All posts by MBusiness

Canada Ponders Entry into World of Foreign Espionage

Senior veterans of Canada’s intelligence community are publicly advocating for the country to consider whether to enter a sphere it has, until now, largely left to others — foreign espionage.Three retired government officials, all of whom held high-ranking positions dealing with intelligence, argued in Canada’s most prominent national newspaper this month that the government should explore the idea of creating a stand-alone agency akin to America’s CIA or Britain’s MI6.“Has the time come for Canada to develop a capacity to gather foreign intelligence from human sources abroad? … Perhaps it is,” the three wrote in a June 11 op-ed in the Toronto Globe and Mail.Foreign intelligence gathering has never been a priority for Canada, which enjoys the security of broad oceans to the east and west and a friendly neighbor to the south. Even the job of rooting out foreign spies on Canadian soil was long left to the vaunted Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) — better known internationally for their ceremonial red jackets and Stetson hats.The RCMP quit that role in 1984 when Canada established the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, or CSIS. But even that agency was largely limited to a counter-intelligence role, with a legislative mandate to operate “within Canada.”China to Canada PM: Stop ‘Irresponsible Remarks’ on Spy Case Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Beijing’s decision to charge two Canadians with spying was linked to his country’s arrest of a Chinese tech executiveWhile CSIS does have some foreign-based personnel, most of what Canada gleans about the intentions of other governments comes from public sources, “Signals Intelligence” or electronic monitoring, and reports from its diplomatic missions.Its primary access to so-called “human intelligence” or HUMINT — essentially spying as opposed to electronic monitoring — has been through its membership in the “Five Eyes,” an intelligence-sharing cooperative that includes the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.“We contributed to what other countries did but we never felt the need to do it ourselves,” explained Peter Jones, one of the authors of the June 11 op-ed, in an interview with VOA.“There were occasional grumblings from Canada’s allies that because we didn’t have [a foreign intelligence] service we weren’t putting enough things into the pot. I don’t think that was true,” Jones said.But, he added, “I don’t imagine” that creating a foreign intelligence gathering capability would do anything but improve the relationship.Jones is a former senior policy analyst in the Security and Intelligence Secretariat of Canada’s Privy Council Office, a high-level body advising the federal cabinet. His co-authors were Alan R. Jones — a retired CSIS officer who served in numerous operational and policy positions — and Laurie Storsater, who held security and intelligence positions with various government agencies.Graham Plaster, the Washington-based CEO of The Intelligence Community Inc., a national security consulting firm, agrees that the United States would likely be pleased to see Canada develop a more robust intelligence-gathering capability.“The U.S. benefits when our allies invest into national security capabilities,” Plaster told VOA. “A new HUMINT organization in Canada, training and coordinating with U.S. counterparts, would be a strategic benefit to both nations.”Jones cautioned there are limits to what Canada might be willing to do to help its allies.Canada Set to Boost Spy Agency Powers Against Terror ThreatsProposed legislation will allow Canadian Security Intelligence Service to track and investigate potential terrorists traveling abroad, lead to possible prosecution“I do foresee possible issues if some of the allies expect to be able to use Canada’s [foreign intelligence] service to help them access regions or individuals they presently cannot,” he said.“While such collaboration does take place and is productive, Canada will need to think carefully about how and when it places its capabilities at the service of others whose policies in given regions are not the same as our own.”An important decision for Canada if it does decide to develop a HUMINT capability is whether it should expand the mandate of CSIS or create a completely new agency.Former CSIS officer Phil Gurski told VOA he favors an expansion of the existing agency, arguing “it took CSIS years to come up to speed” after it was established in 1984.But others suggest that Canada should follow the example of its intelligence-sharing allies, which for the most part segregate domestic and foreign intelligence gathering into separate agencies.Jones said he is still uncertain which option Canada should adopt.“I think we need to look at it,” he said. “My gut feeling is we probably should think about creating a new agency. … I’m leery about combining the mandates of different intelligence services who do different things.“If America and Australia and Britain and others were creating their intelligence services today, maybe they would have created one combined one … but historically that is not how it’s been done,” he added.The op-ed penned by Jones and his two colleagues did not address one key question. If Canada were to go into the business of foreign espionage, who exactly would they spy on?Jones acknowledged that Canada lacks an obvious geographical niche like its ally Australia, which contributes to the Five Eyes mainly from its principal area of operations in Asia.But when asked what a young Canadian seeking a career in intelligence should study, he said, “I’d learn Chinese, or Russian, or Arabic. There are regions of the world that are going to be an enduring interest to Canada no matter what government is in power.”

UN: Forced Displacement from Conflicts Soaring Despite Pandemic

The U.N. refugee agency, which just released its 2020 Global Trends report, said the number of people forcibly displaced last year by wars, violence, persecution and human rights violations hit a record high of 82.4 million, 4% more than in 2019.This is the ninth consecutive year that forced displacement figures have continued to rise. Even lockdowns and border closures because of the coronavirus pandemic have not stopped people from fleeing for their lives in the face of war and atrocities.Of the more than 82 million forcibly displaced, 26.4 million are refugees, who have crossed international borders in search of protection. Most of the rest are people displaced within their own countries because of conflict and violence.U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said the number of internally displaced people has doubled over the past 10 years.“We are now in excess of one percent of humanity being forcibly displaced,” Grandi said. “And one of the many figures that to me is quite interesting and striking is that 42% of these people are children.”The report found that more than two-thirds of all refugees who have fled abroad come from just five countries — Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Myanmar. For the seventh consecutive year, Turkey has hosted the largest number of refugees, followed by Colombia, Pakistan, Uganda, and Germany.Grandi said new crises that have caused fresh displacements include northern Mozambique, where violence by armed groups, poverty, climate change and other factors have displaced up to 700,000 people.He said violence in countries in the Central Sahel, including Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, has prompted 750,000 people to flee their homes.“And then, of course, Ethiopia, where the Tigray crisis has provoked up to — and we are not even sure about that — up to 1 million additional internally displaced people in addition to about 50 to 60,000 that have crossed the border into Sudan.”High Commissioner Grandi said the global trend for displacement crises in 2021 is not looking good. In the first six months of this year, he said, very few refugees have returned home and protracted refugee crises have stagnated.At the same time, he said, new crises are arising, churning out new refugees and internally displaced people faster than solutions can be found.

