News Bites
Long Disputed Keystone Pipeline Project to Halt After Judge’s Ruling
After Obama’s rejection of the project in 2015, widely acclaimed as a major step in the USA’s role in curbing climate change, Trump, two days into his term in office, overturned his predecessor’s decision and started dismantling his climate policies by resurrecting the project. The planned construction of the 1,179-mile transboundary pipeline has now been blocked by a court ruling on the 9th of November due to the judge’s dissatisfaction with Trump’s failure to provide factual findings disproving the harmful impact of such a big infrastructure.
Victory of South African Tribal Community Over Australian Mining Project in Xolobeni
After 15 years of protests and campaigns, particularly fought by The Amadiba Crisis Committee, the Pretoria High Court has said no to Transworld Energy and Mineral Resources’ incredibly disrupting mining plans in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The Pretoria High Court declared that the Mineral Resources Department cannot issue mining rights license without obtaining prior consent from the affected community. This decision has therefore given communities the power to make decisions over the development pathways and the usage of their natural resources.
Khmer Rouge Leaders Sentenced to Life Imprisonment Over Genocide
The Kampuchea Democratic regime (run by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979 in present-day Cambodia), responsible for the deaths of millions of people, can officially be called guilty of genocide after the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)’s verdict sentenced Khmer Rouge leaders to life imprisonment. The highly contested process followed a particularly slow pace due to the controversy over the definition of the term “genocide” and whether or not it could be applied to the brutal policies of persecutions carried out against Cham Muslims and ethnic Vietnamese Cambodians.
Rohingya Minority Refuse to Repatriate Until Justice is Delivered
Return of the first 2000 of the 700,000 Rohingya refugees to Myanmar, scheduled to begin on November 15th, has been suspended and postponed to 2019 following protests in Cox’s Bazar province – leaving one of the world’s biggest refugee crises unresolved. The minority group, highly persecuted on the basis of their ethnicity, had been forcefully expelled from Myanmar in 2017 and now demands to be given back citizenship and to be allowed to return to their own homes before their repatriation can commence.
Possible US-Mexico Deal to Make Thousands of Migrants Wait in Mexico for US Entry Approval
Ongoing talks between Donald Trump and leaders of the incoming Mexican government seemed to suggest a deal was being made allowing migrants from Central America to stay in Mexico until their asylum petition to the US is resolved. Mr Trump declares he will not allow the asylum seekers to wait in US territory and threatened to close the Southern border of the country. Olga Sánchez Cordero, incoming interior leader of Mexico, denies a deal has yet been reached between the two countries.