Month: April 2024

The protests, which began last week at Columbia University with a large group of demonstrators establishing a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on school grounds, have spread to other campuses, including Yale, MIT and others.

Some Jewish students at Columbia have reported intimidation and anti-Semitism amid the days-long protest, which is calling for the prestigious New York institution to divest from companies with ties to Israel.

 

Classes were moved online on Monday, with university president Nemat Shafik calling for a “reset” in an open letter to the school community.

“Over the past days, there have been too many examples of intimidating and harassing behavior on our campus,” she said.

“Anti-Semitic language, like any other language that is used to hurt and frighten people, is unacceptable and appropriate action will be taken.

“To de-escalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps, I am announcing that all classes will be held virtually on Monday,” she added.

Last week, more than 100 protesters were arrested after university authorities called the police onto the private campus Thursday, a move that seemingly escalated tensions and sparked a greater turnout over the weekend.

Mimi Elias, a social work student who was arrested, told AFP on Monday: “We are going to stay until they talk to us and listen to our demands.

“We don’t want anti-Semitism or Islamophobia. We are here for the liberation of all,” Elias said.

Joseph Howley, an associate professor of classics at Columbia, said the university had reached for the “wrong tool” by involving police, which had attracted “more radical elements that are not part of our student protests”.

“You can’t discipline and punish your way out of prejudice and community disagreement,” Howley told AFP.

Disciplinary action

As the holiday of Passover began on Monday night, social media images appeared to show pro-Palestinian Jewish students holding traditional seder meals inside the protest areas on multiple campuses, including at Columbia.

Further downtown, police began detaining protesters who had set up their own encampment at New York University at around 8:30pm, the New York Times reported, after the school called the students’ behavior “disorderly, disruptive, and antagonising”.

There were also demonstrations at MIT, the University of Michigan and Yale, where at least 47 people had been arrested on Monday after refusing requests to disperse.

“The university made the decision to arrest those individuals who would not leave the plaza with the safety and security of the entire Yale community in mind,” the Ivy League university said in a statement.

At Harvard, university officials on Monday suspended the Palestinian Solidarity Committee, the student group said on Instagram.

They were ordered to “cease all organisational activities” for the rest of the term, or risk permanent expulsion after holding an unregistered demonstration last week, student newspaper the Harvard Crimson reported, citing an email to the group.

Universities have become the focus of intense cultural debate in the United States since Hamas’ October 7 attack and Israel’s overwhelming military response, as a humanitarian crisis grips the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

US President Joe Biden on Monday said he condemned “the anti-Semitic protests”.

“I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians,” he told reporters, without further details.

The world’s most populous country is constitutionally secular and its election code bans canvassing based on “communal feelings”.

Modi’s muscular Hindu-first politics is a key part of his electoral appeal and his opponents accuse him of marginalising India’s 200 million Muslim population.

The prime minister usually steers away from explicit references to religion — the word “Hindu” does not appear in his Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) 76-page election manifesto.

But at a weekend election rally in Rajasthan, Modi claimed a previous Congress government had said that “Muslims have the first right over the nation’s wealth”.

He said if Congress won “it will be distributed among those who have more children. It will be distributed to the infiltrators.

“Do you think your hard-earned money should be given to infiltrators? Would you accept this?”

 

Critics said the phrases were references to Muslims.

In its complaint to the Election Commission, the Congress party said the “divisive, objectionable and malicious” comments were targeted at “a particular religious community” and amounted to “blatant and direct violations of electoral laws”.

They were “far worse than any ever made by a sitting prime minister in the history of India”, the complaint said.

Congress party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters outside the Commission’s office: “We hope concrete action will be taken.”

Modi and the BJP are widely expected to coast to victory in India’s marathon elections, which began last Friday and with the results due on June 4.

Earlier this year, Modi presided over the inauguration of a grand temple to the deity Ram, built on the site of a centuries-old mosque razed by Hindu zealots. The BJP has frequently invoked the temple on the campaign trail.

BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia told reporters on Monday that Modi was calling “a spade a spade” and his remarks resonated with what people thought.

If passed, it would see the abolition of Scotland’s not proven verdict.

The Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill would also see the number of jurors in criminal trials reduced from 15 to 12, and could also see rape cases held without a jury.

Justice secretary Angela Constance has described the bill as “landmark and historic”.

It aims to make the Scotland’s justice system better for victims of crime, but it has proved controversial.

Why is the bill controversial?

The bill is still in the early stages of the legislative process and will be debated in Holyrood for the first time.

It has already been scrutinised by the Scottish parliament’s criminal justice committee, which had split opinions on certain parts.

Committee convener Audrey Nicoll MSP said they agreed with the bill’s general principles on the basis that it is designed to improve the system for victims and witnesses, but believe further evidence, data and scrutiny is required.

The committee stated it had not heard “compelling evidence” to support some of the proposals, in particular the changes to juries.

In response, Angela Constance acknowledged the legislation would have to be amended, but added that there was a “consensus” that the bill has the potential to change the experiences of victims and witnesses, particularly in cases involving sexual offences.”

The Scottish Solicitors Bar Association said 97% of defence lawyers would boycott the trial without jury pilot if it goes ahead, while Rape Crisis Scotland said it supported the move.

The Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill is a range of reforms to the Scottish justice system being considered by the Scottish Parliament.

The government says it aims to “improve the experience of victims and witnesses in the justice system”.

The bill also proposes changes to improve the fairness, clarity and transparency of the framework within which decisions in criminal cases are made.

Proposals include scrapping Scotland’s not proven verdict, smaller juries in criminal trials and stand-alone sexual offence courts.

A not proven verdict is one of three verdicts that can be returned in a criminal case in Scotland. It would be removed as an option, meaning defendants could only be found guilty or not guilty.

The verdict is not available in any other part of the UK and campaigners have long been calling for it to be scrapped.

The bill also proposes a change to jury sizes. Currently, 15 people sit on a Scottish jury with a simple of majority of eight required for a conviction.

The bill proposes a smaller jury of 12 with a two thirds majority required for a guilty verdict.

A new specialist sexual offences court would also be created and a pilot project would see rape and attempted rape cases being held without a jury, with a single judge deciding whether or not the accused is guilty.

The Scottish government has not provided a full timeline for the legislation process. After the bill is debated in parliament MSPs will decide whether to take it forward.

Amendments can then be suggested by members before another debate and final vote. That process could happen as soon as this year.

While the bill makes its way through parliament, the Scottish government has already started implementing measures to improve the experiences of witnesses.

Specialist suites to help children and vulnerable adults give evidence in serious criminal trials are being established following £2m of investment.

The Evidence by Commissioner (EBC) facilities allow vulnerable witnesses to give evidence away from the courtroom which can help reduce the risk of experiencing further trauma.

Angela Constance has announced plans for two new suites which will cover the north and south Strathclyde sheriffdoms, as well as Dumfries and Galloway.

It adds to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service’s (SCTS) four existing suites located in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness.

Analysis by Jenni Davidson, BBC Scotland political reporter

The Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill sets out some of the biggest changes to the criminal justice system in Scotland in recent times.

If all that’s proposed in the draft bill gets passed, it will be a major shake-up of the way court cases work in Scotland.

For some, that’s just what’s needed. For others, it’s too big a risk.

Victims’ groups point to the distress caused by the not proven verdict and low conviction rates for sexual offences. They say something needs to change.

Lawyers have made clear their total opposition to juryless trials. They have also raised concerns about changes to verdicts and juries and how that might affect conviction rates, either up or down.

The difficulty is in predicting not just what the effect of individual changes will be, but of how all these different changes might interact with each other.

Whatever is decided, it will take effect in live court cases, with real victims and real accused, and serious consequences for both, so the stakes are very high to get this right.

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday said Pakistan has dispatched its eighth tranche of humanitarian assistance for Gaza through sea.