Thousands of Haitians Fleeing Gangs are Unsure of Their Future

Daniella Francois sleeps each night on a small foam mattress in a gymnasium in the Haitian capital that has been converted into an emergency shelter, as she is unable to return to her Port-au-Prince neighborhood, which is in the grips of a gang war.She is one of thousands of residents of the city’s western Martissant district who have become refugees in their own city, living in sports centers or temporary accommodations in private homes.While the gym is just several hundred meters from the  Martissant neighborhood where Francois has lived her entire life, the move has nonetheless been jarring.The 18-year-old orphan, who lives alone with her 4-year-old daughter, had to flee suddenly on June 1.”When the armed men finally arrived on my street, I had no choice, I had to leave,” she said. “The guys don’t play around — whoever is in front of them they do what they want with.”Undermined by insecurity and political instability, Haiti is struggling to emerge from a string of seemingly never-ending crises, which of late have resulted in an upsurge in kidnappings and gang violence.Joining a flood of families attempting to escape the insecurity, Francois ended up at the sports center in Carrefour, a neighboring community where municipal authorities have been providing assistance.”We receive lots of help from the community, churches, associations, individuals who voluntarily bring food, clothes,” said Gutenberg Destin, who coordinates emergency preparedness for the municipality.Aid from humanitarian agencies and other organizations in Port-au-Prince had to be mostly transported by helicopter to Carrefour, with gangs controlling 2 kilometers of the main road through Martissant.An initial count on June 8 found more than 1,100 people staying at the sports center, but the arrival of destitute families has not abated since then.”Just last night, people arrived,” Destin told AFP earlier this week. “Until then, they felt safe in the area in which they lived in Martissant but gradually the hotbed of insecurity is spreading.”The hundreds staying at the center only represent the tip of the iceberg as far as the population of displaced people is concerned.More than 5,100 people are estimated to have taken refuge with host families scattered throughout Port-au-Prince or have otherwise fled to other provinces, a U.N. report released Monday said.The document warns that among the displaced, some who are living with host families are suffering sexual abuse and even rape, including offers of “sex for shelter.”At the Carrefour gym, Kettelene Chateau said she can count on neighbors to look after her children when she leaves during the day to search for new housing accommodations with her husband.”When we fled, my children were really scared — they were shaking, they were crying, they were traumatized,” the 38-year-old said.Due to the noise and overcrowding at the gym, she sent the two youngest of her five to stay with a friend in Carrefour.At the sports center, NGOs organize daily games so that the hundreds of children, who otherwise have little to do except wander among the mattresses, momentarily forget the ordeal they are living through.”My children are smiling again and they are now able to sleep,” Chateau said, somewhat relieved but still worried for the future.”My 6-year-old is very aware and keeps asking me ‘Mom, when are we going to go home? Will we have to live somewhere else?'” she said.”I have to tell her that I do not know. I would like be able to tell her something, but I do not know,” Chateau said.

Climate-Related Drought Disasters Threaten Development, UN Warns

The United Nations warns accelerating climate change is causing a dramatic intensification of global drought disasters, which are threatening agricultural production, the world’s safe water supply and other essential aspects of human development.   The U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has launched a “Special Report on Drought 2021.”  U.N. researchers say drought has affected more people around the world in the past four decades than any other natural disaster.  The U.N. report warns the impact of the climate-driven drought emergency on the lives and livelihoods of people across the planet will worsen in the coming years.  The U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction Mami Mizutori says drought has directly affected 1.5 billion people so far this century.  She says most of the world will be living with water stress in the next few years as drought disasters grow.  She says drought is a major factor in land degradation and is responsible for declining yields of major crops.  She adds shifting rainfall patterns and variability pose a risk to the 70 percent of global agriculture that is rainfall-dependent.”A warming planet threatens to multiply the number of people without access to safe water and sanitation, thereby seriously increasing the spread of diseases, the risk of displacement and the potential even for conflict over scarce water resources,” Mizutori said. G-7 Ministers Discuss COVID Vaccines, Climate ChangeForeign ministers of world’s wealthiest democracies are meeting ahead of a summit of the group’s heads of state next month  While droughts always have been part of the human experience, the damage and costs resulting from them are seriously underestimated.  The report estimates the global economic costs arising from drought from 1998 to 2017 of at least $124 billion.The World Health Organization considers drought to be the most serious hazard to livestock and crops in nearly every part of the world.  It says water scarcity impacts 40 percent of the world’s population.  WHO projects as many as 700 million people are at risk of being displaced by 2030 because of drought.Leading co-author of the report Roger Pulwarty agrees the data contained within the report is grim but does not see an apocalyptic picture ahead.  “I do not think that there is in fact this issue surrounding the collapse of civilizations…We are not seeing truly an increase in the frequency of drought,” Pulwarty said. “But we are seeing that where they occur in the different regions in which they do exist, an increase in intensification when they occur and the rapid onset of drought.”   Over the millennia, Pulwarty notes people have found ways to adapt to risks from drought and other natural disasters.  He says lessons learned from over 20 cases around the world – including the Horn of Africa and the Euphrates and Tigris River system in Western Asia  – have been incorporated in the report. However, he says tried and true drought management measures taken in the past must be adapted to meet the challenges of today’s changing nature of drought risk.

