Africa

Ferronikeli est à l'arrêt et l'entreprise de production et de transformation de nickel ne compte plus que soixante-dix employés sur sept cents. Deux décennies après sa privatisation, la reprise de ce pilier de l'économie du Kosovo reste complexe.

- Articles / Une - Diaporama - En premier, Radio Evropa e Lirë, Kosovo, Une - Diaporama, Economie

Ukrainian Red Cross teams have delivered over 3,300 hot meals to Kyiv residents at support points around the city. Credit: Red Cross

By Ed Holt
BRATISLAVA, Feb 24 2026 (IPS)

“We have a saying here in Ukraine now – ‘young people meet at their friends’ funerals rather than at weddings.’ It’s sad, but very true.”

As Russia’s full-scale invasion of her country moves into its fifth year, Iryna Yakova, 29, is looking back at how her life has changed over the past four years.

Speaking from Lviv, the western Ukrainian city where she lives, she tells IPS that her “values and attitude towards life” have changed. “Material things become unimportant when your loved ones or friends are in danger,” she says. She has also developed a keen sense of her national identity and an empathy for the suffering of her fellow Ukrainians.

“During the full-scale invasion, I realised that all of Ukraine is my home. I cry for people who were killed by a missile in Kyiv while they were sleeping at night. Even though I didn’t know them, it hurts me because they are Ukrainians. It also pains me to see children growing up without their parents because their parents are at the front. The war has intensified my sense of empathy and belonging.”

Her mental health has suffered. She says anxiety is ever-present in her life.

But what she returns to often as she answers questions about how her life is today compared to before the war is the loss she, and others, have experienced.

“What I miss most [from my life before the full-scale invasion] are the people who have been killed in the war. I have lost friends, acquaintances, and relatives. Nothing compares to human loss. The hardest thing I have had to deal with during this war is going to the funerals of friends — people you used to go to parties with, travel with, study with,” she says.

The human cost of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been enormous – Ukraine’s government does not officially give figures for military casualties, but it has been estimated they could be up to 600,000 (Russian military casualties are thought to be more than twice that amount).

But the scale of civilian casualties has been huge, too. According to UN bodies, more than 15,000 civilians have been killed and over 41,000 injured in Ukraine since the start of the invasion on February 24, 2022.

Worryingly, as Ukraine marks the fourth anniversary of the start of the war, research suggests there has been a sharp increase in civilian casualties over the last year.

Data from Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), released earlier this month, showed civilian casualties in Ukraine increased by 26 percent in 2025 compared with 2024, despite there being a 6 percent drop in the number of injurious explosive weapon incidents recorded nationwide.

In Kyiv, response efforts continue amid attacks on energy infrastructure and severe cold. The Ukrainian Red Cross is supporting warming centres around the clock, providing people with a safe place to warm up, receive assistance, and feel cared for during difficult conditions. Credit: Red Cross

The group said its data showed a worrying shift in the character of the conflict – the average number of civilians killed or injured per incident in Ukraine rose 33 percent over the year, with a total of 2,248 civilians reported killed (an 11 percent rise) and 12,493 injured (a 28 percent rise) by explosive violence.

This suggests that explosive weapons are being used by Russia in Ukraine in ways that generate greater civilian impact, whether through more drone strikes, heavier munitions, specific targeting choices of populated areas, or repeated strikes on urban infrastructure, the group said.

Nearly seven in ten civilian casualties recorded in AOAV data occurred in residential neighbourhoods, up from just over four in ten in 2024.

Niamh Gillen, a researcher at AOAV, told IPS it was impossible to definitively say that Russian forces were deliberately targeting Ukrainian civilians, but that “the data speaks for itself.”

“It shows that civilian areas are being attacked, that the attacks are occurring within civilian areas like hospitals, schools, cities, towns. In general, in areas where civilians are heavily concentrated, like cities and towns, villages, anywhere like that, if you’re using an explosive weapon with wide area impacts, then you’re likely to harm more civilians,” she said.

On top of the deaths and destruction Russian attacks have caused, they have also led to massive displacement. It is thought that at least 3.4 million people are internally displaced in the country. This has put massive pressure not just on the displaced themselves, but also on host communities and services.

People’s physical health has deteriorated in such conditions – the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that more than two-thirds of the population have reported a worsening of their health since the start of the invasion.

