Afghan Americans fearful after Trump order halts refugee program

Afghan Americans fearful after Trump order halts refugee program
An executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump to suspend refugee admissions has magnified the fears of one Afghan American soldier who has long been worried about the fate of his sister in Kabul. (AFP/File)
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Updated 22 January 2025
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Afghan Americans fearful after Trump order halts refugee program

Afghan Americans fearful after Trump order halts refugee program
  • Almost 200 family members of active-duty US military personnel approved for refugee resettlement in the US will be pulled off flights between now and April
  • They are among nearly 1,560 Afghan refugees who will be taken off flight manifests, according to VanDiver and the official

WASHINGTON: An executive order by US President Donald Trump to suspend refugee admissions has magnified the fears of one Afghan American soldier who has long been worried about the fate of his sister in Kabul.
The soldier is afraid his sister could be forced to marry a Taliban fighter or targeted by a for-ransom kidnapping before she and her husband could fly out of Afghanistan and resettle as refugees in the US
“I’m just thinking about this all day. I can’t even do my job properly because this is mentally impacting me,” the soldier with the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division told Reuters on Tuesday. He spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
Almost 200 family members of active-duty US military personnel approved for refugee resettlement in the US will be pulled off flights between now and April under Trump’s order signed on Monday, according to Shawn VanDiver, head of the #AfghanEvac coalition of veterans and advocacy groups, and a US official familiar with the issue.
They are among nearly 1,560 Afghan refugees who will be taken off flight manifests, according to VanDiver and the official.
They said the group includes unaccompanied children and Afghans at risk of Taliban retaliation because they fought for the US-backed government that fled as the last US troops withdrew from the country in August 2021 after two decades of war.
The UN mission in Afghanistan says the Taliban have killed, tortured and arbitrarily detained former officials and troops. It reported in October that between July and September, there were at least 24 cases of arbitrary arrest and detention, 10 of torture and ill-treatment and at least five former soldiers had been killed.
The Taliban instituted a general amnesty for officials and troops of the former US-backed government and deny accusations of any retaliation. A spokesman for the Taliban-backed government did not immediately respond to questions about fears of retribution against those families awaiting relocation.
A UN report in May said that while the Taliban have banned forced marriages, a UN special rapporteur on human rights remained concerned about allegations that Taliban fighters have continued the practice “without legal consequences.”
A crackdown on immigration was a major promise of Trump’s victorious 2024 election campaign, leaving the fate of US refugee programs up in the air.
His executive order, signed hours after he was sworn for a second term, said he was suspending refugee admissions until programs “align with the interests of the United States” because the country cannot absorb large numbers of migrants without compromising “resources available to Americans.”

DESTINY UNCLEAR
“It’s not good news. Not for my family, my wife, for all of the Afghans that helped us with the mission. They put their lives in danger. Now they will be left alone, and their destiny is not clear,” said Fazel Roufi, an Afghan American former 82nd Airborne Division soldier.
Roufi, a former Afghan army officer, came to the US on a student visa, obtained citizenship and joined the US Army. He witnessed the chaotic Kabul airport pullout as an adviser and translator for the commanding US general, and he himself helped to rescue Americans, US embassy staff and others.
His wife, recently flown by the State Department to Doha for refugee visa processing, now sits in limbo in a US military base.
“If my wife goes back, they (the Taliban) will just execute her and her family,” said Roufi, who retired from the US Army in 2022.
The active-duty 82nd Airborne soldier said he harbors similar fears, adding that his sister and her husband have been threatened with kidnapping by people who think they are rich because the rest of the family escaped to the US in the 2021 evacuation.
“She has no other family members (in Afghanistan) besides her husband,” he said.
Trump’s order has ignited fears that he could halt other resettlement programs, including those that award special immigration visas to Afghans and Iraqis who worked for the US government, said Kim Staffieri, executive director of the Association of Wartime Allies, a group that helps Afghans and Iraqis resettle in the United States.
“They’re all terrified. The level of anxiety we are getting from them, in many ways, feels like the lead-up to August 2021,” she said, referring to the panic that prompted thousands of Afghans to storm Kabul airport hoping to board evacuation flights.
Another Afghan American, who caught a flight with the US troops for whom he translated and joined the Texas National Guard after obtaining his green card, said his parents, two sisters, his brother and his brother’s family had been scheduled to fly to the US within the next month. He had found accommodations for them in Dallas.
“I cannot express in words how I feel,” said the Afghan American who asked his name be withheld out of fear for his family’s safety. “I don’t feel good since yesterday. I cannot eat. I cannot sleep.”