Latinas Left Workforce at Highest Rate, See Slow Recovery

Teresa Marez spent 14 years building a strong clientele base as a hair stylist in San Antonio. When her son, who is autistic, had to switch to virtual learning because of the pandemic, she quit her job to help him.  
It’s been 10 months, and the clients are all gone.  
Marez is one of many Latinas who have been out of work since last year. Latinas have left the workforce at rates higher than any other demographic and have had some of the highest unemployment rates throughout the pandemic, according to a report by the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative, a Latino-focused think tank, provided to The Associated Press before its release on Wednesday.  
That could spell trouble not just for a post-pandemic economic recovery but for the long-term stability of the country as baby boomers continue to retire and women in general are feeling compelled to leave work. And women like Marez, who has used much of her savings, are missing out on years of economic gains.
Before the pandemic, Latinas were projected to increase their numbers in the workforce by nearly 26% from 2019 to 2029 — a higher rate than any other group, the report found. It’s unclear if or how that projection will now change.  
Marez isn’t sure what she’s going to do next.  
“If I did go back to doing hair, I would be starting from the beginning again, really,” she said. “I was kind of burned out anyway and I can’t see myself at like 45 years old starting from the beginning.”  
Marez is thinking about going back to school to study nutrition and Spanish, but she’s still working out a plan.  FILE – In this March 2, 2021, file photo, a woman, wearing a protective mask due to the coronavirus, walks past the signs of an employment agency, in Manchester, N.H. A new report finds that Latinas have left the workforce at rates higher than any…The UCLA study found that Latinas experienced the highest unemployment rate — 20% — of any demographic in April 2020, right after all of the business shutdowns began. By the end of 2020, when businesses were starting to reopen, Latinas and Black women still had nearly double the unemployment rate of their white counterparts, the study found.  
Also troubling: the rate at which Latinas dropped from the workforce altogether, which the government usually considers to be the case when someone hasn’t actively looked for work in four weeks.  
Participation in the labor force for Latinas aged 25 to 54 fell from 71% pre-pandemic to just below 67% in May 2021, according to the latest available data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That translates to 465,000 fewer Latinas working or seeking work.
Kassandra Hernández, a lead researcher on the UCLA report, said this is crucial to how the economy recovers from the pandemic.  
“If we don’t recognize the complexities or the nuances of these narratives, of what’s happening with Latinas, we might actually be set back,” Hernández said.  
Simply put: The American workforce needs Latinas to fill the many jobs that are slowly starting to come back, and those that will be left behind by retiring baby boomers.  
Sylvia Allegretto, a labor economist at the University of California, Berkeley, said the U.S. economy already faces challenges from slowing birthrates, an aging workforce and declining immigration. Retirements among older Americans have also increased. A growing workforce is a key driver of economic growth.  
“The long-term trend is we don’t have enough workers,” she said. “If you want to make sure you have a vibrant, growing economy, you need more people.”
But Allegretto said businesses also need to offer higher pay and better benefits so that more of those who were laid off or quit jobs during the pandemic can re-enter the workforce. That may take more time as much of the economy is still reopening from the pandemic shutdown. California just lifted all its business restrictions Tuesday, she noted.  
“If (employers) have to start sweetening the deal, maybe with some benefits, maybe with some time off, that’s a good thing,” Allegretto said.
Latinas face many hurdles. Research has shown Latinas are more likely than all other U.S. mothers to stay home with children instead of work. They also tend to do much more work at home than the men in their lives, spending twice as much time on household activities and nearly three times more time caring for household members than Latinos.  
Latinas are overrepresented in low-wage jobs in the hospitality and broader service industries, stifling their upward mobility.
 
Hernández said women need access to child care, better pay and educational opportunities to help them overcome not just the disparities in career opportunities but the setbacks that the pandemic brought.  
The pandemic forced many Latinas to leave work to care not just for their children but also for extended family — “the tios or abuelos or vecinos — you name it,” said Xochitl Oseguera, the vice president of MamásConPoder, the Spanish-language community that’s part of MomsRising, a grassroots organization that works to improve women’s economic security.
Latinos were disproportionately affected by the pandemic. They were more than twice as likely to die from COVID-19 as whites, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their vaccination rates are much lower, too, so while many Americans feel the coronavirus is behind them, the pandemic lives in Latino communities.  
Oseguera works with Latinas in different industries and hears firsthand why so many haven’t returned to the workforce.
“They’re worried about going back and getting sick,” Oseguera said. “My hope is also that those jobs really reconsider the way that we have been working with essential workers to not only have a secure environment but also have access to paid family leave, paid sick leave, access to fair pay, so that we can really recover from the last year of not being part of the workforce.”
For Ciara Fernandez Faber, going back to work also depends on the work-life balance she needs to care for her toddler. Faber, who lives in Denver, left her job as an attorney when her son’s preschool closed. Her husband is a doctor, and it wasn’t an option for him to stay home with him.  
“To my experience, like, it doesn’t matter what profession it is, it just seems like across the board it’s impacted Latina women more. I don’t know if it’s like values that we place on work-life balance or child care issues. I don’t know,” Faber said. 

US Expands Migration Eligibility for Some Central American Minors

The State Department and Department of Homeland Security announced this week that they are expanding eligibility for legal migration to the U.S. for some minors from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.The Central American Minors (CAM) program allows immigrant parents or U.S.-based guardians with legal status in the country to petition for their children’s resettlement in the U.S. The Biden administration restarted the program in March after a four-year halt.FILE – An activist holds up a pro-refugee image during a demonstration outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Oct. 15, 2019.What is the difference between refugee status and being paroled in the U.S.? Being paroled is a temporary status that allows a migrant to enter the county under humanitarian relief but without a path to permanent residency, also known as a green card. By contrast, admittance as a refugee is permanent.“If you get refugee status, once you arrive in the U.S., you have lawful status so you can adjust to get a green card,” Abaya said, noting that eligibility for refugee status is “very specific” and that many CAM applicants may not qualify.“If you get paroled [into the country], then you don’t necessarily have [permanent] status in the U.S., but you’re allowed to be in the country for a temporary period of time,” she said.According to Abaya, the parole process serves a vital function for children who do not meet the definition of a refugee but are nevertheless in danger in their home countries, allowing them to be united with parents or guardians in the U.S.What impact has the program had since its inception in 2014?Immigration experts say that from the start, the program was slow to process applicants. The first minors began arriving in the U.S. in November 2015, almost a year after CAM’s creation under the former Obama administration.According to a report by the FILE – Children stand in line with some of the thousands of young immigrants at Chicago’s Navy Pier on Aug. 15, 2012.During the Obama administration, parents who had received humanitarian relief were allowed to petition for their children. Forms of relief included temporary protected status, deferred action, deferred enforced departure, parole, withholding of removal and permanent resident status.Under the Biden administration’s relaunching of the program, a parent or legal guardian in the U.S. who has a pending asylum case or pending U visa case can also file a petition. U visas are for victims of certain crimes who have assisted U.S. law enforcement investigations.
 What has been the reaction to the relaunching of the program?Critics of the program note that it is unlikely to significantly reduce the number of unaccompanied minors crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization.“I’m worried that this effort is going to be somehow passed off as an effort to address the number of migrants at the southern border when it does nothing to stem the flow or address the crisis created by this administration,” Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. “There’s no evidence to suggest that arrivals at the southern border or illegal crossings were reduced when the Obama administration tried this years ago, so there’s no reason to think it will have that effect now.”Immigrant advocates, meanwhile, have welcomed the resumption of the CAM program but note that eligibility does not cover the full range of family members who may wish to apply to bring a minor to the U.S.“It’s not just parents and legal guardians that care for children. There are aunts, there’s a grandparent who is in the United States, and those family members don’t have any way to apply,” Abaya said.Even so, Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and chief executive officer of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, noted that thousands of youths who would have been ineligible in 2014 may now qualify under the Biden administration’s limited expansion of the program.“The Biden administration’s decision to broaden admissions criteria is potentially transformative in extending a legal pathway to far more people in need,” Vignarajah said in a statement.
 

