SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO: | SCA & Staff |
DATE: | Thursday, February 20, 2025 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
Trump administration weighs closing office overseeing resettlement of Afghans to the U.S. (NBC News)
NBC News [2/19/2025 9:06 PM, Dan De Luce, Jennifer Jett, and Tavleen Tarrant, 57114K]
The Trump administration has told the office overseeing the resettlement of Afghans to the United States to draw up plans to shut down by April. The move could strand more than 250,000 Afghans and their families who face persecution from the Taliban for their ties to America, according to a refugee advocate and two sources with knowledge of the matter.
"This is a national disgrace, a betrayal of our Afghan allies, of the veterans who fought for them and of America’s word," Shawn VanDiver, president of #AfghanEvac, a coalition of U.S. veterans and advocacy groups, told NBC News.
No final decision has been made about the future of the Enduring Welcome program managed by the State Department’s Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts, known as CARE. But office staff members were instructed to prepare plans to wind down operations by the end of March, VanDiver and the two sources said.
The State Department did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters first reported the preparations.
Created after the chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from Afghanistan in 2021, CARE oversees efforts across U.S. government agencies to evacuate at-risk Afghans, process them in third countries and resettle them in the U.S. under a program called "Enduring Welcome.".
It also works to address the challenges women and girls face under the Taliban, who have rolled back their rights and protections.
Among the over 250,000 Afghans who could be stranded if the office is closed are 128,000 people in Afghanistan who worked for the United States and have applied for special immigrant visas along with their families, as well as several thousand Afghans who were fully vetted and are waiting in Albania, Qatar and other countries to travel to the United States, according to U.S.-based refugee advocates working with the Afghans.
The Afghans potentially affected also include family members of 200 active-duty Afghan American U.S. service members, unaccompanied minors waiting to be reunited with their parents and relatives of Afghans already settled in the United States.
The discussions around closing the State Department CARE office are separate from the freeze on refugee resettlement and foreign aid that President Donald Trump ordered on his first day back in office.
Tahera Rezaei, an Afghan veterinarian who lives in Chicago after having worked with Americans in Afghanistan, said she has been trying to get her family members out and is shocked and confused that the flights may be shut down.
"I keep saying this has to be a mistake or an oversight. We were told that those who worked with USA would not be left behind," she said in a message to NBC News. "We all followed the rules, and I cannot believe this is actually happening.".
She added: "I am worried about my family I tried so hard to bring them here but now I’m heartbroken.".
VanDiver said American military veterans will be devastated if their Afghan partners are left behind in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
"President Trump brought up Afghanistan at every single debate. Does he know that his administration is now abandoning the very Afghan allies who fought and shed blood alongside those service members? We cannot believe that President Trump is aware of what’s happening here," VanDiver said.
"Veterans put their own credibility on the line to bring our Afghan allies home. We told them that America keeps its word. Now this administration is making liars out of all of us," he said.
VanDiver and other advocates said it was not too late to salvage the program with either a decision from the Trump administration or action by Congress.
Kim Staffieri, executive director of the Association of Wartime Allies, a nonprofit group that helps Afghans who worked for the U.S. government, said she hoped the Trump administration would preserve the resettlement effort, as it did in Trump’s first term.
"We made promises. They stood by our troops. We owe it to them to bring them to a place of safety. And we hope the administration will continue processing their applications, as they did last time," she said.
The Taliban has jailed, tortured or killed Afghans who fought or worked for the former U.S.-backed government, according to the United Nations. The Taliban deny that, saying they announced a "general amnesty" for former government soldiers and officials when they returned to power.
Thousands of Afghans who are awaiting U.S. resettlement from third countries are in Pakistan, which says it will deport those awaiting relocation back to Afghanistan by March 31 unless their cases are swiftly processed by the governments that have agreed to take them, The Associated Press reported. These Soldiers Risked Their Lives Serving in Afghanistan. Now They Plead With Trump to Let Their Sister into the US (ProPublica)
ProPublica [2/19/2025 3:15 PM, Lomi Kriel, ProPublica, and The Texas Tribune, 4173K]
The Afghan brothers worked closely with the American military for years, fighting the Taliban alongside U.S. troops, including the Special Forces, and facing gunfire and near misses from roadside bombs while watching their friends die.
They escaped Afghanistan in 2021 when the Taliban seized control of the country. One brother is now an elite U.S. Army paratrooper at Fort Liberty in North Carolina. The other serves in the Army Reserve in Houston. Their eldest sister and her husband, however, were stranded in Afghanistan, forced into hiding as they waited for the U.S. government to green-light their refugee applications. Finally, after three years, they received those approvals in December and, according to the family, were slated to reunite with their brothers this month.
But weeks before the couple was due to arrive, President Donald Trump issued an executive order indefinitely suspending the admission of refugees. The order was the first in a series of sweeping actions that blocked the arrival of more than 10,000 refugees who already had flights booked for the U.S. and that froze funding for national and international resettlement organizations.
A top former government official who worked on refugee issues told ProPublica and The Texas Tribune that another 100,000 refugees who had already been vetted by the Department of Homeland Security have also been blocked from entering the country. The official, who declined to be identified for fear of retribution, said the Trump administration is "moving so swiftly that there might not be much of a refugee program left to recover.".
Taken together, Trump’s actions are effectively dismantling the U.S. refugee system and eroding the country’s historic commitment to legal immigration, according to refugee resettlement and U.S. military experts, who say the most egregious examples include denying entrance to thousands of Afghans who worked with the U.S. military and their relatives.
The refugees "have been going through the process, which is very slow and very detailed and offers extreme scrutiny on each and every individual, and now, all of a sudden, that too is no longer acceptable," said Erol Kekic, senior vice president with Church World Service, one of 10 national programs that work with the U.S. government to resettle refugees.
"We’re basically abandoning humanity at this moment in time, and America has been known for being that shining star and guiding countries in the world when it comes to doing the right thing for people in need," Kekic said. "Now we’re not.".The orders halting aid to international groups also indirectly affected a separate visa program for Afghan translators who worked with the U.S. military, closing off yet another avenue by which thousands hoped to enter the country. Together, the Trump administration’s actions have likely shuttered pathways to the U.S. for about 200,000 Afghans and their relatives whose refugee and military visa applications are currently being reviewed, including tens of thousands who have been vetted, the former U.S. government official said.
Abandoning Afghan allies whose work with the U.S. has them facing threats of retribution and death imperils the country’s standing abroad and makes the military’s job exceedingly difficult, said Ryan Crocker, a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and onetime dean of Texas A&M University’s George Bush School of Government and Public Service.
If the Trump administration does not quickly exempt Afghans from the refugee-related orders, "good luck signing up the next bunch of recruits to help us in our endeavors in the future," said Crocker, who is now a fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a nonpartisan international think tank in Washington, D.C.
"The entire world sees what we do and don’t do to support those who supported us," Crocker said.
Spokespeople for the White House, the U.S. State Department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem did not respond to requests for comment about the escalated actions by Trump, who slashed refugee admissions to a record low of 15,000 in the final year of his first term.
Refugees and a coalition of resettlement groups filed the first refugee-related lawsuit against the administration last week, seeking to reverse the executive orders. It argues that the recent actions violate Congress’ authority to make immigration laws and that the administration did not follow federal regulations in implementing them. Another resettlement group, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, also sued the Trump administration over its refugee actions this week, arguing that they were unlawful.
The executive orders promise a review in 90 days and say that the State Department and DHS could grant exemptions "on a case-by-case basis," but refugee groups said that neither agency has explained who is eligible or how to request such a waiver.
The Afghan brothers, who asked to be identified by an abbreviation of their last name, Mojo, are hoping the answers come quickly. They are among at least 200 Afghan Americans currently serving in the U.S. military whose family members applied for refugee status, only to be suddenly denied entrance.
"We feel betrayed," the brother in Houston said. "We serve this country because it protected us, but now it is abandoning my sister, who is in danger because of our work with America.".“A Community Issue”
The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, which Congress created in 1980 following the Vietnam War, allows legal immigration for people fleeing their countries if they meet the narrow definition of being persecuted.
To qualify, refugees must prove that they have been targeted for political, racial or religious reasons or because they are part of a threatened social or ethnic group.
The vetting, which requires multiple security screenings and medical examinations, takes an average of about two years, according to experts.
Those who had made it through the process and are now unable to come because of Trump’s recent actions include the children of a former U.S. military translator living in Massachusetts with his wife. The Afghan couple waited three years to reunite with their children, who were separated from their parents at the Kabul airport on the day of the Taliban takeover and have been living in Qatar during the yearslong vetting process.
The kids, ages six to 17, were about to board their flights in Doha last month when the executive orders suddenly blocked their travel, leaving them in Qatar, where they had been supported by international refugee agencies that were funded, in part, by the U.S. government.
It’s uncertain how much longer they can stay in Qatar, said their father, Gul, who asked that his last name not be published to protect his family.
"When my wife heard this news, she fell on the ground and lost consciousness," Gul said. "We have waited years for them to come and in a few hours, everything changed.".
A former Texas National Guard member was beside himself when he talked about how his plans to be reunited with his wife later this month had been upended. She is a member of the Hazara minority group, which has historically been the target of widespread attacks and abuses including from the Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan, according to a 2022 report by Human Rights Watch, an international advocacy group.
His work for the U.S. military, he said, put her in even more danger.
"I don’t know what we’re going to do," he sobbed into the phone.
The actions have also blocked the arrival of persecuted Christians, whom Trump had previously vowed to protect. That includes an Afghan family whose conversion led to violent attacks from conservative Muslims, according to refugee organizations.
Word of their persecution spurred a church in the conservative East Texas community of Tyler to sponsor the family’s refugee resettlement applications. Justin Reese, a 42-year-old software developer in Tyler who volunteers to help resettle refugees, said telling the family that it could no longer come was heartbreaking.
"You went from this level of commitment and certainty to none at all, literally in the space of a couple of minutes," he said.
Aside from halting arrivals, Trump’s orders have blocked funding to U.S. nonprofit resettlement organizations, which caused them to lay off or furlough hundreds of employees and hindered their ability to help refugees already in the country.
In Houston, for example, the YMCA is currently restricted from offering about 400 new refugees basic services such as housing and health screening to help set them up for self-sufficiency, said Jeff Watkins, the organization’s chief international initiatives officer.
The nonprofit is temporarily relying on private funds and other programs to ensure that refugees’ housing and food needs are met and that they are not stranded, but Watkins said that is not sustainable for the long term.
"This becomes a community issue if those needs aren’t addressed," Watkins said.“Live Up to Our Word”
The Afghan brothers in Houston and North Carolina said that their sister and her husband were forced to flee their home three years ago after the Taliban published photos of the brothers working with American troops and interrogated neighbors about their whereabouts.
The couple, who are both physicians, could no longer work. They moved every few months, relying on wire transfers sent by the brothers as they waited for the U.S. government to approve their refugee applications.
Now they are forced to continue hiding, but this time the path toward safety feels more nebulous.
