#rwanda act

[sky-daddy-hates-me]

This government has no fucking shame

[airyairyaucontraire]

The punks cleaned up the mess left behind. What a godawful situation.

[prussianmemes]

a white english anti-war socialist wins a seat in parliament and the next day the hindi PM says that this is an alarming sign of rising rabid-antisemitism, far-right politics, and islamic fundamentalism.

??? what

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Ellen Ioanes at Vox:

The UK is again preparing to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda after Parliament created a workaround to enact a policy the high court declared unlawful.

Authorities have begun detaining migrants to deport to Rwanda under the revamped plan. But the policy faces major logistical issues, humanitarian concerns, and the likelihood that a future Labour government will scrap it. Former Home Secretary Priti Patel initially proposed the controversial law in 2022 as a way to reduce irregular migration, particularly via small boats across the English Channel, which is on the rise in the UK. Her successor, Suella Braverman, also advocated for the plan until she was fired in 2023; Prime Minister Rishi Sunak then vowed to “stop the boats” and promised that the policy would become law. Sunak succeeded on the latter front. Following legal challenges that saw the UK Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights declare the proposal unlawful, a bill declaring Rwanda safe for migrants and that limits the courts’ ability to adjudicate the country’s safety was approved as law by King Charles in late April, despite heavy opposition from the House of Lords. The government published a video on May 1 showing law enforcement authorities detaining people to send to the East African country as soon as July.

The law has been resoundingly criticized by human rights advocates, immigration lawyers, and Labour politicians who say it violates international law and is, to quote shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, “an expensive gimmick.” The law is part of a broader effort by Sunak and his Conservative Party to burnish their image as their government struggles to maintain support in the lead-up to a national election. Irregular migration has increased in recent years, but it’s not the driver of the problems that the UK is facing, including ongoing cost-of-living and housing crises. However, it is among voters’ top concerns, making the extreme anti-immigration law an appealing policy for a dysfunctional party struggling to maintain power.

[...]

The UK’s Rwanda deportation policy, briefly explained

The Rwanda plan has been a policy priority for two years now, and it’s outlived two prime ministers and two home secretaries. The ostensible goal? To deter irregular migrations via the English Channel and other routes, ostensibly for the migrants’ own safety, and to disrupt human trafficking operations.

Though the government has declared Rwanda a safe country through its recent legislation, it is the threat of being sent there instead of potentially receiving asylum in the UK that is meant to deter people from entering the country. Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame claimed that his country was simply trying to help out with “a very complicated problem all over the world” when Rwanda and the UK struck their initial agreement in 2022. But Rwanda will be well compensated by the British government for its purported generosity (more on that later). And critics say it also benefits Rwanda reputationally despite Kagame’s autocratic tendencies (which include threatening or jailing political rivals, repression of the media, and changing the constitution to extend his rule), not to mention the UK government’s own concerns that Rwanda is not a safe place for LGBTQ refugees.

But immigration has become a key policy pillar for the conservative government post-Brexit. Former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, along with Sunak, all touted their tough stance on immigration, hoping to appeal to socially conservative party members who see immigration as a key issue. Sunak and Truss backed the Rwanda plan, which was first proposed by controversial former Home Secretary Priti Patel. The policy was deeply controversial from the start. It applies to the roughly 52,000 asylum seekers the government deems to have entered the UK illegally after January 2022. Under international law, everyone has the right to seek asylum, and countries are obligated to protect people in their territory seeking asylum under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The UK was one of the original signatories to that convention.

But under the new rule, regardless of whether their claims are valid, asylum seekers can now be detained, and forced to fly to Rwanda, where their asylum claims will ostensibly be processed and they will be resettled. The plan “is effectively removing the UK from the asylum convention, because it removes the right to asylum which is explicitly guaranteed,” Peter William Walsh, senior researcher at the Oxford Migration Observatory, told Vox in an interview. It also could change the UK’s legal structure: the UK has threatened to withdraw from the court’s jurisdiction should it rule against the Rwanda plan.

[...]

Costs are already adding up; though no one has been sent to Rwanda and just a handful detained, the UK has already paid Rwanda 220 million pounds (about $270 million) to create infrastructure for asylum seeker processing. That number could skyrocket to more than half a billion pounds total (about $627 million) to send just 300 people to the East African country, according to a UK government watchdog.