The 400 tonnes of aid consists of “winterized tents, tarpaulins, blankets, medicines and food supplies”.

In a post on X, Dar said the shipment would be received by the Pakistani Ambassador to Egypt at Port Said and handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent for onward delivery to the people of Gaza.

“Pakistan remains committed to addressing the urgent humanitarian needs of our brothers and sisters in Gaza,” he said.

Since the conflict broke out in Palestine on October 7, 2023, Pakistan has continuously been raising voice against Israeli atrocities and dispatching aid time and again.

Pakistan on April 19 regretted the United States (US) decision to veto the draft resolution seeking Palestine’s full membership of the United Nations (UN), as well as expressed its disappointment on the UN Security Council’s inability to reach a consensus on the matter.

“Pakistan is deeply disappointed by the result of last night’s debate at the UNSC and its inability to reach a consensus and recommend Palestine’s membership to UN General Assembly,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch had said in her weekly press briefing.

“We regret the US decision to veto the draft resolution granting full membership of the UN to Palestine,” she had added.

The Security Council had blocked Palestine’s bid to become a full member of the UN due to a US veto on a widely-supported resolution that would have recommended the granting of such status.

The proposal, submitted to the 15-member Council by Algeria, received 12 votes in favour, with the US casting a negative vote and Switzerland and the United Kingdom (UK) abstaining.

The UNSC resolution had required at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes from its five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — to pass.

“We believe, the time has come for admission of Palestine to the UN. This will be a step towards correcting the historic injustice suffered by Palestinians for over 75 years. It will affirm their right to self-determination,” she had remarked.

The spokesperson had said that the people of Palestine had their inherent right to live in a sovereign Palestinian state with the pre-1967 borders and Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

To a question, she had said the upcoming summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Gambia would consider several proposals including those on Palestine, Jammu and Kashmir as well as Islamophobia.

The spokesperson had said that during the recent visit of a high-powered Saudi delegation to Islamabad, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud had also called for de-escalation, immediate ceasefire, and lifting of the siege in Gaza.

The stumbling block in the implementation of the ceasefire is the Israeli occupation authorities, she had added.

ISLAMABAD: In a major diplomatic development, Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi has arrived in Islamabad today on a three-day official visit to Pakistan.

This is the first visit of any foreign leader to Pakistan after the February 8 polls, which will also be watched closely by the United States amid the Iran-Israel tension. However, sources told Geo News that the visit has no relation with the ongoing hostility.

Following his arrival at the Prime Minister’s House to meet with PM Shehbaz Sharif, the Iranian president received a guard of honour from the smartly turned-out contingents of the armed forces.

The premier welcomed the high-profile guest as he arrived at the venue of the formal welcome ceremony after which the national anthems of both countries were played, as the Iranian president stood at the salute dais along with PM Shehbaz.

Later, both President Raisi and the premier introduced their respective delegations to each other before proceeding for the tete-a-tete and delegation-level talks.

During the visit, President Raisi will also meet President Asif Ali Zardari, Chairman Senate Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir.

He will also visit Lahore and Karachi and meet with the provincial leadership.

Meanwhile, speaking during a press conference in Tehran before his departure, President Raisi termed Pakistan a “brotherly Islamic country” and underscored historic relations with its government and people.

The president also highlighted that both Islamabad and Tehran have a common position on various global issues including anti-terrorism efforts as well as the violation of human rights in Palestine.

Commenting on his Islamabad trip, Raisi said his visit would see the two sides mulling over various issues including those relating to security, economy and trade.

The Iranian president, expressing the intention to increase bilateral trade to $10 billion, said that Islamabad could benefit from the Iranian market.

The Iranian president, according to Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, will be accompanied by his spouse and a high-level delegation, comprising the foreign minister and other members of the cabinet, senior officials and a large business delegation.

The two sides, during President Raisi’s visit, will have a wide-ranging agenda to further strengthen Pakistan-Iran ties and enhance cooperation in diverse fields, including trade, connectivity, energy, agriculture and people-to-people contacts.