Each day with no action increases the danger for stranded Afghans like them, said Shawn VanDiver, a U.S. Navy veteran who leads AfghanEvac, an organization that he began to help those left behind after the withdrawal.
"The Taliban is routinely harassing and torturing folks associated with us," he said.
For years, Republicans criticized Biden for his handling of the withdrawal. "Now is the time for them to stand with our Afghan allies and fix this," VanDiver said.
A Taliban spokesperson disputed in a text that it targeted those who worked with the U.S. military. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, however, in 2023 documented more than 200 killings of former officials and members of the armed forces after the takeover, but international human rights officials have said the true number is likely far higher.
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, one of Biden’s critics on Afghanistan, said in a recent interview with CBS News that the U.S. needed to "live up to our word" to protect Afghan allies.
"Otherwise, down the road, in another conflict, no one’s going to trust us," he said.
But McCaul avoided criticizing Trump in a statement to ProPublica and the Tribune, saying that he believed the president would listen to veterans who have called for an exemption for Afghan allies.
The Houston brother said that he hopes that Trump will ultimately do the right thing for the families of servicemen like him and his brother, who have sacrificed so much for America.
His brother in North Carolina has written to his congressman to request an exemption for Afghans who "have been doing everything legally, following the law.".
"We don’t want to be worried about our loved ones being left behind in Afghanistan, and that will help boost our morale and our confidence in serving the American people with integrity," he said.
That service, according to the North Carolina brother, will soon include a deployment to the Texas border with Mexico, where his unit would be ordered to aid the curtailing of illegal immigration. US troops, Afghan allies say executive orders endanger their families (Military Times)
Military Times [2/19/2025 12:00 PM, Riley Ceder, 57114K]
Editor’s note: For this story, Military Times spoke to multiple U.S. service members, as well as Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the war in Afghanistan. Those interviewed were granted the use of aliases or first names due to fear of jeopardizing the safety of their Afghanistan-based family members.
A paratrooper infantryman for the 82nd Airborne Division was preparing to welcome his sister from Afghanistan to the United States at some point over the next few months.
The paratrooper, who goes by Mojo, said his sister had been granted admission to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, or USRAP, as part of a special exemption issued by former President Joe Biden in 2022 that allowed family members of U.S. service members to immigrate to the country.
Mojo is from Afghanistan and began working as an interpreter for the U.S. military in 2019 before eventually immigrating to the U.S. and joining the Army.
The rest of his family — his mother, father, younger sister and two brothers, both of whom helped the U.S. military during the war in Afghanistan, Mojo said — had already safely moved to the United States.
Mojo’s sister was supposed to be the last one to make the pilgrimage, and she and her husband had completed the extensive security vetting and medical screening necessary to evacuate Afghanistan and enter the United States.
On Jan. 20, 2025, those plans collapsed with the stroke of a pen.
That day, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program beginning Jan. 27, in what the decree described as an effort to ease the undue stress that immigration had placed on states’ infrastructures.
Within 90 days, per the order, the secretary of Homeland Security will submit a report on whether the program should resume. After that, a new report will be submitted every 90 days thereafter, until Trump deems the program fit to begin again.
Now, Mojo’s sister must wait to learn whether she’ll be able to immigrate to the United States, all while being threatened because of her brother’s involvement with the U.S. military, Mojo said.
"She’s been hunted by the Taliban for a pretty long time — since the fall of Afghanistan," he said.
Her story is a common one.
Military Times spoke with multiple U.S. service members and Afghans located in the United States who said recent executive orders suspended their families’ relocation efforts, further exacerbating an already perilous situation in which family members fear for their lives due to their affiliation with the U.S. government.
On the same day Trump suspended USRAP, he also issued an executive order entitled "Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid" that stopped funding for the travel of individuals with Special Immigrant Visas, which are awarded to Afghans who were employed by the U.S. government as a way to immigrate to the United States.
Together, both of the executive orders completely stopped the relocation of Afghan wartime allies, said Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac, an organization that helps Afghan allies relocate.
AfghanEvac estimates that 200 family members of U.S. troops are in Afghanistan and attempting to flee the Taliban, along with another 150,000 to 250,000 Afghans who are trying to immigrate to the U.S.‘Salt in the wound’
Zahra, another U.S. soldier who enlisted in 2021 before the collapse of the Afghan government, said her mother, father and three siblings — all under age 15 — are currently stuck in Afghanistan. The executive order halting USRAP is just another in a series of complications for getting her family stateside.
It’s "salt in the wound," said Zahra, who requested Military Times not reveal her last name to protect her family members’ identities.
The entire immigration process through USRAP — which she’s been navigating for three years with little success — is what frustrates her the most.
"What we were told is that our families are priorities three years ago," she said. "If they did prioritize our families, they would’ve been out.".
Zahra said her family underwent extensive interviews, some that lasted eight hours, in 2024. They were told their next step would be to evacuate to a third location for processing.
That day has yet to come, and the new executive order has provided yet another obstacle. While she waits, Zahra said she constantly fears for her family’s safety.
Zahra can only communicate with her family through the encrypted messaging platform Signal because of safety concerns, she told Military Times. She can’t send them pictures. Calling them in public is too risky. She’s worried the Taliban will inspect their phones at a random checkpoint and see something that endangers their lives.
Her fear is furthered by grim stories she’s heard from fellow troops.
Zahra is part of a group chat with other U.S. service members whose families are stuck in Afghanistan. They don’t reveal their identities for the sake of safety, but she said members have shared stories of individuals being hunted — and in some cases murdered — prior to evacuating.
"The safety in that country is never fine," she said. "You’re just counting your luck ... how long you can be lucky before you get caught.".
Fighting for an exemption
In addition to U.S. troops, Afghan partner forces and allies who assisted the U.S. military during the war in Afghanistan — and who are now safely in the United States — said they’re also experiencing significant roadblocks to getting their families into the U.S.
Atiqullah, a former Afghan interpreter for the U.S. Army from 2009 to 2014, said he came to the United States in 2021 under asylum but is still struggling to help his family escape the dangers of the Taliban. He asked that Military Times only refer to him by his first name to protect his family members’ identities.
"Right now, they’re hunting everybody," Atiqullah said of the Taliban.
His brother, who also served as an interpreter for the U.S. military and now lives in the United States, has a wife and children stuck in Afghanistan. They were approved for Special Immigrant Visas and were readying themselves to be transferred to another location before coming to the United States. The executive order has delayed that process, Atiqullah said.
Atiqullah visited the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 6 with several other Afghans in similar situations – a visit that was facilitated by Central Virginia Afghan Advocates, a grassroots organization that advocates for Afghan evacuation and family reunification.
The group met with the offices of several representatives, including staff of Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. They shared their individual stories with hope that it would lead to an exemption to the executive order for those stuck in Afghanistan.
After the meetings, Atiqullah was optimistic, he said.
"They gave us lots of hope," he said. "We will see.".
Also part of the cohort that traveled to the Hill on Feb. 6 was Zahir, an Afghan currently living in the United States whose family is stuck in Afghanistan. He applied for the U.S. family reunification program but said the recent executive order paused his family’s processing.
Zahir, who asked to be referred to only by his first name to protect his family members’ identities, shared his story with representatives.
As a former captain of the Afghan National Army, Zahir worked with the U.S. military during the war in Afghanistan.
He traveled to the United States in 2021 through a professional military exchange training program between the United States and Afghanistan. While there, the Afghan government collapsed, and he was granted asylum for his safety, he said.
While Zahir is currently chasing what he refers to as the American dream — studying finance at Virginia Commonwealth University — his five brothers, three sisters and mother are still in Afghanistan, and they fear for their lives because of Zahir’s affiliation with the U.S. military.
The Taliban already gunned down his brother in 2019, thinking it was him, Zahir said. He shared a photo of his brother in the hospital after the incident, asking that it not be published in order to protect his brother’s identity. His brother survived the injuries.
Orders create confusion
Riane Donoho, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Afghanistan on a Female Engagement Team, is now an advocate for Afghan relocation efforts. People both abroad and in the U.S. are confused about how exactly to interpret Trump’s orders, she said.
Afghans in Pakistan who’d already been vetted and evacuated from Afghanistan in preparation for their final move to the United States were being sent back to Afghanistan after the orders were signed, according to Donoho.
"Anyone and everyone, if your feet are not on the ground in America, it doesn’t really matter where you are in the process, you are paused," Donoho said.
That’s true for people seeking admission to the U.S. through both USRAP and the Special Immigrant Visa process, said VanDiver, the AfghanEvac president. Though Trump’s executive order pausing foreign aid didn’t specifically call for an end to the processing of Special Immigrant Visas, it removed the travel and resettlement funds that allow Afghans to relocate to the United States, he said.
On Feb. 13, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a temporary restraining order blocking the suspension of foreign aid for existing contracts and grants that the executive order had mandated. AfghanEvac, thinking the development might pave the way for relocation efforts to resume, asked the State Department to specify what the court’s ruling means for Afghans in the process of immigrating to the United States. VanDiver hadn’t received clarification as of Wednesday.
VanDiver acknowledged that both the USRAP and SIV programs have their flaws, but he said they were continually improving.
"The system was moving, it wasn’t moving fast enough, but it had recently gotten up to speed," VanDiver said. "Now these people are left to die.".
VP defends policy change
In addition to how the policy changes are affecting his family personally, Zahir, whose siblings and mother are stuck in Afghanistan, is worried about the effects of the executive orders in a broader sense. The orders could send a message of weakness to the world by demonstrating that the United States fails to honor its promises to current and future allies, he said.
"We fought side by side, we defended, we sacrificed, and we fought and [bled] for the same purpose, and I feel like we do not deserve to be forgotten," Zahir said. "Our families do not deserve to be forgotten, because we were the people that stood with the United States military.".
Zahir hopes the order affecting USRAP will be reviewed and amended. As of Wednesday, there had been no indication of a shift in policy or an exemption for Afghan refugees. And Vice President J.D. Vance, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, has defended the policy change.
On Jan. 25, five days after Trump issued the executive order, Vance appeared on CBS’s "Face the Nation" and said he wasn’t confident in the United States’ security vetting of those in the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
Vance said he knew of cases in which refugees who went through the vetting process were found to have been planning terrorist attacks against the United States. He cited the case of an Afghan immigrant in Oklahoma who was arrested for plotting an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack on Election Day.
CBS anchor Margaret Brennan rebutted that it was unclear whether the individual, Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, had been radicalized before or after he’d been vetted.
Tawhedi worked for the CIA in Afghanistan. He entered the United States in 2021 on parole status for a Special Immigrant Visa, meaning he was granted legal presence in the country temporarily while waiting for his SIV to be processed. He was still on parole status at the time of his arrest in 2024, according to the criminal complaint.
"Now that we know that we have vetting problems with a lot of these refugee programs, we absolutely cannot unleash thousands of unvetted people into our country," Vance said.
VanDiver argued that the system worked in this case, as the U.S. government was able to intervene before Tawhedi was granted permanent residence.