UN Calls for Better Remittance Services at Lower Cost

The United Nations is urging reforms that make it easier for migrants to send money back to their home countries, as it observes its annual International Day of Family Remittances.
 
“Migrants have shown their continued commitment to their families and communities during the pandemic with more remittances transfers made digitally than ever before,” Gilbert Houngbo, president of the U.N.’s International Fund for Agricultural Development, said in a statement.  “Unfortunately, families in rural and remote areas — where remittances are a true lifeline — battle to access cash outlets or even more convenient alternatives such as mobile money accounts. Governments and the private sector need to urgently invest in rural digital infrastructure to address this.”
 
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used his own statement to call for remittance fees to be set “as close to zero as possible,” and for those in the industry to “foster the financial inclusion of migrants and their families.”
 
“Looking forward, we must continue efforts to support and protect migrants, who — as the COVID-19 pandemic has made clear — play such an important role in keeping essential services and the economy at large running in many parts of the world,” Guterres said.
 
Data from the World Bank showed remittances to low- and middle-income countries hit $540 billion in 2020, a decline of 1.6% from the previous year.  It said last month it expects the amount of money sent to those countries to increase by 2.6% this year and 2.2% in 2022.
 
Latin America and the Caribbean saw an increase of 6.5% in remittances received last year, according to the World Bank, followed by 5.2% in South Asia and 2.3% percent in the Middle East and North Africa.
 
Remittances declined 7.9% to East Asia and the Pacific, and 9.7% to Europe and Central Asia.  Remittances to sub-Saharan Africa rose 2.3%, not counting Nigeria, which saw the amount of money sent there by migrants plummet 28%.
 
India, China, Mexico, the Philippines, Egypt and Pakistan were the top destinations for migrants to send money in 2020.
 
Migrants working in the United States, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and Germany sent the most money home, according to the World Bank.
 
Worldwide, the U.N. says there are 200 million migrant workers who send money to support more than 800 million family members, and that in 2020, 75% of that money was spent on “immediate needs.”
 
The United Nations has set a target for those facilitating remittances to charge no more than a 3% fee.  But the World Bank said that at the end of last year, the global average fee to send home $200 was 6.5%.

Mexico Receives 1.35 Million COVID Vaccines from US

Mexico has received 1.35 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson, single-dose COVID-19 vaccine donated by the United States.The doses will be given to those over 18 in four border towns, Tijuana, Mexicali, Ciudad Juárez and Reynosa. The goal is to end essential travel restrictions on the border.The first vaccinations could be given as early as Wednesday, according to Mexican Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell.
Mexico’s vaccination program has used a mix of vaccines and so far, has been focused on people 40 and older. It has administered about 26 million shots, according to the Associated Press.After an upsurge in December and January, cases have been declining across the country until a spike of 8% this week attributed to a breakout along the Caribbean coast.Earlier this month, the Biden administration said the U.S. would donate up to 80 million vaccine doses worldwide by the end of the month.

As Pandemic Pushes Brazil Deeper into Poverty, Favela Residents Adapt

As the pandemic advances in Brazil, poverty gains ground.  Despite having one of the world’s largest economies, nearly 13 percent of the country’s population is surviving on just over eight dollars a day.  For VOA, Edgar Maciel in Sao Paulo visited one of Brazil’s poorest favelas — and reports on how families are coping. Camera: Edgar Maciel

Pretrial Hearings Begin in Soccer Legend Maradona’s Death

An Argentine prosecutor began hearing evidence on Monday involving seven people accused of contributing to the death of soccer player Diego Maradona. Maradona, the revered former Boca Juniors and Napoli star who was addicted to alcohol and drugs for many years, died Nov. 25, 2020, from heart failure at age 60 after undergoing brain surgery earlier that month.   A medical board formally appointed to investigate Maradona’s death concluded that several members of the star’s medical team acted in an “inappropriate, deficient and reckless manner” and that he was not properly monitored before he died. Monday’s pretrial hearing had been delayed by an increase in coronavirus infections in Argentina. It began with questions to the nurse who, according to his own witness statement, was the last person to see Maradona alive. Questions will be put in the coming days to Maradona’s doctor, psychologist, neurosurgeon and personal physician, among others.   When the medical board’s report was presented to prosecutors in May, it accused the defendants of carrying out a plan with a “criminal purpose” and as part of a deficient care system around Maradona that contributed to his death.   If found guilty, all seven could face between eight and 25 years in prison. 

Canadian Man Charged With Terrorism for Truck Attack Against Muslims

Prosecutors in Canada say a man accused of deliberately killing a Muslim family with his truck will face terrorism charges in addition to those for murder. The prosecution said Monday that Nathaniel Veltman’s actions warrant an upgrade to terrorism charges. Veltman is accused of running over the family with his truck in a parking lot in London, Ontario on June 6. Police accuse the 20-year-old of planning the attack and say he was wearing what appeared to be body armor and a helmet at the time.  Veltman also faces four charges of murder for the killing of Salman Afzaal, his wife, their 15-year-old daughter and Afzaal’s mother. The family was taking an evening walk near their home when the attack took place. The couple’s nine-year-old son survived but remains in a hospital with serious injuries.  The new charges were added during a brief court hearing Monday in which Veltman appeared via video. He has yet to enter a plea and is due in court again on June 21. The attack was the deadliest against Canadian Muslims since a shooting at a mosque in Quebec City that left six people dead in 2017. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also described the incident as a terrorist attack, saying it was motivated by hatred. 
 

