DruafAfrica

‘Confusion’ in South Africa over US HIV funding

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — Some South African organizations that assist people with HIV are in limbo, after the United States put a 90-day freeze on most foreign aid. The U.S. State Department later added a waiver for “lifesaving” aid, but NGOs that have already shut their doors say the next steps aren’t clear, and they are worried this could set back years of progress.

South Africa has the highest number of HIV-positive people in the world — about 8 million — but has also been a huge success story in terms of treatment and preventing new infections.

That’s largely due to the money poured into expert HIV care here, 17% of which comes from a U.S. program called the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, also known as PEPFAR.

But, a 90-day foreign aid funding freeze is in effect, following an executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump last month to check if U.S.-funded programs overseas are aligned with U.S. policies. This has caused some confusion in South Africa with health care organizations and their patients.

Thamsanqa Siyo, an HIV-positive transgender woman in South Africa, is anxious.

“People are frustrated, they’re living in fear, they don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Siyo. “They don’t know if it’s stopped temporarily or not temporarily.”

The Cape Town clinic that Siyo used to go to has now been closed for two weeks.

While the State Department has issued a waiver to continue paying for “lifesaving” services, what that includes remains unclear to many South African organizations that receive funding from PEPFAR.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week that the waiver was clear.

“If it saves lives, if it’s emergency lifesaving aid — food, medicine, whatever — they have a waiver,” said Rubio. “I don’t know how much clearer we can be.”

The State Department also issued written clarification and guidance on February 1 regarding which activities are and are not covered by the waiver for PEPFAR programs.

The South African government said it was blindsided by the U.S. aid freeze, according to Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, who convened a meeting about PEPFAR on Wednesday.

Motsoaledi also said he has sought clarity on the waiver.

“If you say American money cannot be used for LGBTQWI+ and we do the counseling and testing and somebody who falls within that category, transgender, tests positive, can they not be helped?” he asked. “Even if it’s lifesaving?”

Linda-Gail Bekker is a doctor and scientist who heads the Desmond Tutu HIV Center in South Africa.

“This is not one homogenous picture,” said Bekker. “In some places, it’s parts of services that have been stopped. In other places, the whole clinic, if it was supplied by PEPFAR, has been closed down.”

She also said that some transgender health services have been completely closed, and in other areas, counselors haven’t been able to come in.

In addition, she said some services and drugs are no longer available, such as community-based testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis, a medicine that prevents people at high risk from contracting HIV.

Ling Sheperd, who works for Triangle Project, an nongovernmental organization that provides services for the queer community, said there’s a risk of “undoing decades of progress.”

“The impact is devastating,” said Sheperd. “The PEPFAR funding has been a lifeline for millions and it ensures access to HIV treatment, prevention services, and of course community-based health care. And without it we are seeing interruptions in medication supply, clinics are scaling back services, and community health workers have literally been losing their livelihoods.”

About 5.5 million South Africans are on anti-retroviral medication for HIV. Motsoaledi noted that most of that is funded by the government here.

However, he said, a PEPFAR shortfall will affect training, facilities and service delivery. The government said it is working on contingency plans that would reduce dependence on foreign aid in the HIV sector.

On Wednesday, a group of health organizations sent a letter to the South African government saying at least 900,000 patients with HIV were directly affected by the U.S. stop-work orders.
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DruamAmericas

Treaty obliges US to to defend Panama Canal, says Rubio

STATE DEPARTMENT — The United States has a treaty obligation to protect the Panama Canal if it comes under attack, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday, amid confusion and what Panama has described as “lies” regarding whether U.S. Navy ships can transit the Panama Canal for free.

“I find it absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict. Those are our expectations. … They were clearly understood in those conversations,” Rubio said during a press conference in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. He held talks with Panamanian President Jose Rauu Mulino in Panama City on Sunday.

Rubio was referring to a treaty signed by the U.S. and Panama in 1977.

The top U.S. diplomat told reporters that while he respects Panama’s democratically elected government and acknowledges that it has “a process of laws and procedures that it needs to follow,” the treaty obligation “would have to be enforced by the armed forces the United States, particularly the U.S. Navy.”

The U.S. intends to pursue an amicable resolution, Rubio said.

Mulino posted on X that he planned to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday afternoon.

On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said, via a social media post on X, that U.S. government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without incurring fees, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars annually.

But the Panama Canal Authority, an autonomous agency overseen by the Panamanian government, disputed the U.S. claim, saying that it has made no adjustments to these fees. It also expressed its willingness to engage in dialogue with relevant U.S. officials.

During his weekly press conference on Thursday, the Panamanian president denied his country had reached a deal allowing U.S. warships to transit the Panama Canal for free, saying he completely rejected the State Department’s statement.

Belt and Road Initiative

Meanwhile, Mulino told reporters that the Panamanian Embassy in Beijing had provided China with the required 90-day notice of its decision to exit the Belt and Road Initiative, also known as BRI.

He denied that the decision was made at Washington’s request, saying that he was taking time to assess Panama’s relationship with China and decide what would best serve his country’s interests.

“I don’t know what the incentive was for the person who signed that agreement with China,” Mulino said in Spanish, adding that he did not think the BRI had brought major benefits to his country.

Panama joined China’s BRI under former President Juan Carlos Varela. The agreement was signed in 2018, following Panama’s decision in 2017 to establish its diplomatic relations with China and sever ties with Taiwan.

Rubio has welcomed Panama’s decision not to renew its participation in China’s BRI.

China describes the BRI, which was launched in 2013 under President Xi Jinping, as a vast infrastructure initiative designed to connect multiple continents through land and maritime routes.

The United States has warned that the project is driven by China’s mission to manipulate and undermine the global rules-based trading system for its own benefit.

In Beijing, Chinese officials dismissed what they called the U.S.’s “irresponsible remarks on the Panama Canal issue” and accused Washington of intentionally distorting, attacking and mischaracterizing relevant cooperation.

