Marc Perelman meets Victor Yue Yuan, founder and chairman of the Horizon Research Consultancy Group. They discuss two political events in China that have dominated the news over the past few weeks: the downfall of top politician Bo Xilai, and the departure to the US of blind activist Chen Guangcheng, who fled his house arrest. Can the Chinese political model last?
Is France still a welcoming country for foreigners? Over the past ten years, it has certainly become more difficult to be a legal immigrant in France. What is the impact of this policy on the daily lives of immigrants? To find out, our reporters went to meet three of them.
The crew of a people-smuggling operation that met with disaster off the Indonesian coast late on Saturday fled the scene with life jackets and allowed hundreds to drown, survivors have told the press.
Rescuers searched for hundreds of asylum seekers Sunday after their overloaded wooden ship, en route to Australia, sank off the Indonesian island of Java overnight, leaving survivors clinging to the wreckage for hours in strong seas.
Asylum seekers in the city of Bari in the south of Italy clashed with police Monday over delays in being offered asylum. At least 30 people were injured, including 20 policemen.
Asylum seekers at Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre rioted overnight Wednesday, setting fire to several buildings. Dentention is mandatory for immigrants seeking asylum in Australia until their claims have been processed.
The numbers of migrants trying to cross into the EU from Ukraine appear to be falling, no doubt because EU assistance has reinforced Ukrainian border patrols. But an alarming report by Human Rights Watch suggests that ill-treatment of migrants on the Ukrainian side may also be part of the deterrent.
Former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide reiterated Thursday that he is ready to return to the Caribbean nation six years after his ouster from government. His announcement comes days after the return of dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier.
On December 16th, a boat carrying around 90 asylum seekers was swept onto jagged rocks off the coast of the Australian island of Christmas Island – some 300 km out of Indonesia. We may never know exactly how many people were on board but it’s estimated around 50 died following the incident. The tragedy shocked Australians and pushed the thorny question of boat people back on the political agenda.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Monday that some 48 people were thought to have died when a boat carrying asylum seekers crashed into rocks off Christmas Island last week, but that the exact toll would probably never be known.