Because of objections from advocacy groups, the UK Supreme Court, and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), no migrant in the UK has ever been transferred to Rwanda under the plan. (One migrant has been sent to Rwanda voluntarily under a separate policy that pays eligible migrants 3,000 pounds if they volunteer to be sent to the country.) As seven people awaited deportation to Rwanda in June of 2022, the ECHR intervened and issued injunctions stopping the migrants’ removal and pausing the controversial policy. Though the UK left the European Union in 2020, it is still part of the Council of Europe, which the ECHR has jurisdiction over, making the court’s decision legally binding. And in November 2023, the UK’s highest court ruled the scheme unlawful.

Sunak, however, doubled down on the Rwanda policy, introducing emergency legislation to have Parliament declare Rwanda a safe country, as well as working on a new treaty with Rwanda to address the court’s concerns that asylum-seekers might be sent back to their home countries. That legislation, the Safety of Rwanda Act, passed Parliament in late April and unilaterally declared Rwanda to be a safe place to resettle migrants, paving the way for King Charles’s approval and the Home Office’s moves to detain some migrants who arrived by irregular routes.

The United Kingdom’s highly controversial Rwanda deportation plan proposed in a bid to curb unauthorized immigration to the nation has already ignited controversy.

The UK cannot wait for the Tories to be gone.

[robotpussy]

"Rwanda: Officers raid homes of first people to be deported"

this is so inhumane...

in case people don't know, the "Safety of Rwanda Act" is to "prevent and deter 'unlawful' migration, and in particular migration by unsafe and illegal routes, by enabling the removal of persons to the Republic of Rwanda under provision made by or under the Immigration Acts, a person could face removal if they are eligible for inadmissibility action under the guidance, and

have claimed asylum on or after 1 January 2022 (note, this is a change in wording, the position previously was that the “journey” was made on or after that date), and

they do not have families with children under the age of 18

their journey could be described as having been dangerous, and

sources for explanation

1 2

and to comment on the second point, children who sought out asylum in the UK are also at risk of being deported as they are being classified as adults

[queer-geordie-nerd]

Having read some of the reports and testimonies from survivors of Oct. 7, there is a part of me that *has* to believe that for a lot of those activists celebrating it as an “act of resistance” they don’t fully comprehend or are even aware of the extent of the brutality, in order to preserve what is left of my faith in humanity.

I’ve said this before but I really do think that for rather a large amount of these people, it’s an abstract concept - they’ve spent their privileged Western lives (I say this as a privileged Westerner) cheering on plucky oppressed underdogs overthrowing Evil Oppressors in the most sanitised way possible in their favourite fandoms.

For a lot of them, that’s their point of reference. The Oppressors are cartoon level evil and their much deserved downfall is an exciting denouement. It’s easy to conceptualise extreme violence as “necessary” when literally your only experience of it is a sanitised version through a TV screen that you can switch off.

If they really had to stand and confront the actual reality of what it is they’re cheering, *really* see and feel on their own skin the almost inhuman level of sadistic depravity displayed by Hamas - a fixation on torture and sexual violence that is truly nightmare inducing - would they understand what true evil actually looks like? Would they understand that far from being an oppressed group rising up against their oppressors and fighting for justice, Hamas employed the age old, extremely common tactic of mass rape as a weapon of war in order to humiliate and dehumanise people they see as less than human? You need only look at any war or genocide from the last 30 years - Bosnia, Rwanda, Ukraine, Sudan, countless others, to see it’s a tool of subjugation, not resistance.

Or are they so far gone at this point that they *do* understand and they just don’t care?

How on earth do I square this in my brain? As a human being? As a woman?

[fairuzfan]

I’m a genocide historian and I do think comparisons between the Holocaust and the genocide in Palestine are unproductive because A) the Holocaust is pretty distinct from Palestinian genocide not in its exceptionalism but in its method - the “shipping” of victims from 20+ countries by international rail to a handful of centralized killing sites; 15000 people being gassed in Auschwitz daily (a single gas chamber had standing capacity for 2,000 people) and their stolen hair sold in bales for use as maritime rope and cushion stuffing - and forcing Holocaust parallels obfuscates the terrible and very unique methods of genocide being used by Israel against Palestinians. B) People often invoke the Holocaust as an emotional appeal regarding the moral culpability of all Jews (“how could you do what was done to your ancestors!”) when the same responsibility to end the genocide in Palestine exists regardless of one’s background or religion.

What Israel is doing in Palestine is 100% a genocide. Whether or not it is similar to the Holocaust (or any previous atrocity) does not make this any more or less true.