“China firmly opposes it and made stern demarches to the U.S. side,” said Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry.

While in Santo Domingo, Rubio met with Dominican President Luis Abinader and Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez.

The Dominican Republic is the final stop on Rubio’s five-nation tour across Central America and the Caribbean, which focuses on curbing illegal immigration, combating drug trafficking and countering China’s growing influence in the Western Hemisphere.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France Presse and Reuters.
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DruamAmericas

White House monitoring China’s complaint on Trump tariffs at WTO

white house — The White House on Thursday said it was monitoring a complaint by China to the World Trade Organization that accuses the United States of making “unfounded and false allegations” about China’s role in the fentanyl trade to justify tariffs on Chinese products.

The complaint was made Wednesday, a day after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods by 10%. The White House said the new duties on Chinese goods were aimed at halting the flow of fentanyl opioids and their precursor chemicals.

China said it was imposing retaliatory tariffs on some American goods beginning February 10, including 15% duties on coal and natural gas imports and 10% on petroleum, agricultural equipment, high-emission vehicles and pickup trucks. The country also immediately implemented restrictions on the export of certain critical minerals and launched an antitrust investigation into American tech giant Google.

In the WTO filing, China said the U.S. tariff measures were “discriminatory and protectionist” and violated international trade rules. Beijing has requested a consultation with Washington.

China’s request will kick-start a process within the WTO’s Appellate Body, which has the final say on dispute settlements. A White House official told VOA the administration was monitoring Beijing’s file but did not provide further details.

Analysts say Beijing’s move is largely performative and unlikely to yield much relief. The Appellate Body has been largely paralyzed following the first Trump administration’s 2019 move to block appointments of appellate judges over what it viewed as judicial overreach. The Biden administration continued the policy.

China recognizes the WTO is not going to put a lot of pressure on the United States because Washington is fully capable of blocking any legal process there, said Jeffrey Schott, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

“So instead, I think the Chinese reaction has been moderate in indicating that they will act tit for tat against U.S. trade,” he told VOA.

Schott added that there’s “a desire to keep things cool” and moderate the damage, just as what happened during the first Trump administration when a trade deal was agreed upon after initial retaliatory trade actions.

On the U.S. side, the 10% tariffs against China are much lower than the up to 60% that Trump promised during his presidential campaign, he said. 

Trump-Xi call

Trump imposed import duties on Beijing after delaying his actions to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada following conversations Monday with their leaders. Tariff critics are hoping that a conversation between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could lead to similar results.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the call “is being scheduled and will happen very soon.”

However, Trump has dismissed the negative impact of China’s tariffs and said he was “in no rush” to speak with Xi.

“We’ll speak to him at the appropriate time,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.

Unlike Trump’s deal with Mexico and Canada, an agreement with Beijing is unlikely to come quickly, considering strong bipartisan support for placing tariffs on China because of concern about the influx of illegal drugs and other national security concerns, said Rachel Ziemba, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

“Even if they come up with some kind of agreement to settle this particular tariff or to remove the countertariffs, there will probably be more tariffs on China later in this administration,” she told VOA.

The U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday announced that it was suspending acceptance of inbound packages from China and Hong Kong, closing a loophole that Chinese garment and other consumer goods companies have used in the past. These companies, including Shein and Temu as well as Amazon vendors, bypassed existing U.S. tariffs by shipping to American customers directly from China.

On Wednesday, USPS reversed its decision, saying it would work with Customs and Border Protection on a way to collect the new tariffs. 

The Postal Service “will continue accepting all international inbound mail and packages from China and Hong Kong Posts,” it said. “The USPS and Customs and Border Protection are working closely together to implement an efficient collection mechanism for the new China tariffs to ensure the least disruption to package delivery.”

It is unclear how the fee will be collected in such direct transactions between Chinese sellers and American buyers.

Trump’s trade actions on China, Canada and Mexico, as well as his threat to impose duties on all foreign shipments into the country, including from European allies, have caused confusion and uncertainty across global trade. 

Businesses usually respond to trade uncertainty by holding off on investments or passing on increased costs to customers. But the damage goes beyond small and large businesses domestically and abroad, Ziemba said.

“If one of the U.S. goals is relying less on China and Chinese supply chains for critical minerals, for energy, for other things like that, then the uncertainty about whether there’s going to be tariffs and investment restrictions on its allies fly in the face of that goal,” she said. 
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DruchinaChina

VOA Mandarin: Trump tariffs close loophole used by Chinese online retailers 

The new tariffs on Chinese imports, imposed by President Donald Trump this month, include a provision that will close a loophole that Chinese online retailers used for their U.S.-bound exports. The “de minimis” exemption that applies to packages worth less than $800 is commonly used by Chinese online retailers such as Shein and Temu to ship goods at a lower price directly to U.S. consumers.

Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
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DruasiaAsia

VOA Russian: Momentum lost for North Korean troops in Russia

Thousands of North Korean troops helped Russia regain some of its territory in the Kursk region following Ukraine’s counterattack, but the Russian army is now using them less on the front line and have pulled some back. VOA Russian spoke to experts who noted that despite initial successes, the losses in manpower among North Korean recruits became overwhelming as they were unprepared and not trained for the current war in Ukraine. 

Click here for the full story in Russian.
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DruafAfrica

Darfuri women face sexual violence in war, refuge

Aid groups say sexual violence is a constant threat for women in Sudan’s Darfur, but refugees also say it’s a problem for those who have fled the region. Reporting from a refugee camp on Chad’s border with Darfur, Henry Wilkins looks at the phenomenon of “firewood rape.” Camera: Henry Wilkins.
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DruamAmericas

House lawmakers push to ban AI app DeepSeek from US government devices

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan duo in the U.S. House is proposing legislation to ban the Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek from federal devices, similar to the policy already in place for the popular social media platform TikTok.