A target on her back
Mojo, whose sister is stuck in Afghanistan, immigrated to the United States in 2021 and became a citizen in April 2024, shortly before joining the U.S. Army.His sister is now being chased by the Taliban, other terrorist organizations and criminals who kidnap those with U.S. ties for ransom money, Mojo told Military Times. Everyone in her neighborhood is aware of her family’s involvement with the U.S. government, which has endangered her life.
"If something happened to her, like what really, really gives me anxiety — makes me super depressed — is that I cannot do anything," Mojo said. "I cannot leave this place, I cannot, you know, go save her. I’m very, very limited with the things that I can — I’m able — to offer.".
Mojo’s military supervisors are advocating for him and his family, he said. He continues to hope the executive order’s ban of Afghan refugees was simply a mistake.
While serving the United States is the greatest honor of his life, he said, he feels like his sacrifice for the country deserves to be reciprocated with the protection of his family.
"I do have expectations from my commander-in-chief, the president, and the secretary of defense to at least prioritize or make an exception to policy for the Afghan allies and Afghan Americans," he said. Kabul evacuation whistleblower wins unfair dismissal case (BBC)
BBC [2/19/2025 11:56 AM, Brian Wheeler, 76163K]
A Foreign Office whistleblower has won a case for unfair dismissal over her disclosures to the BBC about the UK evacuation from Afghanistan.
Josie Stewart revealed details of the chaotic August 2021 withdrawal from Kabul and emails which suggested then Prime Minister Boris Johnson had been involved in the evacuation of a pet charity.
She had her security clearance revoked and lost her job after a BBC journalist accidentally identified her as a confidential source on social media.
An employment tribunal, chaired by Judge Andrew Glennie, found she had leaked the information in the public interest and had been unfairly dismissed.
A BBC spokesperson said: "We take our responsibilities as journalists very seriously and we deeply regret that the name of the email account was inadvertently revealed when the email was published on social media.".
Lawyers for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said Ms Stewart’s bosses had been forced to sack Ms Stewart because her security clearance had been revoked and there were no other suitable roles for her.
But Ms Stewart’s barrister, Gavin Millar KC, said that if their argument had succeeded it would have driven "a coach and horses through" the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (Pida) aimed at protecting whistleblowers.
In a judgement issued on Tuesday, the employment tribunal said Ms Stewart had been justified in going to the media on a clear matter of public interest.
"The tribunal considered that it was reasonable for the claimant [Stewart] to go to the UK’s public service broadcaster when relevant information and/or allegations had already been put into the public domain … and government ministers were publicly disputing them.".
The tribunal heard that Ms Stewart had "experienced a culture in FCDO which silences concerns and ostracises those who raise them".
She said her experience of the FCDO’s Afghanistan crisis centre in August 2021 "reflected the worst of our political system".
In a statement upon receiving the judgment, she added: "By calling this out, I lost my career.
"The outcome of this case doesn’t change any of this, but it has achieved what I set out to achieve: it has established that civil servants have the right not to stay silent when systemic failures put lives at risk, as happened during the Afghan evacuation.
"I hope that, knowing that their colleagues have this right, senior officials will do more to build accountability in government, and speak truth to power when it is needed.
"We can’t have a system that says stay silent, no matter what you see, and forces dedicated public servants to choose between their conscience and their career.".
Elizabeth Gardiner, chief executive of whistleblowing charity Protect, welcomed the ruling.
"We need whistleblowers to raise matters in the public interest and this case is unusual and hugely significant in finding that a civil servant was justified in going to the press.".
She added that the decision had "weighty repercussions for how civil servants can act in the future and their confidence in speaking out when they encounter wrongdoing".
But she said it did not remove the need for better protections for civil servants who raise concerns internally through an "independent statutory commissioner".
An FCDO spokesperson said: "We will review the findings of the tribunal and consider next steps.".
Remedies for Ms Stewart’s successful complaints will be determined at a future hearing. Pakistan
Pakistan steps up arrests of Afghans without papers. Kabul says it’s a move to expel all refugees (AP)
AP [2/19/2025 2:43 PM, Munir Ahmed, 50804K]
Authorities have stepped up arrests of Afghan citizens in Pakistan’s capital and a nearby city in an effort that the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad described on Wednesday as a push to force the expulsion of all Afghan refugees from the country.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry promptly dismissed the allegation, saying that the authorities were only trying to facilitate conditions for the swift return of Afghans to their home country.
Pakistan has long threatened to deport Afghans living in the country illegally.
Separately, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last month approved a March 31 deadline to deport those awaiting relocation to third countries unless their cases are swiftly processed by the governments that have agreed to take them, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press.
More than 800,000 Afghans have returned home or have been expelled by force from Pakistan since 2023, according to the International Organization for Migration, a U.N. agency that tracks migrations.
In a strongly worded statement on Wednesday, the Afghan Embassy — which represents the Taliban-run government of Afghanistan — criticized "the short timeframe" given by the authorities in Islamabad and "the unilateral nature of Pakistan’s decision.".
Afghans in Islamabad and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi have been subjected to arrests, searches, and orders from police to leave the the two cities and relocate to other parts of Pakistan, the embassy said.
It further claimed that for all Afghans, "expulsion is imminent" — something the embassy said Pakistani authorities had not communicated to Kabul " through any formal correspondence.".
More than half a million Afghans who fled the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 have been living without papers in Pakistan, thousands of them waiting for resettlement in the United States and elsewhere.
There are also some 1.45 million Afghan refugees, registered with the U.N. refugee agency, most of whom fled during the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation of their country. Last July, Pakistan extended the stay of refugees registered with the UNHCR until June 2025, saying they will not be arrested or deported at least until the extension expires.
Sharif’s January decision appears to be a reversal of that extension and followed a widely criticized anti-migrant crackdown by his government targeting anyone without valid documentation regardless of nationality, according to Pakistani authorities.
Ultimately, the embassy said, "Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that there is a definitive and final plan to deport all Afghan refugees not only from Islamabad and Rawalpindi but also from the entire country in the near future.".
Pakistan foreign ministry defended its stance on Wednesday.
"While Pakistan has done what it could, we expect ... Afghan authorities to create conducive conditions so returnees are fully integrated in the Afghan society," it said.After President Donald Trump paused U.S. refugee programs last month, around 20,000 Afghans who were awaiting resettlement in Pakistan are now in limbo.
Ahmad Shah, a member of an Afghan advocacy group, urged Pakistan on Wednesday to allow Afghans waiting for relocation to continue living in Islamabad — at least until the Trump administration makes a final decision about their fate.
He said it would be hard for them to visit Western embassies in the Pakistani capital if they are forced to move to other areas. Afghanistan says Pakistan carrying out mass expulsion of refugees (Reuters)
Reuters [2/19/2025 9:40 AM, Asif Shahzad, 48128K]
Afghan refugees are facing arrests and harassment in Pakistan as part of a mass expulsion campaign, Kabul’s embassy in Islamabad said on Wednesday, after the U.N.’s refugee agency said hundreds had been expelled from two cities.
Pakistan is in the midst of a huge drive to repatriate the roughly four million Afghans who crossed the border during 40 years of armed conflict in their home country and after the Taliban seized power in 2021.
The Afghan embassy in Islamabad said its nationals have recently been subjected to arrests, searches and orders from police to leave Pakistan’s capital Islamabad and its twin garrison city of Rawalpindi to relocate to other parts of the country.
"This process of detaining Afghans, which began without any formal announcement, has not been officially communicated to the Embassy of Afghanistan," the embassy said in a statement.
Pakistan’s foreign office denied harassing Afghan refugees, and said the removals were part of a 2023 campaign called the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan.
"We expect interim Afghan authorities to create conducive conditions in Afghanistan, so that these returnees are fully integrated in the Afghan society," it said.
But the Afghan embassy said it was told by Pakistani authorities that Islamabad plans to deport all Afghan nationals in the near future.
"The embassy of Afghanistan in Islamabad has expressed serious concerns in meetings with Pakistani authorities and international organizations regarding the mass expulsion," it said.
It added that Pakistani authorities had said only valid visa holders will be allowed to remain in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
UNHCR, the U.N. Refugee Agency, said it had seen a rise in deportations from Islamabad and Rawalpindi since Jan 1.
"This latest relocation directive has increased fears of imminent deportation among Afghans," it said.The latest removals come as the U.S. State Department office overseeing the resettlement of Afghans in the United States was told to make plans to close by April, according to a U.S. official, an advocate and two sources familiar with the directive.
The move could deny up to an estimated 200,000 people new lives in the United States, many of whom are stranded in Pakistan. Taliban confirm Pakistan’s new plan for swift mass eviction of Afghan refugees (VOA)
VOA [2/19/2025 7:17 AM, Ayaz Gul, 2717K]
Diplomats from Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban reported Wednesday that neighboring Pakistan is implementing a plan for the "imminent" and swift mass deportation of nearly three million Afghan refugees from its territory.
The Taliban-operated embassy in Islamabad issued the statement, ending days of uncertainty about an ongoing police crackdown to arrest and remove Afghan citizens, including legal refugees, from the Pakistani capital and the adjoining city of Rawalpindi.
The Afghan diplomatic mission stated that Pakistan did not formally notify Kabul about its latest refugee deportation plans. It added that several attempts were made through diplomatic channels to seek clarification from the host government regarding the reasons behind the detentions and removals of Afghan nationals from the two cities.
"Ultimately, officials from Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that there is a definitive and final plan to deport/remove all Afghan refugees not only from Islamabad and Rawalpindi but also from the entire country in the near future," the Wednesday statement noted.
The Taliban reaction comes nearly three weeks after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved a multistage plan targeting the Afghan refugee population in the country. They include more than 1.4 million legally declared refugees with UNHCR-granted proof of registration cards, or PoRs, who have been granted permission by Pakistan to remain in the country until June 30, 2025.
The rest of the population in question comprises nearly 900,000 documented economic migrants holding the Afghan Citizenship Card (ACC), an estimated 40,000 awaiting promised relocation to the United States or other Western countries, and individuals living in Pakistan without legal status or having exceeded their visa duration.
The Taliban embassy stated Wednesday that Pakistani officials informed it that only Afghan nationals with valid legal visas would be permitted to reside in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
"They further stated that the government has decided to immediately remove all Afghan refugees, including those holding ACC and PoR cards, from Islamabad and Rawalpindi and that their expulsion from the entire country is imminent," the statement added.
The UNHCR has meanwhile also confirmed that the Pakistani government plans to relocate all Afghan refugees out of Islamabad and Rawalpindi by February 28, except for holders of valid visas.The Afghan embassy noted that it expressed "serious concerns" to Islamabad and international organizations regarding "the mass expulsion of Afghan refugees within such a short timeframe and the unilateral nature of Pakistan’s decision.".
The spokesperson for the Pakistani Foreign Ministry rejected the Taliban embassy’s claims of mistreatment of Afghan nationals during the repatriation process as misplaced. "In this connection, we also extensively engaged the Afghan side to ensure smooth repatriation of Afghan nationals," Shafqat Ali Khan stated in a brief statement.