The thing that doesn't make sense to me with this point is that no one is saying that the Holocaust and Palestinian genocide are a 1:1 comparison. Like most people acknowledge the terrible genocide that occurred in the Holocaust against all its victims. But when they're talking about comparing genocides, there are tell tale signs that repeat throughout history that are precursers to larger events. Like when people compare the Warsaw ghetto to Gaza. I'd say those are quite similar in practice and intention. When we "compare" genocides (not a 1:1 but more of a drawing parellels by disecting the inteion and reasoning behind certain events that werent necessarily actively violent but passively violent) its to show "hey this is going to get really bad really soon because something like this happened before." Masha Gessen has an article about this that I reblogged.

People should care about fighting injustice everywhere I agree. But that doesn't change the fact that parallel drawing is an act separate from emotional invocation. When genocide scholars and survivors talk about "Hey this was like xyz that happened to me/in history" it's to show that there is precedent for this thinking and a terrible methodology happening when genocides occur. They dont just get really bad out of nowhere, you need to examine the precursors to prevent the large event from happening. How that large event happens differs from place to place, I agree. But to say that because things happen differently against different people means you can't examine the underlying reasons behind those actions is kind of reductive. By this definition you can never compare any genocide ever and all the terrible things that happen just happen naturally without any political or social influence.

Arnesa talks about how the Bosnian genocide precursors mirror the Palestinian genocide. She also talks about how Lula specifically should have mentioned other genocides (like Rwanda, Bosnia, etc) in his statement because there are parallels there too. I'd argue that's the real intention behind genocide studies, in that you notice trends and patterns to analyze how certain events might turn out.

I do want to mention because this is where im coming from a little bit, it is a pretty big zionist talking point (by especially American dems) saying you can't compare the holocaust to what's happening to Palestinians because it's antisemitic, which is not a real talking point and actually kind of rude in that it assumes that Palestinians can't call out parallels between their treatment and the treatment of those in the Holocaust because they're fundamentally doing it from a point of antisemitism and not a plea for recognition that the events are mirroring each other.

[spacelazarwolf]

so this is a trashfire for many reasons.

lack of historical knowledge and complete lack of perspective

israel was not created by britain. israel declared independence from britain. israel was not "designed to funnel jewish people out of all other countries." israel is not "puppeted by america for the purposes of colonizing southwest asia" and the insinuation that israel's goal is to colonize the entirety of southwest asia is actually a documented antisemitic conspiracy theory.

"Even before the State of Israel came into existence, Arab leaders accused Zionists of seeking to rule most of the Middle East," a secret Jewish plot to establish a "Greater Israel" extending from the Nile to the Eurphrates and the Persian Gulf, and south deep into Saudi Arabia. Albeit "farfetched" and a "calumny," this notion has "become so routinized and accepted" that it "now serves as the conventional wisdom in all the Arabic-speaking countries and Iran." Pipes 1998, 49, 69. This is one of two maps in the collection alleged to provide evidence of the "Greater Israel" conspiracy. (The other is ID #2411, "Jewish Imperial Ambitions In Palestine and Neighbouring Countries," 1967.) This map, "Dream of Zionism," shows Zionism as a giant serpent, its back decorated with a pattern of triangles described as "Freemasons Eye, 'Symbol of Jewry.'" The snake's circular outline marks the "Proposed Boundary of 'Greater Israel,'" an area including all of Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the Sinai Peninsula; the Nile delta region of Egypt along the Suez Canal and northwest of Cairo; and virtually all of Iraq, including access to the Persian Gulf. It also includes a large portion of northwestern Saudi Arabia, a corridor well over 100 miles wide along the Red Sea, stretching south more than 450 miles from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Holy City of Medina. "Curiously," the conspiracy theorists "see Greater Israel including Medina but not Mecca; the oil fields of Kuwait but not those of Saudi Arabia; and more of Turkey than Iran." The State of Israel is identified as "Occupied Palestine." Pipes 62. This map first appeared in an English-language edition of the fraudulent "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" - the infamous blood libel against the Jewish people - published in Iran in 1985. Ibid. This version appears in a new edition, "Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion," attributed to "The Representatives of Zion, of the 33rd Degree" and published in Kuwait by the "Scientific Research House." The estimated publication date is 2018. The current version of the map varies only slightly from that of 1985 illustrated in Pipes: the words "Symbol of Jewry" have been added in script beneath the legend "Freemasons Eye," and a partially legible signature ("Mir"?) appears at the lower right.

also i'm not sure what the intention was with bringing up the rwandan genocide because rwanda was colonized by germany and belgium, not the british. unless you think literally everything bad that happens in the world is tied to britain... which just so happens to be another antisemitic conspiracy theory that originated in the ussr. all the while jews were being demonized in the uk for being "communist sympathizers." because jews are the symbol of everything you hate, all the problems in your life. that is how antisemitism functions.

