Record 65.3 Million People Were Displaced Last Year: UNHCR
One in every 113 people on the planet is now a refugee.
06/20/2016 03:28 am ET


GENEVA (Reuters) - A record 65.3 million people were uprooted worldwide last year, many of them fleeing wars only to face walls, tougher laws and xenophobia as they reach borders, the United Nations refugee agency said on Monday.

The figure, which jumped from 59.5 million in 2014 and by 50 percent in five years, means that 1 in every 113 people on the planet is now a refugee, asylum-seeker or internally displaced in a home country.


Fighting in Syria, Afghanistan, Burundi and South Sudan has driven the latest exodus, bringing the total number of refugees to 21.3 million, half of them children, the UNHCR said in its “Global Trends” report marking World Refugee Day.

“The refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean and arriving on the shores of Europe, the message that they have carried is that if you don’t solve problems, problems will come to you,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told a news briefing.

“It’s painful that it has taken so long for people in the rich countries to understand that,” he said. “We need action, political action to stop conflicts, that would be the most important prevention of refugee flows.”

A record 2 million new asylum claims were lodged in industrialized countries in 2015, the report said. Nearly 100,000 were children unaccompanied or separated from their families, a three-fold rise on 2014 and a historic high.

Germany, where one in three applicants was Syrian, led with 441,900 claims, followed by the United States with 172,700, many of them fleeing gang and drug-related violence in Mexico and Central America.

Developing regions still host 86 percent of the world’s refugees, led by Turkey with 2.5 million Syrians, followed by Pakistan and Lebanon, the report said. "2015: 65.3m were displaced, compared to 59.5m just 12 months earlier"
“RISE OF XENOPHOBIA”

Asylum-seekers fleeing conflicts or persecution are increasingly confronted with walls or anti-foreigner sentiment, Grandi said. “The rise of xenophobia is unfortunately becoming a very defining feature of the environment in which we work.

“Barriers are rising everywhere - and I’m not just talking of walls. But I’m talking about legislative barriers that are coming up, including in countries in the industrialized world that have been for a long time bastions of principle in defending the fundamental rights linked to asylum.”

After Balkan countries closed borders, Turkey and the European Union (EU) struck a deal in March to stem an influx that brought a million refugees and migrants to Europe in 2015.

“The fact that that flow has stopped does not mean the problem of displacement has ended. It may have ended for some countries that don’t have to deal with it anymore, for now,” Grandi said.

Progress has lagged on a scheme to redistribute 160,000 asylum seekers from Greece and Italy to other EU states to alleviate pressure on the two frontline countries. Only 2,406 people have been relocated, EU figures show.

Grandi, asked about stalled relocation, said: “There is no Plan B for Europe. Europe will continue to receive people seeking asylum.”

“Everybody has to share responsibility now,” he said.

Response

Recently, United Nations refugee agency made a report that a record of 65.3 million people were displaced  worldwide last year. this significant number has esclated from 59.5 million in 2014 to 65.3 million this year. with this number, the article reports that 1 in every 113 people on the planet is now a refugee, asylum-seeker or internally displaced in a home country. The source behind why the number of migrants and refugees increased is due to conflicts that are going on in in Syria, Afghanistan, Burundi and South Sudan.  Due to these countries the total number of refugees from these countries count to 21.3 million, half of them children. In addition to the conflicts and wars that take place in there homelands, another struggle for the migrants and refugees face is the xenophobia, the fear of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange. in many countries such as, Greece, the US, and many others are hesitant to help foreigners. Overall, when it comes to my opinion of this article, I can clear see that the bias is against countries that are xenophobic. Furthermore, I also find myself agreeing to this article since it addresses the problem that if people don't solve the problem now, the problem with eventually turn up in front your door.


citation:

Nebehay, Stephanie. "Record 65.3 Million People Were Displaced Last Year: UNHCR." Huffington Post. N.p., 20 June 2016. Web. 20 June 2016.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/2015-refugee-crisis_us_57679939e4b0fbbc8beacef8?section=>

French policeman and partner killed in 'ISIL attack'

Assailant shot dead, as ISIL claims responsibility for knife attack at officer's home in Paris suburb.


An attacker has killed a French police commander and his partner at their home in a Paris suburb before being shot dead by police officers. The attack on Monday evening was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, which said the assailant was one of its fighters. French President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday that the killing was "unquestionably a terrorist act". The couple were "murdered in cowardly fashion by a terrorist," Hollande told reporters after the overnight attack at the couple's home northwest of Paris, adding: "France is facing a very significant terrorist threat." A French Interior Ministry spokesman said the attacker stabbed the officer, Jean-Baptiste Salvaing, outside the home and subsequently barricaded himself inside the building, taking the couple's three-year-old son hostage. Attempts to negotiate an end to the standoff failed and police forces raided the house in the Magnanville area, killing the suspect, named Larossi Abballa, according to the AFP news agency. The body of the officer's partner was found inside the house and the boy was rescued. "Negotiations were unsuccessful, a decision was made to launch an assault," Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said, according to the Reuters news agency. The Elysee presidential palace said President Francois Hollande was meeting Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas.
Previous conviction Abballa, who was 25-years-old, had previously been sentenced to a three-year term - six months of which were suspended - for "criminal association with the aim of preparing terrorist acts", in a trial with seven other defendants. The attacker was linked to armed groups in Pakistan, according to sources close the investigation, the AFP reported. If confirmed, the attack is the first since ISIL launched bomb and gun attacks across Paris in November last year, killing 130 people. The French government put into place a state of emergency after those attacks, and ISIL has vowed to continue its campaign in the country. France like many European countries is dealing with the threat of attacks by fighters from within its own borders returning home after fighting with ISIL and other armed groups in Syria and Iraq. In March, ISIL fighters killed 32 people in a series of bombings in the Belgian capital Brussels. The men behind the attack were linked to the Paris cell. The ongoing UEFA European Championship is being held in France and security forces have stepped up security across the country to combat the threat posed ISIL and other armed groups.

