Rubio says El Salvador offers to accept deportees from US of any nationality, including Americans

Rubio says El Salvador offers to accept deportees from US of any nationality, including Americans
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with President Nayib Bukele at his residence at Lake Coatepeque in El Salvador, Feb. 3, 2025. (AP)
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Updated 04 February 2025
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Rubio says El Salvador offers to accept deportees from US of any nationality, including Americans

Rubio says El Salvador offers to accept deportees from US of any nationality, including Americans
  • President Nayib Bukele “has agreed to the most unprecedented, extraordinary, extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world,” Rubio said
  • Rubio was visiting El Salvador to press a friendly government to do more to meet President Donald Trump’s demands for a major crackdown on immigration

SAN SALVADOR: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio left El Salvador on Tuesday with an agreement from that country’s president to accept deportees from the US of any nationality, including violent American criminals now imprisoned in the United States.
President Nayib Bukele “has agreed to the most unprecedented, extraordinary, extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world,” Rubio said after meeting with Bukele at his lakeside country house outside San Salvador for several hours late Monday.
“We can send them, and he will put them in his jails,” Rubio said of migrants of all nationalities detained in the United States. “And, he’s also offered to do the same for dangerous criminals currently in custody and serving their sentences in the United States even though they’re US citizens or legal residents.”
Rubio was visiting El Salvador to press a friendly government to do more to meet President Donald Trump’s demands for a major crackdown on immigration.
Bukele confirmed the offer in a post on X, saying El Salvador has “offered the United States of America the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system.” He said his country would accept only “convicted criminals” and would charge a fee that “would be relatively low for the US but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable.”
Elon Musk, the billionaire working with Trump to remake the federal government, responded on his X platform, “Great idea!!”
After Rubio spoke, a US official said Trump’s Republican administration had no current plans to try to deport American citizens but called Bukele’s offer significant. The US government cannot deport American citizens, and such a move would be met with significant legal challenges.
The State Department describes El Salvador’s overcrowded prisons as “harsh and dangerous.” On its current country information webpage it says, “In many facilities, provisions for sanitation, potable water, ventilation, temperature control, and lighting are inadequate or nonexistent.”
El Salvador has lived under a state of emergency since March 2022, when the country’s powerful street gangs went on a killing rampage. Bukele responded by suspending fundamental rights like access to lawyers, and authorities have arrested more than 83,000 people with little to no due process.
In 2023, Bukele opened a massive new prison with capacity for 40,000 gang members and boasted about serving only one meal per day. Prisoners there do not receive visits, and there are no programs preparing them for reinsertion into society after their sentences and no workshops or educational programs.
El Salvador, once one of the most dangerous countries in the world, closed last year with a record low 114 homicides, a newfound security that has propelled Bukele’s soaring popularity in the country of about 6 million residents.
Rubio arrived in San Salvador shortly after watching a US-funded deportation flight with 43 migrants leave from Panama for Colombia. That came a day after Rubio delivered a warning to Panama that unless the government moved immediately to eliminate China’s presence at the Panama Canal, the US would act to do so.
Migration, though, was the main issue of the day, as it will be for the next stops on Rubio’s five-nation Central American tour of Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic after Panama and El Salvador.
His tour is taking place at a time of turmoil in Washington over the status of the government’s main foreign development agency.
Trump’s administration prioritizes stopping people from making the journey to the United States and has worked with regional countries to boost immigration enforcement on their borders as well as to accept deportees from the United States.
The agreement Rubio described for El Salvador to accept foreign nationals arrested in the United States for violating US immigration laws is known as a “safe third country” agreement. Officials have suggested this might be an option for Venezuelan gang members convicted of crimes in the United States should Venezuela refuse to accept them, but Rubio said Bukele’s offer was for detainees of any nationality.
Rubio said Bukele then went further and said his country was willing to accept and to jail US citizens or legal residents convicted of and imprisoned for violent crimes.
Human rights activists have warned that El Salvador lacks a consistent policy for the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees and that such an agreement might not be limited to violent criminals.
Manuel Flores, the secretary general of the leftist opposition party Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, criticized the “safe third country” plan, saying it would signal that the region is Washington’s “backyard to dump the garbage.”
After meeting with Bukele, Rubio signed a memorandum of understanding with his Salvadoran counterpart to advance US-El Salvador civil nuclear cooperation. The document could lead to a more formal deal on cooperation in nuclear power and medicine that the US has with numerous countries.
While Rubio was out of the US, staffers of the US Agency for International Development were instructed Monday to stay out of the agency’s Washington headquarters after Musk announced Trump had agreed with him to shut the agency.
Thousands of USAID employees already had been laid off and programs shut down. Rubio told reporters in San Salvador that he was now the acting administrator of USAID but had delegated that authority so he would not be running its day-to-day operations.
The change means that USAID is no longer an independent government agency as it had been for decades — although its new status will likely be challenged in court — and will be run out of the State Department by department officials.
In his remarks, Rubio stressed that some and perhaps many USAID programs would continue in the new configuration but that the switch was necessary because the agency had become unaccountable to the executive branch and Congress.