2. tokenizing jews for your own benefit

"i had followed [jewish blogs] in an attempt to better understand jewish concerns ... and i've been unfollowing them one by one ... i was getting genuine perspectives on issues i knew very little about - and now, for those blogs in particular, it's impossible to separate what might be a genuine concern verses wht's being weaponised to justify a settler state"

this is an open admission that you are only able to take in jewish perspectives from jews you agree with. and considering the ignorance that's rampant in the rest of the post, my guess is that what you saw was jews who were scared and angry at the way people acted after october 7th and the way antisemitism is rising, but the non jews you follow were insistent that those sentiments could not coexist with palestinian liberation. additionally, the fact you are unable to separate genuine concern verses "what's being weaponised" is your own problem, not ours. the way jewish pain is being downplayed, mocked, ignored, and demonized, the way people have insisted that any mourning for the victims of october 7th or concern for the hostages must be propaganda is antisemitic. and you are actively contributing to that, particularly by saying that western powers arresting people during protests "has been a setup from the beginning" with the very clear insinuation that it is "zionists" who are to blame for the setup.

3. you are really fucking entitled

you are a british goy (not a "goyim" btw, goy is singular, goyim is plural). you literally admitted that you "don't know how to talk about this with the tat and care [you] should be as a [non jew]" and that "certainly there is a degree in arrogance for [you] to talk about judaism as an outsider." and yet you wrote this whole post full of antisemitic conspiracy theories and antisemitic biases while claiming you know how to protect jewish people and while claiming that zionism is "the biggest danger to jewish people right now."

let us be very fucking clear. the biggest danger to jewish people right now is antisemites and the actions they choose to take, and the consequences of those actions.

you say that "if you tell the general public, who are very susceptible to the broader news cycle, that judaism and zionism is the same thing, they very well will be motivated to do antisemitic things, because they believe they are fighting zionism."

this has already happened and has been happening for decades. framing jews as zionists and demonizing zionism as a jewish ideology is not new. it happened all across swana, even before israel declared independence, including during the farhud which was a pogrom that occurred as part of the holocaust in iraq where jews were executed, beaten, and tens of thousands had to flee from government-sponsored persecution specifically and explicitly targeted at jews under the guise of "antizionism." it also happened in the ussr.

the desire to completely separate judaism from zionism as a jewish ideology is not out of concern for jews. zionism is a jewish ideology founded on one possible solution to global antisemitism, as an attempt to keep jews safe from constant persecution, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. it's not a solution you have to agree with, but trying to completely divorce it from judaism only opens the door for the very people you claim to be concerned about who will use zionism as an excuse to attack jews, as they have been for decades.

i have said it before and i'll say it again. zionism is one of the jewish answers to the question "what do we do with the jews?" historically, the answers gentiles have come up with have been "subjugate them, ethnically cleanse them, slaughter them, genocide them." so when you respond to that question of "what do we do with the jews?" with "i don't really care, but not that! and actually your jewish answer is what's causing this in the first place so really it's your fault!" it's kind of fucking bonkers to expect most jews to respond in any positive way. if you expect to have a productive conversation with zionist jews or with jews as a whole, you must present your own answer to "what do we do with the jews?" and if you're thinking "well how the fuck am i supposed to figure out a plan to get antisemitism all over the world to go away? that’s going to take too long!" you almost understand the point. the eradication of antisemitism is a global effort, and one that won't be achieved in our lifetimes. so the least you can do in the meantime is educate yourself, interact with jews in good faith, listen to jewish perspectives even if you don't agree with them, and realize that you are still going to have only scratched the surface.

so yes, you're right. it was extremely arrogant of you to post this, and you are an example of how ignorance breeds antisemitism among the uneducated masses.

[probablyasocialecologist]

As Israel shut off the electricity, turned off the water, demanded two million people, half of them children, evacuate in 24 hours amidst endless bombing campaigns with the explicit intention of putting civilian safety second to the destruction of Hamas, papers surfaced claiming that Palestinians, with an IQ of only 75, were incapable of governing themselves. Incapable, really, of being human. The role of race science is to identify those humans that do not have to be classified as people. It is as simple as that. And dehumanization, stripping a group of their capacity to be human, their humanity, is the literal foundation of genocide. On Tutsi — “Exterminate the cockroaches” Rwanda, 1994. On Native Americans: “Wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the earth” — United States, 1891 On Armenians: “the Government will view the feeding of such children or any effort to prolong their lives as an act completely opposite to its purpose, since it regards the survival of these children as detrimental.” — Turkey, 1916. On Tigray “They should be erased and disappear from historical records” — Ethiopia, 2021. Twenty years prior to effecting the Holocaust, Hitler said of Germany that the “final aim, however, must be the uncompromising removal of the Jews altogether.” And today, in 2023, Israel repeats the same tired story, declaring that they “are fighting human animals” as they rain down thousands of bombs upon an area the size of Rhode Island, destroying hospitals and bakeries and churches in an offensive that declares with every day that passes “the only good Palestinian is a dead Palestinian”.

