Refugees and Displaced Persons

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      After Escaping China by Sea, Dissident Kwon Pyong Faces His Next Act

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      Kwon Pyong recounted for the first time the series of gambles that got him out of China by jet ski, and almost a year later, out of South Korea.The dissident’s lone regret after his 200-mile escape across the Yellow Sea was not taking night vision goggles.Nearing the end of his jet ski journey out of China last summer, Kwon Pyong peered through the darkness off the South Korean coast. As he approached the shore, sea gulls appeared to bob as if floating. He steered forward, then ran aground: The birds were sitting on mud.“I had everything — sunscreen, backup batteries, a knife to cut buoy lines,” he recalled in an interview. He was prepared to signal his location with a laser pen if he became stranded and to burn his notes with a lighter if he were captured. He also had a visa to enter South Korea, and had intended to arrive at a port of entry, he said, not strand himself on a mud flat.It wasn’t enough.Mr. Kwon, 36 and an ethnic Korean, had mocked China’s powerful leader and criticized how the ruling Communist Party was persecuting hundreds of pro-democracy activists at home and abroad. In response, he said, he faced an exit ban and years of detention, prison and surveillance.But fleeing to South Korea did not offer the relief he expected. He was still hounded by the Chinese state, he said, and spent time in detention. Even after he was released, he was in legal limbo: neither wanted nor allowed to leave. More

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      More Cities Feel Strain as Migrants Relocate When Aid Runs Out

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      After aid runs out elsewhere, some migrants relocate to places like Salt Lake City, where they find help but hurdles, too. “Consider another state,” says a flier distributed by Utah.The bright orange fliers from the State of Utah were blunt.“There is no room in shelters,” the advisory warns migrants contemplating travel to Utah. “No hotels for you.”It continues: “Housing is hard to find and expensive. Food banks are at capacity.”Confronted with a swelling number of migrants who have strained its resources, Utah in recent days has begun urging newcomers at the border and in the United States to “consider another state.”It is the latest sign of the challenges facing migrants and the communities where they hope to settle. As more people leave their initial destinations in search of better work and stable housing, more cities and towns are struggling to keep up.By the time Utah began warning migrants not to come, Carmen Selene and Cleodis Alvorado were already here, along with thousands of other migrants who have made their way to Utah in recent months from other U.S. cities.After traveling to the Texas border from Venezuela with their two sons, Ms. Selene and Mr. Alvorado crossed into the United States last September and were soon on a bus chartered by the state of Texas. Bound for Denver, the couple expected that Mr. Alvorado would quickly find a job and they would begin building a new life. But like so many of the other migrants arriving in the United States, Mr. Alvorado could not work legally and was competing for odd jobs with other migrants in the same predicament.When their hotel stay, paid for by the city of Denver, ran out, the family ended up on another bus, this one headed to Salt Lake City, thought to be a welcoming destination, thanks to plentiful jobs and the deep influence of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Israeli Defense Chief Rebuffs French Effort to End Israel-Hezbollah Fighting

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      The United States, France and other mediators have sought for months to reach an agreement that would stop the tit-for-tat missile strikes over Israel’s border with Lebanon.Israel’s defense minister on Friday rejected a diplomatic effort by France aimed at ending months of cross-border strikes between Israel and Hezbollah that have been intensifying this week and raising fears of a full-blown war.The United States, France and other mediators have sought for months to find a way to stop the tit-for-tat strikes between Israel and Hezbollah, a powerful militia and political faction backed by Iran, which has been launching rockets and drones into northern Israel from southern Lebanon.More than 150,000 people on both sides of the border have been displaced by the fighting. And Israel has warned that it is prepared to take stronger action to dislodge Hezbollah militants from southern Lebanon.This week, both sides ramped up their attacks, raising fears of another front in the war as Israel presses ahead with its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.On Thursday, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said France and the United States had agreed in principle to establish a trilateral group with Israel to “make progress” on a French proposal to end the violence.But Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who has called for Israel to take a harsher tack against Hezbollah, rebuffed Mr. Macron’s overture on Friday. It was not clear if Mr. Gallant was speaking for the Israeli government.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Art and the Power to Heal

