By Alexandra Moffit

Picture: Globe License: Public Domain

United Nations

Under a new Secretary-General, the United Nations took several new steps based on studies in 2017.

·       Antonio Guterres begins role as Secretary-General of the United Nations in January.

·       The United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to issue new sanctions to North Korea. These sanctions were in response to its burgeoning nuclear program and its ballistic missile program.

·       The United Nations’ agency that deals with aviation proposed a global drone registry that would aid local law enforcement agencies. This registry would be a step towards global regulations dealing with the small crafts.

·       Russia and China vetoed resolutions that would have sanctioned Syria for its use of chemical weapons.

·       United Nations agencies reported during 2017 that 2016 was the first time in the 21^st century that hunger increased. Possible reasons offered by the United Nations for this increase were climate change and conflict. These would cause an increase in food insecurity around the world. There are currently around 815 million chronically malnourished people around the world.

·       The United Nations and other organizations began investing in blockchain technology. Organizations like the World Food Programme launched pilots that use blockchain in delivering food.

The United States and International Organizations

With the United States changing leadership as President Trump began his tenure in office, the United States changed its relationships with various international organizations significantly during 2017.

·       The United States, in one of Donald Trump’s first acts as President, declared its intention to abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The previous administration had negotiated the large free trade deal with various nations but had not come into effect yet.

·       The United States withdrew from the Paris Climate Accords in June, becoming one of the only countries not party to the climate agreement.

·       The United States, Canada, and Mexico began to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement following President Trump’s dissatisfaction with the agreement. A relocation or dissolution of the agreement would cause major changes in the economies of each nation, as well as trade laws.

·       The United States withdrew from UNESCO, the United Nations cultural organization, in October. “At the time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations agency promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack,” Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova said. The United States indicated its reason for leaving as the organization’s inclusion of Palestine as a member in 2011.

Refugees and International Organizations

As refugee numbers increased in 2017, various international organizations took steps to combat problems.

·       Security in Burma has been conducting ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims. Some have sought asylum in Bangladesh. The crisis has had a global impact and is ongoing. A new UN pilot program could provide refugees in Bangladesh with work permits.

·       International Organizations like the World Bank used their leverage to try to push Burma to stop its persecution of Rohingya Muslims. The World Bank announced it would be withholding a $200 million loan it had promised to the country.

·       The United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees announced that there are over 3 million stateless people around the world. The agency urges countries to grant citizenship to these stateless people, which would provide them with basic health and personal rights.

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April 14, 2018

By Anna Jarman

Picture: Globe License: Public Domain

Last year, the “refugee crisis” experienced a political reckoning, as governments around the world sought to tighten boarders and curtail refugee-friendly policies where they had previously existed.  At the same time, the number of displaced people continued to climb in 2017, after it reached its highest number ever at 65 million people at the end of 2016.  The below events chronicle 2017’s most significant developments in the refugee crisis and the policy responses to it.

Travel Ban – Shortly after taking office, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” which greatly reduced the number of refugees the U.S. would admit -- including blocking admission of all Syrian refugees -- and suspended entry of nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days.  The order was met with immediate protests, international criticism, and legal challenges by those who saw the order as a “Muslim ban.”  A nationwide temporary restraining order was issued in the case Washington v. Trump, and upheld by the Ninth Circuit.  The first order was replaced by a second and then a third order which revised the original list of countries, clarified the effect on green-card holders, and made the 90-day ban permanent.  The Ninth Circuit upheld a lower court decision finding the order unlawful in Hawaii v. Trump; the Supreme Court granted cert in January, and allowed the administration to implement the travel ban while legal challenges were pending.

Refugees Cross U.S. Border into Canada – the number of asylum seekers illegally crossing from the U.S. into Canada spiked to more than 15,000 people last year.  The refugees, many of whom fear Trump’s immigration policies, were met by both opposition by anti-migrant groups and a supportive response by Canada, which granted asylum at increasing rates.

South Sudan – Displacement from South Sudan’s war became the largest refugee crisis in Africa.  More than 2 million people had fled to neighboring countries by the end of the year, with another 2 million displaced inside the country.

Rohingya Refugee Crisis – After a group of militant Rohingya Muslims attacked police bases in northern Myanmar on August 25, the army responded with a brutal show of force, burning villages, killing civilians, and raping women.  Within weeks, over 420,000 Rohingya refugees had fled, leading to a mass exodus “unprecedented in terms of volume and speed,” according to the International Organization for Migration.  Over 700,000 Rohingya have now fled to squalid refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh.  The U.N.’s human rights commission described the retaliation as ethnic cleansing and possibly genocide.