Lawmakers Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat from New Jersey, and Darin LaHood, a Republican from Illinois, on Thursday introduced the “No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act,” which would ban federal employees from using the Chinese AI app on government-owned electronics. They cited the Chinese government’s ability to use the app for surveillance and misinformation as reasons to keep it away from federal networks.

“The Chinese Communist Party has made it abundantly clear that it will exploit any tool at its disposal to undermine our national security, spew harmful disinformation, and collect data on Americans,” Gottheimer said in a statement. “We simply can’t risk the CCP infiltrating the devices of our government officials and jeopardizing our national security.”

The proposal comes after the Chinese software company in January published an AI model that performed at a competitive level with models developed by American firms like OpenAI, Meta, Alphabet and others. DeepSeek purported to develop the model at a fraction of the cost of its American counterparts. The announcement raised alarm bells and prompted debates among policymakers and leading Silicon Valley financiers and technologists.

The churn over AI is coming at a moment of heightened competition between the U.S. and China in a range of areas, including technological innovation. The U.S. has levied tariffs on Chinese goods, restricted Chinese tech firms like Huawei from being used in government systems, and banned the export of state of the art microchips thought to be needed to develop the highest end AI models.

Last year, Congress and then-President Joe Biden approved a divestment of the popular social media platform TikTok from its Chinese parent company or face a ban across the U.S.; that policy is now on hold. President Donald Trump, who originally proposed a ban of the app in his first term, signed an executive order last month extending a window for a long-term solution before the legally required ban takes effect.

In 2023, Biden banned TikTok from federal-issued devices.

“The technology race with the Chinese Communist Party is not one the United States can afford to lose,” LaHood said in a statement. “This commonsense, bipartisan piece of legislation will ban the app from federal workers’ phones while closing backdoor operations the company seeks to exploit for access. It is critical that Congress safeguard Americans’ data and continue to ensure American leadership in AI.”

The bill would single out DeepSeek and any AI application developed by its parent company, the hedge fund High-Flyer, as subject to the ban. The legislation includes exceptions for national security and research purposes that would allow federal employers to study DeepSeek.

Some lawmakers wish to go further. A bill proposed last week by Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, would bar the import or export of any AI technology from China writ large, citing national security concerns.
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DruasiaAsia

US service member, 3 contractors die in plane crash in Philippines

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — One U.S. service member and three defense contractors were killed Thursday when a plane contracted by the U.S. military crashed in a rice field in the southern Philippines, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said.

The aircraft was conducting a routine mission “providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support at the request of our Philippine allies,” the command said in a statement. It said the cause of the crash was under investigation.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines also confirmed the crash of a light plane in Maguindanao del Sur province. It did not immediately provide other details.

The bodies of the four people were retrieved from the wreckage in Ampatuan town, said Ameer Jehad Tim Ambolodto, a safety officer of Maguindanao del Sur. Indo-Pacific Command said the names of the crew were being withheld pending family notifications.

Windy Beaty, a provincial disaster-mitigation officer, told The Associated Press that she received reports that residents saw smoke coming from the plane and heard an explosion before the aircraft plummeted to the ground less than a kilometer from a cluster of farmhouses.

Nobody was reported injured on or near the crash site, which was cordoned off by troops, Beaty said.

U.S. forces have been deployed in a Philippine military camp in the country’s south for decades to help provide advice and training to Filipino forces battling Muslim militants. The region is the homeland of minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic nation.
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DruasiaAsia

Islamabad, Beijing pledge counterterrorism cooperation for security of Chinese workers in Pakistan

Islamabad — Pakistan has assured China it will ensure the safety of Chinese personnel working on infrastructure and development projects in the South Asian country while seeking greater security and economic cooperation during President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to Beijing.

Zardari is in China on a five-day visit from February 4 to 8 along with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, and other senior officials.

Pakistani leaders met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. Zardari also held delegation level talks with the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China, Zhao Leji.

The Pakistani leadership “reaffirmed that ensuring the safety and security of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan is the foremost responsibility of Pakistani government as China’s All-weather Strategic Cooperative partner and the host country,” according to a joint communique issued Thursday.

Thousands of Chinese nationals are in Pakistan, working primarily on projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. At least 21 Chinese citizens, however, have been killed in targeted attacks since 2017. This has put pressure on bilateral ties and hurt the progress of the massive infrastructure and development project that has seen more than $25 billion in Chinese investment come to Pakistan.

An October 2024 attack in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi killed two Chinese citizens. The incident came a few months after a March attack on a convoy killed five Chinese nationals in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

While calling for increased cooperation on counterterrorism, the statement said Pakistan will bring to justice those responsible for attacking Chinese personnel.  

Pakistan also committed to “further increase input into security, and take targeted and enhanced measures to effectively ensure the safety and security of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan, and create a safe environment for cooperation between the two countries,” according to the communique.

In the latest high-level meetings, Chinese officials offered counterterrorism cooperation to Pakistan.

“The Chinese side…expressed its willingness to provide necessary support for Pakistan’s counter terrorism capacity building,” the lengthy 24-point communique read.

Official statements issued by the Pakistani side earlier show security remained a central part of discussions.

In his opening statement Wednesday at the start of talks with Xi, Zardari said the friendship between the two countries had “gone through ups and downs” but would not be broken down by militant attacks that have killed Chinese citizens.

“No matter how many terrors, how many issues crop up in the world, I will stand, Pakistani people will stand, with the people of China,” the Pakistan head of state said.

Both sides discussed enhancing intelligence sharing, border security, and the transfer of technology to strengthen the Pakistani police’s capability to secure Chinese interests.

“Mohsin Naqvi said that Pakistan will purchase modern technology and equipment for the police from China,” a statement from the Pakistani interior minister’s office said after a meeting with Qi Yanjun, one of China’s top security officials.

Naqvi also informed Xi about efforts to beef up security of the Chinese and boost counter terrorism operations in Pakistan.