Nicaragua Arrests 5 More Opposition Leaders in Crackdown

The government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega arrested five opposition leaders during a major weekend round up, in what appears to be widespread detentions of anyone who might challenge his rule.The four arrests Sunday and one Saturday suggest Ortega has moved beyond arresting potential rival candidates in the Nov. 7 elections, and has begun arresting any prominent member of the opposition. The arrests bring to 12 the number of opponents detained since June 2.“It’s not just potential candidates anymore, it’s political leaders,” former general and Sandinista dissident Hugo Torres told The Associated Press before he himself was arrested Sunday. “This is not a transition to dictatorship, it is a dictatorship in every way.”On Sunday, police also arrested prominent ex-Sandinista dissident Dora María Téllez, another opposition leader, Ana Margarita Vijil, and Suyen Barahona, leader of the political movement Unamos.Tellez’s arrest is a major step: she was a leading Sandinista militant who led an assault on the National Palace in 1978, taking hostage the congress of dictator Anastasio Somoza in exchange for the release of Sandinista prisoners.Following Somoza’s overthrow, Tellez served as health minister in the first Sandinista government which ruled from 1979 to 1990. Like many former guerrillas, she later split with Ortega.On Saturday, police arrested Tamara Dávila, who was active in Unamos, which was formed by former Sandinistas angered by Ortega’s autocratic ways, nepotism and perpetual re-elections.Police said they arrested Dávila on charges related to a recently enacted law that classifies as treason any support for sanctions against officials in the Ortega regime; the U.S. has slapped sanctions on dozens of officials.Davila is also a central figure in the opposition coalition Blue and White National Unity, which was formed following Ortega’s repression of mass protests in 2018.Under a law passed in December, Ortega’s government has the power to unilaterally declare citizens “terrorists” or coup-mongers, classify them as “traitors to the homeland” and ban them from running as candidates.The law punishes those “who lead or finance a coup … encourage foreign interference, ask for military intervention … propose or plan economic blockades, applaud and champion the imposition of sanctions against Nicaragua or its citizens.”Those accused “will be traitors to the homeland, and for that reason may not run for public office.” Treason is punishable by prison terms of up to 15 years.Ortega has already arrested four potential opposition candidates who might have challenged his bid for a fourth consecutive term, and now many Nicaragua opposition leaders fear it is only a matter of time until police come for them, too.Torres said he has seen drones flying around his home in recent days, of the type used at Tellez’s house.“This interview may be the last one I give,” Torres said. “I am here, waiting for them to come for me.”Hours later, police barged into Torres’ home and arrested him.Nicaragua’s National Police arrested the four opposition pre-candidates earlier this month.On June 8, they arrested pre-candidate Félix Maradiaga, a pre-candidate for the opposition coalition Blue and White National Unity, and Sebastián Chamorro, a former director of the opposition coalition Civic Alliance.The previous week authorities detained Cristiana Chamorro, a cousin of Juan Sebastián Chamorro, and Arturo Cruz Sequeira, a former ambassador to the United States.Ortega initially led Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990 following the Sandinista revolution that ousted Somoza. He returned to the presidency in 2007 after three failed election attempts, and he won reelection in 2011. He then sidestepped term limits to get himself reelected in 2016, and packed courts and government agencies with allies. The Sandinista party controls the courts and the legislature, and has stifled universities and the Roman Catholic church.Torres said Ortega has now instituted a more suffocating dictatorship than Somoza, who faced opposition from the within the church, intellectual circles and universities.“I think Ortega has outdone Somoza,” said Torres. “He has subordinated all the power to himself as Somoza never could. He has a bigger repressive apparatus than Somoza ever had.”Julie Chung, the U.S. State Department’s acting assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, said via Twitter that Ortega’s “campaign of terror continues with more arbitrary arrests this weekend. OAS members must send a clear signal this week: enough repression. The region cannot stand by and wait to see who is next.”
 

COVID-19 Worsens Venezuela Displacement Crisis

U.N. refugee and migration agencies are appealing for international support for 5.6 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants who have fled persecution and economic hardship and taken refuge in countries in the region.The Venezuelan refugee and migrant displacement crisis is one of the largest the world has ever seen, second only to Syria. U.N. officials say it has not received the visibility it deserves.Michael Grant is assistant deputy minister for the Americas, Global Affairs Canada.Grant said this lack of visibility is depriving the Venezuelans and host countries of the humanitarian assistance needed for them to thrive. He said this is causing more suffering for millions of people who already have endured so much distress.“The lives of nearly six million people have been upended, forced to leave their homes with little or no possessions in search of safety, security and dignity. Walking in some instances thousands of kilometers to find refuge,” he said.  At the end of their journey, he said countries in South and Central America and the Caribbean have offered the Venezuelans shelter, health care, education, and security, but, he said this generosity is unsustainable without more international support.Grant said the Venezuelan crisis is amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit the Latin American and Caribbean region particularly hard. He said the pandemic has had a particularly severe impact on women, children, and vulnerable groups.“Over half do not have enough to eat. Eighty to 90 percent have lost their source of income. One in four children is separated from their families during the journey and women and girls experience particular challenges such as gender-based violence and lack of access to sexual and reproductive health services,” he said.U.N. agencies report millions of impoverished Venezuelans are in dire straits and dependent upon humanitarian assistance for survival.Canada, in collaboration with the U.N. refugee agency and International Organization for Migration, is hosting an International Donors’ Conference on behalf of Venezuelan refugees and migrants on June 17.The agencies say $1.44 billion is needed to provide lifesaving aid to the 5.6 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants this year. They note half the year is gone and only five percent of this amount has been funded. They are appealing to governments to use this week’s pledging conference to fill this gap. 

Hundreds Take Part in Funeral of Canadian Muslim Family Killed in Truck Attack

Several hundred mourners joined a public funeral Saturday of a Canadian Muslim family run over and killed by a pickup driver in an attack police said was driven by hate.The four members of the Afzaal family, spanning three generations, were killed last Sunday when Nathaniel Veltman, 20, ran into them while they were out for an evening walk near their home in London, Ontario, authorities said. A fifth family member, a 9-year-old boy, is recovering from his injuries in the hospital.Police have said the attack was premeditated and allege the family was targeted because of their Islamic faith.The hourlong ceremony started after the four coffins draped in Canadian flags rolled into the compound of the Islamic Center of Southwest Ontario and ended with prayers and condolences offered by religious and community leaders. Burial later was private.”The very fact their coffins are draped in the beautiful Canadian flag is an apt testimony of the fact that the entire Canadian nation stands with them,” Raza Bashir, Tarar High Commissioner for Pakistan to Canada, told the gathering.The family moved to Canada from Pakistan 14 years ago.The attack sparked outrage across Canada, with politicians from all sides condemning the crime, spurring growing calls to take action to curb hate crime and Islamophobia. London, 200 kilometers (120 miles) southwest of Toronto, has seen an outpouring of support in the aftermath of the attack.Veltman, who returns to court on Monday, faces four charges of first-degree murder and one of attempted murder.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called the killings a “terrorist attack” and vowed to clamp down on far-right groups and online hate.”I think we’re emotionally exhausted,” Imam Aarij Anwer told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. before the ceremony. “We’re looking forward to having some closure on Saturday.” 

