Venezuelan migrants deported by the US ended up in a Salvadoran prison. This is their legal status

Venezuelan migrants deported by the US ended up in a Salvadoran prison. This is their legal status
The US government used an 18th-century wartime law to deport more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador, where they were immediately transferred to the country's maximum-security gang prison. (AP/File)
Short Url
Updated 25 March 2025
Follow

Venezuelan migrants deported by the US ended up in a Salvadoran prison. This is their legal status

Venezuelan migrants deported by the US ended up in a Salvadoran prison. This is their legal status
  • El Salvador hasn’t had diplomatic relations with Venezuela since 2019
  • So the Venezuelans imprisoned there do not have any consular support from their government either

SAN SALVADOR: The US government used an 18th-century wartime law to deport more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador, where they were immediately transferred to the country’s maximum-security gang prison.
And while a federal judge in Washington tries to determine whether the US government defied his order to return the migrants while they were in the air and insists that they must get an opportunity to challenge their designations as alleged members of a notorious gang, there has been no word from El Salvador’s president or judiciary about what the prisoners’ legal status is in that country.
That may change soon. On Monday, lawyers hired by the Venezuelan government took legal action on behalf of the Venezuelan prisoners seeking their release from the prison, which US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is scheduled to visit Wednesday.
The US says the Venezuelans were members of the Tren de Aragua gang, a criminal organization that US President Donald Trump declared an invading force, but has provided no evidence of their alleged membership. The Alien Enemies Act allows noncitizens to be deported without the opportunity to go before an immigration or federal court judge.
El Salvador hasn’t had diplomatic relations with Venezuela since 2019, so the Venezuelans imprisoned there do not have any consular support from their government either.
Even Salvadoran citizens have been living under a state of emergency that has suspended fundamental rights since 2022 and the country’s judiciary is not considered independent. All of which raises questions about the prisoners’ legal future in El Salvador.
What has El Salvador’s government said about the prisoners’ status in the country?
Nothing.
President Nayib Bukele announced Sunday that the United States had sent what he called “238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua” to El Salvador and they were immediately sent to its maximum security gang prison. The US government would pay an annual fee for their incarceration, Bukele wrote in a post on X.
El Salvador’s Attorney General’s Office and Presidential Commissioner for Human Rights and Freedom of Expression did not respond to requests for comment about the status of the Venezuelan prisoners.
What do El Salvador’s laws say about the status of these prisoners?
Lawyer David Morales, legal director for the nongovernmental organization Cristosal, said there was no legal basis for the Venezuelans’ imprisonment in El Salvador. He said he knew of no Salvadoran law or international treaty that would support their imprisonment.
“They are illegal detentions because they haven’t been submitted to the jurisdiction of a Salvadoran judge, nor have they been prosecuted or convicted in El Salvador,” he said. As such, their imprisonment here is “arbitrary.”
He said El Salvador’s prosecutor’s office for human rights would have the authority to intervene, because it has a broad mandate when it comes to prisoners, “but we already know that it’s not playing its role because it is dominated, subjected to political power.”
What are lawyers doing?
Lawyers hired by the Venezuelan government filed a legal action Monday in El Salvador aimed at freeing 238 Venezuelans deported by the United States who are being held in a Salvadoran maximum-security prison.
Jaime Ortega, who says he represents 30 of the imprisoned Venezuelans, said his firm filed the habeas corpus petition with the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Chamber. He said that by extension they requested that it be applied to all Venezuelans detained in El Salvador.
Before it was filed, constitutional lawyer Enrique Anaya had suggested human rights organizations and the prisoners’ families should file habeas corpus petitions, essentially compelling the government to prove someone’s detention was justified “as a mechanism to denounce (the situation) as well as to pressure” the government.
Still, Anaya said the lack of judicial independence in El Salvador made success unlikely. Bukele’s party removed the justices of the Supreme Court’s Constitutional chamber in 2021 and replaced them with judges seen as more amenable to the administration.
“Who is going to decide these people’s freedom, US judges, Salvadoran judges?” Anaya asked. The habeas corpus petitions could at least “show the illegitimacy of this vacuum.”
How hard is it for Salvadorans to get out of prisons there?
El Salvador has lived under a state of emergency since March 2022, when Congress granted Bukele extraordinary powers to fight the country’s powerful street gangs.
Since then, some 84,000 people have been arrested, accused of gang ties. The state of emergency has allowed authorities to act without basic protections like access to a lawyer or even being told why they’re being arrested. They can be held for 15 days without seeing a judge.
Homicides have plummeted in El Salvador and the improved security has fueled Bukele’s popularity.
But while Bukele has said some 8,000 of those arrested have been freed for lack of evidence, many more have found no way out.
Last year, the Due Process Foundation published a report showing that the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court had “systematically” rejected more than 6,000 habeas corpus petitions made by families of people arrested under the state of emergency.