Bangladesh’s Yunus heads to China for first state visit

Bangladesh’s Yunus heads to China for first state visit
Updated 29 sec ago
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Bangladesh’s Yunus heads to China for first state visit

Bangladesh’s Yunus heads to China for first state visit
  • Yunus to seek investment in healthcare and dedicated Chinese Economic Zone
  • Visit comes amid strained relations with another regional superpower, India

Dhaka: The head of Bangladesh’s interim government, Muhammad Yunus, departed on Wednesday for China, where he will meet President Xi Jinping and also mark his first bilateral state visit since assuming the role of chief adviser, his office said.

Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and economics professor, will address the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan, southern China — an annual conference focusing on the changing role of Asia — from where he will travel to Beijing.

His bilateral with Xi is scheduled for Friday, marking their first meeting since Yunus assumed office in August 2024.

“The main focus of this visit is to boost economic cooperation … We are expecting that a number of (memoranda of understanding) will be inked during this visit. The MoUs will cover mostly the areas of economic cooperation,” Azad Majumder, Yunus’ deputy press secretary, told Arab News.

“One of the main focuses of discussion will be bringing more investments from China in our dedicated Chinese Economic Zone.”

Munshi Faiz Ahmad, Dhaka’s former envoy to Beijing, said it was significant that Yunus was choosing China for his first state visit, especially as relations with another regional superpower, India, have soured since the change in government.

India was a close ally of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government. She has also sought refuge in New Delhi after deadly protests that unseated her last year. Until now, India has not responded to Bangladesh’s request to send her home for trial.

The situation opens the door for China — India’s key rival — to expand its footprint.

“For our interim government, this China visit is very significant. It’s the first bilateral visit to any country by Prof. Yunus as the chief adviser,” Ahmad said.

“It’s an opportunity for Bangladesh to boost the relationship with China and explore new areas of cooperation …. It’s an issue of mutual benefit for Bangladesh and China.”

Yunus’ office said he will also seek Chinese investment in healthcare and the establishment of a large hospital in Bangladesh to reduce the trend of medical tourism abroad.

Many Bangladeshis have sought treatment in neighboring India, but it has lately become difficult to obtain Indian visas.

“It has been reported that China is interested in providing a grant of $138 million for building medical facilities. If that proposal moves forward, it will be a good thing. There is a ready opportunity for China, as India is not issuing enough visas for Bangladeshis now. A lion’s share of our medical tourism can be shifted to China,” Humayun Kabir, former Bangladeshi ambassador to the US, told Arab News.

“There are opportunities to attract more investments from China. Our government is very eager in this regard. We have dedicated an economic zone for Chinese investors … Secondly, we are in need of budget support at this moment. If China provides some financial assistance, it would be of great help. Our previous regime also sought this support, but it didn’t materialize.”


Indonesia braces for annual Eid exodus as 146 million travel home

Indonesia braces for annual Eid exodus as 146 million travel home
Updated 7 min 12 sec ago
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Indonesia braces for annual Eid exodus as 146 million travel home

Indonesia braces for annual Eid exodus as 146 million travel home
  • More than 33 million people are traveling by private car, with peak traffic expected on Friday
  • Over 164,000 transportation, security personnel have been deployed to oversee their safety

Jakarta: Indonesian authorities are bracing for the annual homecoming rush, as 146 million people — more than half the population — head to their hometowns for the Eid Al-Fitr holidays.

Locally known as “mudik,” the Eid exodus is one of the world’s greatest seasonal migrations, with travelers braving enormous traffic jams, thousands of kilometers and exhaustion to make it home for the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan.

“Our preparations for mudik are final, we are always working to improve our synergy across different departments, and we have come up with the best plans. Now it’s time to monitor the implementation,” Pratikno, coordinating minister for human development and cultural affairs, said at a press conference on Wednesday.

About 33 million people are expected to use private cars this year, according to a survey conducted by the transportation ministry. Nearly 25 million people will be using buses, while over 23 million others are traveling by trains.

More than 164,000 transportation and security personnel are being deployed across 2,835 locations in Indonesia to oversee the safety of the travelers.

