Venezuelans deported from US demand return of their children
"I was four to five months waiting for deportation with her, but it didn't happen," the 26-year-old mother said.
At the protest, a woman read out a letter, later handed over to the UN office in Caracas, asking for "urgent action in favor of the return" of children separated from their parents.
Protesters carried white balloons, photos of the young children and signs saying "SOS, USA, release our children."
On June 30, the Venezuelan government denounced the "kidnapping" of 18 children under the age of 12.
But the number of children stranded in the United States has increased since then.
Protesters at the march also called for the return of 252 Venezuelans deported on March 15 to El Salvador by US President Donald Trump, as part of his crackdown on undocumented people alleged to be violent criminals.
"Trump, we ask you from our hearts, return our sons, they are Venezuelans," said Maria Venegas, a relative of one of the Venezuelan deportees being held at El Salvador's maximum security CECOT prison.
Official figures show that between February and the first week of July, some 7,000 people -- about 1,000 of them children -- have been repatriated to Venezuela from the United States and Mexico.
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France 24
3 hours ago
- France 24
‘Sami rights are at risk': Reindeer herders, environmentalists oppose mine in Norway's Arctic
On July 30, protesters arrived at a mine construction site in northern Norway that they had been blocking for six weeks, only to be met by a grim message: a reindeer skull, painted orange, hanging over the entrance. Environmentalists and Sami reindeer herders are protesting the development of the Nussir copper mine in the Repparfjord, in the country's far north, well above the Arctic Circle. The Sami people, who live in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, are the only recognised Indigenous people in Europe. The sight was "very disturbing", said Beaska Niillas, a member of the Sami Parliament and the Norwegian Sami Association, who has been working on this case for 15 years and regularly attends the protests. 'It was basically a 'f**k you'. I consider it a hate crime.' Protesters chain themselves to machinery Plans to construct the Nussir copper mine have been a source of fierce debate since the Nussir ASA mining company was created in 2005. Proponents have been touting the project as a vital source of jobs and a key contributor to Norway's green transition. Because of its natural conductivity, copper is a critical mineral for manufacturing electric vehicles, batteries, wind turbines, solar panels, and power grids – and demand for it is projected to nearly double by 2035. But the project has faced persistent opposition from critics who warn of its effects on the environment and local communities. In 2021, the Hammerfest municipality – where the mine is located – approved Nussir's development plans. Shortly after, activists chained themselves to construction equipment in protest. 'We formalised a coalition between the Norwegian Sami Association and two environmental NGOs, Nature and Youth and Friends of the Earth. Nature and Youth is organising the protests. At the Norwegian Sami association, we work politically and try to influence the political path,' Niillas explains. Opponents also filed a complaint alleging errors in the municipality's handling of the case, prompting officials to halt all work until the matter could be fully reviewed. Europe's largest copper producer, Aarubis, then terminated a provisional agreement to buy copper from Nussir, arguing 'certain social aspects of the project needed to be given even greater consideration'. But a new wave of opposition emerged after Blue Moon Metals – the Canadian company that acquired the mine in 2024 – began initial construction on June 12, 2025. In response, Nature and Youth established a protest camp near the site, calling on the public to join them. Protesters chained themselves to the construction site again, leading Nussir to call for police intervention. Footage posted on social media shows officers removing the individuals from the site. The activists first enjoyed a brief victory when the municipality ordered Nussir to halt work due to a lack of a valid operating permit. But it ultimately gave the project the green light just two weeks later. As the work was scheduled to resume on July 28, activists then breached the construction site again, chaining themselves to heavy machinery and prompting a police response to clear the area. 'I'm very happy that people are stepping up. They are protecting the land with their bodies. This time, members of the reindeer herding districts sat down with them,' Niillas specified. On July 30, police reported that more than 20 people had been removed from the construction site. 'You need to get the consent of the Sami people' Opponents argue that even though the mine received a licence from Norway in 2019 and a green light from the municipality in 2021, the work is illegal. Niilllas told our team: 'In 2019, they got the authorisation from the government. But there were conditions in that permission, and those conditions are not fulfilled. You have to do consultations with the aim of getting the free, prior and informed consent of Sami people. They have not consulted the Sami Parliament. They have never consulted the reindeer herding district. So they are very much working against the law. I'm really worried that Norway doesn't fulfil its obligations to regard indigenous peoples' rights. Norway tries to portray itself as some human rights paradise, but that's very far from the truth.' Late June, the Nussir director invited representatives from the Fiettar reindeer herding district to an informal conversation over coffee. 