Interfaith March Honors Muslim Family Killed in Canada Truck Attack

Several thousand people joined an interfaith march Friday evening honoring the four members of a Muslim family who were killed in an attack that has shocked Canada.The procession started at the site where three generations of a family out for a Sunday evening stroll — 46-year-old Salman Afzaal; his 44-year-old wife, Madiha Salman; their 15-year-old daughter, Yumna Salman; and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal — were killed in London, southern Ontario, as they were waiting to cross the street.The couple’s 9-year-old son, Fayez, suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.The march against racism and Islamophobia culminated at London’s mosque, about 7 kilometers away.The demonstrators, who included families with children, banged on drums while others sang John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance.”They held posters with messages like “Hate kills” and “We’re all human.”After a moment of silence marking the time of the tragedy, representatives from several religions gave speeches denouncing hatred and saluting the outpouring of support for London’s 30,000-strong Muslim community.Other rallies or vigils in Canada on Friday took place in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec, where a shooting in a mosque left six dead in 2017.The Afzaal family’s funeral is scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Nathaniel Veltman, 20, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in the truck attack. If found guilty he faces life in prison.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called the assault — in which Veltman’s truck mounted a curb and struck the Afzaal family — a “terrorist attack.”Detective Superintendent Paul Waight, who is leading the investigation, has said there was evidence “that this was a planned, premeditated act, motivated by hate.”

UN General Assembly Confirms 5 Countries to Security Council

The U.N. General Assembly voted Friday to give two-year terms on the powerful 15-nation Security Council to five countries.    Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates all ran unopposed for available seats in their regional groups, and each secured the necessary two-thirds majority required of the secret ballots cast.They will begin their terms on Jan. 1, 2022.The council deals with issues of international peace and security.  It has the power to deploy peacekeepers to trouble spots and to sanction bad actors.  New members bring different experiences, perspectives and national interests to the council and can subtly affect dynamics among its members.The council currently has several Middle Eastern crises on its agenda, including the Israeli-Palestinian situation and conflicts in Libya, Syria and Yemen.Richard Gowan, U.N. director for the International Crisis Group and a long-time U.N. watcher, says the United Arab Emirates may play a role in those areas and elsewhere.“The UAE has a lot of influence not only in the Middle East but in the Horn of Africa, and other council members will hope the Emiratis will use their influence to help stabilize countries like Sudan and Ethiopia,” Gowan said.Gowan notes that Albania is a country that has “seen the U.N. fail awfully in its region in the past.”The U.N. failed to stop the Balkan war of the early 1990s, leading to NATO bombing in 1995. Then in 1999, Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians fought Serbs to gain independence.“Albania’s main interest on the U.N. agenda is of course still Kosovo, but the Security Council only has very limited influence there now,” Gowan told VOA. UAE Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh noted that the council’s work does not end when resolutions are adopted.“The UAE will be part of the coalition that speaks to strengthen the results-oriented nature of the council as much as possible,” she said, adding that the council is most effective when it is united.But in recent years, diverging views, particularly among its permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — have stymied action on urgent issues. “The Security Council’s record on recent crises has been pathetic,” Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch, told VOA.    “Whether it involves war crimes in Gaza, massive human rights abuses in Myanmar, or atrocities in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, the most you can usually expect is the occasional statement of concern — and that’s if you’re lucky,” he said.  The countries elected Friday will replace exiting members Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam on Jan. 1.    They will join the five other current non-permanent members: India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico and Norway, and the five veto-wielding permanent members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.   