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      Artists and community organizations around the world are increasingly turning to art to create positive social change.Using her arms as a makeshift clapboard, a Sudanese woman in a black hijab and black-and-white caftan clapped her hands together, signaling the beginning of the rehearsal. The other amateur Thespians, wearing comic stick-on mustaches, moved to their marks, improvising a scene in a women’s beauty salon where one patron’s hair is accidentally dyed blue.As the scene ended, all the women were in hysterics, ribbing each other over how they could better play their parts next time. Scenes like this are common at the Kuluhenna Creative Workshop, which is held at a community clubhouse on the outskirts of this Yorkshire city. The workshop is open to all local women, but with a focus on immigrant communities, including refugees and asylum seekers.The 90-minute class, which the Mafwa Theater has held since 2019, is a happy space. Each week, some 15 women gather to tell stories, dance, act and gossip. They are provided with bus passes, a play area for their young children and an on-site health worker in case any of the women want to talk.Eman Elsayed, a mother of three originally from Egypt, said before she joined the workshop in 2020, she was “depressed, isolated and fed up” with her life in Leeds. But eventually, especially after joining Mafwa Theater’s associate artists program in 2021, she felt her life change.“Art, it’s a magic wand,” said Elsayed, who now has a paid job doing community outreach for the program. “But you need to believe, and you need to take the time to see what it will do.”Mafwa’s project is just one example of a larger trend — as more and more groups and individuals worldwide are using the arts to empower, unite and even help heal people who have suffered trauma, from war and natural disaster, or discrimination, poverty and displacement.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Venezuela, que estuvo abierta a unas elecciones limpias, da marcha atrás

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      Las autoridades rescindieron la invitación a los observadores de la Unión Europea para la votación presidencial de julio, en otra señal de que es poco probable que Nicolás Maduro ceda el poder.[Estamos en WhatsApp. Empieza a seguirnos ahora]Funcionarios venezolanos rescindieron una invitación a la Unión Europea para observar las próximas elecciones presidenciales del 28 de julio, otra clara señal de que es poco probable que el presidente Nicolás Maduro ceda el poder a pesar de permitir que un candidato de la oposición se presente contra él.Tras meses de intensificación de la represión por parte del gobierno de Maduro —que prohibió a aspirantes legítimos presentarse a las urnas, encarceló a opositores políticos y reprimió a la sociedad civil—, la autoridad electoral del país sorprendió a muchos en abril cuando permitió al exdiplomático Edmundo González inscribirse como candidato de la oposición.El gobierno venezolano se ha visto asfixiado por las sanciones impuestas por Estados Unidos y la Unión Europea a la vital industria petrolera del país, y algunos expertos afirman que Maduro permitió que González se presentara solo porque podría ayudarle a convencer a Washington y a sus aliados para que suavizaran las sanciones.El presidente del Consejo Nacional Electoral, Elvis Amoroso, dijo en una emisión televisada que estaba rescindiendo la invitación hasta que la UE levantara “las sanciones coercitivas, unilaterales y genocidas impuestas a nuestro pueblo”.“Sería inmoral permitir su participación conociendo sus prácticas neocolonialistas e intervencionistas contra Venezuela”, agregó.La UE dijo en un comunicado que “lamenta profundamente la decisión unilateral” del consejo electoral y pidió al gobierno que reconsidere su decisión.La economía de Venezuela implosionó hace casi una década, provocando uno de los mayores desplazamientos del mundo en la historia de América Latina: más de siete millones de venezolanos han abandonado el país, contribuyendo a una oleada migratoria hacia el norte que se ha convertido en un tema dominante en la campaña presidencial de EE. UU.Tres encuestas realizadas en el interior del país mostraron que la mayoría de los encuestados pensaba votar por González. Pero hay dudas generalizadas de que Maduro permita que se hagan públicos esos resultados, o que los acepte si se hacen públicos.Este año, el gobierno de Maduro ya ha detenido y encarcelado a 10 miembros de la oposición. Otros cinco tienen órdenes de arresto y están escondidos en la Embajada de Argentina en Caracas, la capital de Venezuela.Una propuesta en la legislatura también permitiría al gobierno suspender la campaña de la oposición en cualquier momento. Muchos venezolanos que viven en el extranjero no han podido registrarse para votar debido a los costosos y engorrosos requisitos.Maduro, de 61 años, es el heredero político del movimiento socialista de Hugo Chávez en Venezuela, y ha consolidado el poder desde que ganó el cargo por primera vez en 2013. Controla funcionalmente el poder legislativo, el ejército, la policía, el sistema judicial, el consejo electoral, el presupuesto del país y gran parte de los medios de comunicación, así como las violentas bandas paramilitares llamadas colectivos.Él y su círculo íntimo también han sido acusados de abusos sistemáticos contra los derechos humanos que constituyen crímenes de lesa humanidad, incluidos homicidios, tortura y violencia sexual. More