The deportation plan, seen by VOA, requires authorities to relocate around 40,000 Afghans out of Islamabad and Rawalpindi by March 31 and subsequently arrange for their repatriation to Afghanistan if their relocation and resettlement cases to third countries are not processed expeditiously. These individuals fled their country after the Taliban militarily recaptured its control in 2021, primarily seeking shelter from potential retribution due to their affiliations with the U.S. and NATO forces.
Last month, President Donald Trump halted the U.S. Refugee Admission Program to assess whether reinstating it serves the interests of Washington, stranding thousands of Afghan allies in Pakistan approved for, or being evaluated for, relocation to the U.S.
The UNHCR says that more than 825,000 undocumented Afghans have already been forcibly repatriated from Pakistan since 2023, resulting from a government crackdown on foreigners living in the country without legal permission or whose visas had expired.
Islamabad has defended the crackdown, attributing a recent rise in crime in Pakistan and increased militancy to Afghan nationals. Afghan embassy says nationals face arrests, expulsions in Pakistan capital (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [2/19/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 19.6M]
The Afghanistan embassy in Pakistan has warned that the government wants to remove all Afghan refugees from the capital, Islamabad, and the adjoining city of Rawalpindi.
The embassy issued a strongly worded statement on Wednesday, saying Afghan nationals in both cities have been subjected to arrests, searches and orders from the police to leave and relocate to other parts of Pakistan.
The warning comes as the relationship between the two countries continues to deteriorate, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of failing to curb cross-border attacks.“This process of detaining Afghans, which began without any formal announcement, has not been officially communicated to the Embassy of Afghanistan in Islamabad through any formal correspondence,” the embassy said.“Ultimately, officials from Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that there is a definitive and final plan to deport/remove all Afghan refugees not only from Islamabad and Rawalpindi but also from the entire country in the near future,” it added.
Last year, Pakistan announced that illegal Afghan refugees would not be allowed to live in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The Islamabad administration made this announcement after claiming that the Afghan refugees took part in the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party’s protest rally held in the capital in November last year.
In November 2023, Pakistan launched a widely criticised repatriation programme aimed at returning millions of Afghans, regardless of their legal status.
Pakistan currently hosts nearly more than 2.5 million Afghans, according to government estimates. About half of them are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Authorities say those registered earlier had their stay extended until June 2025, and they would not be arrested or deported at least until the extension expires.
Last month, in a two-page document issued by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office, the government outlined a three-phase plan to send back Afghan citizens to their country.
The Afghan embassy said it had already “expressed serious concerns” regarding the “mass expulsion of Afghan refugees within such a short timeframe and the unilateral nature of Pakistan’s decision”.
Pakistan has set March 31 as the deadline to expel Afghan refugees from Islamabad and Rawalpindi in preparation for their deportation if they are not relocated to the host countries that agreed to take them after the Taliban seized power in 2021.
In the past three years, tens of thousands of Afghans have fled to Pakistan. Many of them were approved for resettlement in the United States through a programme that helps people at risk because of their work with the US government, media, aid agencies and rights groups.
However, US President Donald Trump paused refugee programmes last month. Since then, about 20,000 Afghans are now in limbo in Pakistan. Gunmen kill police officer assigned to guard polio workers in northwestern Pakistan (AP)
AP [2/19/2025 10:00 AM, Staff, 456K]
Suspected militants riding on a motorcycle shot and killed on Wednesday a police officer assigned to protect polio workers in a region in northwestern Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, the latest in a string of deadly attacks on polio workers.
The attack in Bajur, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, came just days after authorities launched the vaccination drive. Police official Nasir Khan said an investigation was underway.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
More than 200 polio workers and police assigned for their protection have been killed in Pakistan since the 1990s, according to health officials and authorities.
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio has not been eradicated. Pakistan reported at least 74 cases in 2024 and two cases since January.Pakistan regularly launches campaigns against polio despite attacks on the workers and police assigned to the inoculation drives. Militants falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children. Five Britons arrested in Pakistan after gunmen kill four family members (The Telegraph)
The Telegraph [2/19/2025 10:57 PM, Samaan Lateef, 24814K]
Five British men have been arrested in Pakistan on suspicion of killing four people in a family dispute, authorities said.The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) detained the suspects at Sialkot International Airport as they attempted to flee to Britain just hours after the killings in Jhelum, a north-eastern district of Pakistan.The five suspects were identified as Mujtaba Karamat, 22, Murtaza Karamat, 20, Haroon Basharat, 19, Muhammad Zaheer and Chaudhry Faisal. All were born in Pakistan but had British passports and had spent time in the UK, police said.According to police reports, assailants armed with assault rifles and pistols stormed the house of Dilawar Hussain, 31, on Thursday evening in the village of Bhrota.His sister, Adeela Abrar, and brother-in-law, Ibrar Hussain, were visiting the family to celebrate Shab-e-Barat, a religious night observed by Muslims, when the gunmen began their attack.They, along with Sakeena Arshad, Dilawar’s mother and Matarshad, Dilawar’s brother, were killed in what police believe was a longstanding family feud.Dilawar told The Telegraph: “As my mother accompanied my sister and brother-in-law to the main entrance, I went to the terrace. Suddenly, a group of armed men barged in, hurled abuses and began indiscriminate firing.”He added: “They shot my mother, sister, and brother-in-law. They died on the spot. One of them then shouted, ‘Mutarshad is here too,’ and another assailant turned his rifle towards him and shot him dead.” Dilawar, who hid behind a wall, survived the attack. “They continued aerial firing as they fled,” he added. “I was in shock. How could they kill my family? We had done no harm to them.”Names added to no-fly listThe five suspects were arrested as they attempted to board an Emirates flight to Dubai at 2.50am on Friday.“The suspects were British passport holders and were fleeing to the UK,” an FIA spokesman said in a statement. Their names had been added to a no-fly list as a precautionary measure, officials said.Killings over family disputes are not uncommon in Pakistan, where powerful families often seek to maintain social, political and economic control over their communities.Police believe the killings were in response to the Hussain family’s growing influence in the community and disputes between them and some of the families of the suspects.Farukk Shabir Dar, a sub-inspector at Mangla Police Station, said: “Investigations are ongoing, and we are gathering evidence to ensure justice for the victims.” India
Indian prime minister’s party names a woman as top government official in New Delhi state (AP)
AP [2/19/2025 10:19 PM, Ashok Sharma, 33392K]
India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party on Wednesday named a woman as the top government official in the state of New Delhi, which includes the country’s capital, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi moves to consolidate his party’s hold there after winning the local election.
Former party student leader Rekha Gupta, 50, was named to the post of New Delhi chief minister, according to an announcement by the Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad.
The party won the most seats in the high-stakes New Delhi polls earlier this month for the first time in 27 years. With 48 seats in the 70-member local assembly, Bharatiya Janata Party ousted the Aam Aadmi Party, which won 22 seats.
Gupta thanked the party and said she would work hard to meet the challenges ahead. She faces significant tasks in tackling air and river pollution and poor infrastructure in the Indian capital. Before elections, her party had offered to revamp government schools, give free health services, free electricity, and a monthly stipend of over 2,500 rupees ($29) to poor women in Delhi.
Gupta, a former BJP general secretary, started out as a student leader at Delhi University in 1992. She is known for initiatives on the welfare of women and children, as well as support for impoverished female students.
The BJP has not run Delhi for over a quarter of a century. It yielded power to the Congress party that ruled Delhi from 1998 to 2013, until the AAP burst onto the scene on an anti-corruption platform.
The party’s victory was a boost for the BJP after it failed to secure a majority on its own in last year’s national election but formed the government with coalition partners. It gained some lost ground by winning three state elections in northern Haryana and Delhi and western Maharashtra.
Ahead of the election earlier this month, the BJP slashed income taxes on the salaried middle class, one of its key voting blocs, in the federal budget.
The AAP suffered a major setback when its founder and leader Arvind Kejriwal was arrested last year along with two other party officials on charges of receiving bribes from a liquor distributor. They have denied the accusation, claiming it was a part of a political conspiracy.
Kejriwal and the two others were later released on bail by the Supreme Court and Kejriwal subsequently stepped down as Delhi chief minister. Trump says unfair to US if Musk builds Tesla factory in India (Reuters)
Reuters [2/19/2025 10:57 PM, Tanvi Mehta and Hritam Mukherjee, 48128K]
U.S. President Donald Trump has said that if Tesla (TSLA.O) were to build a factory in India to circumvent that country’s tariffs, it would be "unfair" to the U.S., in an interview with Fox News which aired on Tuesday.
Trump called out India’s high duty on cars during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S. last week, but agreed to work towards an early trade deal and resolve their standoff over tariffs.
Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk has long criticised India for having import tariffs of around 100% on EVs which protect local automakers such as Tata Motors in the world’s third largest auto market, where EV adoption is still at a nascent stage.
Trump said it is "impossible" for Musk to sell a car in the South Asian nation.
"Every country in the world takes advantage of us, and they do it with tariffs... It is impossible to sell a car, practically, in, as an example, India," he said.
India’s government in March unveiled a new EV policy lowering import taxes substantially to 15% if a carmaker invests at least $500 million and sets up a factory.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that Tesla has selected locations for two showrooms in the Indian cities of New Delhi and Mumbai, and posted job ads for 13 mid-level roles in India. It does not currently manufacture any vehicles in India.
Trump said it would be "unfair" to the U.S. if Musk did decide to build a factory there.
"Now, if he built the factory in India, that’s okay, but that’s unfair to us. It’s very unfair," Trump said in the interview.
India’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s plans for reciprocal tariffs on every country that taxes U.S. imports have raised the risk of a global trade war with American friends and foes. Top Indian drugmakers bank on bilateral talks for relief from planned US tariffs (Reuters)
Reuters [2/20/2025 3:21 AM, Rishika Sadam, 5.2M]
Indian drugmakers are hoping that bilateral discussions between the country and the United States will help them steer clear of President Donald Trump’s plan to levy at least 25% tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, a trade association said.
India, which calls itself the ‘pharmacy of the world’, makes cheaper generic versions of complex innovative drugs in its massive factory clusters and exports them to over 200 countries, of which the U.S. is its biggest market, government data shows.
In fiscal 2024, the exports to the U.S. were worth $8.7 billion, or about 31% of total pharma exports, per data from government-backed trade body Pharmexcil. Trump’s threat to raise tariffs sent shares of Indian drugmakers sliding on Wednesday.
"This (tariff) matter will be discussed through bilateral engagements between the two countries and further steps will be determined accordingly," Sudarshan Jain, secretary general of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), said in a statement on Wednesday.
"We are confident that continued dialogue among stakeholders will help address the subject."
According to research firm IQVIA, nearly half of all prescriptions for generic medicines in the U.S. in 2022 were supplied by Indian drugmakers, saving the healthcare system about $408 billion and underscoring the Indian industry’s role in access to affordable, quality-assured medicines.