But the harm caused by these attacks is far from just physical. Mental health professionals in the country, as well as international bodies including the WHO, have warned of a mental health crisis in Ukraine, with possibly up to 10 million people suffering with mental health problems.

IPS spoke to scores of people in cities and towns across Ukraine about how the war had affected their mental health. Many spoke of experiencing anxiety, sometimes permanently to some level, which could be intensified at any moment by the frequent sound of air raid sirens warning of an attack, or for those closer to frontlines, the sounds of explosions and bombings.

“What affects my mental health on a daily basis are the constant nighttime drone and missile attacks. Because of them, it is impossible to relax or get proper rest, as reaching a shelter for safety is essential, even at night,” Mihail*, a teenager who lives in the Kyiv region, told IPS.

The situation for many Ukrainians has acutely worsened this winter. In what has been one of the coldest winters the country has seen for many years, Russian forces have repeatedly attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, resulting in massive, widespread power outages. Thermal heating facilities have also been destroyed in targeted attacks.

As temperatures have plunged to as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius on some occasions, millions of people have been left freezing in their homes.

Jamie Wah, Deputy Head of Delegation with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Ukraine, said people were suffering desperately in the cold.

“Some nights have been very unbearable. There is no escape from the cold. When you leave your apartment, it’s cold. Sometimes people have been joking that it’s warmer inside a fridge than inside their apartment. I’ve been here for over four years now, and it’s been the worst winter,” she told IPS.

Humanitarian organisations, including the Ukrainian Red Cross, and state emergency services have set up emergency heating points in cities and towns where people can keep warm, recharge devices and get food.

But Wah said while this has become a humanitarian crisis, it is one of just many crises Ukrainians are battling.

“In frontline regions, there are communities that are under evacuation orders, and some communities have essentially had most of their resources cut off. Family ties are quite strained – mental health needs are also immense, not only in the frontline regions but across Ukraine,” she said.

“There are lots of repairs to homes that are needed, not to mention the energy crisis, which is a humanitarian crisis… with no heating and no electricity, just the day-to-day things – just even heating your food becomes a problem. A lot of families are having to spend more time outside their homes, having to spend more money. On top of that, the cost of living has increased. These are some of the real, tangible situations that people in Ukraine are facing now,” she added.

Amid these problems, many Ukrainians admit that they are exhausted after four years of war.

But among the many people IPS spoke to on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the war, there was a widespread, although certainly not universal, determination to not give up.

“I feel a sense of responsibility. I do not have the right to give up, because many people have died so that I could have the chance to live. Of course, there is exhaustion, but, unlike those in the military, a civilian like me has time to rest and reset,” said Iryna.

For many, such resilience is born out of a desire not just for them and their country to survive what they see as Russia’s attempt to destroy them as an independent state and nation, but also a hope that, ultimately, there will be some justice served for what has been done to them.

The Russian military and authorities have repeatedly been accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, breaches of international humanitarian law, as well as genocide, during the invasion of Ukraine.

The sheer volume of alleged crimes – at least 180,000 war crimes have been registered by Ukraine’s Prosecutor General – and the constraints of documenting, investigating and prosecuting during an ongoing conflict mean that bringing those behind them to justice was never expected to be easy. Only over 100 people have been prosecuted in Ukraine so far for crimes during the invasion.

But there are fears that international bodies such as the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued an arrest warrant for, among others, Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes, could be rendered increasingly toothless in their ability to ever prosecute major figures who ordered such crimes because world leaders, such as US President Donald Trump, are no longer interested in upholding international justice for war crimes.

“I truly hope that the war will end very soon and that all war criminals will be brought to justice. However, what I see happening right now is the opposite: while institutions like the UN are unable to punish Russia, people are starting to forget about its war crimes. Countries are gradually lifting sanctions,” said Mihail.

“For example, Russian athletes are going to be able to take part in the Paralympics this year. As a result, people who committed war crimes just months or years ago can now take part in one of the world’s biggest sporting events. So we need to act – by refusing to normalise aggression, keeping sanctions firm and, most importantly, remembering about war.”

Others, though, are more hopeful.

“There is no doubt among Ukrainians that war criminals can be brought to justice,” Oleh Martynenko, an expert at the Ukrainian NGO Center for Civil Liberties, which documents war crimes, told IPS.