Argentine court issues warrants for Myanmar officials accused of Rohingya ‘genocide’

Argentine court issues warrants for Myanmar officials accused of Rohingya ‘genocide’
Updated 11 sec ago
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Argentine court issues warrants for Myanmar officials accused of Rohingya ‘genocide’

Argentine court issues warrants for Myanmar officials accused of Rohingya ‘genocide’
  • The court ruling was in response to a complaint filed by a Rohingya advocacy group under the principle of “universal jurisdiction”
  • Myanmar’s military junta leader is also under investigation by the ICC, while the ICJ is examining a complaint of “genocide” against Myanmar

BUENOS AIRES: An Argentine court has issued arrest warrants for the head of Myanmar’s military junta and former officials including Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi over alleged “genocide and crimes against humanity” targeting the Rohingya minority group.
The court ruling, seen by AFP on Friday, was issued in response to a complaint filed in Argentina by a Rohingya advocacy group.
It was filed under the principle of “universal jurisdiction” by which countries can prosecute crimes regardless of where they occurred if, like genocide or war crimes, they are considered sufficiently serious.
Warrants were issued for military and civilian officials including current junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, ex-president Htin Kyaw, and former elected civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in her capacity as “state counselor” from 2016 to 2021, when she was ousted in a coup.
In that time, she has been accused by detractors of doing little to stop the abuse of Rohingya.
Hlaing is also under investigation by the International Criminal Court, while the International Court of Justice — the UN’s highest tribunal — is examining a complaint of “genocide” against Myanmar.
The Rohingyas, mainly Muslims, are originally from Buddhist-majority Myanmar where, according to Amnesty International, they have been subjected to a regime akin to apartheid.
Beginning in 2017, many have been forced to flee persecution and violence to richer and predominantly Muslim Malaysia, or to refugee camps in Bangladesh, where about a million of them live.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the 2021 coup that sparked renewed clashes with ethnic rebels and saw the formation of dozens of “People’s Defense Forces” now battling the junta.
In her ruling issued Thursday, Judge Maria Servini said the allegations listed in the complaint “constitute crimes that violate human rights recognized in various international criminal law instruments, subscribed to by most countries in the world.”
They included “internationally known crimes such as genocide and crimes against humanity, committed by the political and military authorities in power in that country,” she added.

Universal jurisdiction
Argentine courts have in the past opened investigations into crimes in other countries under the principle of “universal jurisdiction,” including for acts committed by the Francisco Franco regime in Spain.
And last December, a judge ordered the arrest of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega for “systematic violation of human rights.”
None of the cases have yet resulted in action against a foreign national.
Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organization UK, nevertheless welcomed the latest ruling as a “historic step toward justice for Rohingya and everyone in Burma suffering under the Burmese military.”
It was “also a victory for international justice at a time of growing violations of international law worldwide,” he said in a statement.
Tomas Ojea Quintana, the Rohingya’ plaintiffs’ lawyer in Argentina, told AFP the next step will be for the ruling to be forwarded to prosecutors, who will take the steps necessary for the notification of Interpol, which issues international warrants.
 


President Trump urged to declassify US files on Lockerbie bombing

President Trump urged to declassify US files on Lockerbie bombing
Updated 14 February 2025
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President Trump urged to declassify US files on Lockerbie bombing

President Trump urged to declassify US files on Lockerbie bombing
  • Incident killed 259 passengers and crew, 11 people on ground

LONDON: A prominent lawyer who represented the British victims of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing has urged President Donald Trump to declassify US intelligence files related to the attack, Sky News reported on Friday.

Prof. Peter Watson, who served as secretary for the Lockerbie Disaster Group, has called on Trump to release the documents, arguing that the families of those killed “deserve transparency, truth and answers.”

Trump has previously moved to declassify files concerning the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., and Watson said he believes Lockerbie should be next.

“Nearly four decades later, as new trials and investigations continue, the pursuit of truth and justice for the victims and their families endures,” he said.

“The families of the victims are entitled to know as much as possible about what happened on the night of the bombing, and we know there are documents held by the US and UK intelligence services that fill the vacuum of understanding that remains today.”

Pan Am Flight 103 was blown out of the sky over the Scottish town of Lockerbie on Dec. 21, 1988, killing 259 passengers and crew on board, along with 11 people on the ground.

Libya accepted responsibility for the bombing in 2003 and compensated the families of the victims to the tune of £2.1 billion ($2.7 billion), but significant questions about the attack remain with no public inquiry into the bombing held to date.

Former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi was convicted for the bombing but was released on compassionate grounds in 2009 after being diagnosed with cancer. He died in 2012.

Libyan suspect Abu Agila Masud, who is alleged to have built the bomb, will stand trial in the US in May. He denies all charges.

Watson sent his declassification request in a letter to Matthew Palmer, the charge d’affaires at the US Embassy in London.

He wrote: “We have seen a move from President Trump to declassify a number of federal secrets, and we believe Lockerbie should be next.

“The families have waited far too long. They deserve transparency, truth and answers.”


