Latest news with #migration
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
How Saudi Arabia's quails became both a delicacy and a conservation priority
JEDDAH: At dawn over the Arabian Peninsula, the sky comes alive with birds tracing ancient migratory paths through Saudi Arabia — a natural crossroads linking East Asia, Europe and Africa. They are more than mere travelers. They serve as sensitive indicators of ecosystem health, playing vital roles in seed dispersal, plant pollination and insect control — all essential for maintaining ecological balance. Among the many species passing through is the small but mighty quail. Though modest in size, quails carry outsized environmental and cultural significance, deeply woven into the region's heritage. 'Quail' is a general term referring to various genera of small, ground-dwelling birds in the order Galliformes — the same group that includes chickens, leading Saudi ornithologist and biodiversity expert Hany Tatwany told Arab News. Globally, quails are classified into two groups: Old World quails and New World quails, with around 130 species found across Europe, Asia and Africa. 'Quails are similar in size to doves, and their rounded shape resembles that of a partridge,' said Tatwany. 'They typically live in social groups called coveys, especially outside the breeding season.' These coveys often include a breeding pair and their young, sometimes merging with other families during key times of the year. 'This behavior reflects their gregarious nature and cooperative instincts,' Tatwany added. Quails are omnivores, feeding on grains, plant buds and insects. They breed in Europe and Central Asia before migrating south to Africa for the winter. Saudi Arabia serves as a critical stopover on both legs: 'They cross the Kingdom on both journeys,' said Tatwany. Upon arrival, quails settle in fields and wild areas with dense grass cover, where they hide during the day and continue migrating by night. Saudi Arabia's geography places it on one of the world's most critical bird migration routes. The Kingdom acts as a seasonal refuge for hundreds of species, with 550 recorded to date — including 219 breeding birds, 280 migratory species, and 51 vagrants. Of these, 27 are listed as globally threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. Thirteen bird species — including various quails — are found nowhere else other than in or near the Arabian Peninsula, further underlining the region's biodiversity. Tatwany, widely recognized as Saudi Arabia's first wildlife veterinarian, with over 36 years of experience, highlighted how quails call and crow nonstop while hiding, 'indicating their presence in the area' to other birds. 'They do not flush except when approached very closely,' he said. 'If alerted, the rapid flapping of their wings produces a distinctive sound. They usually flee a short distance and stay in the area, especially if the grass is dense and thick.' Unfortunately, these traits have made quails vulnerable to hunters. Along migration routes, they are often targeted using firearms, nets and devices that mimic quail calls to lure them into traps. Rising threats have prompted Saudi Arabia to introduce laws to protect both quail species. 'In the Kingdom, hunting quail is illegal,' said Tatwany. The fine for failing to comply is SR1,500 ($400) per bird, while the estimated compensation value is SR3,000 for the common quail and SR7,000 for the harlequin quail. 'In Saudi Arabia, two species of quails have been recognized: the common quail, known scientifically as Coturnix coturnix, and the harlequin quail, Coturnix delegorguei,' said Tatwany, who co-founded the Kingdom's ungulate breeding program and has led major wildlife reintroduction efforts. The common quail measures 16-18 centimeters in length, with a wingspan of 32-35 centimeters and a weight of 70-155 grams. It is both a migrant and partial breeder in Saudi Arabia. 'This species occurs throughout the Kingdom during migration seasons in March-April and September-October,' said Tatwany. 'It also overwinters in some areas and breeds in patches, particularly in the central regions. The best place to see the common quail is in Haradh.' The harlequin quail, slightly larger at 16-19 cm and weighing 49-95 grams, is a resident breeder. 'It is best observed in the southern Tihamah grasslands and in Sabya in the Jizan Area,' said Tatwany. Quails nest on the ground in shallow scrapes lined with grass and leaves. The male defends the territory while the female builds the nest and cares for the eggs and chicks. A female typically lays between eight and 13 eggs, which hatch after 17 to 20 days. The chicks leave the nest shortly after hatching and begin flying about 19 days later. Known for being extremely cautious, quails are more often heard than seen. The male frequently produces a rhythmic series of calls that repeat every few seconds. Quails have a long history of interaction with humans, especially as a food source. Today, they are farmed domestically. Quails live in 'coveys,' social groups of adult pairs and their young that flock together in dense grasslands. They respond to each other's calls, a behavior exploited by illegal hunters using calling devices. Commercial quail farming began in Saudi Arabia in the 1980s, initially to feed falcons and later as a culinary delicacy. While several species have been domesticated worldwide, the common quail remains the primary type used in farming. Due to their size and high egg yield, Coturnix quails are highly valued in poultry production. 'This breed has more meat and lays more eggs than the others,' said Tatwany. 'The poultry industry in the Kingdom started around the late 1970s to early 1980s, mainly as feed for falcons used in falconry, serving as a preferred substitute for pigeons. 'This also marked the beginning of quail meat and eggs becoming available in commercial outlets within the Kingdom for human consumption. Additionally, quail recipes have become increasingly popular in Saudi cuisine.' Quail eggs, in particular, have gained favor in Saudi kitchens. Their small size, delicate flavor and high nutritional value make them a staple ingredient in both traditional and modern dishes. They appear in appetizers and salads, adding both taste and nourishment. In main courses like kabsa and mandi, quail eggs often top rice and meat dishes, lending color and flavor. They are also featured in dishes such as masabeeb and qursan and are popular as boiled or fried snacks. Nutritionally, quail eggs are rich in protein, vitamins A, B and D, and essential minerals such as iron and phosphorus — making them a small but powerful addition to the Saudi table. Efforts to protect quails are part of a broader initiative led by the Saudi National Center for Wildlife. Its Bird Management Division surveys bird species and their distribution across the Kingdom, focusing on protected and proposed conservation areas, biodiversity hotspots, and wetlands. By studying migration routes, species abundance, and spatial distribution, the division aims to ensure the long-term sustainability of Saudi Arabia's avian biodiversity.
