ROME: Britain’s home secretary on Tuesday touted Britain’s migrant deportation deal with Rwanda as a “new and creative” deterrent to an old and growing problem. But he said he took seriously criticism by the UN refugee agency that it violates international law.
Home Secretary James Cleverly visited Italy, ground zero in Europe’s migration debate, hours after the UK Parliament approved legislation to enable the government to deport some people to Rwanda who enter Britain illegally.
The deal, in which Britain will pay Rwanda to process the migrants, is aimed at deterring people from crossing the English Channel from France. It is similar in some basic aspects to Italy’s controversial pact to outsource the processing of asylum-seekers to Italian-run centers in Albania.
Human rights groups have said both deals, forged by conservative governments amid anti-migrant sentiment among voters, violate the rights of migrants that are enshrined in international refugee conventions.
On Tuesday, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the UK-Rwanda deal is “not compatible with international refugee law” because it uses an asylum model “that undermines global solidarity and the established international refugee protection system.”
Cleverly defended the deal as a necessary response to a problem that has outgrown the international institutional way of processing migrants. He said Britain will not tolerate people smugglers determining who arrives on British soil.
“People-smuggling mass migration has changed (and) I think demands us to be constantly innovating,” he told a gathering at the Institute of International Affairs, a Rome-based think tank.
He said he took seriously the UNCHR criticism and said Britain was a law-abiding country.
“Of course we will respect the UN enormously,” he said when asked about the UNHCR criticism. “We take it very, very seriously. Doesn’t mean to say we always agree with their assessment. But we will, of course, look at that.”
Cleverly visited the Italian coast guard headquarters on Tuesday and on Wednesday is to visit the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, where tens of thousands of migrants have arrived after crossing the Mediterranean Sea on boats setting off from northern Africa.
Lampedusa is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland and is often the destination of choice for migrants, whose numbers reached 157,652 new arrivals in Italy last year.
The numbers arriving in Italy so far this year are actually way down, presumably thanks to Italy’s European Union-endorsed agreement with Tunisia to stem departures. As of Tuesday, 16,090 migrants had arrived by sea in Italy so far this year, compared to 36,324 in this period last year.
Spain has actually outpaced Italy so far this year in terms of migrant sea arrivals, with 16,621 arriving this year as of April 15, the last available date.
In Britain, the numbers pale in comparison to the southern Mediterranean, even during peak periods: In 2022, the number of people arriving in Britain from across the Channel reached 45,774, though last year the number dropped to 29,437.
Britain’s home secretary touts UK-Rwanda migrant deportation deal during visit to Italy
https://arab.news/4a88m
Britain’s home secretary touts UK-Rwanda migrant deportation deal during visit to Italy
- Deal, in which Britain will pay Rwanda to process the migrants, is aimed at deterring people from crossing the English Channel from France
- It is similar in some basic aspects to Italy’s controversial pact to outsource the processing of asylum-seekers to Italian-run centers in Albania
New ‘superfood’ transforms livelihoods in India’s rural east
- Known as fox nut or lotus seed, makhana is rich in protein, dietary fiber, minerals
- Most of the world’s makhana production is in Bihar, one of India’s poorest states
BIHAR: Wading through knee-deep, stagnant water, Mahesh Mukhia plunges his hands into the mud, pulling up handfuls of sludge that he and others toss into a large, partially submerged basket.
After a while, they shake the basket to drain away the water and debris. What remains is makhana — round black seeds that have lately gained popularity as India’s new superfood.
A regional Indian snack, also known as fox nut or lotus seed, makhana is the edible seed of the prickly waterlily. The plant grows in freshwater ponds and wetlands in southern and eastern Asia.
After makhana seeds are handpicked from pond beds, cleaned, and sun-dried, they are roasted at high heat so their hard black shells crack open and release the white, popcorn-like puffed kernels, which are eaten as snacks or used in dishes.
It has long been known for its nutritional value — high in plant-based protein and dietary fiber, the seeds are also rich in minerals and gluten-free — which over the past few years have helped it gain global attention and are transforming farmlands in Bihar, one of India’s poorest states.
“Earlier, people were not researching it but now, after research, makhana’s nutritional values have been highlighted. Now this is a superfood. That’s why demand is growing everywhere,” said Mahesh Mukhia, a farmer in Kapchhahi village in Bihar’s Darbhanga district, whose family has been harvesting the seeds for generations.
“The difference is that my forefathers did farming in a traditional way, but we’ve learnt to do it in a scientific way,” Mukhia told Arab News.
“There is Bhola Paswan Shastri Agricultural College in the neighboring Purnea district. I went there for training. After I started practicing farming the way I learnt, the yield increased by more than 30 percent.”
Makhana farming is highly labor-intensive, starting with the cultivation of water lilies in shallow ponds. The plants require constant monitoring as they are sensitive to water levels and pests.
Harvesting takes place between August and October. Workers pluck the seeds by hand and then dry them under the sun for several days before they can be processed.
The processing and roasting of makhana also require significant effort. The dried seeds are first de-shelled by manually cracking them, followed by multiple rounds of roasting to make them crisp.
Whole families are involved in the production, which has been expanding since 2020, when the state government introduced the Makhana Development Scheme.
Besides training in farming and processing, growers who cultivate fox nut receive $820 per hectare.
“The rate has also gone up. The makhana that we used to sell at 200-300 ($2-$3) rupees per kg is now selling at 1,000 ($12) or 1,500 rupees per kg,” Mukhia said.
“Makhana farmers are now making a profit. Those who are growing makhana are earning well, those who are popping it are also doing well, and those involved in trading are making profits too. We are getting good demand from everywhere. I just received an order for 25 tonnes recently.”
Bihar currently produces over 85 percent of India’s makhana and accounts for most of the world’s production, according to Ministry of Commerce and Industry estimates.
According to reports by the Indian Brand Equity Foundation and the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, India accounts for roughly 85 to 90 percent of the world’s production.
Farmland where the crop is grown has increased many times over the past decade and can now be compared to the area covering half of New York City.
More than 600,000 people are involved in the makhana industry in Bihar, according to Niraj Kumar Jha, Darbhanga district’s horticulture officer.
“Earlier, we were cultivating 5,000 hectares in the Kosi and Mithlanchal regions. But now it has expanded to 35,000 hectares, and with many supportive schemes, farmers are increasingly encouraged to grow makhana,” he said.
“We are strengthening our marketing channels. We’ll reach the metro cities as well as world markets ... We can see that makhana is growing very popular, not only in India.”