"This (tariff) move is going to be inflationary to the U.S. as they don’t have the requisite manufacturing infrastructure in-house to replace the scale of supply that India does," said Vishal Manchanda, an analyst at Systematix Institutional Equities.
The IPA represents some of India’s biggest drugmakers, including Sun Pharmaceutical (SUN.NS), Dr Reddy’s (REDY.NS), Cipla (CIPL.NS), and Zydus Lifesciences (ZYDU.NS), as well as the local units of U.S. firms like Abbott (ABT.N)
.
Earlier this week, Sun Pharma Managing Director Dilip Shanghvi told local media that the tariffs, if imposed, will be passed on to consumers. India’s space regulator launches $58 million fund to boost startups, cut reliance on imports (Reuters)
Reuters [2/19/2025 7:29 AM, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, 48128K]
The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) on Wednesday launched a 5 billion rupee ($57.58 million) fund to help early-stage space technologies go commercial and reduce reliance on imports as the country seeks to boost its market share in the global space industry.
The Technology Adoption Fund will also connect government bodies with the private sector, aiming to position India as a reliable partner in the increasingly competitive market, the space regulator said in a statement.
"The fund will offer financial support of up to 60% of the project cost for startups and medium and small businesses, and 40% for larger industries, with a maximum funding cap of 250 million rupees per project," said Pawan Goenka, chairman of IN-SPACe.
"This support will enable companies to refine their technologies, enhance production processes and meet market demands both within India and abroad.".
India opened its space industry to private investment last year as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government pushed for greater monetization of the sector, long dominated by the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The country hopes liberalized regulations will attract global players, mirroring the commercial space boom seen in the United States and Europe.
A joint venture between Reliance Industries’ (RELI.NS) Jio Platforms and Luxembourg-based SES (SESFg.LU) has secured regulatory approval to provide gigabit fiber internet, while Elon Musk’s Starlink and Amazon’s (AMZN.O) Kuiper await licenses.
The government has also sanctioned a separate 10 billion rupee venture capital fund for space startups, awarded contracts for ISRO’s main launch vehicle to private firms and intensified efforts to forge global commercial partnerships.
"We are witnessing a surge of pioneering startups developing groundbreaking solutions for the space industry. But to turn these concepts into practical products that can be offered to a new marketplace, there must be sufficient funding, especially from government institutions at this specific stage," said AK Bhatt, director general of the Indian Space Association. Outrage over Indian YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia raises social media regulation concerns (AP)
AP [2/20/2025 3:40 AM, Sheikh Saaliq, 456K]
A famous YouTuber in India is facing public outrage and a police investigation after he made an allegedly obscene remark on a YouTube show, raising questions about freedom of speech in a country where digital creators in the past have come under fire for their content.
The controversy began last week when social media influencer and YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia made remarks to a participant on a comedy show about his parents’ personal relationship. The joke was quickly condemned by social media users, public figures and political leaders.
Multiple police complaints were filed against Allahabadia and Samay Raina, who hosts the show “India’s Got Latent.” Both of them, along with some other participants on the show, were summoned by police for questioning and the issue was also raised in Parliament.
What was the joke about?
On the show, Allahbadia asked a contestant whether he would rather watch his parents have sex every day for the rest of his life or join in once and stop it forever.
Allahbadia, who has interviewed senior Indian ministers and Bollywood celebrities on his YouTube channel, has since apologized for the comments. Raina, meanwhile, has removed all videos of the show from his YouTube channel and said he was “fully cooperating” with the authorities.
India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday shielded Allahbadia from arrest but said his conduct showed “lack of responsibility” and was “condemnable.”“There is something that is dirty in his mind that has been vomited by way of this program,” the judge hearing the case said.
The court also ordered Allahbadia to surrender his passport at a police station and barred him from leaving the country.
The case, however, prompted a parliamentary panel to write to the country’s Information Technology Ministry seeking steps to amend existing laws to clamp down on such content.
One lawmaker also asked Parliament to enact a law to regulate social media platforms, raising fears that the controversy will be used by the federal government to regulate online content.
Concerns over freedom of speech
Indian content creators on social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram and X are worried after the government last year proposed draft legislation that aims to overhaul and regulate broadcasting services in the country. The legislation, if enacted into law, would apply to all content creators including YouTubers.
Many content creators, journalists and digital experts say it could lead to censorship, stifle free speech and significantly expand the government’s powers to regulate digital media content.“I think we are facing a threat that this particular incident might be a trigger point for obscenity laws,” said Nikhil Pahwa, a digital policy analyst and founder of the tech website MediaNama.
In Allahbadia’s case, observers say the controversy was blown out of proportion and could lead to a chilling effect on India’s comedy scene.“The morality of the audience and the current political atmosphere is a very strong determining factor that decides whether our jokes are acceptable or not. And once a perception has been made about your content, no one can control its outcome. It is troubling,” said Anurag Minus Verma, a cultural critic based in New Delhi.
Indian comedians have faced backlash in the past
This is the not the first time Indian comedians have come under fire for their jokes and faced police crackdowns or their shows being cancelled.
Stand-up comedy has become hugely popular in recent years in India, but a swelling tide of nationalism under Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘s rule has also put comedians under scrutiny for making fun of politicians or making references to religion or national icons.
In 2021, comedian Vir Das faced police complaints for his “I Come from Two Indias” show, which was critical of India over its fight against COVID-19, crimes against women and crackdowns on comedians. During his show, Das described India as a country where people “worship women during the day but gang rape them at night.”
That same year comedians Munawar Faruqui and Nalin Yadav were arrested by police for making allegedly objectionable remarks about Hindu deities while performing in an Indian state that’s ruled by Modi’s party. Faruqui was jailed for a month. Hundreds of books seized from stores in Kashmir as Indian police crack down on dissent (The Guardian)
The Guardian [2/19/2025 12:41 PM, Ella Creamer, 82995K]
Police in Kashmir have raided dozens of bookstores and seized more than 650 books as part of crackdowns on dissent in the Indian-administered region.
Most of the titles were written by Abul A’la Maududi, a prominent 20th-century Islamic scholar who founded Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamic organisation banned in Kashmir.
Raids began last Friday in Srinagar, Kashmir’s main city, before moving to other parts of the disputed region. In a statement, Srinagar police said that the raids were "based on credible intelligence regarding the clandestine sale and distribution of literature promoting the ideology of a banned organisation", and that 668 books were seized in all.
The books were mostly published by Markazi Maktaba Islami Publishers, based in New Delhi, which is affiliated with the Indian branch of Jamaat-e-Islami, one of the largest religious and political organisations in the Indian subcontinent.
"These books were found to be in violation of legal regulations, and strict action is being taken against those found in possession of such material," police said.
In February 2019, Indian authorities banned Jamaat-e-Islami, declaring it an "unlawful association", for five years. In August that year, Narendra Modi’s government scrapped the region’s partial autonomy. The repression of human rights in the region has since escalated.
Jamaat-e-Islami leaders said that the seizure of books "is unjust, unconstitutional, and a violation of fundamental rights", adding that the books are "legally published" in Delhi. "If the government has any security concerns, we are fully prepared to cooperate with any investigation.".
"The current approach appears arbitrary and unfair, as it does not even fall within the scope of a legitimate investigation", they added. "Instead, it reflects an attempt to marginalise us.".
The Kashmir conflict began after India gained independence from Britain in 1947, and both India and Pakistan claimed the region. For decades, insurgent groups have fought Indian rule, and tens of thousands have been killed in the conflict.
When armed rebellion broke out in 1989, Kashmir’s largest militant group, Hizbul Mujahideen, declared it was Jamaat-e-Islami’s military wing. However, in a petition against the 2019 ban, Jamaat-e-Islam claimed it had "never supported violence" and "never been associated with the Hizbul Mujahideen". In February last year, the ban on the organisation was extended for a further five years.
Umar Farooq, Kashmir’s chief cleric, said in a statement that "cracking down on Islamic literature" is "condemnable" and "ridiculous".
"Policing thought by seizing books is absurd to say the least, in the time of access to all information on virtual highways". Trump-Modi Meeting Strengthened U.S.-India Relationship (Newsweek – opinion)
Newsweek [2/19/2025 3:57 PM, Avatans Kumar, 56005K]
As India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Washington, D.C., the Trump administration announced its plans for "reciprocal" tariffs on countries that tax U.S. goods. These tariffs, if implemented, could have a devastating effect on India’s economy, particularly on its export-oriented sectors. However, much of the anxiety evaporated as the two leaders pushed aside contentious issues and focused on convergences. By the time Modi left for New Delhi, both camps exuded an air of optimism.President Donald Trump had once called India a "tariff king." The average Indian import tariffs stand at 17 percent, far higher than China’s (6.5 percent) and Canada’s (1.8 percent). But that wasn’t the only sticking point. The issue of the H-1B visa, a program that allows skilled international workers to work in the U.S., has enraged the MAGA base due to a perceived increase in job competition, while Indians were incensed by the images of their brethren sent back to India in a U.S. military plane chained and handcuffed.The U.S.-India relationship has come a long way. Today, India is the world’s third-largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity and fifth in terms of GDP. It is also the most populous country that has a thriving democracy and civilizational pluralistic society, a rarity in its neighborhood.The U.S. and India have neither a formal alliance nor a comprehensive defense partnership. However, every U.S. president since Bill Clinton has solidified and improved their country’s relationship with India. Modi, serving his third consecutive five-year term, has worked tirelessly with three U.S. presidents—Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Trump—to build on the process started by his predecessor, Dr. Manmohan Singh.As American policymakers emerge from Cold War-era thinking, they are increasingly realizing that America’s national strategic interests are tied to India’s. On June 21, 2023, the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal wrote: "As the new era of competition with China arrives, the U.S. needs more reliable friends. India is a crucial one."Given the delicate task of balancing Trump’s campaign promises on tariffs and immigration and courting India to counter China, both leaders delivered a positive message at a White House news conference on Thursday. "Trump’s meeting with Modi was a delicate dance," said Subhash Kak, regents professor of Computer Science at Oklahoma State University-Stillwater. "Trump made specific assertions about what he wants, but he gave Mr Modi enough room so that the process can be incremental as it has been in the past."Trump uncharacteristically praised Modi, saying the prime minister was the "better" and even "tougher" negotiator. There were several instances where President Trump expressed admiration for Modi. The two leaders have great chemistry, going back to Trump’s first term. They hosted a campaign-style rally in Houston with over 50,000 attendees in 2019, and another one in India with over 100,000 filling a cricket stadium to welcome Trump in 2020.Both Trump and Modi are strong populist nationalist leaders and have been targets of similar left-wing attacks from media, academia, and bureaucracy. "Indians will be thrilled with the outcome" of the Trump-Modi meeting, said Ramesh Rao, a professor in the Department of Communication at Columbus State University. "Both wish to make their countries strong and prosperous, and both have major concerns about the destructive agendas of the ‘woke’ left European governments."The two leaders issued a joint statement last week discussing the shared values of "freedom, the rule of law, human rights, and pluralism" that form the basis of a strong relationship between their nations. The statement was quite a contrast to the constant lecturing and virtue signaling of the Biden-Harris administration. Even Trump acknowledged during Thursday’s press conference that "a lot of things happened that weren’t very appropriate" between India and the Biden administration.The statement also highlighted several areas of convergence—defense, trade and investment, energy security, technology and innovation, and people-to-people and multilateral cooperation. Trump hopes to build a closer and more open relationship with India to counter China, which India is happy to do while maintaining strategic independence. And at the same time, according to Kak, "The purchase of advanced military hardware from the U.S. will make India less reliant on Russia."Trump also talked about cooperation in confronting "the threat of radical Islamic terrorism." Both the U.S. and India have been victims of such terrorism. Indians often compare 9/11 and 11/26 (written 26/11 according to Indian dating format). On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani gunmen belonging to the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out a coordinated attack in Mumbai, India, that killed at least 174 and injured more than 300. Trump announced the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, a member of Lashkar-e-Taiba and alleged mastermind of the Mumbai attacks. This extradition has been one of the long-pending demands of the Indian government.The U.S. can offer India much, and India will gladly reciprocate. According to Rao, the next few years can "augur a golden period in Indo-U.S. relations."India may have to buy more energy (oil and gas) and weapons (F-35 planes) from the U.S. If these purchases include cooperation in space, nuclear technology, and other areas without much additional expense, the expenditures shouldn’t be a cause for concern for India. Geopolitical pragmatism calls for it.President Trump’s statement also clearly shows that India made some progress on the issue of U.S.-based Khalistanis who aim to break up the Indian state by violence. These groups have publicly called for the killings of Indian politicians, diplomats, and ordinary citizens. They have a strong U.S. base and often hide behind the First Amendment protection.Trump mentioned India made "quite a few requests." Whether these were for extradition of violent extremists or something else, we don’t know.If people in India were hoping Trump would accept that somehow the U.S. government was involved in "regime change" operations against Modi, they were being naive. However, Trump did admit that President Biden’s prior administration had not been good for India and Modi.Trump was a good host to Modi. But his America First policy restricts him from giving India any special privileges that may infuriate his MAGA base. This is understandable, but still leaves plenty of room for cooperation. NSB
Rohingya in limbo as some aid groups suspend health services at Bangladesh camps (Radio Free Asia)
Radio Free Asia [2/19/2025 8:51 PM, Mostafa Yousuf and Abdur Rahman, 1985K]
At a Rohingya refugee camp in southeastern Bangladesh, Mohammed Hasan cast doubt over whether he’d ever walk again.