Philippines, UAE sign agreement to combat cybercrime, drug trafficking

Philippine Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla and UAE Interior Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al-Nahyan shake hands.
Philippine Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla and UAE Interior Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al-Nahyan shake hands.
Updated 5 sec ago
Follow

Philippines, UAE sign agreement to combat cybercrime, drug trafficking

Philippine Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla and UAE Interior Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al-Nahyan shake hands.
  • New deal provides ‘strategic framework’ for cooperation, Philippine ambassador says
  • UAE is the only country in the Middle East where Philippines has defense attache

MANILA: The Philippines has signed a new security agreement with the UAE to tackle transnational and organized crime, officials said on Tuesday.

Signed by Philippine Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla and UAE Interior Minister Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the new deal focuses on cybercrime, drug trafficking and human trafficking. 

“Transnational crimes with global networks powered by new technologies and the ease of cross-border movement of persons and criminal syndicates need more international cooperation and partnerships,” Alfonso Ver, Philippine ambassador to the UAE, told Arab News on Tuesday. 

“This is one concrete step to address the growing menace above … We have gone into new and heretofore unexplored areas of bilateral cooperation, moving beyond the issues of OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers), migration and oil.” 

The Philippines and the UAE celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations last year. 

The two countries have been working to expand security ties over the past few years, with discussions ongoing for a wide-ranging bilateral defense pact. 

In 2021, the Philippines posted a defense attache in the UAE, making it the only country in the Middle East where Manila has such representation. 

The two countries also signed several treaties on extradition, mutual legal assistance and transfer of prisoners in February. 

Ver said the new agreement was a “milestone” that provides a “strategic framework” that will help guide Philippine-UAE “future engagements in a more structured, sustainable, and effective” manner.

It is also expected to promote the exchange of best practices and expertise. 

“We discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations between the two friendly countries and develop cooperation in the security and police fields,” Sheikh Saif said in a post on X, referring to his meeting with Remulla. 

“This underscores our shared commitment to supporting effective international institutional cooperation to enhance the security and stability of societies.”

Cybercrime and trafficking have been growing concerns for countries like the Philippines.

More than 200 Filipinos were among several thousand people freed in late February and March from online scam centers run by syndicates operating along Myanmar’s border with Thailand, where many of them are believed to have been recruited and trafficked by criminal gangs.

Lured by well-paid job offers in Thailand, they were released in a weeks-long, highly publicized crackdown by Thai, Myanmar and Chinese forces.


Bangladesh’s largest private airline starts Riyadh flights as demand grows

Bangladesh’s largest private airline starts Riyadh flights as demand grows
Updated 47 min 30 sec ago
Follow

Bangladesh’s largest private airline starts Riyadh flights as demand grows

Bangladesh’s largest private airline starts Riyadh flights as demand grows
  • US-Bangla Airlines offers 5 weekly flights on Dhaka–Riyadh route
  • First private Bangladeshi carrier to operate flights to the Kingdom

DHAKA: US-Bangla Airlines, the largest airline in Bangladesh by fleet size, has launched direct flights from Dhaka to Riyadh amid increasing demand for travel to Saudi Arabia.

The inaugural flight from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to King Khalid International Airport took off on Monday, with 423 passengers on board.

The flights will run five times a week on an Airbus 330 aircraft, with plans to gradually expand to daily service.

“Today, also, we are flying with full occupancy. There is always demand for destinations in the Middle East,” Kamrul Islam, the carrier’s general manager for public relations, told Arab News on Tuesday.