Pakistan is grappling with a deadly wave of militant attacks primarily targeting Pakistani security personnel since late 2021.

On Saturday, militants allegedly affiliated with the Baloch Liberation Army killed 18 soldiers in the southwestern Balochistan province, home to the China-funded Gwadar deep sea port and the country’s largest airport.

In January, the country saw 74 militant attacks resulting in 91 deaths, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies. Thirty-five of those killed were security personnel while 36 militants died in the incidents.  

In 2024, close to 1,200 people including almost 1000 civilians and security personnel were killed in militant attacks – a 40% increase in militant attacks compared to 2023. 

Much of the violence is concentrated in the two provinces bordering Afghanistan. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has a strong foothold while the banned Baloch Liberation Army is behind much of the violence in Balochistan.

Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of taking insufficient measures to reign in anti-Pakistan militants present on Afghan soil, a charge the de facto rulers in Kabul reject.

In Thursday’s joint communique, Pakistan and China again pressed Afghan authorities to take stronger counter-terrorism action.

“They called on the Interim Afghan Government to take visible and verifiable actions to dismantle and eliminate all terrorist groups based in Afghanistan which continue to pose a serious threat to regional and global security, and to prevent the use of Afghan territory against other countries,” the statement said.

Despite Pakistan’s poor security situation that Beijing has publicly complained about, the joint statement said China would encourage its businesses to invest in Pakistan. Both sides signed more than a dozen Memoranda of Understanding to enhance cooperation in agriculture, technology, and trade, etc.  

After his first stop in Beijing, Zardari heads to the northeastern city of Harbin to attend the opening ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games, taking place from Feb. 7-14.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.
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DruamAmericas

Trump attends National Prayer Breakfast

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that his relationship with religion had “changed” after a pair of failed assassination attempts last year, as he advocated at the National Prayer Breakfast at the Capitol for Americans to “bring God back into our lives.”

Trump joined a Washington tradition of more than 70 years that brings together a bipartisan group of lawmakers for fellowship. He was also to speak at a separate prayer breakfast at a Washington hotel sponsored by a private group.

“I really believe you can’t be happy without religion, without that belief,” Trump said. “Let’s bring religion back. Let’s bring God back into our lives.”

Trump reflected on having a bullet coming close to killing him at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year, telling lawmakers and attendees, “It changed something in me, I feel.”

He continued: “I feel even stronger. I believed in God, but I feel, I feel much more strongly about it. Something happened.”

He drew laughs when he expressed gratitude that the episode “didn’t affect my hair.” The president, who’s a nondenominational Christian, called religious liberty “part of the bedrock of American life” and called for protecting it with “absolute devotion.”

Trump and his administration have already clashed with religious leaders, including him disagreeing with the Reverend Mariann Budde’s sermon the day after his inauguration, when she called for mercy for members of the LGBTQ+ community and migrants who are in the country illegally.

Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, has sparred with top U.S. leaders of his own church over immigration issues. And many clergy members across the country are worried about the removal of churches from the sensitive-areas list, allowing federal officials to conduct immigration actions at places of worship.

The Republican president made waves at the final prayer breakfast during his first term. That year the gathering came the day after the Senate acquitted him in his first impeachment trial.

Trump in his remarks then threw not-so-subtle barbs at Democratic then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who publicly said she prayed for Trump, and Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, who had cited his faith in his decision to vote to convict Trump. “I don’t like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong.”

Trump said then in his winding speech, in which he also held up two newspapers with banner headlines about his acquittal. “Nor do I like people who say, ‘I pray for you,’ when they know that that’s not so.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president to attend the prayer breakfast, in February 1953, and every president since has spoken at the gathering.

Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Republican Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas are the honorary co-chairs of this year’s prayer breakfast.

In 2023, the National Prayer Breakfast split into two dueling events, the one on Capitol Hill largely attended by lawmakers and government officials and a larger private event for thousands at a hotel ballroom.

The split occurred when lawmakers sought to distance themselves from the private religious group that for decades had overseen the bigger event, due to questions about its organization and how it was funded. In 2023 and 2024, President Joe Biden, a Democrat, spoke at the Capitol Hill event, and his remarks were livestreamed to the other gathering.
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DruasiaAsia

Japan’s Ishiba to tread cautiously in first meeting with Trump

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday. Japanese officials say they want to reaffirm the US-Japan alliance and build strong personal ties between Ishiba and Trump. VOA’s Bill Gallo reports from Seoul, South Korea.
Camera: Bill Gallo
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DruamAmericas

Mexico deploys the first of 10,000 troops to US border after Trump’s tariff threat

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, MEXICO — A line of Mexican National Guard and Army trucks rumbled along the border separating Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, among the first of 10,000 troops Mexico has sent to its northern frontier following tariff threats by President Donald Trump. 

Masked and armed National Guard members picked through brush running along the border barrier on the outskirts of Ciudad Juárez, pulling out makeshift ladders and ropes tucked away in the trenches, and pulling them onto trucks. Patrols were also seen on other parts of the border near Tijuana. 

It comes after a turbulent week along the border after Trump announced he would delay imposing crippling tariffs on Mexico for at least a month. In exchange, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum promised she would send the country’s National Guard to reinforce the border and crack down on fentanyl smuggling. 

Trump has declared an emergency on the border despite migration levels and fentanyl overdoses significantly dipping over the past year. The U.S. said it would, in turn, do more to stop American guns from being trafficked into Mexico to fuel cartel violence, which has rippled to other parts of the country as criminal groups fight to control the lucrative migrant smuggling industry. 

On Tuesday, the first of those forces arrived in border cities, climbing out of government planes. Guard members in the Wednesday patrol confirmed that they were part of the new force. 

“There will be permanent surveillance on the border,” José Luis Santos Iza, one of the National Guard leaders heading off the deployment in the city, told media upon the arrival of the first set of soldiers. “This operation is primarily to prevent drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, mainly fentanyl.” 