The 40-year-old had a leg amputated after a Burmese soldier shot him during the Myanmar military’s deadly crackdown against the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority in 2017. Hasan’s other leg was paralyzed after the shooting.
Like hundreds of thousands of his fellow Rohingya, he fled that year from his home in Rakhine state to neighboring Bangladesh. There, a nongovernmental organization helped him with medical treatment, including physiotherapy.But all that is gone now."Physiotherapy and other treatments at Handicap International revived my hope for being able to stand up again. But Handicap International ceased their operations, blowing my hopes," Hasan told BenarNews this month.
More than a dozen healthcare facilities that help Rohingya refugees have suspended operations in the past few weeks, leaving thousands without essential health services and exacerbating already dire conditions at sprawling camps in Cox’s Bazar district near the Myanmar border.
Some Bangladeshi officials have attributed the closures to a decision last month by the new U.S. administration to freeze foreign aid for 90 days, pending a review of foreign assistance programs.
Bangladeshi officials say the decision by the United States – the world’s largest single aid donor, according to the United Nations – has affected various services helping the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, including health, water and sanitation, education, and livelihood.
In a filing with the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia on Feb. 18, the Trump administration said it would not release its foreign aid funds despite a federal judge’s order last week to lift its freeze, according to a copy of the court document seen by BenarNews.
Three facilities run by the global nonprofit International Rescue Committee (IRC) have completely shut down while two others could stop operations by the end of March, an official of a Bangladeshi government agency overseeing the needs of refugees told BenarNews last week.
"Apart from that, around 14 [Centre for Disability in Development, or CDD facilities] across the camps ceased their operations following the U.S. fund freeze that also laid off many healthcare staff," Refugee, Relief and Repatriation (RRR) Commissioner Mohammed Mizanur Rahman said.
BenarNews visited five CDD facilities in Cox’s Bazar and found they had stopped their operations at present.
A medical officer working at a government hospital also told BenarNews that the health aid group Handicap International – which used to provide medical care for refugees such as Mohammed Hasan – had stopped its operations.More than a million refugeesAnother health research group, the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B), had also suspended its operations to help the refugees, said Enamul Haque, a medical officer at the government-owned Teknaf Upzila Health Complex.
"With these two centers shut down, patients are facing extreme difficulties. There is no other hospital except for the government hospital," Enamul told BenarNews on Feb. 11.
"In reality, there is nowhere for these patients to go … [P]oor patients are suffering the most," he said.
BenarNews tried to contact five organizations that had allegedly suspended their operations following the freeze on foreign aid implemented by the Trump administration, which took office on Jan. 20.
Among the groups, IRC and ICDDR, B did not respond to multiple requests from BenarNews. Local officials with Handicap International, CDD, and the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR declined comment.
More than 1 million Rohingya refugees are staying in camps in and around Cox’s Bazar – some of the largest and most densely populated refugee shelters in the world.
There are 120 healthcare centers across 34 camps that often provide medical care for at least 70,000 Rohingya refugees, Mizanur, the RRR commissioner, said.
"As the U.S. is the biggest funder [of foreign aid in Bangladesh], the fallout of the aid freeze could impact other medical facilities too in the [camps]," he said.
An official involved with healthcare services in the camps said on Feb. 11 that the existing healthcare facilities for the refugees had scaled down their services by as much as 25% since the U.S. funding was paused.
"We have observed service disruptions in the Rohingya refugee camps as well as in the host communities, including in life-saving interventions," Syed Md Tafhim, a communications officer at the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG), said in a statement.
The ISCG serves as the international central coordination body for humanitarian agencies that serve Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar.
Affected services range across different sectors, such as health (including treatment for persons with disabilities), water and sanitation, education, and livelihood, the group said.
"As a result of this global pause, preliminary information suggests that several important projects benefitting Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi host communities have had to be suspended, interrupting some essential and life-saving services," the ISCG said.
"While some exceptions and waivers are gradually being communicated by the U.S. Government, we do not yet have a detailed understanding of how this may affect specific programmes in the Rohingya response in the short and medium term," it also said.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the pause in funding would "invariably affect" its Rohingya refugee response.
"The United States has been among our steady partners to the Rohingya response, and we remain both grateful and hopeful that funding support will soon resume to ensure refugee women and girls and those from the host community continue to receive critical assistance to uphold their health, safety, and dignity in Bangladesh," UNFPA Bangladesh Representative Masaki Watabe said in a statement.
Anxious parent
Back in the refugee camps, a Rohingya father waits.
In their small hut made of bamboo and tarpaulin at Camp 16, Kabir Hossen lives with his son, Md Hasan, who has a paralyzed leg and struggles with a form of palsy.
Every 10 days, they used to visit a CDD facility for his treatment and medicine. But on Feb. 1, the center’s staff turned them away, saying they already stopped providing services.
"I don’t know where to avail the treatment for my son," Hossen, 47, told BenarNews.“Uncertainty is gripping me.” US grants for two key Nepal infrastructure projects suspended after Trump order (Reuters)
Reuters [2/20/2025 3:57 AM, Gopal Sharma, 5.2M]
Two major infrastructure projects in Nepal funded by the United States have been put on hold after President Donald Trump suspended all foreign development assistance, a government official said on Thursday, making their future uncertain.
Trump ordered a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance on the day he returned to the White House, pending assessments of efficiency and consistency with U.S. foreign policy.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government aid agency, agreed in 2017 to provide $500 million to fund a power transmission line and road improvement project in the Himalayan nation, one of the world’s poorest countries.
The transmission line was meant to promote power trade between Nepal and neighbouring India.
Shyam Bhandari, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, said the projects have been halted after receiving information from the U.S. funding agency about the suspension.
"All concerned stakeholders have been informed that the activities funded by the MCC Fund...have been halted in accordance with the executive order issued by the U.S. President on January 20, 2025, which enforces a 90-day suspension”, the ministry said in a statement.
Local media reports said some other U.S. grants had also been suspended but Bhandari did not give details. He also did not have information about alternative funding plans.
The work contract for some sub-stations and the transmission line has been signed while other parts of the transmission project and the road project are at the bidding stage, authorities said.
The MCC grant sparked street protests in 2022, with opponents saying it would undermine Nepal’s laws and sovereignty as Kathmandu would not have sufficient control over the projects.
It was approved by parliament by a majority vote the same year. Central Asia
Kazakhstan Seeks Talks With Ukraine After Drones Attack Oil Pipe (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [2/19/2025 10:09 AM, Nariman Gizitdinov, 21617K]
Kazakhstan is seeking discussions with Ukraine after an attack by its drones on Russian territory affected flows through its important crude export conduit.
An oil pumping station on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium link, which ships about 80% of Kazakh oil exports, was halted after a drone attack Monday, possibly reducing flows by about 30% during about two months of repairs. The pipeline carries oil from Kazakhstan’s three largest fields, including the Tengiz project led by US oil major Chevron Corp., which just completed a $48.5 billion expansion project designed to boost production by about 260,000 barrels a day.“This is a very important issue for Kazakhstan’s economy, and we, of course, will discuss this situation with our Ukrainian partners via diplomatic channels,” Astana-based Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Aibek Smadiyarov said by email Wednesday.CPC carries crude through an onshore pipeline from Kazakhstan to a Black Sea tanker terminal near the Russian port of Novorossiysk. It also takes some Russian barrels, which enter the line at the Komsomolskaya pumping station near the Caspian Sea and at the Kropotkinskaya station, which was hit by Ukrainian drones.Production from Tengizchevroil, the joint venture that operates the field, and its exports via CPC remain uninterrupted, a spokesperson for Chevron said Tuesday.Ukraine has been attacking Russian oil infrastructurein an effort to disrupt fuel supplies to invading forces and reduce the petroleum revenue that has bankrolled Moscow’s military aggression against the country. Most of its drones have targeted refineries, and Monday’s strike was the first to affect the CPC conduit.“Until the CPC attack, Ukraine had been careful (and advised repeatedly) not to strike energy infrastructure linked to Western energy companies,” Kate Mallinson, a partner at PRISM Strategic Intelligence Ltd. in London, said by email. “The risk of attacks on CPC, particularly during any upcoming negotiations over the war, will therefore remain high.”It came just days after a telephone conversation between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in which they discussed ending the war. This week, Russian and American officials met for a first round of talks and raised the possibility of broader cooperation — a process that, so far, has excluded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his European allies.“Now that Ukraine sees Trump moving towards accommodation with Putin to the exclusion of Zelenskiy, the gloves are off,” Mallinson said. “However, the utility of attacks on CPC as leverage on the negotiations is questionable as it will cause anger in Washington and beyond.”Putin Comments on AttackThe CPC facilities on the Russian territory weren’t protected by antimissile systems, Putin said in comments broadcast Wednesday on state-run Rossiya 24 TV. “We assumed it won’t be a target of an attack as strictly speaking it’s not a Russian facility, it’s part of international energy infrastructure.” The barrels shipped through the pipeline belong to Western producers, he said.It will take a while before the damaged CPC facility receives the needed equipment and restores operations, Putin said. On Tuesday, Russia Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak estimated the repairs may take several months.CPC crude has become an increasingly important supply alternative to Russian barrels for Europe. Since the invasion of Ukraine, it had suffered only brief interruptions, in the spring and summer of 2022, when Russian authorities said a storm damaged tanker-loading buoys.Since then, Kazakhstan has been trying to diversify routes for its oil shipments, and this year it plans to send 1.5 million tons via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, compared with 250,000 tons in 2022, when shipments started.The central Asian nation also plans to send 1.2 million tons of crude to Germany via Russian pipelines. However, those volumes are dwarfed by the 63 million tons it sent via CPC last year. VOA Uzbek: Kazakh officials voice support for US-Russia talks (VOA)
VOA [2/20/2025 6:47 AM, Malik Mansur, 2.7M]
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has praised the recent U.S.-Russia talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
"This is a good initiative; it is also beneficial for Kazakhstan," he said. "We will try to support it as much as possible."