[sky-daddy-hates-me]

Source

Why the actual fuck am I still having to tell people that the Rwanda act will not help anyone? That it's not a good thing, that it won't help the people desperate enough to risk their lives crossing the channel in cheap inflatable boats, that it won't even help the uk job market or economy like they keep claiming.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

What do they really want tho? At the grand scheme of things, William and Catherine are still going to be King and Queen and it's their bloodline that will continue the monarchy.

They want the deal Harry was promised in 2012, the deal that he bragged to Meghan about when they were dating, the deal she married him for, this deal right here:

A monarchy that was just King Charles, his two sons, and their two wives. No Cambridge grandchildren. No aunts and uncles. No cousins.

And the deal was that William and Kate would be King and Queen, remaining in and focusing largely on the UK, while Harry and his future wife would be Heads of the Commonwealth, traveling and raising awareness for local communities and issues in the Commonwealth.

The "splitting" of duties like this was largely speculation based on how much Harry preferred being in Africa. It went into a little bit of a fever pitch when Meghan came along. There were a couple of...yellow flags there, let's say. (Meghan wearing Harry's bracelets from Africa, Meghan suddenly talking about how much she loved Africa, everyone realizing that Meghan's humanitarian work and Tig travels were to Commonwealth countries - India, Rwanda, Malta.)

Then they made comments in the engagement interview that made everyone realize there really might be something here about Harry taking over the Commonwealth:

(Interviewer asks about Meghan having a big internaitonal profile already, is she ready for a bigger platform?)

Meghan: I think what's been really exciting as we talk about the transition of this out of my career but into the role is that as you said the causes that have been very important to me, I can focus even more energy on. Because very early out of the gate I think you realize once you have access or a voice that people are willing to listen to with that comes a lot of responsibility, which I take seriously. And at the same time I think in these beginning few months and now being boots on the ground in the U.K. I'm excited to just really get to know more about the different communities here, smaller organizations we're working on the same causes that I've always been passionate about under this umbrella. And and also being able to go around the commonwealth I think is just just the beginning of that.

Prince Harry: There's a lot to do, there’s a lot to do.

(Interviewer asks a question about Meghan giving up her acting career. She talks about working on Suits and spins leaving as her own choice.)

(Interviewer asks Harry of the responsibility Meghan was taking up by marrying him. Harry gives a blabbering word salad about "I hope she's in love with me" and defines teamwork.)

Meghan Markle: So nicely said, isn't it? (🤢)

Prince Harry: She's capable of she's capable of anything. And together as I said there’s a hell of a lot of stuff, work that needs doing. At the moment for us, it's going to be making sure that our relationship is always put first, but both of us have passions for wanting to make change, change for good. And you know with lots of young people running around the commonwealth, that's where we’ll spend most of our time hopefully.

Compared to William and Kate, who didn't talk at all about future or prospective roles in the monarchy during their engagement interview...flags were waving, bells were ringing, trolleys were clang-clang-clanging.

And then, the first signal from the BRF that Charles's future monarchy had a plan for Harry involving more of the Commonwealth: Her Late Majesty appointed Harry President of the newly-created The Queen's Commonwealth Trust in April 2018.

And finally-finally, there was confirmation of the deal itself. By none other than the BRF's new leaky faucet, Meghan Markle on 19 May 2018 when she re-colonized the Commonwealth for her veil and again four months later when she co-opted the "Queen of the World" documentary to be about her, instead of The Queen's work in the Commonwealth.

So TL;DR, what do Harry and Meghan really want? They want the global prestige Harry was promised all the way back in 2012 and that Meghan was promised in 2018: equal status to William and Kate, permanently #3 on the call sheet, and the Commonwealth of Nations to rule over.

(Here's the original image from the RAF 100th anniversary that I edited to get a "Wales-only" balcony. You don't even miss him!)

(Also it's interesting that Meghan is visually centered in the RAF 100th photo but her dark outfit compared to the brighter, lighter colors of everyone else makes her disappear into the background and draws attention to The Queen instead. She pwned her own self. But also the RAF 100 balcony is exactly what Meghan wants from the BRF: to be front and center while Kate and William are shoved off on the sidelines.)

