LOS FRESNOS, United: Behind metal fences topped with barbed wire, men play volleyball and basketball at a detention center in Texas, passing time as they wait to hear if they will be allowed to stay in the United States.
They are among more than 1,000 men housed at this former naval base in the US city of Los Fresnos, just a few miles from the Mexican border, which they all crossed illegally.
Tens of thousands of people walk into America every week through informal crossing points along the 3,000-kilometer frontier, bringing hopes and dreams from Latin America, Africa and Asia.
Most of them turn themselves in and request asylum.
Families are usually released quickly on the promise of appearing before an immigration judge in the future.
But single men and women end up in centers like this one.
Miguel Vergara, director of the local Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations, said the US government has designated the Port Isabel Detention Center as a place where certain groups of migrants are kept.
“Individuals who pose a national security risk, a danger to public safety, who undermined our border control efforts, or (who) crossed into the United States recently,” he told reporters on Monday.
Last week, President Joe Biden, seeking to address an issue many see as a liability five months out from his presidential election contest with Donald Trump, announced an executive order intended to stem the flow of people coming into the country.
The order will allow the border to be effectively shut to asylum claimants once 2,500 people have been processed in a day.
It also makes it easier to deport people, a key demand on the US right, with Trump and others saying — without evidence — that criminals are swarming the country.
Port Isabel holds only men. When they arrive at the facility, they are sent to holding cells with cream-colored walls and thick doors.
On the walls of the cells, which can hold between 10 and 20 people, information is posted in 15 languages.
The men remain in these cells for a maximum of 12 hours before being classified and given a color to wear: blue uniform for first-time migrants, orange for those with some kind of criminal record and red for those considered dangerous.
After a medical check-up and any necessary treatment, the men are taken according to uniform color to what will become their new homes for as long as they are at the facility.
In the housing areas, detainees have access to ATMs which can be used to deposit any money they have, or for relatives to send them cash, which they can use in the facility’s vending machines.
Outside the center, which shimmers in the heat of the vast Rio Grande Valley, signs prohibit hitchhiking.
Cameras watch from all angles, generating the displays on a bank of monitors inside an air-conditioned control room, where guards can also see almost every corner of the facility.
No one is supposed to stay in a place like this for more than 90 days, but administrators admit that can easily slip as cases go to appeal.
Officials say they understand that confinement can be frustrating for these men, and say they do what they can to alleviate boredom.
Activities on offer include music classes often taught by a volunteer among the migrants.
Other men use their time to learn or improve the English they hope one day to use to get a better job in America.
One enterprising group of migrants offers haircuts.
There are movie nights, sometimes with films in the languages of the people detained.
Detainees are encouraged to take part in outdoor activities, but the hours can be curtailed by the punishing Texas sun.
Some people paint, producing art that represents their hope for a new life — a mural of the Liberty Bell on the library wall stands testament to the dreams of one occupant.
Migrants have access to private cubicles where they can speak with an immigration officer as they make their case to be allowed to stay.
The response will come in writing; if it is negative, the detainee can appeal to a judge, who has a court at the detention center.
Further appeals are possible all the way to the US Supreme Court.
A definitive “no” results in deportation. Those who are granted asylum leave within 48 hours.
Anyone who wants to give up on the process can request a return to their home country.
Biden’s announcement last week did nothing to slow the number of people arriving here, officials say.
On Monday, the facility had around 170 spaces, but, says Vergara, he expects it will be full again soon.
“Migration... is shifting kind of toward the west, so it has perhaps diminished a bit, but it is only a matter of time before the facilities in the west get full and their detainees begin to get transferred down this way,” he said.
Color-coded migrants wait for answers in Texas heat
https://arab.news/mytfn
Color-coded migrants wait for answers in Texas heat
- Tens of thousands of people walk into America every week through informal crossing points along the 3,000-kilometer frontier
- Families are usually released quickly on the promise of appearing before an immigration judge in the future
Police in Hungary investigate bomb threats affecting over 240 schools
Officers were being dispatched to all affected institutions
BUDAPEST: Police in Hungary said Thursday they were investigating bomb threats that were sent to more than 240 schools across the country, resulting in classes being canceled at some schools.
The threats, which came in the form of emails, were identical in their text and likely sent by a single sender, police said in a statement. Officers were being dispatched to all affected institutions. No explosives or explosive devices were found in the buildings inspected so far, police added.