Tokayev’s comments are the first official response from Central Asia to the talks, which sparked serious international debate. Central Asia has been officially neutral in the Ukrainian war and has been largely silent on the three-year-old conflict. Tajikistan to publish new dress ‘guidelines’ for women (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [2/19/2025 10:28 AM, Staff, 57114K]
Tajikistan said Wednesday it would publish a new book updating the country’s dress "guidelines" for women, tightening the secular state’s policing of women’s clothing.
Authorities in the Muslim-majority Central Asian nation maintain strict control over society, including issues affecting women and girls.
The ex-Soviet country has in recent years championed "traditional" Tajik attire, banning "clothing alien to national culture" last year, while trying to stamp out what they see as radical Islamic cultural influences.
Traditional dress for women usually consists of сolourful embroidered long-sleeved tunic dresses worn over loose-fitting trousers.
An official in Tajikistan’s culture ministry told AFP it had developed new "recommendations on national dress for girls and women" which would be set out in a book published in July.
"Clothing is one of the key elements of national culture, which has been left to us from our ancestors and has retained its elegance and beauty throughout the centuries," said Khurshed Nizomi, head of the ministry’s cultural institutions and folk craft department.
The book will be free at first, and will set out what women should wear "according to age", as well as in various settings such as at home, at the theatre or at ceremonial events, Nizomi said.
Tajikistan has published similar books outlining women’s dress codes before, but this one "is superior to previous publications in terms of the quality of printing, the choice of photographs and texts, and historical sources," Nizomi said.
The authorities in the officially secular country that shares a long border with Afghanistan have also sought to outlaw Islamic clothing in public life.
President Emomali Rahmon, in power since 1992, has called the wearing of the Islamic hijab a "problem for society", with authorities calling on women to "dress in the Tajik way".
The landlocked country, which shares language and cultural ties with Afghanistan, has de-facto banned the wearing of long beards to combat "religious extremism".
Tajikistan has intensified its crackdown on Islamist extremism since last year, when four Tajik citizens were accused of carrying out a massacre at a concert hall near Moscow.
Many Tajiks joined the Islamic State at the height of the jihadist group’s reach in 2015. Turkmenistan making moves to integrate into Middle Corridor trade routes (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [2/19/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K]
It seems Turkmenistan wants a piece of expanding East-West trade action. Ashgabat is developing infrastructure projects that officials hope will become Middle Corridor trade hubs.
A statement issued by Turkmenistan’s Foreign Ministry earlier in February announced that Turkmen officials participated in a four-nations meeting via video link also involving officials from Azerbaijan, Georgia and Romania. Discussions focused on ways to foster East-West trade. The statement added that Ashgabat will soon sign a quadripartite agreement to create a new Middle Corridor trade route spanning the Caspian and Black seas. “The quadripartite intergovernmental agreement on the establishment and implementation of the international transit and transport route ‘Caspian Sea-Black Sea’ … will make a significant contribution to the development of international cargo transportation between Central Asia and Europe,” according to the statement.
It may be a while before the envisioned transit agreement is finalized. Turkmenistan has a reputation for being a fickle negotiating partner, underscored by the trouble Ashgabat and Turkey had in agreeing on pricing for a gas swap deal originally agreed upon in early 2024. Following an extended bout of haggling, the gas will finally start flowing on March 1. Turkmenistan is expected to supply 1.3 billion cubic meters of gas by the end of 2025.
Meanwhile, the government-connected Turkmenportal website reported that a new airport with a 3,200-meter runway will soon be operational. The airport near the village of Jebel in western Balkan province sits astride the railway connecting Ashgabat to the Caspian port city of Turkmenbashy. The facility is designed to accommodate air cargo but could also potentially handle passenger traffic.“The airport is intended to play an important role in increasing the volume of passenger and cargo flows in air transport, furthering economic development of the country, and the provision of services that meet the requirements of the time,” according to the Turkmenportal report. Investigate Uzbekistan Deaths, Serious Injuries in Custody (Human Rights Watch)
Human Rights Watch [2/19/2025 4:16 PM, Mihra Rittmann, 1.7M]
Two men died in custody in Uzbekistan in recent days, and a third man is in the hospital unresponsive after police detained him, according to rights groups and local bloggers.
Abdurakhmon Tashanov, head of the human rights organization Ezgulik, reported that Muhammadkadir Pulatov, 21, died on February 14, 2025, in central Uzbekistan’s Almalyk prison. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, he died of a heart attack and acute pancreatitis. But Pulatov’s mother said she doubts the official version, explaining she saw her healthy son just two weeks prior. The prosecutor’s statement notes “the Tashkent Special Prosecutor’s Office is conducting a pre-investigation.”
In a February 16 YouTube video, a local blogger reported that a young barber, apparently in good health, was detained at his workplace in Samarkand city by police on February 13. His mother in the video said she called her son on his mobile phone, but police answered and told her to go to the hospital. She found him there, unconscious. Police apparently gave her no information as to what happened.
On February 18, Vitaliy Ponamarev, a Russian human rights defender and Central Asia expert, reported that an imprisoned blogger named Mustafa Tursynbaev, from Uzbekistan’s autonomous state of Karakalpakstan, died on February 16. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, Tursynbaev died in a Tashkent hospital days after part of a wall collapsed on him at a construction site, where he was working as a prisoner. The prosecutor’s statement notes “the Tashkent Special Prosecutor’s Office is currently conducting an investigation.”
The deaths of two men in prison and another lying unresponsive in a hospital having been detained by police is not just a tragedy. These incidents demand action by the Uzbekistan government.
International human rights law requires governments to ensure effective investigations into all deaths in custody, regardless of the presumed cause. Such investigations are essential for ascertaining the cause of death, identifying anyone responsible for the death, and holding them to account, especially given that responsibility for the health and safety of all detainees rests with the detaining authorities. These investigations also deter similar incidents in the future, ensuring the security of other prisoners.
Importantly, if the investigations into these three cases find that ill-treatment or torture contributed to or caused the deaths in custody or lead to the third man’s unresponsiveness, the perpetrators must be held to account. Indo-Pacific
Costa Rica could hold US deportees for up to six weeks, president says (Reuters)
Reuters [2/19/2025 5:45 PM, Alvaro Murillo, 48128K]
Migrants deported from the U.S. could be held in Costa Rica for up to six weeks before being sent to their home countries, Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves said on Wednesday.
Costa Rica has agreed to receive 200 migrants from countries such as Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and India, starting on Thursday, Chaves said in a press conference.
"We’re helping our powerful economic brother in the north, because if (the U.S.) imposes a tax on our export zones, we’re screwed," Chaves said.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened tariffs on a number of countries in the region since taking office in January, demanding collaboration on issues such as migration and drug trafficking to avoid them.Costa Rica will accept the deportees at U.S. expense, Chaves said. The deportees will stay at a migrant shelter, unable to leave, before being flown to their respective countries. Migrants in Panama deported from US moved to Darien jungle region (Reuters)
Reuters [2/19/2025 11:11 PM, Elida Moreno, 2717K]
A group of nearly 100 migrants deported from the U.S. to Panama last week has been moved from a hotel in the capital to the Darien jungle region in the south of the country, Panama’s government said on Wednesday.In a statement, Panama’s security ministry said of the 299 migrants deported from the U.S. in recent days, 13 had been repatriated to their countries of origin while another 175 remained in the hotel in Panama City awaiting onward journeys after agreeing to return home.The migrants have been staying at the hotel under the protection of local authorities and with the financial support of the United States through the U.N.-related International Organization for Migration and the U.N. refugee agency, according to the Panamanian government.The migrants include people from Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, according to Panama’s president, Jose Raul Mulino, who has agreed with the U.S. to receive non-Panamanian deportees.The deportation of non-Panamanian migrants to Panama is part of the Trump administration’s attempt to ramp up deportations of migrants living in the U.S. illegally.One of the challenges of Trump’s plan is that some migrants come from countries that refuse to accept U.S. deportation flights due to strained diplomatic relations or other reasons.The arrangement with Panama allows the U.S. to deport these nationalities and makes it Panama’s responsibility to organize their repatriation.The process has been criticized by human rights groups that worry migrants could be mistreated and also fear for their safety if they are ultimately returned to violent or war-torn countries of origin, such as Afghanistan.Susana Sabalza, a Panamanian migration lawyer representing one of the families transferred to the San Vicente shelter in the Darien region, said she had not been able to see her clients while they were held at the hotel in Panama City and is seeking permission to visit them at their new location.She declined to identify their nationality, but said they were a Muslim family who "could be decapitated" if they returned home.Sabalza said the family would be requesting asylum in Panama or "any country that will receive them other than their own."The security ministry statement said 97 migrants had been transferred to the shelter in the Darien region, which includes dense and lawless jungle separating Central America from South America.In recent years, it has become a corridor for hundreds of thousands of migrants aiming to reach the United States. Eight more migrants would be moved there soon, the statement added.Early on Wednesday, the hotel in Panama City where the migrants had been held appeared quiet, according to a Reuters witness.On Tuesday some migrants had been seen holding hands and looking out of a window of the hotel to get the attention of reporters outside.Migrants in the hotel were not allowed to leave, according to media reports.A Chinese national, Zheng Lijuan, escaped from the hotel, according to Panama’s migration service, but was later caught in Costa Rica and returned to Panama. Twitter
Afghanistan
Jahanzeb Wesa@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[2/19/2025 8:36 AM, 5.5K followers, 75 retweets, 112 likes]
Reports: A young girl in Kandahar province has taken her own life after being forced into marriage with an elderly man. Under Taliban rule, which has banned girls from education, forced marriages and the oppression of women continue to claim lives, yet the world remains silent.