Times
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Times
Labour upset over Starmer's ‘island of strangers' speech regret
Sir Keir Starmer is facing fresh criticism from ministers after saying he 'deeply regrets' warning that Britain risked becoming an 'island of strangers' without tough curbs on migration. The prime minister was criticised for the speech in May in which he appeared to echo Enoch Powell's infamous 'rivers of blood' speech in 1968. Powell claimed Britain's white population would be 'strangers in their own country'. After the speech, the prime minister's official spokesman said he 'absolutely stands by' the language, which included a warning that mass immigration had done 'incalculable damage' to the economy. • Echoes of Enoch Powell drown out Labour's migrant message A succession of ministers defended the prime minister's choice of language in the days after the speech. However, in an interview with his biographer Tom Baldwin in The Observer, Starmer said he regretted the speech. He said: 'I wouldn't have used those words if I had known they were, or even would be, interpreted as an echo of Powell. I had no idea — and my speechwriters didn't know either. But that particular phrase — no, it wasn't right. I'll give you the honest truth: I deeply regret using it.' • How vampire bats explain Keir Starmer's 'strangers' A minister said: 'I don't understand why he's apologising now after we all went out of our way to defend him at the time. It doesn't make any sense. Why is he doing it?' Starmer also conceded there were 'problems with his language' after he said that record numbers of migrants entering Britain under the last government had done 'incalculable damage'. • Immigration to UK 'will fall by 100,000 a year' under new rules In his speech in May, Starmer said: 'Let me put it this way. Nations depend on rules, fair rules. Sometimes they are written down, often they are not. But either way, they give shape to our values, guide us towards our rights, of course, but also our responsibilities, the obligations we owe to each other. In a diverse nation like ours … we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.' The comments were criticised at the time by Labour MPs. Sarah Owen, chair of the women and equalities committee, who is of Malaysian-Chinese heritage, said: 'Chasing the tail of the right risks taking our country down a dark path. The best way to avoid becoming an 'island of strangers' is investing in communities to thrive, not pitting people against each other.' Nadia Whittome, another Labour MP, said the rhetoric was 'shameful and dangerous'. She said: 'To suggest Britain risks becoming 'an island of strangers' because of immigration mimics the scaremongering of the far right.'