Gergely Gulyás, chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, said that “education in most schools in the country proceeds smoothly,” and that school administrators could decide for themselves whether to send students home.
He said Orbán on Thursday had consulted repeatedly with the interior minister and the minister in charge of Hungary’s secret services.
The emails were sent from numerous email providers “including foreign ones,” Gulyás said. Hungarian secret services were in consultation with their counterparts in neighboring Slovakia, where similar bomb threats were made last year, Gulyás said.
On Wednesday, numerous schools in around a dozen cities in Bulgaria also received bomb threats, according to Bulgarian public broadcaster BNT.
Kyiv claims Russian forces killed six captured Ukrainian troops
- Officials both in Moscow and Kyiv have accused the other’s army of carrying out killings
- “In the video, the occupiers recorded their own crime,” Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets wrote in a social media post
KYIV: Kyiv accused Russian forces on Thursday of killing six captured Ukrainian servicemen and said it was notifying international rights groups of the latest alleged Russian war crime.
Officials both in Moscow and Kyiv have accused the other’s army of carrying out killings of captured soldiers in violation of international law.
The Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets made the allegations referring to footage circulating on social media that appears to show Russian troops shooting unarmed Ukrainian troops to death.
“In the video, the occupiers recorded their own crime — shooting six Ukrainian soldiers who were captured in the back,” he wrote in a social media post.
The video, which has spread across social media, could not be verified by AFP and there was no immediate comment from Moscow on the claims.
It appears to show Russian soldiers in a muddied frontline area ordering the Ukrainian troops to a clearing where they are then shot in the back one by one.
“I am once again sending information about this crime to the UN and the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross). These facts must be recorded,” Lubinets added.
Saudi Arabia’s transformation attracting rising number of students in India
- India’s Education Ministry sponsored a university program on the Kingdom’s development programs
- Sessions in New Delhi also garnered interest from students in other parts of India, coordinator says
NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia’s transformation programs and Vision 2030 are gaining interest among university students in India, as one of the country’s most prestigious educational institutions hosts a special course on the topic this week.
The five-day course — organized by Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi in cooperation with the Ministry of Education — is part of the Indian government’s Global Initiative of Academic Networks program aimed at encouraging exchanges with the world’s top faculty members and scientists.
The special course that will conclude on Friday has been led by Prof. Joseph Albert Kechichian, senior fellow at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, who specializes in West Asian politics and foreign policy, especially of the Gulf region.
The sessions have attracted students from different parts of India, said Prof. Sameena Hameed from the JNU’s Centre for West Asian Studies, who coordinates the course.
“It’s a very niche course focused on one country and a specific region but to our surprise it has gained traction,” Hameed told Arab News, adding that the number of registered participants was double the initial expectation of 50 students.
“I’m still receiving the request from students … down south in Kerala and other states as well, so it means these kind of subjects are gaining traction because it moves in tandem with India’s increasing bilateral interest and relations in the region.”
The rising interest among Indian students was also evident for Kechichian, who was visiting India for a third time after previous speaking engagements at JNU in 2006 and 2016.
“In 2025, I’m beginning to notice sharp improvements, sharp interests in terms of young scholars who are looking at Saudi Arabia in very different eyes; no longer looking at it only as the mere oil producer, but also as a dynamic society with which Indian communities must come to terms (with), and that’s a positive development,” Kechichian told Arab News on the sidelines of the sessions on Tuesday.
The course, which was also livestreamed to registered participants, aims to provide people with “a comprehensive understanding of the changes that are taking place in the Kingdom,” he added.
“Saudi Arabia is is a young country; the majority of the population is relatively young and they are in the process of acquiring new skills, opening new opportunities in terms of entrepreneurship and others, and, obviously, all of these young people need to have contacts with the rest of the world, among whom India, of course, plays an important role as well.”
Saudi-Indian ties have steadily gained prominence over the past three decades, and reached a new level of engagement in 2019, following Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to New Delhi and the establishment of the Strategic Partnership Council.
These aspects set the stage for further collaboration, which gained momentum when Saudi Arabia presided over the Group of 20 largest economies in 2020, followed by India’s presidency of the bloc in 2023.
