Hundreds of thousands of Muslim-majority Rohingya who fled Myanmar, citing rape, murder and arson, will not be forcibly repatriated, Bangladesh’s Rohingya Relief and Repatriation Commissioner has said.

“No one will be forced back to Myanmar,” Abul Kalam told media.

Bangladesh is scheduled to send back an initial group of 2,260 Rohingya from 485 families on Thursday, in line with a bilateral plan agreed by the two governments in October.

But the move has been opposed by the United Nations’ refugee agency and aid groups who say the Muslim minority can’t be forced back, causing confusion over whether the repatriations will go ahead.

Ghumdhum border crossing from where the refugees were to be repatriated wore a deserted look [Faisal Mahmud/Al Jazeera]
“They survived atrocities so it’s natural they fear to go back,” Kalam said.

When asked whether the Rohingya would be guaranteed a “safe and dignified” return, Kalam said: “Everything is done as per the agreement between Bangladesh and Myanmar. I hope the Myanmar authority will keep their words.”

The terms of the repatriation deal, however, has never been made public.

People do not want to go back to Myanmar due to safety concerns
FOYAZULLAH, ROHINGYA REFUGEE

The plan to begin returning the Rohingya to Myanmar comes just days after UN investigators warned of an “ongoing genocide” against the Muslim minority.

Marzuki Darusman, the chairman of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, said beyond mass killings, the conflict included the ostracization of the population, prevention of births, and widespread displacement in camps.

Earlier this week, Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged Bangladesh to halt the repatriation plan saying it violated international law.

Bangladesh is scheduled to send back an initial group of 2,260 Rohingya [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]
“We are witnessing terror and panic among those Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar who are at imminent risk of being returned to Myanmar against their will,” she said.

“Forcibly expelling or returning refugees and asylum seekers to their home country would be a clear violation of the core legal principle of non-refoulement, which forbids repatriation where there are threats of persecution or serious risks to the life and physical integrity or liberty of the individuals.”

“People do not want to go back to Myanmar due to safety concerns,” Foyazullah, a 43-year old Rohingya living in Bangladesh’s sprawling Cox’s Bazar refugee camp.

“The people in charge of the camps are harassing people. As a result many families have fled and are hiding in nearby forests.”

Late last month, a group of Rohingya refugees sent a list of 10 demands to Myanmar leader’s Aung San Suu Kyi, saying the beleaguered community would return only when its demands were met.

Once hailed as a champion in the fight for democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi has faced intense scrutiny over her response to the plight of the Rohingya.

She has been stripped of a series of international honours, with the latest coming on Tuesday when Amnesty withdrew its highest award citing her “indifference” to the plight of the Rohingya.

Imtiaz Ahmed, a professor at Dhaka University told Al Jazeera that there was mounting concern the Rohingya were still “not welcome on Myanmar’s soil.”

“I have seen reports that say conditions in Myanmar are still not suitable for return,” he said. “This obviously raises concern.”

In the days leading to Thursday’s expulsion, Human Rights Watch reported that Bangladesh had deployed its army to refugee camps, heightening the refugees’ fear of return.

“The Bangladesh government will be stunned to see how quickly international opinion turns against it if it starts sending unwilling Rohingya refugees back into harm’s way in Myanmar,” Bill Frelick, the group’s refugee rights director, said in a statement.

“That Dhaka deployed its army into the camps is a red flag that this terrified community is not willing to return.”

Myanmar’s government has trumpeted every occasion where a Rohingya family has returned, however many fear returning to Myanmar without guaranteed rights such as citizenship, access to healthcare and freedom of movement – rights that were denied to them long before last year’s crackdown.

Ro Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya activist said Myanmar was trying to forcibly relocate the Rohingya to avoid being prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In September, the ICC ruled it could prosecute Myanmar for alleged crimes against humanity against the Rohingya, an unprecedented decision that could expose the country’s politicians and military leaders to charges.

“They think that allowing people back to Myanmar will help them,” Nay San said. “However, they are not fulfilling any demands made by the refugees.”

More than 700,000 Rohingya fled a brutal army crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state last year, accusing government soldiers and local Buddhists of massacring families, burning hundreds of villages, and carrying out mass gang rape.

Myanmar denies the allegations, saying security forces were battling “terrorists”.

Aljazeera

New Delhi Google on Wednesday celebrated Children’s Day in India with a doodle inspiring children to explore space.

This year, the search engine’s theme for the day’s doodle was “What Inspires You”.

A student from Mumbai, who won the 2018 Doodle 4 Google competition showed her fascination with space exploration. The doodle shows a child looking at a sky dotted with stars with a telescope.

Pingla Rahul created galaxies, planets and spacecraft to represent the vastness of things in space — carefully arranged to form letters in the Google logo.

