A group of 22 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who left an Australian customs ship to come ashore in Indonesia will be allowed to stay for up to three months, according to an official. "We've given them a time frame of four weeks to at most 12 weeks to stay in Indonesia to process their refugee status. They must leave after that," foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told AFP. The group was among a total of 78 ethnic Tamils on the Oceanic Viking anchored off Bintan island near Singapore who... Read Full Story
A group of 22 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who left an Australian customs ship to come ashore in Indonesia will be allowed to stay for up to three months, according to an official. "We've given them a time frame of four weeks to at most 12 weeks to stay in Indonesia to process their refugee status. They must leave after that," foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told AFP. The group was among a total of 78 ethnic Tamils on the Oceanic Viking anchored off Bintan island near Singapore who... Read Full Story
Suspected separatists blew up a fuel-laden train in India's restive northeast, causing a giant inferno that took 12 hours to control, police said Tuesday. A police spokesperson said the train of 48 wagons travelling from the Numaligarh Refinery caught fire late Monday in the state of Assam about 270 kilometres (167 miles) from state capital Guwahati. "It was initially thought the fire broke out after the train jumped rails. But now we believe it was due to a powerful explosion on the rail... Read Full Story
More than 30,000 refugees from ethnic clashes in the Democratic Republic of Congo have crossed the border into the Republic of Congo, aid agencies said on Friday. "Today, the figure is 30,600" refugees, said Rufin Mafouta, head of the office of Medecins d'Afrique (MDA - Doctors of Africa) carrying out relief work in cooperation with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "There's been a massive influx in the past few days because the fighting has become far more intense" in the DR... Read Full Story
A group of about 20 Sri Lankan asylum seekers holed up on board an Australian customs ship in Indonesia have agreed to come ashore, the foreign ministry said Friday. The group, part of 78 ethnic Tamils on the Oceanic Viking anchored off Bintan island near Singapore, could begin leaving the ship as soon as Friday to go into Indonesian immigration detention, spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told AFP. "We are not very sure when, but the indication that they will be coming off the boat is quite clear... Read Full Story
Bhutan Thursday denied the existence of any United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) terror camp on its soil and promised to take necessary action if any such information was passed on by the Indian government. Read Full Story
17 December, 2009 - The governor of the Indian state of West Bengal, Mr Devanand Konwar, will inaugurate today the Royal Bhutan Consulate in Kolkata in the presence of the Bhutanese foreign minister, Lyonpo Ugyen Tshering....
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Thousands more people than previously thought have fled an ethnic conflict in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN refugee agency said on Tuesday, amid accounts of killings, rapes and pillaging. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said thousands of mostly ethnic Munzayas fled in early November from DR Congo's Equateur province to the neighbouring Republic of Congo after attacks by Enyele tribesmen over farming and fishing rights. The Enyele tribe was "armed" and... Read Full Story
The United Nations on Tuesday warned that money was running short for crucial relief aid in Somalia, as floods forced another 16,000 people to flee their homes in the south. The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that a shortage of aid could prompt up to 283,000 Somalis to seek refuge abroad, adding to the refugee burden in neighbouring countries. Some 3.6 million people inside Somalia rely on emergency aid, according to OCHA. In recent weeks, flooding has added to... Read Full Story
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United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) supporters shout pro-ULFA slogans at a court in Gauhati, on Saturday, December 5. The commander of a powerful rebel movement in India's remote northeast was arrested along with a top deputy, officials said Friday, in a major blow to the separatist army already thought to be crippled by a string of arrests. (AP Photo) Dispur upholds Naga... Read Full Story