At least 1,650 troops were expected to be sent to Ciudad Juárez, according to government figures, making it one of the biggest receivers of border reinforcements in the country, second only to Tijuana, where 1,949 are slated to be sent. 

During U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s trip through Latin America — where migration was at the top of the agenda — the top American diplomat thanked the Mexican government for the forces, according to a statement by the Mexican government. 

The negotiation by Sheinbaum was viewed by observers as a bit of shrewd political maneuvering by the newly elected Mexican leader. Many had previously cast doubt that she’d be able to navigate Trump’s presidency as effectively as her predecessor and ally, former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. 

 
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DruasiaAsia

China, Pakistan pledge to boost cooperation on infrastructure, mining projects

HONG KONG — China and Pakistan will upgrade and reconstruct Pakistan’s railway network and further develop its Gwadar port, while Chinese companies can invest in the South Asian nation’s offshore oil and gas developments, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

The comments came as Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari visits China from Feb. 4-8, where he also will attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Winter Games.

Chinese investment and financial support for Pakistan since 2013 have been a boon for the South Asian nation’s struggling economy.

The two countries have had close ties underpinned by long-standing wariness of their common neighbor, India, and a desire to hedge against U.S. influence across the region.

Pakistan and China recognized the importance of Pakistan’s “Gwadar Port and agreed to fully unleash its potential as a key node for connectivity and trade,” Xinhua said quoting a joint statement from the two countries.

Chinese-funded enterprises would be encouraged to “carry out mining investment cooperation in Pakistan” and cooperate in terrestrial and marine geological resources.

“Pakistan welcomes Chinese companies to participate in the development of offshore oil and gas resources in Pakistan.”

Longtime Pakistan ally China has thousands of nationals working on projects grouped under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The $65 billion investment is part of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, designed to expand Beijing’s global reach by road, rail and sea. 
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DruamAmericas

US government vessels can sail Panama Canal without fees, US says

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of State said on Wednesday American government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees.

“The government of Panama has agreed to no longer charge fees for U.S. government vessels to transit the Panama Canal,” the department said in a post on X.

It said the agreement will save the U.S. government millions of dollars each year.

The Panama Canal Authority did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino on Sunday during a trip to Central America.

Panama has become a focal point of the Trump administration as President Donald Trump has accused the Central American country of charging excessive rates to use its passage.

“If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” Trump said last month.

Mulino has dismissed Trump’s threat that the U.S. retake control of the canal, which it largely built. The U.S. administered territory surrounding the passage for decades.

But the U.S. and Panama signed a pair of accords in 1977 that paved the way for the canal’s return to full Panamanian control. The United States handed it over in 1999 after a period of joint administration.
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DruasiaAsia

Greenlanders explore Pacific Islands’ relationship with Washington

WASHINGTON — Greenland’s representative in the United States met recently with at least one ambassador from the Pacific Islands to learn more about a political arrangement that some think could create an opportunity for the Arctic island and Washington, VOA has learned.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his interest in either buying or taking control of Greenland, a resource-rich semiautonomous territory of Denmark, noting its strategic importance and position in the Arctic Ocean where Russia and China are rapidly advancing. But there has been pushback from the island’s residents, political leaders, Denmark and Europe.

Greenland representatives have declined to comment to VOA on their meeting that focused on a framework that Pacific Island nations have with Washington — known as the Compacts of Free Association, or COFA. The compacts give the United States military access to three strategic Pacific Islands — the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau — in exchange for economic aid.

Jackson Soram, ambassador to the United States from the Federated States of Micronesia, told VOA that the discussions took place at the end of January and focused on “basic questions” on the “provisions of economic assistance, and also the security and defense provisions of the compacts.”

Soram said he met with representatives from Greenland and the Faroe Islands, another self-ruled Danish territory.

Alexander Gray, a former National Security Council chief of staff during the first Trump administration who worked on Pacific Island issues, told VOA he encouraged the Pacific Islands’ ambassadors to conduct these meetings.

“[The Greenlanders] want independence from Denmark,” Gray, who is now a managing partner of American Global Strategies, said in an emailed response. “An independent Greenland, with a tiny population and the second-least densely populated geography on the planet, will quickly become dominated and its sovereignty undermined by Beijing and Moscow.”

Russia has been reopening bases in the region even as Beijing has invested more than $90 billion in infrastructure projects in the Arctic Circle. Both the United States and Denmark have military bases in Greenland.

Gray said arctic dominance by Moscow and Beijing poses “a unique strategic threat” to the United States. He said a COFA “would allow Greenland to maintain its sovereignty, while allowing the U.S. to ensure that sovereignty is truly protected.”

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has repeatedly told Trump that Greenland is “not for sale.” But Monday, she said Copenhagen welcomes additional U.S. military investment in the strategic island.

“So, if this is about securing our part of the world, we can find a way forward,” she said.

US-Greenland defense agreement

Some analysts say that neither Washington nor Nuuk needs a COFA agreement to increase the U.S. military presence in Greenland. In 2004, the United States, Greenland and Denmark signed the Igaliku Agreement to reduce the U.S. military presence in Greenland to a single air base, the Thule Air Base, which has been renamed Pitfuffik Space Base. It provides Washington with missile defense and space surveillance.

The 2004 agreement provides for “any significant changes to U.S. military operations or facilities” in Greenland to be made through consultation between Washington, Nuuk and Copenhagen.

“Washington can already achieve its objectives through working with Greenland and Denmark,” Otto Svendsen, an associate fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote last month on CSIS’s website.

A Danish Institute for International Studies policy brief in 2022 pointed out that COFA has created economic dependence between the Marshall Islands and the United States, as U.S. donor money makes up 70% of the Marshall Islands’ total GDP. This is the opposite of what Greenland’s leaders say they want.