Leaders from both sides will also discuss regional and global developments and bilateral cooperation to combat the common threat of terrorism.

The dignitary, upon his arrival at the Islamabad airport, was received by Federal Minister for Housing and Works Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada and Pakistan’s Ambassador to Iran Mudassir Tipu.

PM Shehbaz will hold delegation-level talks with Iran’s Raisi at the PM Office after which, the FO shared, a number of memorandum of understanding (MoUs) will be signed between the two sides.

The premier will also host a luncheon in honour of the visiting dignitary.

The FO added that President Zardari will meet his Iranian counterpart at Aiwan-e-Sadr and host a dinner in his honour.

In the second leg of his high-profile visit to Pakistan, Raisi will travel to Lahore where he will meet Governor Balighur Rehman and Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.

He is also scheduled to visit the mausoleum of Allama Iqbal.

Later, the Iranian leader will travel to Karachi where his meetings are scheduled with Governor Kamran Tessori and Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.

Raisi will also visit Quaid’s mausoleum in Karachi and pay his respects to the founder of Pakistan.

The foreign leader would stay in Karachi and return to Tehran on Wednesday.

The provincial authorities are on high alert due to the high-profile visit and public holiday has been declared in Karachi on April 23.

“I will fight it with all my strength,” the prime minister said on Sunday.

Earlier, the Axios news site said the US would target Israel’s Netzah Yehuda battalion over alleged human rights violations in the occupied West Bank.

The BBC understands any move would come under a US ban on aid to foreign units credibly implicated in violations.

When asked last week about reports that US military aid to the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) units could be cut over allegations of human rights abuses in the occupied West Bank, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “I’ve made determinations; you can expect to see them in the days ahead”.

Washington – Israel’s main ally – has never suspended aid to an IDF unit before.

The Israeli military said Netzah Yehuda was operating in accordance with international law.

“Following publications about sanctions against the battalion, the IDF is not aware of the issue,” the military is quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. “The IDF works and will continue to work to investigate any unusual event in a practical manner and according to law.”

Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called on the US to withdraw its intention to sanction Netzah Yehuda, saying the world was watching the ties between the US and Israel more closely than ever.

“Any attempt to criticise an entire unit casts a heavy shadow on the actions of the IDF,” a statement from Mr Gallant read, adding “this is not the right path for partners and friends”.

“If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit of the IDF, I will fight it,” Mr Netanyahu said

On Saturday, Axios cited three US sources with knowledge of the issue as saying that Mr Blinken was expected to announce measures against Netzah Yehuda within days.

It said the move would be over alleged abuses in the West Bank, including one incident in which a Palestinian-American man, 80-year-old Omar Assad, died after being bound and gagged by Israeli soldiers during a search in the West Bank in January 2022.

At the time the US called for a “thorough criminal investigation and full accountability” in the case.

The IDF later said it regretted Mr Assad’s death and that the Netzah Yehuda commander would be “reprimanded”over it. It added that two soldiers would barred from serving in senior positions for two years, but would not be prosecuted. It said Mr Assad’s death had been caused by a pre-existing medical condition.

Mr Assad’s family, many of whom are based in the US, condemned the decision to close the case.

All the alleged violations took place before the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Any decision to bar an IDF unit from US military assistance would be made under the “Leahy Law”, sponsored in 1997 by then-Senator Patrick Leahy. It prevents US funding or training being used for foreign military units credibly implicated in gross human rights violations.

Last year, a group of US officials known as the “Israel-Leahy vetting forum” looked into at least a dozen allegations made against Israeli units, including the Netzah Yehuda battalion, a former senior US official told the BBC.

“We believed that in most cases, these were un-remediated – in other words, the perpetrators had not been properly held to account,” said Josh Paul, former director of the state department’s Political-Military Affairs bureau, which oversees US arms transfers.

“When we tried to advance these recommendations to the secretary [of state] we were never able to get them through the political level,” he added.