Fight Over Canadian Oil Rages on After Pipeline’s Demise

The Keystone XL is dead after a 12-year attempt to build the oil pipeline, yet the fight over Canadian crude rages on as emboldened environmentalists target other projects and pressure President Joe Biden to intervene — all while oil imports from the north keep rising.Biden dealt the fatal blow to the partially built $9 billion Keystone XL in January when he revoked its border-crossing permit issued by former President Donald Trump. On Wednesday, sponsors TC Energy and the province of Alberta gave up and declared the line “terminated.”Activists and many scientists had warned that the pipeline would open a new spigot on Canada’s oil sands crude — and that burning the heavily polluting fuel would lock in climate change. As the fight escalated into a national debate over fossil fuels, Canadian crude exports to the U.S. steadily increased, driven largely by production from Alberta’s oil sands region.Even before the cancellation, environmentalists had turned their attention to other projects, including the proposal by energy delivery company Enbridge to expand and rebuild its Line 3 pipeline in Minnesota, the target of protests this week that led to the arrest of some 250 activists.”Don’t expect these fights to go away anytime soon,” said Daniel Raimi, a fellow at Resources for the Future, an energy and environmental think tank in Washington. “This is going to encourage environmental advocates to do more of the same.”Bill McKibben, an author who was arrested outside the White House while protesting the Keystone XL in 2011, said its defeat provides a template to kill other pipelines, including Line 3 and the Dakota Access pipeline from North Dakota’s Bakken oil field.Describing Keystone XL as “a carbon bomb,” McKibben said Line 3 is the same size and “carries the same stuff. How on earth could anyone with a straight face say Line 3 passes the climate test?”Enbridge said the cancellation of Keystone XL will not affect its projects, describing them as “designed to meet current energy demand safely and in ways that better protect the environment.”A second TC Energy pipeline network, known simply as Keystone, has been delivering crude from Canada’s oil sands region since 2010. The company says the line that runs from Alberta to Illinois, Oklahoma and the Gulf Coast has moved more than 3 billion barrels of oil.Canada is by far the biggest foreign crude supplier to the U.S., which imported about 3.5 million barrels a day from its neighbor in 2020 — 61% of all U.S. oil imports.The flow dropped slightly during the coronavirus pandemic but has largely rebounded. Import volumes have almost doubled since the Keystone XL was first proposed in 2008, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said Thursday that it expects no immediate effect on production from Keystone XL’s cancellation, but the group predicted more oil would be moved to the U.S. by rail.A series of fiery accidents occurred in the U.S. and Canada after rail shipments of crude increased during an oil boom on the Northern Plains, including a 2013 incident in which 47 people were killed after a runaway train derailed in the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic.The dispute over Keystone XL and other lines raised diplomatic tensions between the two countries, but Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau adopted a conciliatory tone with Biden, who canceled the pipeline on his first day in the White House.Canada uses much less oil than it produces, making it a huge exporter, and 98% of those exports go to the U.S., according to the Natural Resources Canada.Trudeau raised Keystone XL as a top priority with Biden while acknowledging that the president had promised in his campaign to cancel the line.Both leaders have taken heat at home over Keystone, with Republicans slamming Biden for shutting it down while construction was under way, costing hundreds of jobs. The project was meant to expand oil exports for Canada, which has the third-largest oil reserves in the world, and provincial officials in Alberta wanted Trudeau to do more to save it.The White House declined to comment on the cancellation. Spokesperson Vedant Patel declined to say if Biden plans to address increased crude exports from Canada or intervene in other pipeline disputes.His action on Keystone “signals at least some appetite to get involved,” but pipelines that have operated for years would be tougher targets, Raimi said.Winona LaDuke, executive director of the Indigenous-based environmental group Honor the Earth, called on Biden to withdraw an Army Corps of Engineers permit for Line 3 and to order a new study.”He could stop the project,” she said. “Don’t ask us to be nice to Enbridge. They’re all over our land. They’re hurting us.”The Biden administration has been “disturbingly quiet” on Line 3 and the Dakota Access line, said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. He urged the administration to declare both unacceptable.Fiercely opposed by Native Americans, the Dakota Access pipeline was the impetus for protests that were quashed by law enforcement. The Biden administration has not sought to stop the line, and it’s still in court after a judge revoked its permit but allowed oil to keep flowing.Alberta sank more than $1 billion into Keystone XL last year to kick-start construction. Officials in the province are considering a trade action against the U.S. to seek compensation.Keystone XL’s price tag ballooned as the project languished, increasing from $5.4 billion to $9 billion.Another question: What to do with pipe already in place at the U.S.-Canada border and other infrastructure along its route.Jane Kleeb, a pipeline opponent in Nebraska, said state regulators should revoke the permit they approved for a route through the state. Otherwise, she said, TC Energy might try to sell the easements to another company.Until the state acts, farmers and ranchers will continue to face TC Energy attorneys in court, “protecting their property from an eminent domain land grab by a foreign corporation,” she said. 

2 Passengers on Royal Caribbean Cruise Test Positive for COVID

Two passengers on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship have tested positive for COVID-19.Cruise operator Royal Caribbean said Thursday the two guests on the Celebrity Millennium ship tested positive during required end-of-cruise testing.Royal Caribbean said the two passengers who shared a room are asymptomatic, in isolation and are being monitored by a medical team.”We are conducting contact tracing, expediting testing for all close contacts and closely monitoring the situation,” Royal Caribbean said in a statement.The cruise operator said the “comprehensive protocols” that the Celebrity Millennium had observed had exceeded “CDC guidelines to protect the health and safety of our guests.”Celebrity Millennium set sail Saturday from St. Maarten and has made several stops around the Caribbean.Royal Caribbean said its crew was fully vaccinated. Passengers were required to show proof of vaccination and negative results from a COVID test conducted within 72 hours of departure. Children too young for vaccination also were required to have negative COVID test results.

El Chapo’s Wife Pleads Guilty to Drug Running Charges 

Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of notorious Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, has pleaded guilty to charges she helped her husband run the Sinaloa cartel. 
 
Coronel Aispuro, 31, pleaded guilty to three federal charges Thursday in a federal court in Washington.  
 
The charges include conspiring to distribute heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine over years, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and engaging in transactions with a foreign drug trafficker. 
 
Coronel Aispuro was arrested at Dulles International Airport outside Washington in February and has been held in custody since. 
 
Her arrest was a surprise as no moves were made against her for two years despite her being implicated during her husband’s trial in 2019.  FILE – In this courtroom sketch, Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, foreground right, reads a statement through an interpreter during his sentencing in federal court, July 17, 2019, in New York. 
Guzman’s cartel operated ruthlessly for 25 years, smuggling tons of drugs into the U.S. while using extreme violence against anyone who got in the way.  
 
He was found guilty of 10 charges and sentenced to life plus 30 years. He is being held in Colorado’s Supermax prison. 

Sunrise Special: Solar Eclipse Thrills World’s Northern Tier

The top of the world got a sunrise special Thursday — a “ring of fire” solar eclipse.  This so-called annular eclipse began at the Canadian province of Ontario, then swept across Greenland, the North Pole and finally Siberia, as the moon passed directly in front of the sun.An annular eclipse occurs when a new moon is around its farthest point from us and appearing smaller, and so it doesn’t completely blot out the sun when it’s dead center.  The upper portions of North America, Europe and Asia enjoyed a partial eclipse, at least where the skies were clear. At those locations, the moon appeared to take a bite out of the sun. The moon is seen blotting out 81 percent of the sun during a solar eclipse in Washington, D.C., Monday, Aug. 21, 2017. (Photo by Diaa Bekheet)It was the first eclipse of the sun visible from North America since August 2017, when a dramatic total solar eclipse crisscrossed the U.S. The next one is coming up in 2024.A total lunar eclipse graced the skies two weeks ago.

Peru Leftist Presidential Candidate Castillo Eyes Election

Leftist Peruvian presidential candidate Pedro Castillo is claiming victory in Peru’s national election, but his conservative rival, Keiko Fujimori, is suggesting hundreds of thousands of ballots cast in this week’s runoff election may have been fraudulently cast.Fujimori called on the country’s National Jury of Elections to throw out 200,000 votes cast in Sunday’s runoff between her and Castillo, and review another 300,000 votes, despite failing to provide any evidence to back up her claims.    “It’s not about my candidacy, but about respecting the vote of millions of Peruvians who want their vote to be respected and for this process to be transparent and clean,” Fujimori told reporters Wednesday in Lima.Castillo holds a very narrow lead over Fujimori, 50.2 % to 49.9 %, or just over 74,000 votes, with nearly all ballots counted.Fujimori, a former congresswoman, was imprisoned as part of a corruption investigation. She is the daughter of Alberto Fujimori, a former president serving a 25-year sentence for corruption and the killing of 25 people. She has promised economic benefits to families with victims of COVID-19. Castillo was a schoolteacher in the country’s third-poorest district before entering politics. He has said that he is committed to rewriting the constitution, which was approved during the rule of Fujimori’s father. 