“We are receiving very good responses from the passengers ... The route will soon be served by daily flights.”

The airline is tapping into the growing market for Middle East travel. Flights to Saudi Arabia have been too few to accommodate the needs of some 3 million Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom and hundreds of thousands of people traveling for the annual Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages.

In August last year, it launched daily flights to Jeddah, becoming the first — and so far the only — private Bangladeshi airline to fly to the Kingdom.

“Our aim is to start flight operations gradually in all the destinations where Bangladeshi migrants live,” Islam said.

“In the near future, we are planning to begin flight operations to Dammam and Madinah. Our plan is to begin these flights by the next year. It takes six to seven months of preparations to launch a new station.”

Founded in 2010, US-Bangla Airlines started as a domestic carrier and has lately expanded its routes to go international. The Riyadh route marks the airline’s 14th international destination and sixth in the Middle East.

“Every destination in the Middle East is a base for Bangladeshi migrants,” Islam said.

“We are currently operating also to other places in the region, like Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, and Doha.”

With its latest acquisition of new Airbus A330 and Boeing 737 aircraft last year, the carrier has become the largest airline in Bangladesh by fleet size.

With the additions, the US-Bangla fleet now consists of 24 aircraft, while the national flag carrier Biman has 21.


UN food agency to halt aid for 650,000 women, children in Ethiopia

UN food agency to halt aid for 650,000 women, children in Ethiopia
Updated 57 min 14 sec ago
Follow

UN food agency to halt aid for 650,000 women, children in Ethiopia

UN food agency to halt aid for 650,000 women, children in Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA: The World Food Programme said Tuesday that it was suspending aid for 650,000 malnourished women and children in Ethiopia due to a lack of funding.
“WFP is being forced to halt treatment for 650,000 malnourished women and children in May due to insufficient funding. WFP had planned to reach two million mothers and children with life-saving nutrition assistance in 2025,” the UN agency said in a statement.


Cardinals set Pope Francis’ funeral for Saturday morning, with public viewing starting Wednesday

Cardinals set Pope Francis’ funeral for Saturday morning, with public viewing starting Wednesday
Updated 22 April 2025
Follow

Cardinals set Pope Francis’ funeral for Saturday morning, with public viewing starting Wednesday

Cardinals set Pope Francis’ funeral for Saturday morning, with public viewing starting Wednesday
  • First so-called ‘general congregation’ signals the start of a centuries-old tradition that culminates in the election by cardinals of a new pontiff within three weeks

VATICAN CITY: Cardinals have taken their first decisions following the death of Pope Francis, setting Saturday as the date for his funeral and allowing ordinary faithful to begin paying their final respects starting Wednesday, when his casket is brought into St. Peter’s Basilica.

The cardinals met for the first time Tuesday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world grieving history’s first Latin American pope.

The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.

US President Donald Trump has announced he and first lady Melania Trump plan to attend Saturday’s funeral Argentine President Javier Milei is also expected.

Francis died Monday at age 88 after suffering a stroke that put him in a coma and led his heart to fail. He had been recovering in his apartment after being hospitalized for five weeks with pneumonia. He made his last public appearance Sunday, delivering an Easter blessing and making what would be his final greeting to followers from his popemobile, looping around St. Peter’s Square.

In retrospect, his Easter appearance from the same loggia where he was introduced to the world as the first pope from the Americas on March 13, 2013, was a perfect bookend to a 12-year papacy that sought to shake up the church and return it to its Gospel-mandated mission of caring for the poorest.

“He gave himself to the end,” said Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the head of the Italian bishops’ conference and considered a possible contender to be next pope. “To go out to meet everyone, speak to everyone, teach us to speak to everyone, to bless everyone.”

The first images of Francis’ body were released Tuesday, showing him in the wooden casket, in red vestments and his bishop’s miter, with the Vatican secretary of state praying over him in the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta hotel where he lived and died.

In his final will, Francis confirmed he would be buried at St. Mary Major basilica, which is outside the Vatican and home to his favorite icon of the Virgin Mary. Before and after every foreign trip, Francis would go to the basilica to pray before the Byzantine-style painting that features an image of Mary, draped in a blue robe, holding the infant Jesus, who in turn holds a jeweled golden book.

