilled visa has been announced in the Budget Speech which will be launched from 2022 for which the details will be disclosed in the next few months.

UK and India have recently signed a migration deal — ‘The Migration and Mobility Partnership’ — on May 4 to boost work visas for Indian nationals under an ambitious new immigration partnership.

This unique agreement will allow up to 3,000 young professionals from India to come to the UK, every year, for two years to work, study, and travel and experience the UK’s culture and lifestyle.

Those who come to the UK under this new scheme will be able to switch to Skilled Worker Visa or other permissible visa categories which lead to Permanent Residency and British Citizenship.

This will be a major boost for those who wish to migrate to the UK without job sponsorship.

It should be noted that the stay in the UK under Student and Graduate routes does not count towards the permanent residency in the UK, for which the qualifying period in most categories is 5 years. Other visa categories mentioned above lead to Permanent Residency or Indefinite Leave to Remain after 5 years and British Citizenship after one more year.

The UK has taken vaccination drive seriously, as a result, the country and economy are slowly opening up. There are a lot of opportunities that lie ahead for Indian students and skilled workers.

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Macron calls for end to ‘foreign intervention’ in Libya

Earlier, Macron also threatened that the country would withdraw troops from Mali if political turmoil there leads to greater Islamist radicalisation…reports Asian Lite News.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke in favour of the withdrawal of foreign forces, including Russian and Turkish, from the territory of Libya.

“As Libyans themselves demand, we must stop any foreign intervention, and this goes through the withdrawal of all forces of foreign mercenaries from the territory of Libya – Russian, Turkish, their Syrian mercenaries, and others,” Macron said after a meeting with Libya’s interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh.

“We are working on this with you and with all our partners. And this pullout [of foreign troops] should go along with the creation of a unified army,” he said.

He also announced France’s readiness to support Libya politically.

“It is necessary to guarantee the success of the national elections scheduled for the end of the year,” Macron said.

Earlier, Macron also threatened that the country would withdraw troops from Mali if political turmoil there leads to greater Islamist radicalisation.

It follows a second coup in nine months in the West African nation, the BBC reported.

Macron warned of the risk of Mali “moving towards” greater Islamist influence.

France has 5,100 troops in the Sahel region which has been a front line in the war against Islamist militancy.

French troops have been supporting forces in Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad to battle militants in the Sahel region since 2013.

Macron told Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper that he had told regional leaders that France would not support countries where there was no democratic legitimacy or transition, and that France had no intention of keeping its troops in Africa forever.

For decades France has provided military support to back leaders of its former colonies in Africa, often sending troops or despatching air strikes to counter armed rebels.

The French President has for some time been muttering about reducing, or withdrawing, the more than 5,000 French troops in the vast and troubled Sahel.

He is frustrated about a lack of commitment from most other European countries to fight the multiple militant Islamist groups in the region. They are considered a threat to Europe, both in terms of possible jihadist attacks on the continent and illegal migration.

But Macron faces another dilemma related to recent political events in two countries where French troops are active, Mali and Chad. Mali has had two military takeovers in the past nine months. Chad has had one.

Macron has been demanding an end to military rule in both. In Mali, he has threatened to withdraw French troops if the political chaos and uncertainty leads to an increase in radical Islam. But he is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Although French forces and their allies have failed to defeat the jihadists, who are becoming increasingly active in the Sahel and neighbouring regions, the fear is that, if France leaves, Islamist militancy will become even more rampant. (ANI/Sputnik/IANS)
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Turkey calls for action on EU migrants

Turkey has been at odds with EU members Greece and Cyprus regarding maritime boundaries and natural gas reserves in a contested part of the eastern Mediterranean…reports Asian Lite News

The Turkish government said on Friday that the European Union (EU) needs to take “concrete and constructive” steps regarding lingering issues such as renewing a migration pact and considering visa liberalisation.

EU leaders declared on Thursday that they were prepared to boost trade and extend a 2016 migration pact with Ankara, but warned of sanctions if Turkey resumes its “illegal” energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, reports dpa news agency.

The bloc will take further decisions at a European Council meeting in June, Brussels said.

In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Ankara hopes putting forward preconditions and “addressing only certain areas and postponing them to June will not lead to losing a positive momentum (with the EU)”.

Illegal migrants cross the Meric river by boat to enter Greece in Edirne Province, Turkey,

The EU “has no authority” to label Turkish drilling activities as illegal, the statement said, blaming such rhetoric on “provocations” by the Greek side.

Turkey has been at odds with EU members Greece and Cyprus regarding maritime boundaries and natural gas reserves in a contested part of the eastern Mediterranean.

Ankara said it still “welcomes efforts made with the report to improve Turkey-EU relations on the basis of a positive agenda”.

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Harris picked as point person for migration response

Biden described Harris as someone compared to whom nobody “is better qualified to do this…reports Asian Lite News

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DlwvGE31Co

US President Joe Biden announced that he picked Vice President Kamala Harris as the point person in the country’s diplomatic efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries in Central America to stem migration at the southern border.

Biden made the announcement at the White House on Wednesday, describing Harris as someone compared to whom nobody “is better qualified to do this,” citing the vice president’s experience as California’s former attorney general.

Faced with bipartisan pressure to tackle the surge of immigrants, especially unaccompanied children seeking reunion with their parents in the United States, at the US-Mexico border, Biden acknowledged there was a “serious spike” in people heading to the southern border even during the previous administration.

US President Joe Biden

“This new surge we are dealing with now started in the past administration but it is our responsibility” to resolve the problem, he said.

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Senior administration officials briefing reporters on the decision said Wednesday that Harris will work along two tracks: in the near term, “stemming the flow of irregular migrants” to the United States; and in the longer term, establishing a “strategic partnership” with Mexico and countries in the Northern Triangle — El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala — that is “based on respect and shared values, to enhance prosperity, combat current corruption, and strengthen the rule of law.”

The new role of Harris resembles that of Biden when he was vice president and asked by then President Barack Obama in 2014 and 2015 to lead diplomatic efforts in the Northern Triangle after a surge of unaccompanied minors from those countries began arriving in the United States.

Harris said Wednesday that there is “no question this is a challenging situation,” stressing the need to enforce laws and address the root causes in the meantime. She said she looked forward to engaging in diplomacy with the relevant countries, as well as reaching out to the private sector.

Administration officials including Roberta Jacobson, special assistant to the president and coordinator for the southwest border, and Juan Gonzalez, the National Security Council’s senior director for the Western Hemisphere, travelled to Mexico and Guatemala this week to discuss with officials there plans to stop migrants from fleeing the countries.

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