PORTLAND, USA, Oct 4 2023 (IPS)* – America’s immigration has reached record-breaking levels having weighty consequences domestically and internationally.
The estimated number of foreign-born residents in the United States as of September 2023 is at a historic high of nearly 50 million. Credit: Shutterstock.
Based on the Census Bureau’s 2023 Current Population Survey, the estimated number of foreign-born residents in the United States as of September 2023 is at a historic high of nearly 50 million.
Everyone knows that the United States is the world’s leading military power, with an annual “defense” budget approaching one trillion dollars, considerably more than the arms budgets of the next 144 nations combined.
Richard E. Rubenstein
The U.S. employs more than 3.5 million active military and civilian personnel and maintains more than 750 military bases located in some 80 nations around the world.
The nation’s most profitable and fastest-growing manufacturing sector is the military-industrial complex, which employs more than 4 million workers and supplies approximately 40 percent of the total weaponry used by the world’s armed forces.
In the production and deployment of nuclear weapons, of course, the U.S. is absolutely dominant.
3 October 2023 (UNHCR)* — When a boat crammed with over 500 women, men, and children sank off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa 10 years ago, the world said “never again”.
1 October 2023 (UN News)* — For Faustina Torres, from the Bribri indigenous community in Costa Rica, feeling invisible to others is a stinging form of discrimination she has fought against since childhood..
IOM/Gema Cortés | Migrants who pass through Central America to Costa Rica often face discrimination and can be the victims of hate speech.
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“Costa Rican society does not teach us that there are indigenous people in this country,” she said.
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“It is a form of discrimination, making the existence of indigenous peoples invisible.”
(UN News)* — Police and criminal justice systems in the United States require urgent reform to eradicate “systemic racism” against people of African descent, UN-appointed independent rights experts said on Thursday[].
UN News/Daniel Dickinson | A prison in upstate New York.
A new report by UN International experts advancing racial justice and equality in policing, published after an official visit to the country, shows that Black people in the US are three times more likely to be killed by police than if they were White, and 4.5 times more likely to be incarcerated.
In a move terrible for human rights, the European Union Commission announced on Friday it will go ahead with a controversial deal on migration control, reached in July, by imminently releasing 67 million euros to Tunisia despite an absence of any specific human rights guarantees for migrants and asylum seekers, or any indication the EU has evaluated whether the funds would make the bloc complicit in abuses.
(UN News)* — More than 16,000 children are displaced in eastern Libya following Africa’s deadliest storm in recorded history the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Thursday [], highlighting the urgent need for psychosocial care.
UNICEF stated that many more children are affected due to lack of essential services, such as health, schooling and safe water supply.
“When disasters hit, children are always among the most vulnerable,” said Adele Khodr, UNICEF’s Regional Director, who has just returned from a visit to Al Bayda and Derna.
Storm Daniel struck eastern Libya on 10 September and left widespread flooding and destruction in its wake across Derna, Albayda, Soussa, Al-Marj, Shahat, Taknis, Battah, Tolmeita, Bersis, Tokra and Al-Abyar.
Geneva/San José, 27 September 2023 (IOM)* – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is appealing for governments in Central America and Mexico to collaborate to address the immediate humanitarian needs of people on the move as unprecedented numbers of vulnerable migrants transit through the region, while also working on long-term solutions to tackle the drivers of migration.
As in many border towns across Central America, thousands of migrants are crossing daily into Danli and Trojes, Honduras, Despite the efforts of transit nations, UN agencies, and humanitarian organizations, the capacity to offer life-saving aid is stretched thin. Photo: IOM Honduras / Erick Escoto.
In Africa, injustice looms large, marked by poverty, warfare, and famine. Despite post-WWII political gains, economic independence, a vital component of true freedom as envisioned by Pan African leaders like Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, and Haile Selassie, remains elusive.
The Cradle
After decades of restrictive IMF and World Bank loans, poverty, hunger, and conflict persist throughout the continent.
While many attribute this to Africa’s governance challenges, in reality, a deliberate imperial agenda has hindered the continent’s development in all political, economic, and security sectors.
The Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013sparked a call for change in the global fashion industry. But 10 years on, more than 100 billion clothes a year are made – mostly from oil turned into polyester – by people working in dangerous conditions. This is fast fashion’s impact on people and the planet.
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This story was originally posted by Greenpeace UK.22 September 2023 — You know the feeling: wardrobe full of clothes, nothing to wear. Online, fashion sales fill your feeds. Clothes are cheaper than ever, and even cheaper in the sales, which now happen year-round.