International

Israel vs Hamas war: Nigeria, Brazil, Spain, others evacuate citizens

Published

1 year ago

October 11, 2023

Israel vs Hamas war: Nigeria, Brazil, Spain, others evacuate citizens

Thousands of foreigners are stranded in Israel and the Palestinian territories, where a full-fledged battle has erupted since Hamas militants launched their offensive on Saturday.

With thousands of lives lost on both sides, several countries have initiated efforts to repatriate their residents, while others promise to do so in the coming days.

Here is an overview of ongoing and planned evacuations, according to official sources.

Nigeria

Nigeria has airlifted more than 300 of its citizens back home after they fled to Jordan from Israel, where they were on a Christian pilgrimage, the Lagos state government said.

The group was travelling from Bethlehem to Nazareth when they heard news of the attack in the south of Israel.

With the war erupting, the group and the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims’ Commission organised for them to travel by road to Jordan and then take a chartered flight to Lagos.

Argentina

Argentina, the Latin American country with the largest Jewish population, on Tuesday started evacuating more than 1,200 of its citizens from Israel.

Three air force flights a day will take the 1,246 Argentines who have asked to be evacuated to the Italian capital Rome, Defence Minister Jorge Taiana said.

READ ALSO:

From there, state-owned airline Aerolineas Argentinas will fly them to Buenos Aires.

Brazil

Brazil’s government plans to mobilise at least six planes in a bid to rapidly repatriate any of its citizens who wish to leave Israel and the Palestinian territories.

It said that about 14,000 Brazilians live in Israel and 6,000 live in the Palestinian territories.

Some had already left on commercial flights, it said.

Switzerland

Swiss International Air Lines repatriated 220 Swiss nationals on Tuesday.

A second special flight with a capacity of 215 seats is planned for Wednesday, requested by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

A third flight is scheduled for Thursday, expected to land in Tel Aviv in the afternoon, also with a capacity of 215 seats.

Around 28,000 Swiss citizens and their families are officially registered as living in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Spain

Spain organised a flight from Tel Aviv overnight to Wednesday with 200 people on board, its foreign ministry said.

South Korea

A flight carrying 192 South Korean citizens took off from Tel Aviv and landed at the Incheon International Airport near Seoul early Wednesday, the foreign ministry said.

READ ALSO:

Another 30 South Korean nationals will be evacuated later in the week by commercial flights, it said, adding that 27 others, who were in Israel on a Christian pilgrimage, will go by road to neighbouring Jordan.

Canada

The Canadian government said it would organise special flights from Tel Aviv later in the week for Canadian nationals, with help from the Canadian military.

France

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna announced on Tuesday that her ministry’s crisis unit was organising a special Air France flight from Tel Aviv on Thursday to help repatriate any French nationals who have been unable to leave.

Germany

Germany said it was working with Lufthansa to organise “several special flights” on Thursday and Friday to repatriate German citizens.

“Around 4,500 German citizens” have registered on a list seeking help to return home, a foreign ministry source said.

Iceland

The Iceland government announced it will send a plane to repatriate around 120 of its nationals stuck in Israel.

Norway

Norway has organised a flight for Wednesday evening for its citizens stuck in Israel and Palestinian territories. There are around 500 Norwegian nationals in the region.

Portugal

Portugal repatriated 152 of its nationals Wednesday morning, as well as 14 other Europeans, in a Portuguese military aircraft.

Finland

Finland says it will organise the repatriation of its nationals from the region.

Israel vs Hamas war: Nigeria, Brazil, Spain, others evacuate citizens

(AFP)

International

Canada denies 13,000 Nigerians refugee status

Published

7 hours ago

March 23, 2025

Trends Admin

Canada denies 13,000 Nigerians refugee status

Over 13,000 Nigerians who applied for refugee protection in Canada from January 2013 to December 2024 were rejected.

According to data from the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, this figure includes 811 Nigerians whose applications were turned down in 2024.

The board placed Nigeria among the top five countries with the most rejected claims.

Mexico tops the list with 2,954 rejections, followed by India and Haiti, which have 1,688 and 982 rejected claims, respectively.

Colombia is in fourth place with 723 rejected claims, while Nigeria is in fifth place with 13,171 rejections.

In Canada, asylum seekers get refugee protection if the RPD satisfactorily confirms that their claims meet the United Nations definition of a Convention refugee.

In its definition of the Status of Refugee, the 1951 UN Convention states refugees are persons who have a substantiated fear of persecution because of their race, nationality, religion, political ideology or membership in a particular social group, which can include sexual orientation, gender identity, being a woman and persons living with HIV/AIDS.

READ ALSO:

However, in Canada, asylum seekers are expected to show evidence that they are in danger of torture, risk to their life or risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment if they return to their country of nationality.

According to the Refugee Board’s application guideline, if an applicant’s “claim is eligible, it is sent to the RPD to start the claim for refugee protection process.”

The breakdown of the rejections showed that 127 Nigerian claims were rejected in 2013, 241 in 2014 and 248 in 2015.

Canada denies 13,000 Nigerians refugee status

International

Nurse punished in UK for addressing convicted transgender paedophile as ‘Mr’

Published

8 hours ago

March 23, 2025

Trends Admin

Jennifer Melle

Nurse punished in UK for addressing convicted transgender paedophile as ‘Mr’

A senior nurse in the UK is battling to save her career after facing disciplinary action for refusing to refer to a convicted child sex offender as a woman.

Jennifer Melle, 40, from Croydon, was working at Epsom and St Helier University Hospital Trust when she declined to use female pronouns for a paedophile known as ‘Mr X,’ per report from the London Standard.

The offender, currently serving time in a high-security male prison, was jailed for grooming boys online while posing as a teenage girl.

International

Gaza: Iran begins talks with S’Arabia, Egypt as Israel renews attacks

Published

17 hours ago

March 23, 2025

Trends Admin

Gaza: Iran begins talks with S’Arabia, Egypt as Israel renews attacks

Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Saturday exchanged views with his Saudi Arabian and Egyptian counterparts on Israel’s renewed attacks on Gaza.

In a phone conversation with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Araghchi strongly condemned Israel’s attacks in Gaza, and urged other countries in the region to take collective action, said the Iranian Foreign Ministry in a statement.

For his part, Faisal reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s condemnation of Israeli aggressions and emphasized regional coordination to prevent further escalation.

READ ALSO:

In a separate phone call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Araghchi condemned Israel’s renewed attacks on Gaza as well as obstruction of humanitarian aid delivery to the Palestinian coastal enclave “in flagrant violation” of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

The Egyptian foreign minister underscored the need for consultations and diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation.

Both Egyptian and Iranian ministers agreed to maintain consultations on regional developments.