response 

quite recently French police commander and his wife was killed in Paris. The suspect, identified as 25-year-old Larossi Abbala was later shot dead by the police and hours later the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group, claimed the assailant was one of its fighters. In response, French President Francois Hollande claimed the murder of police commander and his wife was "unquestionably a terrorist act". and also stated that the couple were "murdered in cowardly fashion by a terrorist," and pointed out that France is facing a serious terrorist problem. Overall, when it comes to my opinion on this matter, I agree with Prsident Hollande that France is going through a troublesome time with terrorists and I would also say that the whole of Europe, not only France is facing this problem. Furthermore, these killings/statements Islamic State have been executing and plotting have been as constant issue that have been costing innocent lives and if i could come up with a solution to prevent these attacks i would probably rant about it however, i don't have a real legitimate solution so instead I would pray for God to do his will.

source
"Frenchman shot video of deadly knife attack on police." 14 June. 2016. Al jazeera. 6 June. 2016.
<http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/french-police-officer-wife-killed-knife-attack-isis-160614041405891.html>

US presses China to cut steel production

Washington envoys press Beijing to cut excess steel production that is flooding global markets.

US envoys pressed China on Monday to cut excess steel production that is flooding global markets and to reach a diplomatic settlement to territorial disputes in the South China Sea as the two sides opened a high-level dialogue. Washington is asking Beijing to move faster with plans to shrink a bloated steel industry that its trading partners complain is flooding their markets with unfairly cheap exports, hurting foreign producers and threatening jobs. The US has responded by imposing anti-dumping tariffs on steel, and European officials say they have launched a trade investigation. "Excess capacity has a distorting and damaging effect on global markets," US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said at the opening of the two-day event, "and implementing policies to substantially reduce production in a range of sectors suffering from overcapacity, including steel and aluminum, is critical to the function and stability of international markets." The annual Strategic & Economic Dialogue rarely produces agreements on major issues, but provides what officials on both sides say is a valuable setting to air disputes, clear up misunderstandings and share experiences. Beijing announced plans this year to slash the size of its state-owned steel and coal industries at a cost of millions of jobs. But plans for other bloated sectors, including aluminum, glass and solar panels, have yet to be announced. Speaking at the event's opening ceremony, Chinese President Xi Jinping promised action on reducing overcapacity but announced no new initiatives. "China will redouble efforts to promote supply-side structural reform," Xi said. The annual Strategic & Economic Dialogue rarely produces agreements on major issues, but provides what officials on both sides say is a valuable setting to air disputes, clear up misunderstandings and share experiences. This year's event is led by Secretary of State John Kerry and Lew on the US side, and Vice Premier Wang Yang and State Councilor Yang Jiechi on the Chinese side. Amid deepening US concern that China is militarising the South China Sea, Kerry said that he would "make it clear that we are looking for a peaceful resolution to the disputes". Beijing and neighbours including Vietnam and the Philippines have conflicting claims to portions of the sea and possible oil and gas resources. China's military is building outposts on man-made islands to enforce its claims. Beijing said over the weekend that it would ignore an upcoming international arbitration decision in a dispute with the Philippines. China also has conflicting claims with Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam and Brunei, who all want American help. Further complicating matters are reports that the Chinese may soon establish an air defence zone over part of the sea, which Washington opposes. "We have taken no position on any of the claims," Kerry said. "The only position we have taken is, let's not resolve this by unilateral action. Let's resolve this by rule of law, by negotiation, by diplomacy." Xi warned against allowing diplomatic tensions to disrupt mutually beneficial trade and other relations. He acknowledged that differences "are hardly unavoidable", but called on Washington to help manage them in a "pragmatic and constructive fashion". "What is important is to refrain from taking differences as excuses for confrontation," Xi said

response 

Yesterday the US envoys held talks with China concerning their production of steel. The worry is, with china's steel production would flood the markets, hurting foreign producers and threatening jobs. In response, the US have decided to impose anti-dumping tariffs on steel. In addition, the  European also have launched a trade investigation. Overall, this article writes the concerns of China's cheap product of steel and also writes that the complications that are happening in between China, Philippines, and other south Asian countries which might involve the US' help. when it comes to my personal opinion on this matter i believe there should be a some kind of limit that must be placed on China. Since the Chinese are getting bolder and bolder not only economically but also aggressive through territory expansion.  Furthermore, I believe the US should not be too involved when it comes to conflicts of the southeast Asia's conflict with China.


source
"US presses China to cut steel production." 6 June. 2016. aljazeera.com. 7 June. 2016.
<http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/presses-china-cut-steel-production-160606073701996.html>