Authorities are expecting the exodus to peak on Friday, when around 12 million people will hit the road at the last minute to reach their hometowns for the first day of Eid.

“We’ve received reports that the number of travelers is increasing, now six days before Eid, and especially on highways, there is already a 7 percent increase,” National Police Chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo said.

Mudik is often associated with hours of traffic jams, especially on the main island of Java, where the top four mudik destinations are located: Central Java, East Java, West Java and Yogyakarta.

“We are advising travelers to make the most use of incentives from the government, especially those who are traveling back to their hometowns … so that they can travel ahead and help scatter the flow of traffic,” Prabowo said.

The incentives include discounted prices for highway fees and various modes of transportation for early travelers, as well as free travel programs from regional governments.

Authorities have also prepared military helicopters and ambulances to help evacuate the wounded in case of traffic incidents.

“Besides our officers, the military will also deploy nine Hercules military planes,” Indonesian Military Chief Agus Subiyanto said. “Should it be needed, we have prepared helicopters and ambulances, as well as excavators, fire trucks and tow trucks.”

Each year, hundreds of people die on the road during the Eid exodus. More than 4,500 accidents were recorded last year, claiming the lives of at least 507 people.

Heightened security measures along Indonesia’s main roads will be in place until the end of the long holiday on April 8.


Russia launches drone attack on Ukraine port providing access to Black Sea, officials say

Russia launches drone attack on Ukraine port providing access to Black Sea, officials say
Updated 26 March 2025
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Russia launches drone attack on Ukraine port providing access to Black Sea, officials say

Russia launches drone attack on Ukraine port providing access to Black Sea, officials say
  • The US reached separate deals on Tuesday with Ukraine and Russia to pause their attacks over the Black Sea
  • The mayor of Mykolaiv said there were emergency power outages early on Wednesday in the city

Russia launched an overnight drone attack on the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv, which provides the country with access to the Black Sea, and struck Kryvyi Rih in what Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday was the war’s biggest drone attack on the city.
The United States reached separate deals on Tuesday with Ukraine and Russia to pause their attacks over the Black Sea and against each other’s energy targets, but it was not clear when and how the deals would come into force.
The mayor of Mykolaiv said there were emergency power outages early on Wednesday in the city, following a report by the region’s governor that seven drones were destroyed overnight over the region.
It was not immediately clear whether the power cuts were precautionary or a result of the overnight attack on Mykolaiv.
Russia also attacked the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, igniting fires and damaging buildings but causing no deaths, the head of the city’s military administration said.
The Ukrainian military said its air defense units had shot down 56 of 117 drones launched by Russia in the overnight attack. It noted that 48 drones were lost, referring to the Ukrainian military’s redirecting them with electronic warfare.
“Apparently, this is how the occupiers ‘want peace’,” Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the military administration, wrote on the Telegram messaging app, describing it as the war’s biggest drone attack on the city. “Most importantly, there were no deaths or injuries.”
Reuters could not independently verify the reports from Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih. The size of the attack on Kryvyi Rih and what was targeted there were not immediately clear.
Vilkul had reported at least 15 explosions in Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown and a frequent target of Russian attacks.
There was no immediate comment from Russia, but the Russian defense ministry said that its air defense units destroyed nine Ukrainian drones overnight, including two over the waters of the Black Sea.


Kenyan UN peacekeeper missing in Haiti following gang attack

Kenyan UN peacekeeper missing in Haiti following gang attack
Updated 26 March 2025
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Kenyan UN peacekeeper missing in Haiti following gang attack

Kenyan UN peacekeeper missing in Haiti following gang attack
  • Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed
  • Gang violence has left more than one million people homeless in the Caribbean country

NAIROBI: A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said on Wednesday.
The Kenyan officers were on their way Tuesday to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” according to the mission’s statement, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer.
Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media.
Gang violence has left more than one million people homeless in the Caribbean country in recent years, according to the UN, with many crowding into makeshift and unsanitary shelters after gunmen razed their homes.
The Kenya-led force was launched last year and tasked with fighting gangs trying to seize full control of Haiti’s capital. Kenya had promised to send 1,000 officers to Haiti. Since June, 800 have been deployed.
Another Kenyan officer who was shot and killed by the gangs in Haiti in February was buried in Kenya last week. Opposition leaders in the east African country called for the mission’s officers to be better equipped.
The mission has been struggling with a lack of personnel as gangs that control 85 percent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, keep seizing more territory. The force’s funding has also been dealt a blow after the US, its biggest backer, froze some of its funding, part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping freeze on foreign assistance.