Francis stopped by the basilica on his way home from the Gemelli hospital on March 23, after his 38-day hospital stay, to deliver flowers to be placed before the icon. He returned April 12 to pray before the Madonna for the last time.

The world reacts

Bells tolled in chapels, churches and cathedrals around the world and flags flew at half staff in Italy, India, Taiwan and the US after Francis’ death was announced by the Vatican camerlengo. Soccer matches in Italy and Argentina were suspended in honor of the Argentine pope who was a lifelong fan of the San Lorenzo soccer club.

World leaders praised Francis for his moral leadership and compassion, while ordinary faithful remembered his simplicity and humanity.

“Like every Argentine, I think he was a rebel,” said 23-year-old Catalina Favaro, who had come to pay her respects in the Buenos Aires church where Francis discovered his priestly vocation. “He may have been contradictory, but that was nice, too.”

In East Timor, where Francis’ final outdoor Mass drew nearly half of the population last September, President Jose Ramos-Horta praised Francis’ courage. “Papa Francisco was a brave man who was not afraid to speak out against the rulers of the world who seek war, but do not want to seek peace,” Ramos-Horta said.

“He challenged the powerful to act with justice, called nations to welcome the stranger, and reminded us that our common home – this Earth – is a gift we must protect for future generations,” said Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, who is Muslim. Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country and has around 30 million Catholics, representing about 14 percent of the total population.

Viewing the pope’s coffin

The pope’s formal apartments in the Apostolic Palace and in the Santa Marta hotel were sealed Monday evening, following a centuries-old ritual. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who as camerlengo had the task of announcing the death and confirming it once the cause was determined, presided over the rituals.

Francis chose not to live in the palace, though, but in a two-room suite in Santa Marta on the other side of Vatican City. He died there and his body was transferred to the hotel chapel in the lobby, where the private viewing was being held Tuesday for Vatican officials and members of the pontifical household.

In changes made by Francis last year, his body was not placed in three wooden coffins, as it had been for previous popes. Rather, Francis was placed in a simplified wooden coffin with a zinc coffin inside.

Once in St. Peter’s, his coffin will not be put on an elevated bier but will just be placed simply facing the pews, with the Paschal candle nearby.

“He was a pope who didn’t change his path when it came to getting dirty,” Francis’ vicar for Rome, Cardinal Baldassarre Reina, said in a Mass in his honor. “For him, poor people and migrants were the sacrament of Jesus.”

Choosing the next pope

After the funeral, there are nine days of official mourning, known as the “novendiali.” During this period, cardinals arrive in Rome and meet privately before the conclave.

To give everyone time to assemble, the conclave must begin 15-20 days after the “sede vacante” – the “vacant See” – is declared, although it can start sooner if the cardinals agree.

Once the conclave begins, cardinals vote in secret sessions in the Sistine Chapel. After voting sessions, the ballots are burned in a special stove. Black smoke indicates that no pope has been elected, while white smoke indicates that the cardinals have chosen the next head of the Catholic Church.

The one who has secured two-thirds of the votes wins. If he accepts, his election is announced by a cardinal from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica who tells the world “Habemus Papam,” Latin for “We have a pope.”


France’s Barrot: Europeans expressed red lines over Ukraine to US

France’s Barrot: Europeans expressed red lines over Ukraine to US
Updated 22 April 2025
Follow

France’s Barrot: Europeans expressed red lines over Ukraine to US

France’s Barrot: Europeans expressed red lines over Ukraine to US
  • Barrot says Putin’s truce in Ukraine over Easter was a marketing operating operation aimed at preventing that US President Donald Trump gets impatient

PARIS: Europe has expressed its red lines over Ukraine to the United States at a meeting last week ahead of a new round of discussions in London on Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday.
He also said in an interview with francinfo radio that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s truce in Ukraine over Easter was a marketing operating operation aimed at preventing that US President Donald Trump gets impatient with him.

“The Easter truce that he announced somewhat unexpectedly was a marketing operation, a charm operation aimed at preventing President Trump from becoming impatient and angry,” Barrot told the FranceInfo broadcaster, a day after Russia launched aerial attacks on Ukraine in an abrupt end to the fragile Easter truce.