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      ICJ Orders Israel to Halt Its Military Incursion Into Rafah

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      The International Court of Justice has no means to enforce its order in the Gazan city, but the ruling added pressure on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel.The International Court of Justice on Friday ordered Israel to “immediately” halt its military offensive in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, dealing another blow to the country as it faces increasing international isolation and a drumbeat of criticism over its conduct in the war.The court has few effective means of enforcing its order, and it stopped short of ordering a cease-fire in Gaza, with some of the court’s judges arguing that Israel could still conduct some military operations in Rafah under the terms of their decision.But the order added more pressure on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced domestic and external calls to reach a cease-fire deal with Hamas that would lead to the release of hostages held in Gaza.“The court considers that, in conformity with obligations under the Genocide Convention, Israel must immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,” the court’s president, Nawaf Salam, said in reading the 13-2 ruling.The court, based at The Hague, also specified the need for open land crossings, in particular the Rafah crossing, as part of its request for “the unhindered provision” of humanitarian assistance and services. Israel has controlled the Rafah crossing for more than two weeks, and very few aid trucks have entered the enclave since, according to United Nations data.The Israeli government said in a statement that its military “has not and will not” take actions that would lead to the partial or complete destruction of the Palestinian population of Rafah. In effect, it said that the court’s decision has no bearing on Israel’s offensive because the prohibited acts are not occurring. We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Gazans Flee Jabaliya as Israel’s Military Launches New Offensive

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      The northern town of Jabaliya had already come under fierce attacks from the Israeli military earlier in the war, killing many civilians and demolishing large parts of the suburb. So, as Israeli ground forces moved to other parts of the Gaza Strip and military strikes focused elsewhere, residents thought they had experienced their worst days.But last week, the Israeli military dropped leaflets again over Jabaliya, where tens of thousands of people are living, ordering them to leave as it prepared to launch a renewed offensive.“When the Israelis dropped the leaflets, people were terrified, especially given what they experienced previously,” said Iman Abu Jalhum, 23, who graduated from medical school two months before the war began and has been volunteering in hospitals treating the wounded. “We thought given that we have already been attacked that we were safe; the Israelis have already been here.”Soon after the leaflets dropped, so too did the bombs, she said. Ms. Abu Jalhum, her 16-year-old sister and her parents fled their home under bombardment. She only had time to throw a few items of clothing into a bag and put on her prayer shawl.Her father, who has back issues, struggled to walk along the road. Eventually, they found a donkey cart to take him the rest of the way, a few miles south.Israel said it had renewed the offensive in Jabaliya on May 11 because Hamas was trying to reassemble its infrastructure and operatives in the area. Hamas accused Israel of “escalating its aggression against civilians all across Gaza” and vowed to continue fighting. We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Israel’s Wartime Government Frays as Frustration with Netanyahu Grows

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      Benny Gantz, a centrist member of leadership, presented the prime minister with an ultimatum that demanded a plan for the future of Israel’s war.Benny Gantz, a centrist member of Israel’s war cabinet, presented Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an ultimatum on Saturday, saying he would leave the government if it did not soon develop a plan for the future of the war in Gaza.While Mr. Gantz’s departure would not topple the country’s emergency wartime government, the move would further strain a fragile coalition that has provided Mr. Netanyahu’s far-right government with a boost of international legitimacy, and it would make the prime minister even more reliant on his hard-line partners.“If you choose the path of zealots, dragging the country into the abyss, we will be forced to leave the government,” Mr. Gantz said in a televised news conference. “We will turn to the people and build a government that will earn the people’s trust.”Mr. Gantz, who leads the National Unity party, said he would give Mr. Netanyahu until June 8 — three weeks’ time — to develop a plan that would aim to secure the release of hostages taken to Gaza by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, address the future governance of the territory, return displaced Israelis to their homes and advance normalization with Saudi Arabia, among other issues.Mr. Gantz’s ultimatum was the latest sign of pressure building on Mr. Netanyahu to develop a postwar plan. The prime minister is increasingly being squeezed — externally from Israel’s closest ally, the United States, and from within his own War Cabinet — to clarify a strategy for Gaza. Just days earlier, Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister, said the government was charting “a dangerous course” and demanded that Mr. Netanyahu immediately pledge not to establish an Israeli military government in Gaza.In a response to Mr. Gantz’s ultimatum, Mr. Netanyahu accused the former military chief of staff and a longtime political rival of calling for “Israeli defeat” by effectively allowing Hamas to remain in power.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More