Sydney Morning Herald: The company that was paid more than $1.6 million to promote Immigration Minister Peter Dutton’s anti-refugee telemovie is owned by a man known as the “Rupert Murdoch of Afghanistan” who himself came to Australia as a refugee. Saad Mohseni fled to Australia as a teenager with his family in the early 1980s, shortly
Tolo News: President Ashraf Ghani said in a BBC Interview, broadcast this week, that Afghans need to be committed to their country and that he has no sympathy for migrants currently fleeing to Europe. Ghani said Afghanistan is a country of refugees, with at least one million people already settled abroad – many of whom are now
Tolo News: Refugees and Repatriation Minister Sayed Hussain Alemi Balkhi, who was summoned to the Meshrano Jirga [Upper House of Parliament] on Sunday, said had managed to stop the expulsion of at least 100,000 Afghan refugees from European countries in recent weeks. He said more than 250,000 Afghans have sought refuge in Europe over the past year
The Independent (UK): With all borders out of Greece now closed to Afghans, the options for them are bleak. Either exploit the smugglers’ routes over the mountains into Macedonia, a route that is both expensive and dangerous, accept voluntary repatriation to an unstable Afghanistan, or remain in limbo. Click here to read more (external link). Related
The Telegraph (UK): More than 80,000 Afghans will need to be deported from Europe “in the near future” under a secret EU plan, amid warnings of a new influx as parts of the country fall back under Taliban control. The European Commission should threaten to reduce aid that provides 40 per cent of Afghanistan’s GDP unless the
Tolo News: Kurdish and Afghan refugees stranded at Idomeni, on the closed border between Greece and Macedonia, still celebrated the Nawroz festival on Sunday. Nawroz, is an ancient festival celebrated around the first day of spring and officially ushers in Afghanistan’s first day of the new solar year – or Persian calendar. “In this day, we want peace
Tolo News: The unending conflict in Afghanistan drove nearly 250,000 Afghans from the country in 1394, creating a massive migrant problem for the government. Statistics from the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations on Afghan Migrants during 1394 are as follows: – 250,000 Afghans fled the country for the EU – with the majority being youth. – 300
Khaama Press: The American actress and filmmaker Angelina Jolie has spoken against the exclusion of Afghans seeking refuge abroad, particularly in European countries amid persistent issues the Afghan asylum seekers are facing. Angelina who is also a special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees expressed concerns regarding the exclusion of the Afghan refugees during
Khaama Press: Three Afghans have been drowned in river while crossing into Macedonia from Greece, Macedonian authorities said on Monday. According to the country’s Interior Ministry, dead bodies of the drowned refugees were found near the town of Gavgelija. A spokesperson for the ministry said the three drowned were a pregnant woman, her teenage sister, and one man.
The Guardian (UK): A Hazara asylum seeker is set to be forcibly deported from Australia back to Afghanistan on Monday, after a last-minute plea to the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, to consider Afghanistan’s worsening security situation was rejected. Click here to read more (external link).