160 Million of World’s Children Forced to Work During Pandemic, UN Says

A new report finds 160 million children or nearly one child in ten is involved in child labor globally, an increase of 8.4 million since 2016.  AFILE – Children work with relatives to load a brick kiln for firing in Tobati, Paraguay, Sept. 4, 2020.The picture that emerges from this study varies by region.   The report finds child labor is continuing to decrease in Asia and the Pacific, as well as in Latin America and the Caribbean.  However, child labor has risen substantially in Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.    ILO Director General, Guy Ryder, says in Africa as a whole, 20 million more children are in child labor today than they were four years ago.  Of those, he says 16.6 million are in sub-Saharan Africa.      “So, if you look at that in percentage terms, it means that almost one in five African children are in child labor, one in four in the sub-Saharan sub region.  They are losing out on their education.  They are working at a young age.  They are working too many hours.  They often are working in hazardous occupations,” he said.     Executive Director of UNICEF Henrietta Fore expresses concern at the alarming rise in younger children who are toiling in child labor.  She says half of all children in child labor around the world are aged 5 to 11 years.    She says the COVID-19 pandemic is making this terrible situation even worse. “Faced with job losses and rising poverty, families are forced to make heartbreaking decisions.  We estimate that nine million more children could be pushed into child labor by the end of next year, a number that could rise as high as 46 million if social protection coverage falls victim to countries’ austerity measures,” she said.    To reverse the upward trend in child labor, the ILO and UNICEF are calling for adequate social protection for all, including universal child benefits and for quality education and increased spending in getting children back to school.   They say decent work for adults must be promoted so children do not have to be sent out to work to help support their families.  

Keystone Pipeline Canceled After Biden Had Blocked Permit

The sponsor of the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline said Wednesday it is pulling the plug on the contentious project after Canadian officials failed to persuade President Joe Biden to reverse his cancellation of its permit on the day he took office.
 
Calgary-based TC Energy said it would work with government agencies “to ensure a safe termination of and exit from” the partially built line, which was to transport crude from the oil sand fields of western Canada to Steele City, Nebraska.
 
Construction on the 1,930-kilometer pipeline began last year when then-President Donald Trump revived the long-delayed project after it had stalled under the Obama administration.  
 
It would have moved up to 830,000 barrels (35 million gallons) of crude daily, connecting in Nebraska to other pipelines that feed oil refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
 
Biden canceled it in January over long-standing concerns that burning oil sands crude would make climate change worse.
 
Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau objected to the move, but officials in Alberta, where the line originated, expressed disappointment in recent weeks that he didn’t lobby harder to reinstate the pipeline’s permit.
 
Attorneys general from U.S. 21 states had sued to overturn Biden’s cancellation of the contentious pipeline, which would have created thousands of construction jobs.
 

Canada Views Immigrants as Key to Economic Recovery 

Officials and experts plotting Canada’s economic recovery from the global pandemic are looking to current and future immigrants as a big part of the solution.That conclusion is perhaps inevitable, given the oversized role that immigrants already play in the country’s highly pluralistic society.Canada has one of the highest immigration rates of any country, with first-generation residents accounting for 21.9% of the population, according to the latest census in 2016. Asia is the largest source of immigrants, followed by Africa and then Europe. Canada also hosts more than half a million foreign students.The flood of new arrivals – which stood at more than 300,000 per year before the pandemic – has been slowed by tough new health-related travel restrictions. But as long-awaited vaccines are finally becoming available to more residents, analysts look forward to a reopening of the immigration doors.Harald Bauder, an immigration expert with Ryerson University in Toronto, told VOA he believes immigration is needed now more than ever.“Immigration is really part of the solution of jump-starting the economy again as part of the recovery strategy,” he said. “How can we catch up from the year that we lost? I have the impression that it will not be a bad year coming up to be a prospective immigrant to Canada.”Bauder added: “We’re getting signals [from the federal government] that immigration will be part of the solution when this is over.”Economic contributionsThe rationale behind Canada’s encouragement of immigration is laid out on a FILE – An official with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, speaks with Syrian refugees waiting to pass through security at the beginning of a airlift to Canada, at the Beirut International airport, Dec. 10, 2015.Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada’s opposition New Democratic Party, insists the nation’s economic recovery “must not fall on the backs of workers and families.”“This pandemic hit people across Canada hard,” Singh said in a statement to VOA. “It has affected everyone, including newcomers to Canada and international students.”Other obstaclesDr. Idil Atak, a refugee expert with Ryerson University, said the pandemic has thrown up other obstacles for newcomers, including asylum-seekers who have been unable to secure permission to work legally while awaiting rulings on their applications for refugee status.“In terms of employment, what I noticed is that currently because of the pandemic, there are issues of processing work permits for asylum-seekers,” Atak said in an interview. “Those asylum-seekers who are in Canada who are not refugees yet, they normally do have a right to work, but for that they need a permit.“What I’ve seen in my research is that the timelines for processing the work permits are extremely long. I have spoken with some refugee lawyers who have clients who are in Canada for two years now but do not have work permits due to the pandemic delays.”Atak also expressed concern about the impact of Canada’s travel restrictions on would-be refugees.“One of the things the Canadian government can do is declare that refugees coming to Canada are part of essential travel,” Atak said. “Of course, there should be security checks and health screening … but this is perfectly feasible to also offer protection to asylum-seekers in Canada.“Despite Canada’s reputation as a diverse and inclusive society, many newcomers do find themselves facing anti-immigrant sentiment.Noah Khan is a master’s degree student in education at York University in Toronto. His research has looked at anti-Asian hate speech online during the pandemic, which he has presented at graduate student conferences.A ‘mask’ for racismKhan told VOA his research was inspired by his own experiences, including an anonymous email saying, “I’ll be watching you at the [student group] meeting and from now on, sandy.” Khan said he understood “sandy” as “a racial slur for Middle Eastern people.”“The pandemic has given racism a mask I didn’t even know it could wear,” Khan said.“It is clear in the research that anti-Asian racism has risen, spread in new ways, affected Asian mental health, and indicated further decline in Asian mental health based on the way things are going.”