Search for independence

A 2009 law called the Act on Greenland Self-Government outlines a “road map” —-drawn up by Nuuk and Copenhagen — for an independent Greenland, which requires a successful referendum.

In his New Year’s address, Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede said, “The upcoming new election period must, together with the citizens, create these new steps,” opening the door for a referendum during parliamentary elections in April.

A 2019 survey suggested that more than two-thirds of Greenlanders want independence at some point. Yet in a poll released in January by two newspapers in Denmark and Greenland, 85% say they do not want to be part of the United States. Fifty-five percent, however, see Trump’s interest in Greenland as an opportunity.

Gray told VOA that the U.S., Denmark and Greenland should enter trilateral discussions for a compact.

“Working together, Washington, Copenhagen, and Nuuk can find common ground and move forward on a post-independence arrangement that works for all parties,” he said in an emailed response.

As far back as 2010, Greenland told the United Nations it was exploring the idea of negotiating independence through a “free association” with Denmark.

Egede said he is ready to meet with Trump, but, “We do not want to be Danes. We do not want to be Americans.”

Soram said he is trying to get ambassadors from Palau and the Marshall Islands to attend additional meetings with Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Denmark.
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UN: Deaths near 3,000 in fighting for DRC’s Goma

UNITED NATIONS — A senior U.N. official in the Democratic Republic of Congo said Wednesday that nearly 3,000 people have been killed in a fighting between M23 militants and the national army over control of a key eastern city.

Vivian van de Perre, the deputy head of the United Nations mission in the DRC, told reporters in a video call from Goma that U.N. teams are “actively helping” the M23 to collect the dead from the city’s streets. She said that, so far, 2,000 bodies have been retrieved and 900 others are in hospital morgues.

“We expect this number to go up,” she said. “There are still many decomposing bodies in many areas. The World Health Organization is really worried about what kind of epidemic outbreaks that can contribute to.”

In early January, the M23 broke a ceasefire agreement, launching a large-scale offensive in the mineral-rich east with the support of the Rwandan army. On Jan. 27, the M23 said it had captured Goma, the capital of North Kivu province and a city of more than a million people, thousands of whom have been displaced from other conflict areas.

The DRC government has repeatedly accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group, a claim that Rwanda denies. Kigali, in turn, alleges that Kinshasa collaborates with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or the FDLR, an armed Hutu group with ties to the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, an allegation the DRC rejects.

M23 holds Goma

Van de Perre said Goma is “firmly under control at the moment of M23.” The Congolese government has officially designated the M23 as a terrorist organization, while the United Nations and the United States classify it as an armed rebel group.

“All exit routes from Goma are under their control, and the airport, also under M23 control, is closed until further notice,” she told reporters. “The escalating violence has led to immense human suffering, displacement and a growing humanitarian crisis.”

She said nearly 2,000 civilians are sheltering at U.N. peacekeeping bases in Goma and that “our bases are full, full, full.” She said they cannot handle any more people, and they are concerned that the overcrowding and unsanitary conditions could lead to disease outbreaks at the bases.

Water and electricity had been cut off to the city during the intense fighting but have been partially restored. Markets are also reopening, but van de Perre said prices have skyrocketed.

She said peacekeepers with the U.N. mission, known as MONUSCO, are operating under limited movements imposed by the M23. They are not patrolling the city, but they are able to resupply their bases.

“Any movement we have to announce 48 hours in advance,” she said. Asked about reports that M23 rebels have suspended some aid work and are interfering with the work of journalists, she said that there are indications of harassment, but that she did not know the extent of it.

On the move

The M23 is reported to be progressing toward the South Kivu capital of Bukavu. Van de Perre said heavy fighting has been reported along the main route between Kinyezire and Nyabibwe.

“In Bukavu, tensions are rising as the M23 moves closer, just 50 kilometers north of the city,” she said.

MONUSCO has been in the process of drawing down its peacekeepers at the request of the Congolese government. In June, it left South Kivu province entirely.

“While the 4 February unilateral ceasefire announced by the M23 offers assurances that Bukavu will not be taken, we are gravely concerned for Kavumu airport, which is critical for ongoing civilian and humanitarian use,” she said of South Kivu’s airport.
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VOA Mandarin: Is US state’s lawsuit against China over COVID winnable?

The U.S. state of Missouri is suing China over the coronavirus pandemic, accusing it of “unleashing COVID-19 on the world.” The lawsuit threatens to seize $25 billion in assets if Beijing refuses to pay damages. Although the state attorney general is confident in winning the case, legal experts said there are still hoops Missouri needs to jump through due to laws protecting foreign state assets in the U.S.

Click here for the full story in Mandarin.
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DruasiaAsia

VOA Mandarin: Chinese firms relocated to Mexico face new problems amid Trump tariffs

President Donald Trump’s 25% tariff on imports from Mexico, temporarily put on hold this week, could disrupt the strategy of Chinese companies that have relocated to northern Mexico in recent years. By moving production closer to the U.S. market, these firms have been able to bypass U.S. tariffs toward China through the USMCA trade deal. Experts warn that these companies now face two significant challenges. 

Click here for the full story in Mandarin.

 

 
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UN sounds alarm over Pakistan’s new Afghan deportation plans

ISLAMABAD — The United Nations agencies focused on refugees and migration jointly voiced their concerns Wednesday over Pakistan’s plans to begin a new round of mass deportations of Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers.

The reaction came a week after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved a multistage plan targeting nearly 3 million Afghan citizens residing in Pakistan. They include legally declared refugees, documented as well as undocumented migrants, and those who are awaiting promised relocation to the United States and other Western countries.

The official plan seen by VOA mandates the immediate relocation of all Afghans from the national capital, Islamabad, and the adjacent city of Rawalpindi to designated camps before their repatriation to Afghanistan. The document emphasized without mentioning a timeline that no public announcement should be made regarding the deportations.