“This is evidenced by the participation of Ukrainians in international missions and courts where war criminals have been convicted. Also, thanks to the European Union, Ukrainians are building their own criminal prosecution systems, which provide for the arrest and imprisonment of Russian war criminals in accordance with UN international standards,” he said.

Regardless of these concerns and the other problems Ukrainians are facing as the full-scale invasion goes into its fifth year, some are looking to the future with a degree of hope.

“I feel a mix of determination, resilience, anger, and hope of victory,” Tetiana, a nurse in the Dnipropetrovsk region, who asked not to be identified for security reasons, told IPS. “Glory to Ukraine!” she added.

*Name changed to protect identity.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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By Kester Kenn Klomegah
MOSCOW, Feb 24 2026 (IPS)

Despite consistent criticisms over its operations down the years, Russia still finds it difficult to leave the World Trade Organization (WTO), and instead assessing the opportunities and broad benefits of membership. WTO is not just an organization, but a multilateral bridge for strategic trade engagement and securing results-oriented partnerships. Certainly, unlocking and accelerating trade initiatives should be the key focus in the changing world.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk underscored the importance of the work of the WTO, which regulates global trade, further suggested optimizing its operations. Some experts believe the WTO has effectively been paralyzed due to conditions created by the current geopolitical shifts from United States power dominance and its tariffs policy, to the emerging multipolar architecture.

In his view, this reason is driving the current changes as well as “the desire of specific countries, business groups, and companies to establish control, including over deposits of critical minerals, and new transport and logistics routes that ensure the delivery of resources and goods necessary for the functioning of economies.”

“Because whoever succeeds in doing this will secure a leadership position in the world with a new socio-economic order, and, consequently, will create better conditions for the emergence of new enterprises, new jobs, new sources of income for individuals and legal entities, new sources of budget revenue, and, ultimately, of course, a better standard of living for their own population,” Overchuk said, at the forum “Architecture of the Future: Russian Business in Key Multilateral Platforms.”

In his opinion, sanctions, tariff and non-tariff restrictions are playing an increasingly important role in international economic relations, and Western countries are using instruments of unfair competition. Experts believe that Russia has not received substantial economic benefits from its WTO membership.

Now, the world is moving away from globalization altogether, with many countries introducing ever more restrictive measures based solely on their own interests, disregarding international rules.

Experts agree that the WTO crisis is part of a broader process of transformation of the global economy. In a mid-February Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Pavel Seleznev, faculty dean at the Russian Financial University, pointed to the “erosion of international law” and the transition to a model based on “might makes right” and bilateral agreements. According to him, the world is shifting away from multilateral mechanisms toward agreements concluded outside the framework of international institutions.

Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Customs Policy Council Chairman, Georgy Petrov, however described what is happening as a “phase change”: classical globalization is giving way to regionalization, where trade flows and rules are concentrated within macro-regions and political decisions become the basis of economic policy, rather than the other way around.

In practice, this manifests as a sharp increase in restrictive measures. Dmitry Krasnov, managing director of the Rexoft Consulting Competence Center in Agriculture, also noted that participants in international trade are increasingly introducing unilateral steps that contradict established multilateral rules.

Meanwhile, the assessment of Russia’s WTO membership remains mixed. According to Krasnov, the organization provided “leverage for predictability”: multilateral commitments on tariff and non-tariff policies created a clear framework for the state and businesses, reduced arbitrary barriers, and provided opportunities for arbitration.

Petrov recalled that “the main tariff positions were fixed,” and entrepreneurs understood the limits of rate changes. This made customs and tariff policy more stable.

The reduction in tariffs provided for in the accession terms also had a dual effect. In Russia, some industries faced increased competition due to reduced protectionism upon accession to the WTO. According to Petrov, many manufacturers felt the need to produce higher-quality, more competitive products, which was a positive development.

Pavel Seleznev, faculty dean at the Russian Financial University, on the other hand, believes that Russia has not gained any significant economic benefits from its membership. However, even in the current situation, maintaining its membership status allows Russia to continue engaging in dialogue and expressing its views, even with unfriendly countries.

Russia remains the member of the WTO and views its norms as fair and useful but the issue of keeping membership in conditions of sanctions pressure is not a simple one, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, on February 11, in the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament.

Moscow believes it is necessary to revive the WTO as the sole recognized regulator of multilateral trade. “The issue is difficult and is under control with us and with the economic bloc of the government,” Lavrov said. “The WTO is experiencing crisis at present, just as the Bretton-Woods System on the whole,” he noted.