European naval force helps free ship seized by pirates

European naval force helps free ship seized by pirates
Updated 14 February 2025
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European naval force helps free ship seized by pirates

European naval force helps free ship seized by pirates
  • Piracy off the Somali coast peaked in 2011 when 237 attacks were reported

DUBAI: A European naval force in the Middle East helped free a Yemeni fishing boat seized by suspected Somali pirates off the Horn of Africa, authorities said.
The naval force, EUNAVFOR Atalanta, said late on Thursday that the incident remained under investigation. It said the 12 mariners on board were safe and uninjured.
It said the attack that began last week targeted a dhow, a traditional ship that plies the waters of the Mideast off the town of Eyl in Somalia.
“The immediate presence of Atalanta forces in the area, especially the helicopter, was decisive in the fishing vessel liberation,” EUNAVFOR said.
“The crew confirmed that the alleged pirates abandoned the vessel after stealing personal objects and two skiffs belonging to the dhow.”
Piracy off the Somali coast peaked in 2011 when 237 attacks were reported.
Somali piracy in the region at the time cost the world’s economy some $7 billion — with $160 million paid out in ransoms, according to the Oceans Beyond Piracy monitoring group.
The threat was diminished by increased international naval patrols.

 


Poland jails Russians over Wagner sticker ‘propaganda’

Poland jails Russians over Wagner sticker ‘propaganda’
Updated 14 February 2025
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Poland jails Russians over Wagner sticker ‘propaganda’

Poland jails Russians over Wagner sticker ‘propaganda’
  • Poland’s Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak wrote on X that the arrest was “a major blow for the Russian sabotage network in Europe“
  • The stickers posted by the two sentenced Russians bore the Wagner logo, a slogan in English saying “We are here. Join us“

WARSAW: A Polish court on Friday jailed two Russian men for more than five years each under espionage laws for distributing alleged propaganda for the now-disbanded Wagner mercenary group.
The pair, identified by Polish counter-intelligence as Alexei T. and Andrei G., were detained in August 2023 for distributing stickers in Warsaw and Krakow for Russia’s once-powerful mercenary group.
Also on Friday, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted on X that a Russian suspected of sabotage against Poland and its allies had been arrested.
The Russian, “suspected of coordinating sabotage acts against Poland, the United States and other allies, and who was hiding in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been deported to Poland and placed under arrest,” Tusk said.
Poland’s Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak wrote on X that the arrest was “a major blow for the Russian sabotage network in Europe.”
The stickers posted by the two sentenced Russians bore the Wagner logo, a slogan in English saying “We are here. Join us,” and a QR code directing people to a Russian website about the mercenary group.
Poland’s counter-intelligence agency said at the time: “The Russians had on them more than 3,000 propaganda leaflets promoting the Wagner group.”
“These activities were an element of the hybrid warfare aimed at our country,” judge Ewa Karp-Sieklucka said Friday, media in Krakow, where the trial was held, reported.
They were sentenced to five years and six months in jail.
While they did not deny distributing the stickers, they pleaded not guilty, arguing they had not been aware they were taking part in a recruitment campaign.
Poland’s historically strained relations with neighboring Russia have dipped to new lows over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Almost three years into the war, Poland remains a staunch ally of Kyiv. It has become a major logistics hub for military equipment the West has been transferring to the war-torn country.
Warsaw officials have frequently blamed Russia for orchestrating sabotage attempts on its soil, which they say are aimed at destabilising the EU member.
In one of its largest espionage trials, Poland in 2023 convicted 14 citizens of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine of preparing sabotage on behalf of Moscow as part of a spy ring.
They were sentenced for preparing to derail trains carrying aid to Ukraine, and monitoring military facilities and critical infrastructure.
In October, Poland ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Poznan, western Poland, over “the hybrid war” it accused Moscow of waging.


Sweden jails man for joining Daesh, in first under new legislation

Policemen stand guard in Stockholm. (AFP file photo)
Policemen stand guard in Stockholm. (AFP file photo)
Updated 14 February 2025
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Sweden jails man for joining Daesh, in first under new legislation

Policemen stand guard in Stockholm. (AFP file photo)
  • The case is the first conviction for “participation in a terrorist organization” under a law adopted by parliament in 2023

STOCKHOLM: A Swedish court on Friday sentenced a man to three years in jail for joining Daesh, the country’s first conviction since new legislation was introduced banning participation in a terrorist group.
The 22-year-old man was convicted of “participation in a terrorist organization,” as well as financing terrorism and three counts of foreign travel for terrorism purposes, the court said in a statement.
According to the court, all charges concerned Daesh, and the three trips were all to Somalia.

BACKHOME

Sweden has been adopting stricter anti-terror laws since 2017, after an Uzbek asylum seeker drove a truck down a busy shopping street in Stockholm, killing five people.

His sentence was set to three years and three months in prison.
The case is the first conviction for “participation in a terrorist organization” under a law adopted by parliament in 2023.
Sweden had been adopting stricter anti-terror laws since 2017, after an Uzbek asylum seeker — who had sworn allegiance to Daesh — drove a truck down a busy shopping street in Stockholm, killing five people.
However, the legislation on participation in a terrorist group required the country first to amend its constitution as it was deemed to infringe on Sweden’s freedom of association laws.
The adoption of the bill also came as Turkiye was holding up Sweden’s bid to join NATO — with Ankara demanding that Sweden crack down on extremist groups.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Sweden ended two centuries of military non-alignment and applied to join the alliance in May 2022 — eventually joining in March 2024.