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - May 29, 2023

Rwanda’s life expectancy has increased by 20 years in the last 20 years

What did Rwanda change? Three developments stand out: low-cost community-based health insurance plans, national investments in rural health posts, and ramped-up foreign collaborations. In 2020, more than 90 percent of Rwanda’s people had some kind of health insurance. This stands out relative to other low-income countries, where on average 31 percent of people have health insurance.

2. Brandon School Division rejects call to remove library books on sexuality, gender identity

Loud cheers erupted inside a packed high school gymnasium after the Brandon School Division rejected a call to remove books dealing with sexuality and gender identity from libraries. Hundreds of people in Manitoba's second-largest city showed up for the marathon school division meeting, which ran into the early morning hours.

The trustees ultimately voted 6-1 to reject a proposal to create a committee of trustees and parents to review books available in division schools.

3. Lotto winner pledges to fund classrooms in his native Mali

Happiness for one lucky North Carolina resident comes not from newfound wealth from a lottery win, but using those winnings to help schoolchildren -- in this case, from Mali.

Souleymane Sana of North Carolina won $100,000 from a scratch-off ticket. Relocating to the United States from Mali -- a war-torn county in West Africa -- Sana is using his earnings to create a non-profit to help school kids from his hometown.

4. Mountain gorillas rebound thanks to Ugandan veterinarian

In 2018, as their population topped 1,000, they were removed from the critically endangered list and their status upgraded to just endangered. That positive step was due, in no small part, to Ugandan veterinarian Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka. 

Her working home is Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, home to roughly half of the world's mountain gorillas. But early on she also realized that to help the animals and keep them free from disease and poaching, she needed to also help their human neighbours, launching successful initiatives to improve the health and well-being of the people living around the park. 

5. Imports of ivory from hippos, orcas and walruses to be banned in UK

Ivory imports from hippopotamuses, orcas and walruses will be banned under new legislation to protect the endangered species from poaching.

The Ivory Act, passed in 2018, targeted materials from elephants, but a loophole meant that animals other than elephants, including hippos, were being targeted for their ivory.

6. Solar power due to overtake oil production investment for first time in 2023

Investment in clean energy will extend its lead over spending on fossil fuels in 2023, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday, with solar projects expected to outpace outlays on oil production for the first time.

Annual investment in renewable energy is up by nearly a quarter since 2021 compared to a 15% rise for fossil fuels, the Paris-based energy watchdog said in its World Energy Investment report.

7. Paralyzed man walks naturally, thanks to wireless ‘bridge’ between brain and spine

Gert-Jan Oskam lost the ability to walk in 2011 when he injured his spine in a cycling accident in China. Six years later, the Dutch man managed to take a few short steps thanks to a small array of electrodes implanted on top of his spinal cord that delivered nerve-stimulating pulses of electricity.

Today in Nature, an international team of researchers reports giving Oskam a better fix, a way to digitally bridge the communication gap between his brain and lower body. Brain waves signaling Oskam’s desire to walk travel from a device implanted in his skull to the spinal stimulator, rerouting the signal around the damaged tissue and delivering pulses of electricity to the spinal cord to facilitate the movement. Oskam can now walk more fluidly, navigate obstacles, and climb stairs.

----

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[salvation-within-the-void]

The prime minister of the UK has just confirmed that he will change the law to allow the conservative party to forcibly deport immigrants to Rwanda.

The SUPREME COURT of the UK found this policy unlawful, the government were told they CANNOT do this.

Their response? Change the law

This policy is a threat to the lives of refugees who fled here seeking support and asylum, as a country we should be kind and welcoming. Instead these poor people are being sent straight back into the instability and violence they risked their lives to escape.

Rwanda has a history of being used to 'sweep refugees under the rug', having signed a similar deal with Israel. The supreme court found that Rwanda has previously violated laws protecting immigrant against refoulement, as it has sent people back to the nations they fled. Directly violating international treaties and violating the rights granted to refugees and asylum seekers.

Sunak also stated that he will not allow the European human rights court to block this policy and will revisit any treaties that may act as "obstacles" to this policy.

They are trying to get out of THE INTERNATIONAL BILL OF HUMAN RIGHTS! The refugge system in Rwanda is so unsafe that this is a human rights issue! And our government want to violate those rights for thousands of immigrants they are determined not to help.

These people are hell bent on making life miserable for refugees. The deputy chair of the conservatives stated the government should "ignore the law and start the flights anyway".

Rishi Sunak is also introducing "emergency legislation" in order to force this through parliament and the courts.