Mr Paul resigned from his position in November in protest at what he saw as a lack of accountability over weapons transfers to Israel. Asked whether the recommendations he mentioned had since reached Mr Blinken’s desk, he cited the recent media reports suggesting they had.

Formed in 1999, Netzah Yehuda is a special men-only unit where ultra-Orthodox Jews serve.

Earlier this week, the state department imposed sanctions on Israeli far-right activist Ben Zion Gopstein. It said his organisation, Lehava, had “engaged in destabilising violence affecting the West Bank”.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due Monday in neighbouring Iraq for his first state visit there in years, with water, oil and regional security issues expected to top the agenda.

Erdogan is scheduled to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani and President Abdel Latif Rashid in Baghdad before visiting officials in Arbil, the capital of northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region.

“Iraq and Turkey share a history and have similarities, interests and opportunities, but also problems,” Sudani said during an event at the Atlantic Council on the sidelines of a recent visit to Washington.

“Water and security will be at the top of the agenda,” he said of the upcoming meeting with Erdogan, who last visited Iraq in 2011.

The trip comes as regional tensions spiral, fuelled by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and attacks between Israel and Iran.

Farhad Alaaldin, foreign affairs adviser to Sudani, told AFP that the main topics Erdogan will discuss with Iraqi officials include “investments, trade… security aspects of the cooperation between the two countries, water management and water resources”.

Alaaldin expects the signing of several memoranda of understanding during the visit.

The sharing of water resources is a major point of contention, with Baghdad highly critical of upstream dams set up by Turkey on their shared Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which have worsened water scarcity in Iraq.

Erdogan said the issue of water would be “one of the most important points” of his visit following “requests” made by the Iraqi side.

“We will make an effort to resolve them, that is also their wish,” he said.

– ‘Strategic agreement’ –

Iraqi oil exports are another point of tension, with a major pipeline shut down for over a year over legal disputes and technical issues.

The exports were previously independently sold by the autonomous Kurdistan region, without the approval or oversight of the central administration in Baghdad, through the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

The halted oil sales represent more than $14 billion in lost revenue for Iraq, according to an estimate by the Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan which represents international oil companies active in the region.

Majid al-Lajmawi, Iraq’s ambassador to Turkey, hopes for “progress on the water and energy issues, and in the process of resuming Iraqi oil exports via Turkey”, according to a statement published by the Iraqi foreign ministry.

The ambassador also expects the signing of a “strategic framework agreement” on security, economy and development.

Also on the agenda is a $17 billion road and rail project known as the “Route of Development” which is expected to consolidate economic ties between the two neighbours.

Stretching 1,200 kilometres (745 miles) across Iraq, it aims to connect by 2030 the northern border with Turkey to the Gulf in the south.

In the first quarter of 2024, Iraq was Turkey’s fifth-largest importer of products, buying food, chemicals, metals and other products.

– ‘Safeguard the borders’ –

Regional security is another topic expected to be thrashed out during Erdogan’s meetings in Iraq.

For decades, Turkey has operated from several dozen military bases in northern Iraq against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state and is considered a “terrorist” group by Ankara and its Western allies.

Both Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government have been accused of tolerating Turkey’s military activities to preserve their close economic ties.

But the operations, which sometimes take place deep into Iraqi territory, have regularly strained bilateral ties while Ankara has sought out increased cooperation from Baghdad in its fight against the PKK.

However, in a televised interview in March, Iraqi Defence Minister Thabet al-Abbasi ruled out “joint military operations” between Baghdad and Ankara.

He said they would establish a “coordination intelligence centre at the appropriate time and place”.

Alaaldin, the Iraqi prime minister’s adviser, said security issues will be “highly featured in this trip”.

“There will be some sort of agreement… and perhaps arrangements to safeguard the borders between Iraq and Turkey where no attacks and no armed groups infiltrate the border from both sides,” he said.

“It is something that will be discussed but the exact details have to be worked out.”

