Headline

China Ends Quarantine For Overseas Travellers

Published

1 year ago

January 8, 2023

Editor

China lifted quarantine requirements for inbound travellers on Sunday, ending almost three years of self-imposed isolation even as the country battles a surge in COVID-19 cases.

The first people to arrive expressed relief at not having to undergo the gruelling quarantines that were a fixture of life in zero-Covid China.

And in Hong Kong, where the border with mainland China was re-opened after years of closure, more than 400,000 people were set to travel north in the coming eight weeks.

Beijing last month began a dramatic dismantling of a hardline zero-COVID strategy that had enforced mandatory quarantines and punishing lockdowns.

The policy had a huge impact on the world’s second-biggest economy and generated resentment throughout society that led to nationwide protests just before it was eased.

At Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport, a woman surnamed Pang told AFP Sunday she was thrilled with the ease of travel.

“I think it’s really good that the policy has changed now, it’s really humane,” she told AFP.

“It’s a necessary step I think. Covid has become normalised now and after this hurdle everything will be smooth,” she said.

Chinese people rushed to plan trips abroad after officials last month announced that quarantine would be dropped, sending inquiries on popular travel websites soaring.

But the expected surge in visitors has led more than a dozen countries to impose mandatory Covid tests on travellers from the world’s most populous nation as it battles its worst-ever outbreak.

China has called travel curbs imposed by other countries “unacceptable”, despite it continuing to largely block foreign tourists and international students from travelling to the country.

China’s Covid outbreak is forecast to worsen as it enters the Lunar New Year holiday this month, during which millions are expected to travel from hard-hit megacities to the countryside to visit vulnerable older relatives.

And Beijing has moved to curb criticism of its chaotic path out of zero-Covid, with its Twitter-like Weibo service saying it had recently banned 1,120 accounts for “offences against experts and scholars”.

– ‘We just walked out’ –
At Beijing airport Sunday, barriers that once kept international and domestic arrivals apart were gone, as were the “big whites” – staff in hazmat suits long a fixture of life in zero-Covid China.

One woman, there to greet a friend arriving from Hong Kong, said the first thing they’d do was grab a meal.

“It’s so great, we haven’t seen each other in so long,” Wu, 20, told AFP.

“They are studying over there, and we can meet each other directly in Beijing… It’s been a year,” she added.

At Shanghai airport, one man surnamed Yang who was arriving from the United States said he had not been aware that the rules had changed.

“I had no idea,” he told AFP.

“I’d consider myself extremely lucky if I only need to do quarantine for two days, turned out I don’t have to do quarantine at all, and no paperwork, we just walked out like that, exactly like in the past,” he added.

“I’m quite happy not needing to be in quarantine,” another woman being picked up by her boyfriend who declined to give her name told AFP.

“Who wants to be in quarantine? Nobody.”

– Hong Kong opens –
In China’s southern semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong, visitors streamed across the border as travel restrictions with the Chinese mainland were eased.

Hong Kong’s recession-hit economy is desperate to reconnect with its biggest source of growth, and families are looking forward to reunions over the Lunar New Year.

Official data showed some 410,000 people in Hong Kong planned to travel north in the next two month, while some 7,000 people in the mainland planned to travel south on Sunday.

At the Lok Ma Chau checkpoint near Shenzhen, a postgraduate student from mainland China surnamed Zeng told AFP they were happy to cross with no more restrictions.

“I am happy as long as I don’t have to be quarantined — it was so unbearable,” Zeng told AFP.

AFP

Headline

Netherlands Leads Air Defence Missiles Supply Effort To Ukraine

Published

12 hours ago

May 28, 2024

Editor

The Dutch Government, has said it would lead an initiative among some European countries to supply a Patriot air defence missile system to Ukraine.

“Ukraine, of course, is still under attack. Airstrikes continue,’’ said Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren in Brussels on Tuesday.

“Patriot systems are scarce in Europe and NATO, but we are now taking a step forward, so we will supply components of Patriot systems,’’ she said.

A statement released from the Dutch Ministry of Defence said the Netherlands has identified which countries could offer additional Patriot parts and munitions.

This is in order to deliver a complete system to Ukraine.

It did not mention which countries were involved.

Jens Stoltenberg, secretary-general of the NATO military alliance, said air defence is the “most urgent need’’.

He said EU countries are “stepping up the delivery of ammunition, air defence systems, and in particular, the most advanced ones, the Patriot systems.’’

NAN

Headline

Canada Pledges Temporary Visas For 5,000 Palestinians In war-torn Gaza

Published

13 hours ago

May 28, 2024

Editor

Canada has announced to grant temporary visas to 5,000 Palestinian residents living in the war-torn Gaza under a special programme.

The Canadian Immigration Minister, Marc Miller made the announcement on Monday stressing that the special visa scheme is for Palestinians who have relatives in Canada.

According to The Times of Israel, the programme is a preparatory move in case they are able to leave in the future.