WTO principles and norms “are clearly established in agreements governing our trade relations with the overwhelming majority of countries of the world, including the global majority countries accounting for more than 70% of the Russian trade turnover,” the top Russian diplomat said. “One more circumstance that cannot be ignored is that the entire legal system of the Eurasian Economic Union rests on these WTO norms,” he noted.

The G20 Summit held on November 22-23 in Johannesburg, at the initiative of South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, the joint declaration which was adopted, called for major reforms and stabilization of the global economy in 2026. “We recognize that meaningful, necessary and comprehensive reform of the WTO is essential to improve its functions so that it is better suited to advance all Members’ objectives,” the declaration read.

At the same time, G20 leaders emphasized its importance as an instrument for resolving trade disputes between countries. “We will strive to ensure that the benefits of trade reach all segments of society and that all people have the opportunity to benefit from trade,” the document reads.

In summary, the collective declaration advocated also for the swift implementation of the agreements reached within G20 to strengthen the role of countries from the Global South and East in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), taking into account their real weight in global economy. It is also important to revive the WTO as the sole recognized regulator of multilateral trade.

Russia joined the WTO in April 2011 after almost 18 years of persistent struggle and several negotiations, and adopting consistent efforts to meet the stringent membership requirements. It is the only international body now supervising world trade.

WTO has 153 members, and negotiations on the admission of a new member are held within a working group that unites countries that have unsettled trade problems with the candidate. It was established on January 1, 1995, as the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that had been operating since 1947.

Kester Kenn Klomegah focuses on current geopolitical changes, foreign relations and economic development-related questions in Africa with external countries. Most of his well-resourced articles are reprinted in several reputable foreign media.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Kuhaneetha Bai Kalaicelvan
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Feb 24 2026 (IPS)

President Donald Trump has shaken up the world economy and the rule of international law in the first year of his second term – ostensibly to make America great again, particularly by reviving US manufacturing jobs.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

The President has assumed authority from the US Congress to wage war, impose taxes, make treaties, set budgets, regulate federal-state relations and more.

Tariffs
Trump’s 2nd April 2025 Liberation Day tariffs were ostensibly his primary means for generating manufacturing employment.

When the US Supreme Court overruled him on 20 February, he responded by imposing a 10% tariff on all imports, raised to 15% the next day!

The tariffs are a blunt means for reviving US manufacturing jobs. The policy assumes US manufacturing jobs have been mainly lost due to what the White House deems ‘unfair’ competition from cheap imports.

Undoubtedly, US and other transnational corporations have relocated production and generally sourced imports from abroad to reduce import costs.

Imposing tariffs on imported goods to raise their prices is supposed to induce manufacturers to relocate production and jobs to the US.

Higher tariffs were imposed on countries with larger goods trade surpluses with the US. This ignores the services trade balance, generally more favourable to the US.

Tariff threats are now among the Trump administration’s choice weapons or means of economic coercion, including sanctions, to advance and secure its interests.

K Kuhaneetha Bai

Revenue
The President claimed trillions of dollars in additional tariff revenue for the Treasury from foreign exporters to fund his massive military spending hike.

But only $264 billion was collected during Trump 2.0’s first year, much higher than before, but still less than 1% of US federal debt.

Tariff revenue peaked in October 2025 at $31.35 billion, well below expectations, months before the Supreme Court decision.

The Kiel Institute for the World Economy found only 4% of tariffs ‘absorbed’ by foreign exporters losing some export earnings. US importers paid the 96% balance of $264 billion in tariffs, weakening the impact of Trump’s business tax cuts.

But Trump’s tariffs have not reduced the US trade deficit, not even for manufactures; this rose to $1 trillion in 2025, as $3.15 trillion in imports exceeded $2.15 trillion in exports.

Although mortgage and loan interest rates have not fallen, inflation continues. The additional tariff revenue would not even have covered the extra military budget Trump has promised.

Congress could have reclaimed its tariff authority, though the current Trump-dominated House of Representatives has not tried.

But with the November midterm elections looming, Forbes reported that the president’s disapproval rating rose to 55% in mid-February, as fewer are confident his administration prioritises curbing inflation.

Financialisation
The US federal debt, around $39 trillion, now requires over $1 trillion in annual debt servicing from the $7 trillion annual budget.

