China says it has not received any asylum application from Philippines’ Duterte

A supporter holds a portrait of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte in front of the International Criminal Court in The Hague on March 14, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 24 March 2025
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China says it has not received any asylum application from Philippines’ Duterte

  • Philippines’ former President Rodrigo Duterte’s trip to Hong Kong was for his personal holidays

BEIJING: China has not received any application for asylum from Philippines’ former President Rodrigo Duterte and his family, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday.
Duterte’s trip to Hong Kong was for his personal holidays, ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular press conference.
The former president was arrested on March 11 at Manila’s main airport on his arrival from Hong Kong at the request of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as part of its probe into a “war on drugs” that defined his presidency.


France bans 10 British far-right, anti-migration activists from entering

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France bans 10 British far-right, anti-migration activists from entering

PARIS: France’s interior ministry said on Wednesday it has banned 10 British far-right activists from entering or staying in the country, after they carried out actions deemed to ​incite violence and seriously disturb public order on French territory.
The activists, identified as members of a group called “Raise the Colors” that was involved in a national flag-raising campaign, seek to find and destroy boats used to carry migrants and spread propaganda on France’s northern coast calling on the British public to join the movement to stop ‌migration, according to ‌the French interior ministry.
“Our rule ‌of ⁠law ​is non-negotiable, ‌violent or hate-inciting actions have no place on our territory,” French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez wrote on social media platform X on Wednesday.
The ministry said in a statement it had been informed of the group’s activities in December last year and that it had referred the matter to the relevant authorities, ⁠as the actions were likely to cause “serious disturbances” to public order.
“Raise the ‌Colors” describes itself as a grassroots movement ‍that began in the central ‍English city of Birmingham, when a small group started ‍tying national flags to lampposts in a show of national pride. It says the effort has since spread across the UK.
The widespread display of the red-and-white St. George’s Cross for England and the ​Union Jack for Britain has prompted concern among some migrant communities as a reflection of rising anti-immigration ⁠sentiment in the country, coinciding with a wave of protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers last year.
Neither the group nor the British Foreign Office immediately responded to Reuters requests for comment.
Immigration and the crossings of small boats carrying migrants from France have become a focal point for British voters and has helped propel Nigel Farage’s right-wing, anti-immigration Reform UK party, into a commanding opinion poll lead.
Farage last year in London met the leader of French far-right National Rally (RN) party, Jordan Bardella, ‌who has accused France of being too soft on immigration.