PRISTINA: Kosovo said on Friday that the first of several dozen third-country migrants has arrived from the United States under an agreement reached earlier this year with US President Donald Trump’s administration.
Kosovo agreed in June to temporarily host up to 50 migrants who are slated for deportation from the US under new, harsher US immigration rules, and with an aim of facilitating their safe return to their home country,
“One individual has arrived in the Republic of Kosovo and has been granted temporary protection, in accordance with the applicable legislation,” Kosovo’s Interior Ministry told The Associated Press in an email.
The ministry added that “responsible institutions ... have undertaken all necessary measures to ensure that the individual in question fully enjoys the rights and obligations” they are entitled to.
The statement did not specify the migrant’s nationality nor the arrival date. Authorities, the ministry said, are “continuously monitoring” the integration process and access to all available services during the stay in Kosovo.
It was not immediately clear when other migrants could arrive or where they would be staying in Kosovo.
Kosovo’s government in June praised the United States as a “steadfast ally” and hailed the two countries’ decades-long partnership and “shared values.”
A US-led 78-day NATO air campaign ended the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo and ended Serbia’s rule in its former province. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, which Belgrade still does not recognize and has been a source of tension in the Balkans since the 1990s.
Kosovo receives first deported migrant from US under agreement with Trump administration
https://arab.news/p6j64
Kosovo receives first deported migrant from US under agreement with Trump administration
- Kosovo agreed in June to temporarily host up to 50 migrants who are slated for deportation from the US
- “One individual has arrived in the Republic of Kosovo and has been granted temporary protection,” Kosovo’s Interior Ministry told AP
WHO appeals for $1 bn for world’s worst health crises in 2026
- The UN health agency estimated 239 million people would need urgent humanitarian assistance this year and the money would keep essential health services going
GENEVA: The World Health Organization on Tuesday appealed for $1 billion to tackle health crises this year across the world’s 36 most severe emergencies, including in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The UN health agency estimated 239 million people would need urgent humanitarian assistance this year and the money would keep essential health services going.
WHO health emergencies chief Chikwe Ihekweazu told reporters in Geneva: “A quarter of a billion people are living through humanitarian crises that strip away the most basic protections: safety, shelter and access to health care.
“In these settings, health needs are surging, whether due to injuries, disease outbreaks, malnutrition or untreated chronic diseases,” he warned.
“Yet access to care is shrinking.”
The agency’s emergency request was significantly lower than in recent years, given the global funding crunch for aid operations.
Washington, traditionally the UN health agency’s biggest donor, has slashed foreign aid spending under President Donald Trump, who on his first day back in office in January 2025 handed the WHO his country’s one-year withdrawal notice.
Last year, WHO had appealed for $1.5 billion but Ihekweazu said that only $900 million was ultimately made available.
Unfortunately, he said, the agency had been “recognizing ... that the appetite for resource mobilization is much smaller than it was in previous years.”
“That’s one of the reasons that we’ve calibrated our ask a little bit more toward what is available realistically, understanding the situation around the world, the constraints that many countries have,” he said.
The WHO said in 2026 it was “hyper-prioritising the highest-impact services and scaling back lower?impact activities to maximize lives saved.”
Last year, global funding cuts forced 6,700 health facilities across 22 humanitarian settings to either close or reduce services, “cutting 53 million people off from health care.” Ihekweazu said.
“Families living on the edge face impossible decisions, such as whether to buy food or medicine,” he added, stressing that “people should never have to make these choices.”
“This is why today we are appealing to the better sense of countries, and of people, and asking them to invest in a healthier, safer world.”