Growing by $1.5-2.0 trillion annually, this unrepayable debt is being ‘rolled over’ for ever-shorter maturities. Hedge funds now hold 27% of US Treasuries, while foreigners, who held half in 2015, now have only 30%.

Treasury bond repurchase – or repo – agreements provide about $4 trillion in financing daily for derivatives speculation. Another financial crash can wipe out many more trillions of often dubious ‘value’.

While the US economy, productive employment, and research funding diminish, various bubbles of unrepayable debt are growing rapidly. Worse, so-called stablecoins and cryptocurrencies have infiltrated financial markets.

Meanwhile, some US mortgage delinquency rates have reached levels worse than in 2007-08. By the end of 2025, financial news agencies were publishing ominous reports of financial vulnerabilities.

Hundreds of billions of promised investments, coerced from other nations using tariff and other threats, will be invested in US financial asset markets but little of this will create manufacturing jobs.

Manufacturing comeback
Trump has promised to make the US a manufacturing superpower once again, leading the world in technology, computing power and military weaponry. But China leads in many – if not most – areas of recent technological advancement.

Dean Baker found the US labour market weakening over Trump 2.0’s first year. Overall, and manufacturing jobs growth both declined from Biden’s last year.

US manufacturing jobs have long been threatened by transnational corporate globalisation and labour-saving technical change, especially automation.

US policy in recent decades has left the private sector responsible for ensuring US industrial technology leadership and progress. Meanwhile, problems, such as poor infrastructure, remain unaddressed.

Trump’s tariffs may also inadvertently reduce US jobs. Many industrial processes require imported parts, with the tariffs proving disruptive.

Trump’s policies have not created enough manufacturing jobs. The president fired his Labor Department’s statistics head in mid-2025 for not reporting enough job growth.

Nonetheless, it reported only 584,000 net new jobs for all of 2025, compared to 1.6 million in 2024, for the US labour force of 165 million!

The Wall Street Journal noted, “The manufacturing boom President Trump promised … is going in reverse”.

The Trump administration could still use the Supreme Court’s ruling to change its strategy to make America great again by drawing better lessons from US economic history and adopting a more pragmatic approach. But so far, it seems unlikely to do so.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Shimron Hetmyer stars as West Indies maintain their perfect record at the 2026 T20 World Cup with a 107-run win over Zimbabwe to start their Super 8 stage.

Am 14. Juni stimmt die Schweiz über die 10-Millionen-Initiative ab. Ein britischer Influencer sorgt mit seiner Kritik auf Instagram für Aufsehen und warnt vor wirtschaftlichem Chaos.

Am Montag wurde der frühere britische Wirtschaftsminister Peter Mandelson in London von der Polizei abgeführt. Gegen ihn wird wegen mutmasslichen Amtsmissbrauchs ermittelt.

The Council imposed restrictive measures on eight additional individuals responsible for serious human rights violations and abuses in Russia and for the repression of civil society and democratic opposition in the country.

On 24 February 2026, the President of the European Council, António Costa, will travel to Kyiv, Ukraine, alongside the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

The Council adopted its position enabling Austria to amend its road transport agreement with Switzerland on border cabotage by bus and coach passenger services.

The Council extended EUNAVFOR ASPIDES until February 2027 to protect freedom of navigation and maritime security in response to the Red Sea crisis.

Bernd Lange, chair of Parliament’s International Trade Committee and standing rapporteur for the US, issued the following statement.
Committee on International Trade

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

A Chadian government spokesperson says the decision is aimed at protecting citizens.

England and South Africa postpone a T20 international series against each other which was originally planned for next winter.

Bellarmine Mugabe and one other man have not commented on the charges after a 23-year-old was shot.

Bellarmine Mugabe and one other man have not commented on the charges after a 23-year-old was shot.

Luzern jubelt für Oscar Kabwit! Der 20-Jährige brilliert gegen Basel mit einem Doppelpack und einer Vorlage. Seine Leistung bringt nicht nur die Fans, sondern auch Mitspieler und Trainer ins Schwärmen.

By Alon Ben-Meir
NEW YORK, Feb 23 2026 (IPS)

Trump’s immigration policy is destroying America’s greatness Immigrants are the backbone of America’s greatness— powering its economy, enriching its culture, and advancing its global leadership. Yet under the guise of making America great again, Trump’s exclusionary, racist policies are dismantling that very foundation, stifling innovation and tarnishing the nation’s moral standing.

