WASHINGTON: The United States announced Monday it was lifting its ban on refugees from 11 “high-risk” countries, but said those seeking to enter the US would come under much tougher scrutiny than in the past.
Applicants from 11 countries, unnamed but understood to include 10 Muslim-majority nations plus North Korea, will face tougher “risk-based” assessments to be accepted.
“It’s critically important that we know who is entering the United States,” said Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
“These additional security measures will make it harder for bad actors to exploit our refugee program, and they will ensure we take a more risk-based approach to protecting the homeland.”
The 11 countries, hit with a ban in October in the Trump administration’s revised refugee policy, have not been identified officially.
But refugee groups say they comprise Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Speaking anonymously, a senior administration official told journalists that the policy of enhanced security assessments for the 11 countries was not designed to target Muslims.
“Our admissions have nothing to do with religion,” the official said, adding that there is “nothing especially novel” about tougher screening for countries deemed to have a higher level of risk.
Donald Trump has pursued a much tougher stance on immigrants and refugees from all countries since becoming president one year ago.
Annual refugee admissions have been slashed by more than half to a maximum of 45,000 in fiscal 2018, which ends on September 31.
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US lifts ban on refugees from 11 countries
US lifts ban on refugees from 11 countries
Russia-ally Touadera seeks third term in Central African Republic
BANGUI: Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera is seeking a third term in an election on Sunday, campaigning on security gains after signing deals with rebel groups and enlisting support from Russian mercenaries and Rwandan forces.
He faces six opposition candidates including Anicet-Georges Dologuele, a former prime minister and runner-up in the 2020 election, but is likely to win in part due to his control over state institutions, analysts say.
Such a result would likely further the interests of Russia, which has traded security assistance for access to resources including gold and diamonds. Touadera is also offering access to the country’s lithium and uranium reserves to anyone interested.
The 68-year-old mathematician took power in 2016 after the worst crisis in the chronically unstable country’s history, when three years of intercommunal strife forced a fifth of the population to flee their homes, either internally or abroad.
Touadera has signed peace deals this year with several rebel groups, while others have been weakened in the face of Russian mercenaries and troops from Rwanda deployed to shore up Touadera’s government as well as UN peacekeepers.
“During the 10 years that we have been working together, you yourselves have seen that peace is beginning to return, starting from all our borders and reaching the capital,” Touadera told a rally at a stadium in the capital Bangui this month.
His opponents, meanwhile, have denounced a constitutional referendum in 2023 that scrapped the presidential term limit, saying it was proof Touadera wants to be president for life.
They have also accused him of failing to make significant progress toward lifting the 5.5 million population out of poverty.
“The administrative infrastructure has been destroyed and, as you know, the roads are in a very poor state of repair,” Dologuele told a recent press conference.
“In short, the Central African economy is in ruins.”
SECURITY THREATS REMAIN DESPITE PEACE DEALS
The presidential contest is taking place alongside legislative, regional and municipal elections, with provisional results expected to be announced by January 5.
If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, a presidential runoff will take place on February 15, while legislative runoffs will take place on April 5.
A smooth voting process could reinforce Touadera’s claim that stability is returning, which was buttressed last year with the UN Security Council’s lifting of an arms embargo and the lifting of a separate embargo on diamond exports.
“The fact that these measures were lifted, it shows that we’re gradually getting back to normal. Or at least that’s the narrative,” said Romain Esmenjaud, associate researcher at the Institut Francais de Geopolitique.
The peace deals are credited with a decline in violence in some areas and an expected boost in economic growth projections to 3 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. US President Donald Trump’s administration has said the UN should hand security back to the government soon.
But serious security threats remain. Rebels have not fully disarmed, reintegration is incomplete, and incursions by combatants from neighboring Sudan fuel insecurity in the east.
Pangea-Risk, a consultancy, wrote in a note to clients that the risk of unrest after the election was high as opponents were likely to challenge Touadera’s expected victory.