German and Austrian Elections – Radical right-wing populist parties performed well in both the Austrian and German elections.  The newly elected Chancellor of Austria, Sebastian Kurz, earned his reputation as foreign minister for tightening Austria’s borders during the refugee crisis, when Austria was taking in more asylum-seekers than any EU country except Sweden.  Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel has tightened her asylum policy under pressure from the far right and in response to backlash against her initial welcoming stance.  Germany resumed deporting Afghans whose asylum claims were rejected after stopping deportations in May when a bombing near the German embassy in Kabul killed around 150 people.

Manus Island Removal – Hundreds of asylum seekers held for years in an Australian-run detention center on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island were forcibly removed in November, three weeks after Australia officially closed the camp.  Afraid to leave the camp, the refugees had remained, despite Australia cutting off electricity, food, and water.  Security forces eventually stormed the camp destroying the refugees’ shelters and belongings. 

Climate Change Spurs Migration -- Research published last year suggests that changing weather is spurring people to seek asylum in Europe, and predicts that trend to continue as temperatures are projected to rise.  The research has sparked discussions on the appropriateness of the current definition of “refugee,” which includes people fleeing persecution but not those forced to leave by climate change.

East Congo – Eleven Congolese refugees were killed by Rwandan police responding to a protest over reduced food rations in a Kiziba camp.  Over 17,000 Congolese refugees inhabit the Western Rwanda refugee camp.  Violence in Eastern Congo has worsened recently due to clashes between government soldiers, local militias, and foreign rebels.

Looking ahead, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments on the travel ban this year, and the new Austrian and German governments are likely to further articulate their more restrictive immigration policies.  At the same time, the international community will grapple with how to respond to the world’s ever-increasing number of displaced persons fleeing conflict, ethnic cleansing, and changing climate.

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April 03, 2018

By Thea McDonald

Picture: Globe License: Public Domain

North Korea Tests Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles Potentially Capable of Reaching Any Location in Continental U.S.

Tensions between North Korea and the United States rose over the last year as the nations’ leaders exchanged threats and snarky comments. As American lawmakers considered options for managing the escalating threat and warned that initiating nuclear action against this rival could lead to grave consequences, North Korea built and tested its arsenal. During 2017, North Korea conducted 16 tests that included a total of 23 missiles. The 23^rd missile, a Hwasong-15 tested near the end of November, reached an altitude of 2,800 miles, the highest altitude any North Korean missile has ever reached. According to CNN, KCNA, North Korea’s state-run news outlet reported that this missile is capable of reaching any location on the U.S. mainland and “meets the goal of the completion of the rocket weaponry system development.” This “successful” test spurred the United Nations Security Council to approve sanctions against the aggressor that limit the amount of refined oil North Korea can import and scrutinize shipping into and out of the country.

ISIS Defeated in Syria and Iraq

ISIS has terrorized parts of the world for years. Finally, in 2017, an international coalition took control of two key ISIS strongholds, Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq. According to U.S. News & World Report, 35,000 ISIS fighters held more than 17,000 square miles in the two states in January of 2017; by December, an estimated 1,000-3,000 fighters occupied a mere 2,000 square miles. This success came after months of fighting in both cities – fighting that killed as many as 11,000 civilians in Mosul alone. While much of the world celebrates the successes against the terrorist group, intelligence officers worldwide remain concerned about future potential ISIS-inspired “lone-wolf” attacks similar to those that have previously occurred in the U.S. and Europe.

Ethnic Cleansing in Myanmar

The Rohingya Crisis worsened this year as more than 6,700 Rohingya were killed, and as many as 2,300 died of starvation and other nonviolent causes, between August and September at the hands of the Myanmar government. This ethnic group has faced severe violence and brutality from their predominantly Buddhist government and its military, which have attempted to disguise the atrocities against the Rohingya as responding to internal terrorist attacks. In fact, the Myanmar government invoked sovereignty, which the New York Times describes as “the single biggest loophole in international laws and norms against atrocities,” as its defense against other world governments organizing action. As government leaders across the world, including U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, called for the Myanmar government and military to halt the atrocities the have led more than 600,000 Rohingya to flee Myanmar for Bangladesh, sovereignty has “prevailed” for the Myanmar government by allowing Myanmar to “act within their borders and protect [its] interests.”

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March 19, 2018