The evolving relationship has not only deepened strategic ties, but also fostered cooperation in trade, security, new technologies and regional stability.
Amid “tremendous interest” to improve ties between Saudi and Indian business communities, Kechichian said that such courses will help both sides to get to know each other better and pave the way for future cooperation.
“All indications are, in fact, that both sides are trying to encourage business leaders to create entrepreneurship and to do as much as possible to benefit both sides,” he said.
For Aarya R. Sardesai, a political science student at the Janki Devi Memorial College in the University of Delhi, understanding Saudi Arabia better was integral to her education.
“Obviously, it will benefit me to know in terms of how my country and Saudi Arabia can have better relations and stronger ties in future,” Sardesai told Arab News.
“I think Saudi Arabia is trying to set a new trend; it is trying to incline itself with the fast-paced globalized world and the attempts that they are making to bring these shifts … are quite commendable.”
The changes happening in Saudi Arabia were a point of attraction for many of the participants.
“This is more about the future parts of Gulf countries and how they are going to go about diversifying their economies … it is very close to my research,” said Ph.D. student Deepika Matangi.
Kelvin Benny, a Ph.D. candidate at JNU, said that he took part in the course because of Saudi Arabia’s importance in India’s Act West Policy, a government strategy aimed at strengthening relations with Arab countries.
“So, for our academic input we need deep research on Saudi, and especially Saudi is a country undergoing a huge transformation from a typical oil-based economy to a modern economy,” Benny told Arab News. “So, in this context, Saudi is very essential.”
UK delaying reversal on Israeli arms export ban: Report
- British PM expects ‘sustained’ aid deliveries to Gaza before reversing partial weapons freeze
- Israeli counterpart raised the matter during phone call on Tuesday
LONDON: The UK is delaying lifting its partial ban on arms exports to Israel until “sustained” humanitarian aid shipments arrive in Gaza, The Times reported.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who spoke to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu by telephone on Tuesday, is believed to be resisting pressure from Tel Aviv on the matter.
Starmer is expected to wait for formal legal advice that Israel’s policy on aid deliveries has improved before reversing the ban.
A source told The Times: “There are signs that the trucks are getting through. But we have told the Israelis we need that to be sustained and to see numbers increased.”
Last September, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy suspended 30 of 350 export licenses to Israel due to fears that the weapons could be used to commit violations of international law, implicating Britain in the process. Licenses are reviewed every six weeks as per government policy.
The government’s existing legal position on the banned export licenses cites credible claims of Israeli mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners of war, as well as insufficient aid deliveries to Gaza. Israel could “reasonably do more to facilitate humanitarian access and distribution,” it says.
During Tuesday’s phone call, Netanyahu “raised the issue of the weapons export licenses to Israel that have been frozen in the UK,” according to an Israeli government report.
There are concerns that an Israeli law set to take effect next week designating the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees as a terrorist group could prevent it from helping with urgent aid deliveries.
UNRWA is the largest aid organization in Gaza, with about 13,000 staff in the Palestinian enclave.
Daesh claims responsibility for killing Chinese national in Afghanistan
- Daesh said it had targeted a vehicle carrying the Chinese citizen, which led to his death and damage to his vehicle
- China said it was “deeply shocked” by the attack and demanded the Afghan side thoroughly investigate the incident
KABUL: Daesh (Islamic State) has claimed responsibility for the killing of a Chinese national in Afghanistan’s northern Takhar province, it said in a post on its Telegram channel late on Wednesday.
Afghan police in the province had said on Wednesday that a Chinese citizen was murdered and a preliminary investigation had been launched, but it was not clear who was behind the attack.
Daesh said it had targeted a vehicle carrying the Chinese citizen, which led to his death and damage to his vehicle.
China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday it was “deeply shocked” by the attack and had demanded that the Afghan side thoroughly investigate the incident and severely punish the perpetrators.
“We urge the Afghan interim government to take resolute and effective measures to ensure the security of Chinese civil institutions and projects in Afghanistan,” ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press briefing.
China was the first country to appoint an ambassador to Afghanistan under the Taliban and has said it wants to boost trade and investment ties.
The Taliban took over in 2021, vowing to restore security to the war-torn nation.
Attacks have continued, including an assault in 2022 on a Kabul hotel popular with Chinese investors. Daesh has claimed responsibility for many of them.