“The election will take place in an atmosphere marked by heightened grievances over political marginalization, increasing repression, and allegations of electoral fraud,” said chief executive Robert Besseling.
Dologuele alleged fraud after he was recorded as winning 21.6 percent of the vote in 2020, when rebel groups still threatened the capital and prevented voting at 800 polling stations across the country, or 14 percent of the total. A court upheld Touadera’s win.
Paul-Crescent Beninga, a political analyst, said voters will be closely scrutinizing the voting and counting processes.
“If they do not go well, it gives those who promote violence an excuse to mobilize violence and sow panic among the population of the Central African Republic. So that is why we must ensure that the elections take place in relatively acceptable conditions,” he said.
He faces six opposition candidates including Anicet-Georges Dologuele, a former prime minister and runner-up in the 2020 election, but is likely to win in part due to his control over state institutions, analysts say.
Such a result would likely further the interests of Russia, which has traded security assistance for access to resources including gold and diamonds. Touadera is also offering access to the country’s lithium and uranium reserves to anyone interested.
The 68-year-old mathematician took power in 2016 after the worst crisis in the chronically unstable country’s history, when three years of intercommunal strife forced a fifth of the population to flee their homes, either internally or abroad.
Touadera has signed peace deals this year with several rebel groups, while others have been weakened in the face of Russian mercenaries and troops from Rwanda deployed to shore up Touadera’s government as well as UN peacekeepers.
“During the 10 years that we have been working together, you yourselves have seen that peace is beginning to return, starting from all our borders and reaching the capital,” Touadera told a rally at a stadium in the capital Bangui this month.
His opponents, meanwhile, have denounced a constitutional referendum in 2023 that scrapped the presidential term limit, saying it was proof Touadera wants to be president for life.
They have also accused him of failing to make significant progress toward lifting the 5.5 million population out of poverty.
“The administrative infrastructure has been destroyed and, as you know, the roads are in a very poor state of repair,” Dologuele told a recent press conference.
“In short, the Central African economy is in ruins.”
SECURITY THREATS REMAIN DESPITE PEACE DEALS
The presidential contest is taking place alongside legislative, regional and municipal elections, with provisional results expected to be announced by January 5.
If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, a presidential runoff will take place on February 15, while legislative runoffs will take place on April 5.
A smooth voting process could reinforce Touadera’s claim that stability is returning, which was buttressed last year with the UN Security Council’s lifting of an arms embargo and the lifting of a separate embargo on diamond exports.
“The fact that these measures were lifted, it shows that we’re gradually getting back to normal. Or at least that’s the narrative,” said Romain Esmenjaud, associate researcher at the Institut Francais de Geopolitique.
The peace deals are credited with a decline in violence in some areas and an expected boost in economic growth projections to 3 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. US President Donald Trump’s administration has said the UN should hand security back to the government soon.
But serious security threats remain. Rebels have not fully disarmed, reintegration is incomplete, and incursions by combatants from neighboring Sudan fuel insecurity in the east.
Pangea-Risk, a consultancy, wrote in a note to clients that the risk of unrest after the election was high as opponents were likely to challenge Touadera’s expected victory.
“The election will take place in an atmosphere marked by heightened grievances over political marginalization, increasing repression, and allegations of electoral fraud,” said chief executive Robert Besseling.
Dologuele alleged fraud after he was recorded as winning 21.6 percent of the vote in 2020, when rebel groups still threatened the capital and prevented voting at 800 polling stations across the country, or 14 percent of the total. A court upheld Touadera’s win.
Paul-Crescent Beninga, a political analyst, said voters will be closely scrutinizing the voting and counting processes.
“If they do not go well, it gives those who promote violence an excuse to mobilize violence and sow panic among the population of the Central African Republic. So that is why we must ensure that the elections take place in relatively acceptable conditions,” he said.
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