The main opposition Congress party had demanded a rerun at 47 Manipur polling stations, alleging that booths were captured and elections were rigged.

However, election autho­rities declared the voting void at the 11 locations and ordered fresh poll, the chief electoral officer of Manipur announced.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is forecast to win a rare third term on the back of issues such as Hindu nationalism.

Clashes among armed groups and attempts to take over polling stations under heavy security were reported on the very first day of voting on Friday in the Manipur state.

Despite the threat of armed clashes that have killed at least 220 people in the past year, voters turned out in large numbers.

Manipur has been roiled by fighting between the majority Meitei and tribal Kuki-Zo people since May. It remains divided between a valley controlled by Meiteis and Kuki-dominated hills, separated by a stretch of no-man’s land monitored by federal paramilitary forces.

There has been a prolonged stand-off over the bill between the two Houses of Parliament over the past four months.

The Lords have consistently blocked and amended the bill – and the Commons will vote on the amended version later.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will hold a news conference later where he is expected to talk about his plan.

On Friday the PM said there would be no more delays, adding: “We will sit there and vote until it’s done.”

The government’s planned legislation would drastically limit the grounds for legal challenges to its scheme to fly asylum seekers out to Rwanda, and make it easier to remove refugees who have arrived in the UK by illegal means – and has already been approved by the House of Commons on several occasions.

The most recent was last Wednesday, but the House of Lords blocked its passage into law by demanding changes to the bill, including an amendment that would exempt asylum seekers from Afghanistan, who had previously assisted British troops when the military was stationed there, from being among those forced to fly out to Rwanda.

They also said that flights should not take off until a committee of experts set up to monitor the scheme decides Rwanda has fulfilled certain safeguards.

Peers want their two amendments added to the bill before they will ratify it, which is required before the government can pass it into law. MPs will vote on the bill and its amendments from the Lords on Monday afternoon.

This ping pong between the two Houses of Parliament could go on until either the government concedes and makes concessions, or peers give up on their suggested amendments.islation” and, if implemented, he says would make it easier to keep his pledge to “stop the boats” – because the government says the prospect would be an effective deterrent for people who cross the Channel in small boats.

Effectively, the legislation would drastically limit the grounds for legal challenges to the Rwanda scheme and it gives ministers the power to disregard some human rights law.

The scheme was first introduced on 14 April 2022 by then-prime minister Boris Johnson, but no asylum seeker has yet been sent to Rwanda – a landlocked country central Africa – 4,000 miles (6,500km) from the UK.

Mr Sunak then took on the scheme when he became prime minister, after Liz Truss’ short tenure, in October 2022.

The first flight was scheduled to go in June 2022, but was cancelled after legal challenges.

Further obstruction came in November 2023, when the UK Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Rwanda scheme was unlawful.

After the Supreme Court ruling, the government introduced then this Safety of Rwanda bill, which aims to make clear in UK law that Rwanda is a safe country.

Critics say the scheme will put people at risk, and the legislation undermines the independence of the courts.

The back-and-forth between the House of Lords and the House of Commons over the past four months prompted Mr Sunak’s declaration that he will require the two Houses to keep repeating the process until there is a breakthrough.

Lord Carlile, a member of the House of Lords who opposes the Rwanda plan, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he and his fellow peers would “keep going as long as necessary” and not back down over their amendments.

He said Rwanda had “not yet complied with the treaty” it signed with the UK, referring to the UK-Rwanda treaty signed in December. The treaty is central to the government’s plan, but is separate to the Rwanda Safety Bill. It was drafted in response to the Supreme Court ruling and aims to ensure further protections for asylum seekers.

Lord Carlile added: “When [the treaty] is complied with, we will say: ‘OK, we concede that people should go to Rwanda though it wouldn’t be our first choice.’

“The government has failed to insist on Rwanda complying with the treaty.”

Home Secretary James Cleverly has previously said the treaty would ensure people relocated to Rwanda are not at risk of being returned to a country where their life or freedom would be threatened.