Where have we heard that before?

These are the same emergency powers that allow laws to be passed without parliamentary votes. The same emergency powers that enabled the "war on terror" so the UK and US could commit war crimes. The same emergency powers used by the nazis to legitimise the holocuase

This is facism! Plain as day.

I am very very worried for the future of my country and the future of this world. Facism is not on the rise, it is here. We must watch very very closely, at home and abroad, so that we can act accordingly and protect ourselves.

[cavalierzee]

Hold Them Accountable

Incitement to commit acts of violence, especially in the context of armed conflict, can be considered a violation of international law, including international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law. Incitement to genocide and war crimes are severe offences under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and may be investigated and prosecuted.

Furthermore, encouraging or inciting the use of weapons against civilians or non-combatants is a violation of the Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law.

Politicians or military leaders who incite war crimes can be held accountable under the principle of command responsibility.

During World War II, Nazi leaders who incited violence and genocide through propaganda were held accountable at the Nuremberg Trials.

Rwanda Genocide: Politicians and media figures who incited violence during the Rwandan Genocide were prosecuted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

Why not hold Nikki Haley responsible, Isaac Herzog, Mike Pence and Chris Evans?

By Elijah J Magnier

[asongofcrownandshield]

As someone aiming for a diplomatic career, and who has always studied the History of the world, more precisely wars and genocide, I must say: human beings are not learning from their own stupidity. The crisis in Rafah is absolutely expressing that and it is concerning. Frustrating. Upsetting.

What is happening is a genocide. We were upset about the Shoah. We were upset about Rwanda (and not enough). We were upset by the Uyghurs (again, not enough). We were upset about a lot of genocide. Why are we not upset against Israel, when part of their history is to be populated because of a fucking genocide??? (I know the History of the creation of Israel. The whole thing. And it sucks. I could write an essay on why the whole thing was fucked up since the beginning).

Are our countries supporting Israel because they are rich? Yes. Are they supporting them because we — ancient colonial powers and the UN — helped in the creation of their State? Also yes. And it is pathetic.

The fact that governments such as the US, the French, and a lot of Western countries are not acknowledging a genocide, is absolutely not normal. The fact that we are basically still financing and selling bombs to drop on the Gaza stripe, and most importantly today, on Rafah, is unsettling. For countries which are proud of their democracy, which are proudly saying in their foreign policies that we should not support violences, war crimes, censure, they are absolutely doing the contrary. All in virtue of money. That's how the world run but money should not be above human rights.

How is it logical that people are being killed, and no one is doing shit?

How is it logical that we are banning social media for spreading the truth on the international situation?

How is it logical that students are being arrested for protesting for basic human rights? For peace? How is it normal that places such as universities, which are supposed to support freedom of expression, we can see students and teachers are not allowed to talk? Reuniting around a common cause?

How is it logical to still defend a State such as Israel and to not acknowledge they are doing something deeply wrong, deeply evil? How is it normal that it took us, as an international community, more than seventy-five years to actually act?

1.4 million people are in Rafah. 1.4 million people have nowhere to hide. Are waiting to be evacuated. Are waiting to die because of our inaction. How is it normal?

We fucking need to act. We fucking need to speak and to shake our institutions. As a new generation with brand new ideas, Palestine should not be left alone anymore. What we are starting should still go on. Until Palestine is free, from the river, to the sea.

We need to boycott Eurovision. The Olympic Games. Because if we are letting Russia not participating because of the invasion of Ukraine (normal), then, Israel should not be allowed in moments like these when they are basically currently killing thousands of people.

As Macklemore said in Hind's Hall (all funds are going to UNRWA, please stream it):

"What if you were in Gaza? What if those were your kids?

If the West was pretendin' that you didn't exist

You'd want the world to stand up and the students finally did, let's get it"

Free Palestine. All Eyes on Rafah.

[zukotheartist]

I'm a day late (bc... reasons) but for International Women's Day, I'd like to remind everyone here about what's happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo🇨🇩!

(I apologise in advance for my poor wording but please don't let that take away from the point and check out the links at the end of the post!)

People (not just women) in the Drc🇨🇩 are being displaced, tortured and killed at immense rates. They are also being enslaved and forced to work in mines under unsafe conditions, for long hours and with little to no pay, to dig out cobalt. The levels of rape there are so high that a lot of people with vaginas have developed a severe condition called Vesico Vaginal Fistula which often also leaves them ostricised from society (it creates a strong smell and makes liquid leak out constantly).

