UN presses for access to migrants after Indonesia boat standoff ?
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The United Nations refugee agency on Monday called for access to a group of migrants believed to be from Sri Lanka, following a week-long standoff that saw their boat stranded off the coast of Indonesia. The boat carrying the 44 migrants, including women and children, was reportedly en route to Australia and had drifted into Indonesian waters near northern Aceh province on June 11 after encountering engine trouble, Thomson Reuters Foundation reported. Local officials had initially stopped the migrants from disembarking and said it must sail on, but then allowed them ashore over the weekend amid criticism from refugee advocacy groups. However, UNHCR in Indonesia said that since the incident, it had not been granted access to the group to determine their status. UNHCR's Indonesia representative Thomas Vargas said they been given no reason for the lack of access, but he declined to comment when asked if it signalled Indonesia might start pushing back asylum-...
The United Nations refugee agency on Monday called for access to a group of migrants believed to be from Sri Lanka, following a week-long standoff that saw their boat stranded off the coast of Indonesia. The boat carrying the 44 migrants, including women and children, was reportedly en route to Australia and had drifted into Indonesian waters near northern Aceh province on June 11 after encountering engine trouble, Thomson Reuters Foundation reported.
Local officials had initially stopped the migrants from disembarking and said it must sail on, but then allowed them ashore over the weekend amid criticism from refugee advocacy groups. However, UNHCR in Indonesia said that since the incident, it had not been granted access to the group to determine their status. UNHCR's Indonesia representative Thomas Vargas said they been given no reason for the lack of access, but he declined to comment when asked if it signalled Indonesia might start pushing back asylum-seekers' boats, like neighbouring Australia.
Indonesia is not a signatory to the U.N.'s refugee convention, but it has in the past allowed migrants ashore on humanitarian grounds. UNHCR's Indonesia representative Thomas Vargas said it has been the practice of the government to allow these people on such boats to disembark and for UNHCR to have access. He hoped this tradition would continue.
Indonesia and Malaysia took in thousands of migrants who were found adrift in the Andaman Sea in the Asian migrant crisis last year, following a Thai crackdown on human trafficking. Indonesia is a popular transit point for asylum-seekers and migrants from the Middle East and South Asia hoping to reach Australia, often traveling in rickety boats. The country currently has about 13,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Afghanistan, Myanmar and Somalia, according to UNHCR. (Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation)
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null / Credit: Peter Hermes Furian via ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Apr 19, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).The pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) on April 19 condemned the kidnapping and murder of a catechist in Burkina Faso, West Africa.In a news brief, ACN informed ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, that catechist Edouard Yougbare was kidnapped on Thursday night by "terrorists, and his lifeless body was found near Zigni this morning."According to other local sources, along with Yougbare, who was a member of Saatenga parish in Fada Gourma, Burkina Faso, more people were kidnapped and murdered."We are heartbroken by the loss of Yougbare. He served his community faithfully and his death is a devastating blow for the people of Saatenga," lamented Spaniard María Lozano, press and public relations director of ACN International."Catechists in Burkina Faso are on the front lines, risking their lives for the good of their people. Just two months ago, ano...
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Pope Francis addresses the faithful at his Wednesday general audience on March 27, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaVatican City, Apr 19, 2024 / 10:07 am (CNA).In the latest move in Pope Francis' reform of the Vatican judiciary, the pope issued a new motu proprio on Friday on the retirement age and benefits for cardinal judges and magistrates in the Vatican's court system.The April 19 motu proprio states that Vatican magistrates will retire at the end of the judicial year in which they turn 75 and cardinal judges at the age of 80, unless Pope Francis asks them to remain in office beyond the age limit.Magistrates and judges who wish to resign from office before the retirement age can only do so with the approval of the pope.The pope also has the prerogative to dismiss magistrates unable to fulfill their duties at any time. Upon the termination of their duties, magistrates will retain the rights to assistance and welfare provided to Vatican citizens and employees.The motu proprio, wh...
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Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski of Krakow announced on April 14, 2024, the decision to begin the process of beatification and canonization of Helena Agnieszka Kmiec, a young lay missionary murdered in Bolivia in 2017. / Credit: The Helena Kmiec FoundationACI Prensa Staff, Apr 19, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski of Krakow, Poland, announced the decision to begin the process of beatification and canonization of Helena Agnieszka Kmiec, a young lay missionary murdered in Bolivia in 2017.The prelate said that after the preliminary phase began in December 2022, he made the decision to officially open the process for Kmiec after having consulted the Polish Bishops' Conference and receiving the go-ahead from the Vatican's Dicastery for the Causes of Saints."With this edict I call on all those who have any document, letter, or information about the Servant of God, both positive and negative, to send them to the Metropolitan Curia of Krakow before June 30," the archbish...