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Germany urgently needs to attract migrant workers – it just doesn't want them to feel welcome
Friedrich Merz's government has sent a clear message to anyone thinking about coming to live in Germany: don't. Yet its message to those who want to come to Germany to work is: we need you. This might sound like a contradiction, but it is a revival of the thinking that drove the 'guest worker' programme of the postwar boom years. Between 1955 and 1973, West Germany sought to rebuild its economy by attracting labour, mainly from Turkey but also from Italy, Portugal and Yugoslavia. Yet it did so without giving much consideration to the human needs of the people coming. Repeating that experiment, and the social tensions it created, at this moment would be even worse. The Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle) fuelled record growth and labour shortages. Now, Germany's economy is in recession, but it desperately needs people to fulfil basic public services. Above all, it needs them to help finance its mounting pensions bill. Given that Germany has also become ground zero for Europe's heightened sensitivity around immigration after the backlash that followed Angela Merkel's open-door policy towards Syrian refugees a decade ago, it's worth paying attention to how Berlin navigates the issue. So far, Merz is providing a masterclass in what not to do. On the one hand, the conservative chancellor is fuelling rightwing narratives that suggest migration is a threat to the country. On the other, he speaks as the voice of German business and pleads for more foreign workers. 'We need skilled immigrants as drivers of progress,' Merz said this month, at a ceremony to honour the contributions of Özlem Türeci and Uğur Şahin – the Turkish immigrants behind Covid vaccine pioneer BioNTech. He added that anti-immigration 'ideologies' were a threat not just to Germany's prosperity 'but even worse, their narrow-mindedness threatens the future of our liberal order'. But his government has sent exactly the kind of signal he claims to decry. Germany has continued with a new policy of rejecting asylum seekers at its borders, despite a court order calling it unlawful and a violation of EU law. The border rejections standoff comes despite a dramatic decline in refugees – up to April 2025, the figures were down by nearly half from the previous year. Another leg of Merz's anti-migration strategy is to put an end to 'turbo naturalisation', which allows newcomers the opportunity to apply for a German passport after as little as three years in select cases. The official justification is that ending fast-track citizenship will eliminate a 'pull factor' and reduce illegal migration. But obtaining citizenship and skirting migration rules have nothing to do with one another. Crossing the border as an irregular migrant can be an act of desperation, and at times opportunism. Getting a German passport requires legal residency at the very least, but also involves various hurdles and a significant amount of paperwork. The fast-track procedure is even more discretionary and reserved for people that exhibit 'exceptional integration efforts', such as speaking German at an advanced level, consistently paying taxes and taking part in the community, for example by volunteering at local charities or sports clubs. Eliminating that route, which only opened in June 2024, will have very little impact. Last year – when a rush to take advantage of the new process might have been expected – only about 7% of people receiving German citizenship had an accelerated application, according to federal statistics agency Destatis. But Merz's moves reinforce the narrative that Germany is being overwhelmed by newcomers. The approach bolsters the far-right AfD – a close second in the polls – which has called for the deportation of thousands of people, including some with migrant backgrounds who hold German citizenship. Controlling entry is legitimate, but such grandstanding policies fuel xenophobic sentiment and don't allay the worries of anxious citizens. Also, the political dividends are limited. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion While the fevered discussion around migration has kept it as the top issue for Germans, only 38% of people ranked it as one of their three main concerns, which is four percentage points lower than in April, according to an Ipsos survey. Economic concerns such as inflation and poverty/inequality are the other top concerns. The harder-to-face reality is that Germany could use all the help it can get. With older Germans heading into retirement by the millions over the coming decade, the country must welcome a net 400,000 newcomers each year to keep things balanced and shoulder the rising cost of pensions. But this isn't the postwar era, where Germany can sign agreements with poorer countries and expect thousands to arrive. There's global competition for qualified workers, and Germany is at a disadvantage because of its language and its reputation for being unwelcoming. That's a legacy from the mismanaged Gastarbeiter (guest worker) programme, when Germany had neither a plan for how to integrate the people it lured for work, nor the desire to do so. It also reflects a national identity left narrow and underdeveloped due to its Nazi past. The former footballer Mesut Özil, born in 1988 to a Turkish guest-worker family in Germany's Ruhr Valley, never felt fully accepted. Though he played a starring role in Germany's 2014 World Cup win, he said: 'When we win, I'm German; when we lose, I'm a foreigner.' His story shows how acceptance is out of reach for many. And it's not isolated. According to a recent study by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, between 2015 and 2022, 12 million people migrated to Germany. The study also said that, in the same period, more than 7 million migrants left again. The main reasons were difficulties feeling part of German society. The next blow could be looming. According to a study by Germany's Institute for Employment Research, a quarter of migrants in the country – around 2.6 million people – are considering packing up and leaving. Germany's self-imposed isolation will lead to a slow erosion of the labour force unless it is urgently addressed. Revising the narrative around migration to recast it as part of the solution would be a good starting point. But the political class hardly looks ready. As Markus Söder, the conservative premier of Bavaria, recently told the rightwing media outlet NiUS: 'Of course we need immigration– unfortunately.' Chris Reiter and Will Wilkes are the co-authors of Broken Republik: The Inside Story of Germany's Descent Into Crisis. Both cover Germany from Berlin and Frankfurt, respectively, for Bloomberg News Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