'We have made several attempts to make contact, which have not worked well. We take our share of responsibility for that, but now we are starting with a blank slate,' he told Norwegian media NRK. The FRANCE 24 Observers team reached out to Blue Moon Metals for comment but did not receive a response. Mine's waste to be dumped in fjord The project has been described as 'one of the most environmentally damaging industrial projects in Norwegian history' by Friends of the Earth Norway. A primary concern is the 2 million tons of annual mine tailings slated for dumping into the fjord, a protected area for salmon. (Tailings are the residue from a mine after the ore has been extracted.) Norway is one of the few countries in the world to allow marine mine-waste dumping. Nussi r claims it will use a technique designed to make tailings "fall to the bottom instead of mixing with the sea", a method it says will limit "the spread of fine particles". However, the Institute of Marine Research, Norway's leading marine research organisation, has repeatedly warned against the consequences of marine mine-waste dumping. Jan Helge Fosså, a marine biologist at the institution, warned back in 2013: 'The bottom ecosystem in significant parts of the Repparfjord will be put out of action. (...) It will take years, perhaps decades, before certain fauna return.' Niillas stressed that the local community would also feel the effects: 'Norway is a sea nation with fishery as a very important industry, and they are putting all that industry in the whole region in danger by allowing that pollution into the field.' Fear of impact on reindeer herding The Sami have also warned that the project would threaten reindeer husbandry, a practice central to their culture. While the mine argues that operations will primarily be underground, reindeer herders in the nearby Fiettár grazing district remain concerned. Niillas explained: 'Blasting will scare the reindeer away from the area. This is also calving land in the early spring. The female reindeer take the calves off in those mountains. They have done so since time immemorial. But with the underground blasting, they will avoid the area. I t will be much more difficult to have reindeer husbandry when the calves have no secure area to grow up. 'This is considered wilderness, but it's our backyard, our livelihood' Niillas says the mine project poses an additional threat at a time when the district is already under 'heavy pressure" from tourism and energy projects. 'This area is one of the most affected by infrastructure on the Norwegian side of Sapmi [Editor's note: the Sami word for their territory]. We already have to deal with power lines, cabin areas, and power lines to the gas facility in Hammerfest that is now supposed to be electrified with wind power. And wind power is also very bad for reindeer herders because it occupies so much land, and the reindeer can't use those areas either. It's a misconception that wind power, especially here in the north, is green. Even though it's considered green energy, nature is destroyed. We don't have empty areas without anyone using them. This is considered wilderness, but it's our backyard, it's our livelihood, our basis for culture." 'Green colonialism' The project stands as a symbol of a contradiction of a country often pictured as an environmental leader. Proponents have promoted the project as a crucial step toward the green transition. In 2019, when issuing the permit, Norway's Trade and Industry Ministry argued that the "green shift depends on increased exploring of new metals that could be utilised in new technologies". Moreover, Nussir has been presenting its project as the first truly all-electric zero-emissions mine in the world, arguing that all machines and processes will be powered by renewable energy. The project has also been designated by the European Commission as one of 13 "strategically important" projects outside the EU for the extraction of critical raw materials. (Norway is not a member of the EU.) The Commission wrote that copper from the Nussir mine would "come with considerably less emissions than comparable sources". But Niillas says the transition is not without its costs: 'When the so-called green transition started to be a thing in the world, they jumped on that train: 'We will have the greenest mine in the world. We need this copper for the green transition.' They're using that as an excuse to open this mine, but it's all about money and profit. Regarding electrical mining, it will have to be powered by electricity, and we are back in the same trouble with the issues caused by wind power. It's a new wave of colonialism, it is 'green colonialism'. It's important for us to explain to the world how problematic this kind of transition really is for Indigenous peoples.' The courts have sided with the Sami on similar complaints in the past. In 2021, following years of protest, the Supreme Court of Norway ruled that the expropriation and operating permits issued for the construction of wind turbines in Norway's Fosen region violated the Sami's rights to practise their culture of reindeer husbandry. 'They have to think twice and not make the same mistakes they have been doing for centuries' Norway has recently taken significant steps toward reconciliation with the Sami people. In November 2024, the country apologised for historical injustices committed against them as part of its century-long 'Norwegianisation' policy. But Niillas says they 'have to be accountable for their words': 'The authorities have promised that now they will have a true process in regard to Indigenous people's rights. When they don't do that, I think they have to think twice and not make the same mistakes they have been making for centuries. Empty promises won't solve anything. We just have to see if Norway's ready to do that or if they are still going forward with the same tr i cks they have been doing since they came to Sapmi since colonisation started.' In March 2025, a UN report wrote that 'adverse impacts of development projects on the Sami people were consistently highlighted' in discussions with the community, including a 'lack of comprehensive implementation of the right to free, prior and informed consent' and of their rights 'to lands, territories, and resources'. A 2025 Amnesty report also warned that Finland's, Sweden's, and Norway's current legislation 'lacked safeguards obligating decisionmakers to obtain free, prior and informed consent from Sami representative institutions before initiating land use projects, such as wind power and mining.'