That figure is an increase from the 1,000 temporary resident visas allotted under a special programme for Gaza announced in December, the Canadian immigration ministry said in a statement, adding that many people had expressed interest.

“While movement out of Gaza is not currently possible, the situation may change at any time. With this cap increase, we will be ready to help more people as the situation evolves,” Miller said.

The minister had previously said that leaving Gaza is extremely difficult and dependent on approval from Israel.

Miller also disclosed that Canada has been sharing the names of Gaza residents who have passed preliminary screening to local authorities to secure their exit, adding that Israel and Egypt are important to the program’s efforts toward reuniting families in Canada.

There was no immediate comment from Israel or Egypt regarding Canada’s announcement.

A spokesperson for Miller said 448 Gazans had been issued a temporary visa, including 254 under a public policy, and that 41 have arrived in Canada so far.

The temporary visas are valid for three years after entering the country, according to the Canadian government website.

The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages, mostly civilians, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

Vowing to destroy Hamas’s military and governance capabilities in Gaza and bring the hostages home, Israel launched a wide-scale operation in the Strip which is ongoing, including a full scale offensive in Rafah which world leaders have condemned.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said more than 35,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though only some 24,000 fatalities have been identified at hospitals.

The tolls, which cannot be verified, include some 15,000 terror operatives Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

An estimated 1.7 million people, more than 75% of Gaza’s population, have been displaced, according to the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, The Times of Israel reports.

A total of 288 IDF soldiers have been killed during the ground offensive against Hamas and during operations along the Gaza border, as well as a civilian Defense Ministry contractor.

Headline

Man Dies After Deportation From UK, Family Blames Home Office

Published

16 hours ago

May 28, 2024

Editor

The UK Home Office has been faulted for the death of a Sri Lankan man identified as Sudharsan Ithayachandran after he was deported to his home country.

The 41-year-old, who admitted to the use of false documents and working illegally at a British multinational retailer -Tesco, was sent packing from the UK on December 24, 2019, leaving behind his deaf wife, Subatra; and his two children, aged eight and nine.

According to the UK Guardian on Monday, all three are British citizens. The said date of deportation, however, marked his wedding anniversary.

Ithayachandran was a member of the Tamil heritage in Sri Lanka.

The report noted that during an immigration tribunal ruling in November 2023, Judge Bonavero had accepted Ithayachandran’s appeal, noting that he was allowed by right to live with his family in the UK.

However, the Home Office was accused of delaying the process of issuing a return visa to the deceased for several months, causing him to live in perilous conditions, according to a report by the International Justice and Truth project, titled, “Disappearance, torture and sexual violence of Tamils 2015 – 2022.”

Before his death, a legal counsel from MTC Solicitors, Naga Kandiah began judicial review proceedings against the Home Office about the delay in return visa issuance.

However, on May 19, 2024, Ithayachandran was found collapsed at his accommodation in Sri Lanka and died after being taken to the hospital. His cause of death is thought to be sepsis, although no medical record of such was sighted by PUNCH Online in this report.

The family blamed the Home Office, saying Ithayachandran was left in deep depression at home, owing to his separation from his children, adding that he was not eating or looking after himself properly.

His mother-in-law, Yasadora Nagendra, 60, described him as “the pillar of the family.”

She said, “I don’t know how the family is ever going to get over this. When he was here, he looked after everybody. He was such a kind and supportive man. Nobody can replace him. I believe that if the Home Office had not deported him he would still be alive today. We blame them for his death.

“He was treated in a very unfair way by the Home Office. He was so depressed that even after he won his case last November, the Home Office delayed making arrangements for his return to the UK. He couldn’t understand why he still had to wait to come back to his family. “

Kandiah stated that “the tribunal accepted our client had a genuine and subsisting relationship with his children and to live without them would be ‘unduly harsh’. He had spent years battling with the Home Office to simply rejoin his family. He finally won his case but died before he could do this.”

On his part, Lou Calvey, the director of a charity organisation, Asylum Matters, noted, “Serious questions must be answered about this heartbreaking case. Why was Sudharsan deported when he had such clear rights to remain here? Why did the Home Office delay implementing the court ruling reversing the deportation, and why did he have to die alone without his family?”

An unnamed spokesperson from the Home Office said that “all deportation orders are considered on a case-by-case basis, based on the evidence provided.

“Once an appeal has been allowed against the refusal to revoke a deportation order, the responsibility of applying for entry clearance to the UK lies with the individual and their representatives.”

On May 21, 2024, a disabled Nigerian man, Anthony Olubunmi George, who had resided in the UK for 38 years, faced the prospect of being forcibly removed from the country by the Home Office.

In 2019, he experienced two strokes that had a significant impact on his ability to speak and move.

On May 21, 2024, a disabled Nigerian man, Anthony Olubunmi George, who had resided in the UK for 38 years, faced the prospect of being forcibly removed from the country by the Home Office.

In 2019, he experienced two strokes that had a significant impact on his ability to speak and move.