To understand the magnitude and importance of immigrants in the US, and the need for continued immigration, the following clearly shows how deeply they sustain our workforce, drive innovation, and secure America’s competitive edge on the global stage.

The Current State of Immigration

Over 1 million farmworkers in the United States are undocumented, including approximately 40 percent of crop farmworkers. Immigrants account for roughly 70 percent of all US farmworkers, making them indispensable to the agricultural labor force and underscoring how dependent American food production is on this workforce.

We are already witnessing the impacts of immigration crackdowns on the US farm industry. In California’s Central Valley, a majority of farmworkers stopped showing up after intensive ICE raids in July 2025, leaving crops rotting in the fields due to a lack of available workers. This has resulted in substantial financial losses, food waste, reduced farm revenues, and rising food prices.

Beyond agriculture, immigrants from Latin America and other regions are heavily represented in construction, hospitality, and food processing; they account for approximately 33 percent of meat processing and over 80 percent of food manufacturing workers.

In the leisure and hospitality sector, immigrants account for roughly 18 percent of workers; in traveler accommodations (i.e., hotels) alone, over 30 percent of workers are immigrants.

STEM Workforce

According to the National Science Foundation, foreign-born workers account for approximately 22 percent of the US’ STEM workforce. Among science and engineering occupations with doctorates, about 43 percent are foreign-born; in the doctorate-level fields of computer and mathematical sciences, this share exceeds 55 percent.

Roughly 30 percent of full-time science and engineering faculty at US universities are foreign-born, disproportionately present at research-intensive institutions.

Denying admission of scientists from countries such as India and China, Mexico and Argentina would result in serious talent shortages in key STEM fields. Moreover, inventors and entrepreneurs account for a disproportionately large share of US patents, high-growth startups, and advanced-degree STEM workers.

Thus, losing foreign-born scholars would undermine research, reduce innovation, slow scientific progress, and erode US technological and economic competitiveness.

Research on immigrant entrepreneurship indicates that immigrants are heavily overrepresented among founders of new firms, including high-tech firms and “unicorn” startups, which amplifies the long-term damage that restrictive policies toward non-European scientists would inflict.

Immigrants in the US military

In 2017, about 190,000 foreign-born individuals were on active duty, representing roughly 4.5 percent of all active-duty service members. As of 2024, approximately 8,000 non-citizens enlist each year. As of 2022, there were about 731,000 foreign-born veterans—around 4.5 percent of the total veteran population.

Historically and today, foreign-born soldiers have played key roles in every major US conflict, dating back to the Revolutionary War, and mmigrants have received more than 20 percent of all Medals of Honor, underscoring the depth of their contribution to national defense.

Reagan’s Honoring of Immigrants

Perhaps no one could express the vital importance of immigrants to the US, and how they made America the land of opportunity that embodied the very promise that has made America exceptional, like President Reagan in his final speech to the nation:

“Since this is the last speech that I will give as president, I think it’s fitting to leave one final thought, an observation about a country which I love. It was best stated in a letter I received recently. A man wrote me and said: ‘You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany, Turkey, or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.’

“Yes, the torch of Lady Liberty symbolizes our freedom and represents our heritage, the compact with our parents, our grandparents, and our ancestors. It is that lady who gives us our great and special place in the world. For it’s the great life force of each generation of new Americans that guarantee that America’s triumph shall continue unsurpassed into the next century and beyond. Other countries may seek to compete with us, but in one vital area, as a beacon of freedom and opportunity that draws the people of the world, no country on Earth comes close.

“This, I believe, is one of the most important sources of America’s greatness. We lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people—our strength—from every country and every corner of the world. And by doing so, we continuously renew and enrich our nation. While other countries cling to the stale past, here in America, we breathe life into dreams. We create the future, and the world follows us into tomorrow.

“Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we’re a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.”

How did we fall from President Reagan’s recognition of immigrants’ nobility to Trump’s dehumanizing claim that “they are eating the dogs…they are eating the cats…They’re eating—they are eating the pets…” In that stark descent, we see the horrific moral cost of abandoning truth for political expediency.

Immigrants have been the lifeblood of the American experiment. To close our door to immigrants is to close the door to the very engine of American vitality. If we open our borders, welcoming all regardless of ethnicity, race or faith, we unleash our greatest strength—a nation reborn, limitless in its capacity to dream and achieve the impossible.