There were four more group winners that Google chose: a doodle on farmers, animals, wise monkeys and a study desk, the Google blogpost said.

The winners were chosen by Arun Iyer, famous artist and YouTube Kids Creator Harun Robert, India’s leading YouTube Creator Sejal Kumar and the Google Doodles team lead Ryan Germick. Rahul received 300,000 votes from people.

India celebrates Children’s Day November 14 as a tribute to her first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who was born on the day in 1889.

Nehru fondly called “Chacha Nehru” was a favourite among kids. His books on Indian history and world history written to aid his daughter Indira Gandhi is read by children in schools and also have been adopted into TV series.

India started celebrating Children’s Day from 1959, when it used to be on November 20, which the UN designated as the universal Children’s Day.

Following Nehru’s death in 1964, it was unanimously decided to celebrate his birthday as Bal Diwas in the country due to his love and affection towards children.

On this day, chocolates and gifts are distributed among children. Schools organise debates, drama, music and dance performances often enacted by the teachers.

[IANS]

 US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that Washington was not trying to contain China, but rather to persuade Beijing to adjust its approach in matters related to military expansion and respect for human rights.

“The US is not pursuing a cold war or containment policy with China. Rather, we want to make sure China acts responsibly and fairly in support of security and prosperity in each of our two countries,” Pompeo told a press conference at the State Department on Friday.

He appeared with Defence Secretary James Mattis; the director of the Office of Foreign Affairs of the Communist Party of China, Yang Jiechi; and Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe following their second round of talks about security and diplomacy, reports Efe news.

The conversations were held in an atmosphere of responsibility and respect, according to Pompeo, who acknowledged that China and the US face “significant differences between our nations” in such areas as trade, due to the mutual imposition of billions of dollars in tariffs.

In that regard, Yang believed their differences can be settled through dialogue.

“These issues,” Yang said, “can be resolved through dialogue and consultation. A trade war, instead of leading to any solution, will only end up hurting both sides and the global economy.”

The representatives of the US and China agreed on the need to work together toward the “denuclearization” of North Korea, a regional ally of Beijing, but clashed on such subjects as Taiwan and the South China Sea.

Pompeo expressed concern about the building of military installations on artificial islands and reefs of the South China Sea, while Yang asserted that Beijing has sovereignty over those waters even though other countries, including some allies of Washington, reject China’s claims.

On the other hand, Pompeo demanded that China respect the human rights of Buddhists and Muslims, for which Yang told the US not to interfere in “China’s internal affairs”.

The talks held on Friday in Washington were meant to prepare the way for a meeting of President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later this month at the G20 summit in Argentina.

IANS

At least 171 children from separated families still remain in US custody more than four months after a judge ordered the American government to reunite the undocumented immigrant families it had split up at the border, according to court documents.

The court documents on Thursday said the children who remain in custody, there were seven who were in the pipeline to reunite with their parents in their countries of origin and six who the US government was working to discharge to parents in America, reports CNN.

But 146 of the children from separated families who remain in custody — more than 85 per cent — will not be reunified with their parents either because the parents have declined reunification or because officials have deemed it cannot occur because the parents are unfit or pose a danger, officials said.

The new numbers appear in the latest federal court filing in the American Civil Liberties Union class action case over family separations.

In June, US District Judge Dana Sabraw ordered the government to reunite most of the families it had divided, comprising parents and children who had been separated as a result of the government’s now-reversed “zero tolerance” policy at the border and some separations that had occurred before that policy was put in place.

Sabraw said last month that he hoped the reunification process would come to a close by Friday, but Thursday’s filing indicated that the reunifications weren’t complete.

Officials have stressed that the numbers are constantly changing, and attorneys were still debating them as they meet to sort out the next steps in the case.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday.

 The US President has wrestled back control of the Russia probe by firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions and replacing him with a loyalist who has echoed Donald Trump’s complaints about the special counsel investigation into the election interference.

Sessions delivered his resignation letter to the White House on Wednesday at the request of the President. The former Alabama senator who was an early supporter of Trump, made clear the decision to go was not his own.

“Dear Mr President, at your request I am submitting my resignation,” he wrote in an undated letter.

Sessions’s Chief of Staff Matthew Whitaker, who has criticised the Russia inquiry will take over temporarily, raising questions about the future of the probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller III.

“We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well!” tweeted Trump. “A permanent replacement will be nominated at a later date.”

Till now, Rod J. Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General, oversaw the investigation because Sessions recused himself in March 2017, citing his active role in Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

A Justice Department official said Whitaker’s role in the Russia probe will be subject to the normal review process for conflicts, the Washington Post reported.