Jahanzeb Wesa@Jahanzeb_Wesa
[2/19/2025 7:59 AM, 5.5K followers, 9 retweets, 8 likes]
AJSO expresses deep concern over Pakistani police detaining Afghan journalists and their families—including an unnamed journalist in Islamabad and Zakia Kawian. AJSO urge Pakistan to uphold human rights & treat Afghan journalists with dignity. #JournalismIsNotCrime #Afghanistan
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[2/19/2025 6:40 PM, 247.6K followers, 29 retweets, 115 likes]
In recent weeks, resistance groups have carried out daily attacks on the Taliban. At the Vienna Conference, General Zia, former chief of military staff and leader of Afghanistan’s Freedom Front, vowed to continue fighting the Taliban until a democratic Afghanistan is restored. Pakistan
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[2/20/2025 12:25 AM, 3.1M followers, 4 retweets, 8 likes]
Message of the Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on International Day of Social Justice
Pakistan’s Constitution guarantees social justice aligned with Islamic principles. Government programs aimed at protecting and promoting the rights of our citizens:- Gender-based violence reforms- Prison reforms- Advocacy for stronger child protection policies
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[2/19/2025 11:26 PM, 3.1M followers, 1 retweet, 5 likes]
International Finance Corporation (IFC) Managing Director Makhtar Diop, following his recent visit to Pakistan, reaffirms his confidence in Pakistan’s strong potential for growth, investment, and job creation.#ProgressingPakistan
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[2/19/2025 7:07 AM, 3.1M followers, 1 retweet, 14 likes]
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif chairs a meeting of the Economic Advisory Council, today in Islamabad.
Hamid Mir@HamidMirPAK
[2/19/2025 7:22 AM, 8.6M followers, 20 retweets, 114 likes]
Pakistan needs at least $40 billion annually until 2050 to save Karachi, Badin and Thatta from rising sea waters. Climate change is a bigger threat than terrorism. South Asia needs a joint strategy to defeat this threat. My column in @dailystarnews https://images.thedailystar.net/opinion/views/news/gathering-south-asian-idiots-3827866 India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[2/20/2025 3:11 AM, 105.4M followers, 252 retweets, 1.4K likes]
Congratulations to Shri Parvesh Sahib Singh Ji, Shri Ashish Sood Ji, Sardar Manjinder Singh Sirsa Ji, Shri Ravinder Indraj Singh Ji, Shri Kapil Mishra Ji and Shri Pankaj Kumar Singh Ji on taking oath as Ministers in the Delhi Government. This team beautifully mixes vigour and experience, and will surely ensure good governance for Delhi. Best wishes to them. @gupta_rekha @p_sahibsingh @mssirsa @KapilMishra_IND
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[2/20/2025 3:02 AM, 105.4M followers, 1.2K retweets, 8K likes]
Congratulations to Smt. Rekha Gupta Ji on taking oath as Delhi’s Chief Minister. She has risen from the grassroots, being active in campus politics, state organisation, municipal administration and now MLA as well as Chief Minister. I am confident she will work for Delhi’s development with full vigour. My best wishes to her for a fruitful tenure. @gupta_rekha
Rajnath Singh@rajnathsingh
[2/20/2025 2:34 AM, 24.4M followers, 52 retweets, 371 likes]
Attended the oath taking ceremony of Smt Rekha Gupta ji and her ministerial team. History has been scripted in Delhi as the BJP has come to power after a gap of 27 years. Congratulations to those who took oath today. Best wishes to them in their pursuit of taking Delhi to new heights of growth. I am confident that under the inspiring leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi this new Team Delhi will leave no stone unturned in fulfilling the dreams & aspirations of the people.
Rajnath Singh@rajnathsingh
[2/19/2025 10:38 PM, 24.4M followers, 53 retweets, 297 likes]
Statehood Day greetings to the people of Mizoram. The state is known for her vibrant culture and stunning natural beauty. The people of Mizoram are making invaluable contributions to building a New India. Wishing for the state’s continued progress and prosperity.
Rahul Gandhi@RahulGandhi
[2/19/2025 10:47 PM, 27.6M followers, 1.4K retweets, 5.3K likes]
Heartfelt wishes to our sisters and brothers of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram on their Statehood Day. These jewels of Northeast India showcase our nation’s unity in diversity through their rich heritage and progressive spirit. Together, we must protect and celebrate their unique identity, which enriches the fabric of our nation.
Tanvi Madan@tanvi_madan
[2/18/2025 10:03 AM, 90.9K followers, 3 retweets, 15 likes]
Why the US market is important for India -- and not just re trade in services. Indian goods exports to the US have doubled over the last 10 years. Even a decade ago, US was IN #1 export destination, but its share of Indian exports has risen from 12.4% to 17.7%.
Richard Rossow@RichardRossow
[2/18/2025 10:37 AM, 29.8K followers, 2 retweets, 19 likes]
My take on last week’s U.S.-India leaders summit for @CSIS . Some expected continuity, but also some big ideas; a new defense framework, a trade deal. Putting cutting-edge (allies-only) defense platforms on the table. A lot to do by year-end. https://www.csis.org/analysis/us-india-summit-productive-trip-and-busy-year-ahead Derek J. Grossman@DerekJGrossman
[2/19/2025 7:19 PM, 96.3K followers, 1 retweet, 8 likes]
A better US-Russia relationship would take a major irritant out of the US-India relationship. NSB
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives@MoFAmv
[2/19/2025 9:02 AM, 55.4K followers, 16 retweets, 26 likes]
In the lead up to the Commonwealth Day on 10 March 2025, the Ministry in collaboration with the Maldives National University @MNUedu conducted a lecture for students on the Commonwealth and the #Maldives engagement in the Commonwealth.Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives@MoFAmv
[2/19/2025 9:02 AM, 55.4K followers, 11 retweets, 12 likes]
The High Commissioner of Maldives to the United Kingsom, Dr @IruthishamAdam, Assistant Secretary General of the @commonwealthsec, Professor @lgfranceschi and Dr. Dinusha Panditaratne, Adviser and Head, Asia, at the Commonwealth addressed the students during the lecture.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives@MoFAmv
[2/19/2025 5:11 AM, 55.4K followers, 47 retweets, 48 likes]
Foreign Minister @abkhaleel and Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, Hon. @HMVijithaHerath held official talks today. The press statement was delivered following the official talks.
Press Release | https://t.ly/RTkzf
Statement | https://t.ly/OUPFc
Abdulla Khaleel@abkhaleel
[2/20/2025 12:57 AM, 33.7K followers, 9 retweets, 7 likes]
During my interactive session with business community in Sri Lanka, I briefed about our plans to further enhance our trade relations and opportunities available for investment. I also briefed them on the fiscal and economic policies, emphasizing the positive trajectory of our economic development. Further outlined the strategic measures taken by President Dr. @MMuizzu to ensure sustained growth and stability in the Maldives.
Abdulla Khaleel@abkhaleel
[2/19/2025 12:23 PM, 33.7K followers, 32 retweets, 34 likes]
It was a great pleasure to meet with Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, Hon. @HMVijithaHerath. I expressed my gratitude to him and the Government of Sri Lanka for the invitation and generous hospitality. During our discussions we exchanged our views on shared interests, focusing on further deepening and diversifying our historical ties. We explored avenues for further collaboration across key sectors including trade, investment, education, fisheries, youth empowerment, tourism and climate change, to unlock new opportunities for mutual growth and prosperity. We are committed to work together on elevating the existing exemplary relations and forging new avenues for cooperation that will benefit the peoples of both our countries. @MFA_SriLanka
UNICEF Nepal@unicef_nepal
[2/20/2025 2:02 AM, 95K followers, 2 likes]
Lifesaving cancer medicines for children were handed over to @mohpnepal today for distribution to 4 hospitals. As the procurement partner, @UNICEFNepal ensured the sourcing & delivery of these critical medicines aimed at improving pediatric cancer care. #ForEveryChild
Derek J. Grossman@DerekJGrossman
[2/20/2025 1:22 AM, 96.3K followers, 2 likes] Nepal’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) funds to build the electrical grid are now frozen. MCC is the largest infrastructure project grant in the country’s history. This will hurt...badly. https://kathmandupost.com/national/2025/02/20/mcc-funds-freeze-sparks-fears-of-project-delays
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[2/19/2025 10:51 AM, 145.7K followers, 13 retweets, 146 likes]
Attended the Post-Budget Forum 2025 at Cinnamon Life, Colombo. I emphasized how the budget supports economic recovery through debt restructuring, efficient spending, and industry growth. Prioritizing education, trade, tourism, and rural development will drive long-term progress and prosperity.
M U M Ali Sabry@alisabrypc
[2/19/2025 7:54 AM, 7.9K followers, 10 retweets, 47 likes] “Governance Is Not Just About Promises, It’s About Delivering, Consistently.” Today’s shocking incident inside the courthouse is a stark reminder that maintaining law and order is a persistent and complex challenge. Sadly, this isn’t the first time and it may not be the last. While it’s easy to point fingers, the truth is that governance is far more demanding. It would be dangerously naive or worse, overconfident to believe that public support alone will end corruption, that criminals will reform overnight, that taxpayers will pay voluntarily, or that smugglers will suddenly become honest. Margaret Thatcher once said: “Governments have to succeed all the time. Terrorists only have to succeed once.” Governance requires more than critique and campaign promises. It calls for consistency, foresight, and the resolve to make tough decisions, every single day. Leadership is ultimately measured by ensuring that systems work seamlessly because those who seek to destabilize society need only one opportunity. Central Asia
MFA Tajikistan@MOFA_Tajikistan
[2/19/2025 6:54 AM, 5.2K followers, 1 retweet, 3 likes]
Meeting of Deputy Foreign Ministers of the Central Asian states with the representative of the European Union https://mfa.tj/en/main/view/1
Uzbekistan MFA@uzbekmfa
[2/19/2025 10:59 PM, 8.7K followers, 3 likes]
On February 18, 2025, Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Munira Aminova held a meeting with Laura Mattioli, Country Director and Representative of the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Uzbekistan. https://gov.uz/en/mfa/news/vi
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[2/19/2025 12:50 PM, 212.3K followers, 1 retweet, 15 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev reviewed proposals to improve #energy efficiency, aiming to save 1.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 3.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity this year. Enterprises will receive science-based recommendations, and energy standards for large industries will be set to reduce usage by 5-10%. It’s planned to introduce a program for energy-saving equipment in social facilities, provide soft loans for solar installations and training on energy-saving methods. Measures also include reducing energy losses, preventing theft and curbing misuse.{End of Report} To subscribe to the SCA Morning Press Clips, please email SCA-PressOfficers@state.gov. Please do not reply directly to this email.