South Korea’s wildfires kill 24, wreak ‘unprecedented damage’

South Korea’s wildfires kill 24, wreak ‘unprecedented damage’
Updated 26 March 2025
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South Korea’s wildfires kill 24, wreak ‘unprecedented damage’

South Korea’s wildfires kill 24, wreak ‘unprecedented damage’
  • More than a dozen fires broke out over the weekend, scorching wide swathes of the southeast
  • The blazes forced around 27,000 residents to urgently evacuate

ANDONG, South Korea: One of South Korea’s worst-ever wildfire outbreaks has killed at least 24 people, officials said Wednesday, with multiple raging blazes causing “unprecedented damage” and threatening two UNESCO-listed sites.

More than a dozen fires broke out over the weekend, scorching wide swathes of the southeast, forcing around 27,000 people to urgently evacuate, with the fire cutting off roads and downing communications lines as residents fled in panic.

The death toll jumped to 24 on Wednesday, as wind-driven flames tore through neighborhoods and razed an ancient temple.

“Twenty four people are confirmed dead in the wildfires so far,” with 12 seriously injured, a ministry of interior and safety official said, adding that these were “preliminary figures” and the toll could rise.

Most of those killed were local residents, but at least three firefighters were killed, and a pilot in a firefighting helicopter died when his aircraft crashed in a mountain area, officials said.

According to the interior ministry, the wildfires have charred 17,398 hectares (42,991 acres), with the blaze in Uiseong county alone accounting for 87 percent of the total.

The extent of damage already makes it South Korea’s second largest, after the inferno in April 2000 that scorched 23,913 hectares across the east coast.

The government has raised the crisis alert to its highest level and taken the rare step of transferring some inmates out of prisons in the area.

“Wildfires burning for a fifth consecutive day... are causing unprecedented damage,” South Korea’s acting president Han Duck-soo said.

He told an emergency safety and disaster meeting that the blazes were “developing in a way that is exceeding both existing prediction models and earlier expectations.”

“Throughout the night, chaos continued as power and communication lines were cut in several areas and roads were blocked,” he added.

In the city of Andong, some evacuees sheltering in an elementary school gym said they had to flee so quickly they could bring nothing with them.

“The wind was so strong,” Kwon So-han, a 79-year-old resident in Andong said, adding that as soon as he got the evacuation order he fled.

“The fire came from the mountain and fell on my house,” he said.

“Those who haven’t experienced it won’t know. I could only bring my body.”

Authorities had been using helicopters to battle the blazes, but suspended all such operations after a helicopter crashed Wednesday, killing the pilot on board.

Authorities said changing wind patterns and dry weather had revealed the limitations of conventional firefighting methods.

The fires are “the most devastating” yet in South Korea, acting president Han added.

By Wednesday, two UNESCO-listed sites popular with tourists — historic Hahoe Folk Village and Byeongsan Seowon — were under threat.

Authorities said late Wednesday that the fire was just five kilometers away from Hahoe, a village where some houses were covered with thatched roofs.

Firefighters were also on standby at nearby Byeongsan Seowon, known for its pavillion-style ancient academies.

Huge plumes of smoke turned the sky over the village grey and huge chunks of ash floated in the air, with fire trucks spraying water and fire-retardants onto the historic site in a desperate bit to save it.

Last year was South Korea’s hottest year on record, with the Korea Meteorological Administration saying that the average annual temperature was 14.5 degrees Celsius — two degrees higher than the preceding 30-year average of 12.5 degrees.

The fire-hit region had been experiencing unusually dry weather with below-average precipitation, authorities have said, with the South experiencing more than double the number of fires this year than last.

Some types of extreme weather have a well-established link with climate change, such as heatwaves or heavy rainfall.

Other phenomena, such as forest fires, droughts, snowstorms and tropical storms can result from a combination of complex factors.

“We can’t say that it’s only due to climate change, but climate change is directly (and) indirectly affecting the changes we are experiencing now. This is a sheer fact,” Yeh Sang-Wook, professor of climatology at Seoul’s Hanyang University, said.

“Wildfires will become more frequent,” he added.

“As the atmosphere becomes warmer due to climate change, the water vapor in the ground evaporates more easily, so the amount of moisture contained in the ground decreases. So, all this creates the conditions wildfires can occur more frequently.”

The major fire in Uiseong was reportedly caused by a person tending to a family grave who accidentally ignited the blaze.

Apple farmer Cho Jae-oak said that he and his wife had sprayed water around their house all day to protect it.

“We kept spraying and guarding it. When the fire was burning on the mountain, fireballs flew here,” he said, adding that the encroaching flames eventually forced them to leave.