Euronews
5 hours ago
- Euronews
Pakistan resumes expulsions of Afghan refugees despite UN concerns
Authorities in Pakistan have resumed the forced deportations of Afghan refugees after the federal government declined to extend a deadline for their stay, officials said on Monday. The decision affects approximately 1.4 million Afghans holding Proof of Registration (PoR) cards, whose legal status expired at the end of June. Many had hoped for a one-year extension to settle personal affairs, such as selling property or concluding business, before returning to Afghanistan. In addition to PoR card holders, around 800,000 Afghans hold Afghan Citizen Cards. Police say they also are living in the country illegally and being detained prior to deportations in the eastern Punjab, southwestern Balochistan and southern Sindh province. Monday's decision drew criticism from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN refugee agency. At least 1.2 million Afghan nationals have been forced to return from Iran and Pakistan this year, according to a June report published by UNHCR. Repatriations on such a massive scale have the potential to destabilise the fragile situation in Afghanistan, where the Taliban government came into power in 2021. A 31 July government notification confirmed Pakistan's decision to repatriate all Afghan nationals holding expired PoR cards. It states Afghans without valid passports and Pakistani visas are in the country illegally and must return to their homeland under local immigration laws. Police across Pakistan are detaining Afghans to transport them to border crossings, according to two government and security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly. They said there are no mass arrests and police were told to go to house-to-house and make random checks to detain foreigners living in the country illegally. "Yes, the Afghan refugees living in Pakistan illegally are being sent back in a dignified way," said Shakeel Khan, commissioner for Afghan refugees in north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The latest operation is the most significant step yet under orders from federal government in Islamabad, he said. Afghan national Rehmat Ullah, 35, said his family migrated to Pakistan's north-western Peshawar city decades ago and now is preparing to return home. "I have five children and my concern is that they will miss their education," he said. "I was born here, my children were born here and now we are going back." Millions have fled to Pakistan over the past four decades to escape war, political unrest and economic hardship in Afghanistan. The renewed deportation drive follows a nationwide crackdown launched in 2023 targeting foreigners living illegally in Pakistan. The Interior Ministry, which oversees the campaign, did not immediately comment. Qaiser Khan Afridi, a spokesperson for the UN refugee agency, expressed deep concern over the government's actions. "Sending people back in this manner is tantamount to refoulement and a breach of a state's international obligations," Afridi said in a statement, urging Pakistan to adopt a "humane approach to ensure voluntary, gradual, and dignified return of Afghans." "Such massive and hasty return could jeopardise the lives and freedom of Afghan refugees, while also risking instability not only in Afghanistan but across the region."
Euronews
7 hours ago
- Euronews
Tariffs: EU Commission to suspend retaliation by another six months
The European Commission will suspend on Tuesday a package of trade countermeasures targeting €93 billions' worth of American goods which was scheduled to take effect on 7 August, as it continues to negotiate a joint statement formalising the agreement struck by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump on 27 July. 'The EU continues to work with the US to finalise a joint statement, as agreed on 27 July,' EU spokesperson Olof Gill said, adding: 'With these objectives in mind, the Commission will take the necessary steps to suspend by six months the EU's countermeasures against the US, which were due to enter into force on 7 August.' In line with the agreement reached, the US reduced its tariff rate to 15% last Thursday. Gill said the step gained the EU immediate tariff relief, 'a first important foundation is laid for restoring clarity to EU companies exporting to the US". The trade dispute is not over However the trade dispute between the EU and the US is not over, as both sides still need to negotiate certain points of the agreement that have led to differing interpretations. Furthermore, the US Executive Order of July 31 does not provide relief to the EU automotive industry as expected (it remains subject to 25% tariffs), nor does it exempt strategic sectors such as aircraft. As negotiations continue, the Commission should postpone through urgency procedure the retaliation package it adopted against the US tariffs. It consists in two lists of products that were worth respectively €21 billion and €72 billion and were merged on 24 July after EU member states adopted them, targeting US products such as soyabean, cars, aircraft and Bourbon Whiskey.