What is happening there is also a genocide, just like in Palestine🇵🇸. And very much like Palestine, it's because of greed. Western powers arm militias/rebel groups (backed by Rwanda) to enslave these people to be able to get cobalt - a mineral necessary for technology - much faster and cheaper.

Here on tumblr we don't talk about it as much, and there's of course a lot of anti-blackness too, but on tiktok and insta - awareness is starting to raise, slowly.

Congolese activists are telling us to NOT call it a "silent genocide" (a common phrasing that some people have been using recently) because this has been going on for decades and they've been talking about it for DECADES and it's not their fault we didn't listen/pay attention.

They are also calling for a TECH BOYCOTT, urging people to use the technological devices they already own for as long as they last and when it breaks, try to use the new one for as long as it lasts as well + try to buy the next ones second-handed or from companies that support congolese people or at least don't abuse them. Lots of people who vape have also decided to stop vaping for the boycott!

You know how Aaron Bushnell and an unamed woman in Atlanta (she's still alive! At a hospital) self-immolated for Palestine🇵🇸?

Well, a man did that for the Drc🇨🇩 too! His name was Cédrick Nianza! And he was only 25 years old, died a week after his brave act.

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Please do your own research but for now, some places that you can check out are (in no particular order):

1) The Fistula Foundation!

https://fistulafoundation.org/country/democratic-republic-of-congo/

> an organisation that helps people affected with VVF in the Democratic Republic of Congo (and elsewhere too).

2) Friends of the Congo!

https://friendsofthecongo.org/

> a non profit with a lot of information about the genocide going on in the drc, with different sections that explain how to help (donating, sending emails, etc) and has a whole section about women and women's health.

3) Al Jazeera

https://www.aljazeera.com/where/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/

> A newspaper with a lot of information about the Drc🇨🇩 but of course also Palestine🇵🇸 and Sudan🇸🇩! > Sudan is another cause we should all be looking into as well because people there are also being displaced, tortured and killed.

4) a lot of people on Tiktok have made sounds and/or filters that generate money, through the creators' fund, that they are donating to the Drc and have shown proof of doing so! Meaning that literally just by watching their videos, commenting (ideally more than five words, not including emojies and avoiding the word "boost"), resposting, sharing, duetting, etc you are helping donate to the Drc! You can also make PRIVATE videos (you'll be the only one to see them or just your friends if you want) using those filters/sounds and it'll still work!

Here's some of them

https://www.tiktok.com/@pappyorion?_t=8kWuC3EkeUj&_r=1

^ he's on the ground! Showing us the conditions that the congolese people are living under and spreading awareness.

https://www.tiktok.com/@kentrello?_t=8kWtRtmCLeT&_r=1

^ has already donated 5500$ through views and also uses of his song for Dr Congo + by giving yoga lessons! He's also gone to the Drc himself and is helping with providing internet.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeyCajp9/

^ has also made a song (you can find it on Spotify too!) that generates money for the Drc! And has a whole playlist on her account that explains how much money one stream can generate + how many streams she's currently at, etc, showing proof! I understand that a lot of people here don't have TikTok but please check it out on Spotify, if you have it! She also has videos for Sudan🇸🇩!

There are a lot more tho so feel free to dm me or send asks if you want more recs!

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And now some articles:

1) this one is from ABC news (of course always be critical when reading articles and especially when they come from specific sources), dated March 6th 2024

https://abcnews.go.com/International/us-court-absolves-top-tech-companies-congos-child/story?id=107839639

2) by Sahara Reporters (one of the only articles I was able to find about the young man who self-immolated for the drc), dated January 18th 2012

https://saharareporters.com/2012/01/18/young-congolese-sets-himself-fire-becoming-martyr-congolese-revolution

3) by Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, dated January 13th 2020

https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/are-these-tech-companies-complicit-in-human-rights-abuses-of-child-cobalt-miners-in-congo/

4) by Al Jazeera, dated February 7th 2024 (m23 is an armed rebel group backed by Rwanda)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/7/thousands-flee-in-eastern-dr-congo-as-m23-rebels-advance-near-goma

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When it comes to companies that don't abuse congolese people I've heard of 2 so far, and one of them seems to be congolese owned as well, BUT i haven't made much research into it because my phone is still functioning. So, I'll leave the names here but PLEASE do some research yourself anyway before you buy from them:

Okapius/Okapi Phones - seems to be congolese owned

Shift Phones - seems to be german owned but cobalt-free

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We cannot achieve women's liberation without liberation for all! Liberation for 🇨🇩🇵🇸🇸🇩 and so many more places!

PLEASE reblog!! Or make your own posts!! Just PLEASE spread awareness!