At least three in four countries – home to 91 percent of the global population – have imposed partial or complete border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and roughly one in two human beings is living under lockdown as governments try to slow the spread of the virus. While perhaps necessary from a public health standpoint, the limitations on movement make it more difficult for people fleeing wars and persecution to access protection, and raise pressing questions about what special steps governments need to take to safeguard asylum seekers and irregular migrants in these unusual times. But migration policy experts also warn that some governments are taking advantage of the crisis to push through legally dubious, hardline migration policies that can’t be justified by public health concerns and that could stay in place long after the COVID-19 outbreaks subside – in particular, ending or curtailing access to asylum. “You do absolutely have some governments who have exploited the situa...

Around the world, 79.5 million people have been forcibly displaced. That’s the most since World War II, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Since most people remain displaced within their home country, how many refugees are there in the world? About 26 million people worldwide have fled to other countries as refugees. Another 4.2 million people have applied for refugee status, but not received it yet. More than half of refugees are children. In 2018, 11 million people were newly displaced, either as refugees or internally displaced people. Now, it’s unknown how border closings and travel restrictions due to COVID-19 will affect the number of new refugees in the world. Conflict and insecurity in other countries, including Iraq, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and Myanmar have also caused millions to flee their homes. Here are top seven countries of origin that account for the most refugees in the world today. About two-thirds of today’s refugees (68%) come from the ...

For asylum seekers, trying to find work in another country is very difficult. Not only is there often a language barrier and reams of paperwork, but there is also the fact that government systems can encourage exploitation. Asylum seekers in the UK receive £37.75 a week to live on, and most are prohibited from working. But this small amount of money often fails to allow people to meet their basic needs. This leads some to search for work to supplement their income. But herein lies the problem, as the only people willing to employ them are those happy to do so illegally. This leaves asylum seekers with no bargaining power to negotiate reasonable pay or working conditions. Yet the risk of exploitation does not end with a positive asylum decision. Refugees are often dispersed out of London and the south-east to other areas in the UK. The areas of dispersal are determined by the availability of temporary housing. In many cases, this is concentrated around areas of economic deprivation. Thi...

UNITED KINGDOM  Counter-terrorism laws continued to restrict rights. Full accountability for torture allegations against UK intelligence agencies and armed forces remained unrealized. Northern Ireland made significant progress on abortion and same sex marriage. Legal, constitutional or institutional developments The second draft Political Declaration on the future relationship between the UK and EU, published in October 2019, included less robust assurances around membership of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) than the first version. The Government confirmed that it intends to derogate from the ECHR before significant future military operations where deemed appropriate. The Scottish government built on its commitment to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, promising to bring forward legislation to incorporate UN treaties into Scots Law. Counter-terrorism and security The Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 created new criminal offences ...

The sweeping new national security law that China imposed on Hong Kong, aimed at stamping out opposition to the ruling Communist Party in the former British colony, is as “devastating” as some critics feared, a human-rights activist said on Wednesday. Conceived in secrecy and passed on Tuesday without serious input from Hong Kong authorities, the law sets up a vast security apparatus in the territory and gives Beijing broad powers to crack down on a variety of political crimes, including separatism and collusion. In what initially appeared to be an early test of the law, a man was arrested on Wednesday after he unfurled a Hong Kong flag during demonstrations and the police said on Twitter that he had been detained for “violating the  # NationalSecurityLaw .” It was “the first arrest made since the law has come into force,” the police said. But a closer look at the banner appeared to show words that translated to “No to” in small letters and “Hong Kong Independence” in bigger type. ...