Democrats were outraged by Session’s removal and demanded that Whitaker also remove himself from taking charge of the inquiry, citing potential conflicts of interest, including his criticisms of the Mueller investigation as well as his connections to a witness in that investigation, Sam Clovis, a former Trump campaign aide.

In 2014, Whitaker was the chairman of Clovis’ unsuccessful campaign to become Iowa state treasurer.

“Given his previous comments advocating defunding and imposing limitations on the Mueller investigation, Whitaker should recuse himself from its oversight for the duration of his time as acting attorney general,” Democratic party Senate leader Chuck Schumer said.

House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said: “It is impossible to read Sessions’ firing as anything other than another blatant attempt by Trump to undermine and end Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation.”

Former Attorney General Eric Holder, who served during President Barack Obama’s administration, tweeted that anyone who tried to interfere with the Mueller investigation “must be held accountable”.

On Tuesday, after the voters chose a divided government by handing the House majority back to Democrats, the CNN said Trump made his hallmark — the sort of “I-do-what-feels-right-when-it-feels-right” move — just like it has been over the past three years.

Whitaker could hold the Attorney General’s post for roughly 200 days because he has not been confirmed previously by the Senate. He has not shied away from sharing his concerns over the investigation.

In August 2017, he wrote a piece for CNN in which he stated that looking into Trump’s personal finances or those of his family, “goes beyond the scope of the appointment of the special counsel”.

He went on to call on Rosenstein to “order Mueller to limit the scope of the investigation” or risk the inquiry starting “to look like a political fishing expedition”.

Meanwhile, Trump in a wide-ranging and sharp-tongued news conference on Wednesday said that any hope for bipartisan deals would evaporate if House Democrats use their new power to investigate him or his administration.

Such efforts, he said bluntly, would precipitate “a warlike posture”.

Democrats said they plan to begin a series of investigations of the President, including issuing a subpoena for his tax returns, which he has for years refused to release.

During his combative conference, Trump repeatedly lost his cool as he answered questions from journalists. He called CNN’s Jim Acosta “a rude, terrible person”, snapped at Peter Alexander of NBC News and directed April Ryan of American Urban Radio to “sit down”.

Later, the White House withdrew the permanent credential from the CNN journalist Acosta for confronting Trump following the mid-term results.

IANS

New York US President Donald Trump broke a 15-year tradition of holding formal Diwali celebrations at the White House this year with the festival falling amid the crucial midterm polls.

The Diwali celebration was started by former President George W. Bush in 2003 and was carried on by his successor Barack Obama.

Continuing the tradition, Trump held the celebration at the Oval Office, where he lit a traditional lamp last year.

This year, however, he is caught up in the elections, which took place on Tuesday after a whirlwind of campaigning that ended on Monday.

On Wednesday, he will be tied up dealing with the aftermath of the elections, which saw his Republican Party lose control of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Congress.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in his Diwali greeting issued on Wednesday hailed the contributions of Indian Americans.

“As those celebrating decorate their homes with vibrant lights, I would also like to recognize the achievements of our friends in the United States observing Diwali who make important contributions to our country on a daily basis,” said in his message.

(IANS)

Chinese tycoon and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma said that he really hated the ongoing trade war between Washington and Beijing and called it the “most stupid thing in this world”.

“(The) Trade war is the most stupid thing in this world,” Ma said on Monday at the China International Import Expo here.

It’s the latest and perhaps bluntest barb about the trade conflict from the co-founder and executive chairman of Alibaba, China’s biggest internet company, reports CNN.

In September, he blamed it for derailing his highly ambitious promise to create 1 million new US jobs.

The US and China have slapped heavy new tariffs on huge swathes of each other’s exports this year.

The US government accuses China of stealing American intellectual property and forcing US firms to handover valuable tech. But US President Donald Trump has also repeatedly complained about his country’s $375 billion deficit in the trade of goods with China.

Ma argued on Monday that the purpose of trade should be to promote peace and communication rather than conflict, and that the rise of protectionism is misguided.

“Nobody can stop the free trade,” he said.

His remarks at the event came hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping slammed a “winner-takes-all” approach to international trade.

The China International Import Expo has been organised by the Chinese government to promote the country as a market for imports from other countries.

IANS

Washington, (IANS) The sons of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi issued an emotional appeal for the return of their father’s body, in their first interview since he was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October.

Salah and Abdullah Khashoggi, who called their father “courageous, generous and very brave”, told CNN on Sunday night they endured weeks of anguish and uncertainty following his disappearance and death.

“I really hope that whatever happened wasn’t painful for him, or it was quick. Or he had a peaceful death,” Abdullah Khashoggi, 33, told the news channel during a sit-down interview in here with his brother, Salah, 35.

Without their father’s body, the brothers said that their family was unable to grieve or find closure.