In a joint statement Wednesday, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, and the International Organization for Migration, IOM, said they “are seeking clarity over the modality and timeframe of this relocation.”

Both agencies urged Pakistan to consider human rights standards when implementing relocation measures. This includes ensuring due process for legal refugees and economic migrants who have been granted Afghan Citizen Cards or ACC, by Pakistan in collaboration with IOM, the statement explained. Official estimates put the ACC population at more than 800,000.

“Forced return to Afghanistan could place some people at increased risk. We urge Pakistan to continue to provide safety to Afghans at risk, irrespective of their documentation status,” said Philippa Candler, the UNHCR country representative.

Mio Sato, the IOM chief of mission in Islamabad, said her organization is committed to working with the Pakistani government and UNHCR to develop a mechanism to register, manage and screen Afghan nationals in Pakistan.

“This will open the door to tailored solutions, including international protection to those in need and pathways for Afghan nationals with long-standing socioeconomic and family ties in the country,” she said.

In the first phase, the deportation plan requires authorities to relocate people possessing an ACC, along with undocumented Afghan migrants, from Islamabad and Rawalpindi and send them back to Afghanistan.

Pakistan has allowed more than 1.4 million legal Afghan refugees to remain in the country until June 30, 2025. The new plan requires their relocation from the two cities in the second phase without stating whether they will also be deported to Afghanistan.

Sharif has also ordered authorities to deport around 40,000 Afghans from Islamabad and Rawalpindi by March 31 in the third phase of the deportation plan and subsequently arrange for their repatriation if their relocation and resettlement cases to third countries are not processed expeditiously.

These individuals fled Afghanistan after the Taliban regained control of the country 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, leaving at least 15,000 Afghan allies in Pakistan approved or being assessed for relocation to the U.S. in a state of uncertainty.

Since 2023, Pakistani authorities have forcibly repatriated more than 800,000 undocumented Afghans from its territory. The deportations resulted from a government crackdown on foreigners living in the country without legal permission or whose visas had expired. Islamabad has attributed a recent rise in crimes and militancy in Pakistan to Afghan nationals.

UNHCR and IOM said that they recognize the challenges Islamabad faces, especially in security, and that refugees, like all, must abide by Pakistan’s laws. “The overwhelming majority of Afghan nationals in Pakistan are law-abiding individuals whose situation needs to be seen through a humanitarian lens,” they said in their joint statement.

The two U.N. agencies expressed their particular concern for Afghan nationals who may face harm upon their return, including ethnic and religious minorities, women and girls, journalists, human rights activists and members of artistic professions such as musicians.

The Islamist Taliban leaders have placed sweeping restrictions on women’s access to education, employment and public life and have banned music in Afghanistan.
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US deportation flight carrying undocumented Indian migrants lands in Punjab 

New Delhi — A U.S. deportation flight carrying Indian nationals accused of entering the U.S. illegally landed in the northern state of Punjab Wednesday – the first such flight to India since the Trump administration launched a crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

The military aircraft, which landed amid tight security, brought 104 deportees, according to media reports. Authorities did not confirm the number, but said the deportees will be received in a friendly manner.

New Delhi, which does not want to make illegal immigration a contentious issue with Washington, has said that it is open to the return of undocumented Indians in the United States if their nationality is verified.

President Donald Trump said last week that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him that the country would “do what’s right” in taking back illegal immigrants. His comment came following a phone conversation with Modi.

In New Delhi, foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a media briefing on Friday that India and the United States are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration and “cooperation between India and the U.S. is strong and effective in this domain. This will be evident in times to come.”

Trade and migration are expected to be key issues during a meeting that could take place next week between Trump and Modi.

“India does not want to focus on the issue of illegal migrants being deported. We know it is big business in India, sending migrants illegally. Instead, the government’s interest is in ensuring that legal migration channels to the U.S. for Indian nationals are not restricted by the Trump administration,” according to Manoj Joshi, Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

Those legal routes are H-1B visas for skilled workers and visas for students.

“Both sides are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration, while also creating more avenues for legal migration from India to the U.S.,” Jaiswal has said.

The number of Indian migrants attempting to enter the U.S. unlawfully has grown in recent years, with India now accounting for the largest number of illegal immigrants to the United States from Asian countries, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

Their overall numbers, however, are still small; Indians account for only about 3 percent of illegal crossings.

The United States has identified some 18,000 undocumented Indian migrants to be sent back home, according to a Bloomberg report last week.

Deportation flights to India are not new — between October 2023 and September 2024, more than 1,000 Indian nationals were repatriated, but Wednesday’s flight was the first time that they were sent back via military aircraft.

The deportation flight was routed to Amritsar city in Punjab, which is among the three states where much of the illegal migration from India to the U.S. originates. The others are Haryana in the north and the western state of Gujarat.

Hours before the flight landed, Punjab’s minister for NRI (Non-Resident Indians) Affairs, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, urged people in the state to avoid illegal migration and instead focus on acquiring skills and education to access global opportunities through legal channels.
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Scores killed in Somalia in clash between security forces, Islamic State

WASHINGTON — Nearly 70 people were killed and up to 50 others wounded during 24 hours of fighting between Islamic State fighters and security forces from Somalia’s Puntland region, officials said Wednesday. 

At least 15 Puntland soldiers and more than 50 militants were slain in the fierce fighting around the Dharin and Qurac areas of the Cal Miskaad mountains in Puntland’s Bari region, multiple Puntland security officials told VOA, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. 

In an interview Wednesday with VOA’s Somali Service, a spokesperson for Puntland security operations, Brigadier General Mohamud Mohamed Ahmed, said the fighting, which began Tuesday, was the heaviest since Puntland launched an offensive last month against Islamic State groups that have hideouts in the mountains.  

“We have confirmed that at least 57 Islamic State militants, all of them foreigners, were killed during the fighting in the last 24 hours,” Ahmed said. 