BreakingNews.ie
9 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Commuter traffic stops for whales on Australia's humpback highway
The ferry was late, but not because of the usual traffic. Sydney commuters watched from an idling boat this month as humpback whales the size of buses surfaced nearby, halting the vessel's passage across the harbour. Advertisement The curious mammals seemed to be watching them back. In June and July, it is not uncommon for whales to stop water traffic in Sydney. Winter heralds the opening of the so-called humpback highway, a migratory corridor along Australia's east coast used by about 40,000 of the massive creatures as they travel from feeding grounds in freezing Antarctica to tropical breeding areas off Queensland state. People watch a whale swim past at Boat Harbour north of Sydney (Mark Baker/AP) 'It's blubber to blubber,' said Vanessa Pirotta, a wildlife scientist at Macquarie University in Sydney and author of the book Humpback Highway. Advertisement During peak traffic periods the bustling coastal city of 5.5 million people becomes one of the world's few urban centres where you might see a breaching whale on your morning walk, while buying a coffee, or waiting at a bus stop – any place you can see the sea. The reason humpbacks on the highway are so visible is because of their size – adults can be 52ft to 56ft long and weigh 40 tonnes – and their proximity to people. On their 6,000 mile journey from icy to balmy waters, one of the world's longest mammal migrations, the creatures stay close to shore. 'They are incredibly curious,' said Ms Pirotta. 'There's been times where there's been whales in the harbour this year where they've literally halted traffic.' Advertisement The migratory route is known as the humpback highway (Mark Baker/AP) Australians get so close to the creatures that some have attracted fans. Among them are Migaloo, an all-white humpback whose sightings spanned 1991 to 2020, and Blade Runner, named for her tussle with a boat propeller that created her long, distinctive scars. Some keen whale watchers seek a closer look. On a recent morning, Ben Armstrong, a veteran skipper of a whale-watching boat in Port Stephens, a scenic harbour north of Sydney, slowed the engine as two humpbacks breached nearby. He encouraged passengers to put down their phones and enjoy the spectacle. Advertisement Mr Armstrong keeps his tourist boat at distances mandated by Australia's state laws, but inquisitive whales often go off-script. Once, the skipper let his boat drift for an hour while four or five humpbacks treated the vessel 'like a bath toy', playfully preventing it from moving forward or back. Two humpback whales breach off the coast of Port Stephens (Mark Baker/AP) Vincent Kelly, who travelled from Geelong, Victoria, to witness the migration was a recent passenger. Over two hours, he watched half a dozen humpbacks perform breath-taking aerial manoeuvres. 'It was unbelievable to me,' Mr Kelly said. 'I didn't expect to actually see a whale. But they were everywhere.' Advertisement The humpback gridlock marks a sharp reversal of fortune for the whales. They were once hunted for meat and oil, and numbers dwindled to a few hundred before humpbacks became a protected species in the southern hemisphere in 1963. The humpback boom to about 40,000 since has brought the creatures into more frequent contact with people than before. The population is still growing steadily, amplifying concerns about how humans and giants of the sea can safely share the coastline. But it also puts millions of Australians a short walk and a little luck away from encountering one of the largest mammals on the planet.
Arab News
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
German lawmakers vote to suspend family reunions for many migrants
BERLIN: German lawmakers voted Friday to suspend family reunions for many migrants, part of a drive by the new conservative-led government for a tougher approach to migration. Parliament's lower house voted 444-135 to suspend the possibility of family reunions for two years for migrants who have 'subsidiary protection,' a status that falls short of asylum. At the end of March, more than 388,000 people living in Germany had the status, which was granted to many people fleeing Syria's civil war. New Chancellor Friedrich Merz made tougher migration policy a central plank of his campaign for Germany's election in February. Just after he took office in early May, the government stationed more police at the border and said some asylum-seekers trying to enter Europe's biggest economy would be turned away. The bill approved Friday is the first legislation on migration since Merz took office. It will suspend rules dating to 2018 that allowed up to 1,000 close relatives per month to join the migrants granted limited protection, with authorities making case-by-case decisions on humanitarian grounds rather than granting an automatic right for reunions. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told lawmakers that the change would result in 12,000 fewer people being able to come to Germany each year and 'break a business model' for smugglers. People often know they won't get full recognition as refugees, 'but they set off for Germany because it is known that, even without asylum recognition ... you can have your family follow,' Dobrindt said. 'That is a significant pull effect and we are removing this pull effect today.' Dobrindt said 'our country's capacity for integration simply has a limit.' Liberal opposition lawmakers decried the government's approach. Marcel Emmerich, of the Greens, described the legislation as 'an attack on the core of every society, on a truly central value — the family.' 'Anyone who wants integration must bring families together,' he said. The far-right, anti-migration Alternative for Germany described the move as a very small step in the right direction. German governments have for years faced pressure to curb migration as shelters across the country filled up. The administration of Merz's predecessor, Olaf Scholz, already had taken some measures including the introduction of checks on all Germany's borders. Asylum applications declined from 329,120 in 2023 to 229,751 last year and have continued to fall this year.