“All what we want right now is to bury him in Al-Baqi (cemetery) in Medina (Saudi Arabia) with the rest of his family,” Salah said.

“I talked about that with the Saudi authorities and I just hope that it happens soon.”

Authorities in Turkey, who believe that Khashoggi was murdered by a hit squad sent from Riyadh, were still searching for the journalist’s remains.

Last week, the chief prosecutor’s office said Khashoggi’s body was dismembered after he was strangled, while the Washington Post reported investigators were looking into the theory that the body was dissolved in acid.

The Saudi Royal Palace has denied any knowledge of the body’s whereabouts.

Abdullah and Salah told CNN that their father had been misunderstood and intentionally misrepresented for political reasons.

“Jamal was a moderate person. He was liked by everybody. He had differences and common values with everyone,” Salah said, describing the late Washington Post columnist as a genuine, happy person and an “amazing” father.

“I see a lot of people coming out right now and trying to claim his legacy and unfortunately some of them are using that in a political way that we totally don’t agree with.

“Public opinion is important… But my fear is that it’s being over politicized. People are throwing analysis that may direct us away from the truth,” he added.

According to reports in The Washington Post and The New York Times, Khashoggi was labelled as a Muslim Brotherhood sympathiser and a dangerous Islamist in phone calls the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had with Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East adviser, and John Bolton, National Security Adviser.

“It’s just labels and people not doing their homework properly, and reading his article and going in depth. It’s easier to stick a label on him,” Abdullah said, when asked about the Muslim Brotherhood claim.

Asked how Khashoggi should be remembered, Salah replied: “As a moderate man who has common values with everyone… A man who loved his country, who believed so much in it and its potential.

“Jamal was never a dissident. He believed in the monarchy that it is the thing that is keeping the country together. And he believed in the transformation that it is going through.”

Reflecting on their father’s career as a journalist, the brothers said their father was “like a rock and roll star” when they were out with him in Saudi Arabia.

Salah, the eldest sibling, has been made the principal family point of contact by the Saudi government. Abdullah, who lives in the United Arab Emirates was the last of the slain journalist’s children to see him alive.

They have two sisters, Noha, 27 and Razan, 25.

Noumea (New Caledonia) Voters in the French Pacific territory here have rejected a bid for independence prompting President Emmanuel Macron to say that it showed “confidence in the French republic”.

“I have to tell you how proud I am that we have finally passed this historic step together,” Macron added.

Final results showed that 56.4 per cent chose to remain part of France while 43.6 per cent voted to leave — a tighter result than some polls had predicted.

Turnout was about 81 per cent in this island that is one of UN’s 17 “non-self governing territories” where the process of decolonisation has not been completed.

The vote was promised in a 1988 deal that put an end to a violent campaign for independence, the BBC reported.

Although the referendum passed peacefully but some unrest was reported post polls closed. Cars and a shop were set ablaze in the capital, Noumea, media reports said. The high commissioner’s office said some roads were closed by protesters.

New Caledonia has large deposits of nickel, a vital component in manufacturing electronics, and is seen by France as a strategic political and economic asset in the region.

(IANS)

Pakistan’s far-right Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party has called off protests against the acquittal of a Christian woman accused of blasphemy which have rocked the Muslim-majority South Asian democracy in recent days.

TLP on Friday signed an agreement with the Pakistani government to end the demonstrations, which also involved a number of other religious parties, party spokesperson Zubair Kasuri told Al Jazeera by telephone from Lahore.

According to Kasuri, protesters will be granted legal amnesty under the terms of the deal and Aasia Bibi – the 53-year-old Christian woman at the centre of this week’s furore – will be placed on Pakistan’s Exit Control List.

This means she is effectively barred from leaving the country.

The agreement comes after three days of protests sparked by the landmark acquittal of Bibi byPakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday.

In its judgement, the court declared there were “glaring and stark” contradictions in the case against her.

The original complainant in the case, Muhammad Salim, has filed a review petition against the top court’s verdict, Kasuri said.

But according to Pakistani law, the grounds for review petitions are extremely narrow and such appeals are seldom upheld, meaning the court’s acquittal of Bibi is likely to stand.

Bibi had been on death row for eight years following her arrest in the central Pakistani village of Ithan Wali over an argument with two Muslim women, who refused to drink water from the same vessel as her due to her religion.

The women accused her of having insulted Islam’s Prophet Muhammad during the altercation, a charge Bibi has consistently denied.

Blasphemy is a sensitive subject in Pakistan, where the country’s strict laws prescribe a mandatory death penalty for some forms of the crime.

Increasingly, blasphemy allegations have led to murders and mob lynchings, with at least 74 people killed in such violence since 1990, acccording to media tally.

Aljazeera