Ahmed declined to say how many Puntland soldiers were wounded or lost but suggested casualties were heavy.  

“The fighting is taking place in a mountainous area where the militants are using improvised explosives. The fighting of this nature in such an environment, the attacking force often suffers more casualties than the defenders,” he said. 

VOA could not independently verify the claim of 57 militants killed but graphic video circulated on social media was said to show scenes of militants’ bodies strewn in a mountainous area. 

Ahmed said Tuesday night the United Arab Emirates conducted a drone strike against the IS militants in the area to support Puntland forces. 

A statement from the Puntland forces said their troops have gained ground.  

“Puntland forces have successfully captured the strategic village of Dharin in Togga Jecel, dealing a significant blow to the extremist group’s operational capabilities in the region,” the statement said. 

It added: “The forces have expelled the enemy from the areas they fought along the Togga Jecel.” 

These latest clashes came just days after U.S. warplanes targeted the Islamic State affiliate in Somalia, hitting what officials described as high-ranking operatives in the terror group’s mountainous stronghold. 

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the airstrike Saturday on social media, describing the main target as a “Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited and led.” 

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud thanked the U.S. for its “unwavering support” in the “fight against international terrorism.” 

Military campaign

Puntland began a military offensive dubbed “Hilac Campaign” last month against extremist groups in the region following months of preparations. 

Claims by Puntland commanders made regarding different battles indicate more than 150 Islamic State militants have been killed.  

Puntland’s leader, Said Abdullahi Deni, appealed to the public to support the operation, which he said is aimed at dislodging the Islamic State militants from their hideouts in mountainous areas. 

The operation has garnered public support. Monday, hundreds of residents took to the streets of Bosaso, the commercial hub of Puntland state, to demonstrate against the terrorist group and show support for the military campaign. 

Puntland is a member state of Somalia but its relationship with the country’s federal government has been strained by political conflicts and the region is considered semi-autonomous.  

Analysts say the rift between the two sides has limited any collaboration between the federal government and the Puntland regional state, including the fight against terrorists. 

“An operation like this needs logistical support and reinforcements, and the regional states alone cannot handle it. Federal government support and involvement is a must,” Somalia’s former Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmake told VOA. 

“The Islamic State is a common enemy for Somalis. Politicians should separate the national interests and the political differences that can be later solved through negotiations. National interests including security and development should not be politicized,” former national intelligence chief Brigadier General Abdirahman Turyare told VOA. 

IS in Puntland  

Puntland has endured terrorist attacks perpetrated by al-Shabab and Islamic State militants, but the ongoing military operation appears to be focused on IS. 

The group has a relatively small presence in Somalia compared to the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, but experts have warned of growing activity. 

U.S. military officials and Somali security experts reported that IS increased its membership numbers in Somalia last year. 

The group was previously estimated to have between 100 and 400 fighters, but Somali security and intelligence experts say the number has grown to between 500 and 600. 

Most of the newcomers are said to be from the Middle East and eastern and northern Africa. 

Faadumo Yasin Jama contributed to this report.

 
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Trump’s plan for US to take over Gaza meets mixed reactions

U.S. President Donald Trump’s idea for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip has shocked Israelis and Palestinians. While some Israelis welcome the idea, Palestinians categorically reject it. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem.
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DruafAfrica

2 Mozambicans with disabilities overcome social stigma

Living with a disability presents unique challenges, but some living with a disability say resilience, determination, and support can help individuals thrive. From Maputo, Mozambique, reporter Amarilis Gule has this story of two Mozambicans who refuse to let disabilities define their lives. (Video edited by Amarilis Gule)
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US deportation flight carrying illegal Indian migrants lands in Punjab 

New Delhi — A U.S. deportation flight carrying Indian nationals accused of entering the U.S. illegally landed in the northern state of Punjab Wednesday – the first such flight to India since the Trump administration launched a crackdown on illegal immigrants.

The military aircraft, which landed amid tight security, brought 104 deportees, according to media reports. Authorities did not confirm the number, but said the deportees will be received in a friendly manner.

New Delhi, which does not want to make illegal immigration a contentious issue with Washington, has said that it is open to the return of undocumented Indians in the United States if their nationality is verified.

President Donald Trump said last week that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him that the country would “do what’s right” in taking back illegal immigrants. His comment came following a phone conversation with Modi.

In New Delhi, foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a media briefing on Friday that India and the United States are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration and “cooperation between India and the U.S. is strong and effective in this domain. This will be evident in times to come.”

Trade and migration are expected to be key issues during a meeting that could take place next week between Trump and Modi.

“India does not want to focus on the issue of illegal migrants being deported. We know it is big business in India, sending migrants illegally. Instead, the government’s interest is in ensuring that legal migration channels to the U.S. for Indian nationals are not restricted by the Trump administration,” according to Manoj Joshi, Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

Those legal routes are H-1B visas for skilled workers and visas for students.

“Both sides are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration, while also creating more avenues for legal migration from India to the U.S.,” Jaiswal has said.

The number of Indian migrants attempting to enter the U.S. unlawfully has grown in recent years, with India now accounting for the largest number of illegal immigrants to the United States from Asian countries, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

Their overall numbers, however, are still small; Indians account for only about 3 percent of illegal crossings.

The United States has identified some 18,000 undocumented Indian migrants to be sent back home, according to a Bloomberg report last week.

Deportation flights to India are not new — between October 2023 and September 2024, more than 1,000 Indian nationals were repatriated, but Wednesday’s flight was the first time that they were sent back via military aircraft.

The deportation flight was routed to Amritsar city in Punjab, which is among the three states where much of the illegal migration from India to the U.S. originates. The others are Haryana in the north and the western state of Gujarat.

Hours before the flight landed, Punjab’s minister for NRI (Non-Resident Indians) Affairs, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, urged people in the state to avoid illegal migration and instead focus on acquiring skills and education to access global opportunities through legal channels.
…

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