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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A UN human rights report has found that people trafficked and forced to work at scam centres are subjected to torture, sexual abuse and prison-like conditions. (representational photo). Credit: UNICEF/Ron Haviv

By UN Human Rights Office
GENEVA, Feb 23 2026 (IPS)

A report published today by the UN Human Rights Office graphically details the lived experiences of some of the hundreds of thousands of people trafficked from dozens of countries around the world into working in entrenched scam operations mostly in Southeast Asia, as well as far beyond.

The report documents instances of torture and other ill-treatment, sexual abuse and exploitation, forced abortions, food deprivation, solitary confinement, among other grave human rights abuses. Survivors also shared experiences of border officials aiding scam recruiters, and of threats and extortion by police.

Satellite imagery and on-ground reports show that nearly three-quarters of the scam operations are in the Mekong region, which have also spread to some Pacific Island countries and South Asia, as well as Gulf States, West Africa and the Americas.

“The treatment endured by individuals within the context of scam operations is alarming,” finds the report, based on interviews with survivors originating from Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Thailand, Viet Nam and Zimbabwe.

They had been trafficked into scam centres in Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates between 2021 and 2025. It is also based on interviews with police and border officials, as well as civil society and others with knowledge of such operations.

Victims described being lured into scamming jobs under false pretences and then being coerced into perpetrating online fraud ranging from impersonation scams, online extortion, financial fraud as well as romantic scams.

The operations described are fluid, with some survivors sharing experiences of being held in immense compounds resembling self-contained towns, some over 500 acres in size, made up of heavily fortified multi-storey buildings with barbed wire-topped high walls, guarded by armed and uniformed security personnel.

“A victim from Sri Lanka related how those who failed to meet monthly scamming targets were subject to immersion in water containers (known as ’water prisons’) for hours,” said the report, which updates a 2023 UN Human Rights report.

“Victims also recounted being forced to witness or even conduct grave abuse of others as a means to ensure compliance; one Bangladeshi victim said that he was ordered to beat other workers and a victim from Ghana recounted being forced to watch his friend being beaten in front of him.”

They told of people losing their lives as they attempted to escape, including falling from balconies and roofs in the compounds.

Failed rescue attempts were also punished severely, the report finds. One Vietnamese victim described how her sister was beaten, tasered and locked in a room with no food for seven days after her sister had tried to engineer her escape.

It found traffickers would video call family members to watch their loved one being abused and mistreated in order to pressure families to pay extortionate ransoms.

While most victims described receiving some wages, all those interviewed by UN Human Rights experienced a range of escalating deductions and none received the entirety of the promised salary. A Thai victim reported that they were ordered to meet steep scamming targets of some $9,500 per day to avoid fines, beatings, or even being “sold” to another compound with harsher conditions.

“The litany of abuse is staggering and at the same time heart-breaking,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said. “Yet, rather than receiving protection, care and rehabilitation as well as the pathways to justice and redress to which they are entitled, victims too often face disbelief, stigmatization and even further punishment.”

“Effective responses need to be centred in human rights law and standards. Crucially, that means explicitly recognizing forced criminality within anti-trafficking laws and regulations and guaranteeing the non-punishment principle for victims of trafficking.”

“Victims of such abuses require coordinated timely, safe and effective rescue operations, respect for the principle of non-refoulement, as well as available support mechanisms to ensure torture and trauma rehabilitation and address risks of reprisals or re-trafficking.”

The report uniquely applies a behavioural science and systems analysis to explore why people continue to fall prey to fraudulent recruitment into scam operations and to suggest rights-based and effective prevention responses.

“There must be increased availability and accessibility of safe labour migration pathways and meaningful oversight of recruitment such as verification of online job postings and flagging suspicious recruitment patterns,” Türk said.

He called on States and relevant stakeholders to engage trusted and community-based actors, such as survivor-led groups, in outreach to individuals considered at risk of trafficking into scam operations. Awareness activities need to be accessible, concrete and available through trusted media.

Türk also urged States and regional bodies to act effectively against corruption, which he said was deeply entrenched in such lucrative scamming operations, and to prosecute the criminal syndicates behind them. He also recalled the importance of independent media, human rights defenders and civil society organisations being able to carry out their vital anti-trafficking work free from interference.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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