Millions of Ukrainians have fled their homeland as refugees since the beginning of Russia's invasion. © UNOCHA/Matteo Minasi 19 February 2025  I   Peace and Security         Three years of war in Ukraine have reversed decades of progress for women and girls, leaving millions in urgent need of support, according to UN Women.      Russia’s full-scale invasion has forced more than 1.8 million women  to flee their homes within Ukraine, while   nearly 6.7 million require humanitarian assistance. More than 3,799 women and 289 girls have been killed, though the real toll is believed to be significantly higher. “The full-scale war has pushed an entire generation of Ukrainian women backwards,” said Sabine Freizer Gunes, UN Women  Representative in the country. “They are facing heightened exposure to gender-based violence ; rising unemployment; decreased decision-making power; greater domestic burdens; and a severe mental health crisis,” she explained. Stressed out Gender-based violence has surged by 36 per cent since 2022 , driven in part by conflict-related stress, UN Women reported. In parallel, depression rates among women and girls have worsened. On the economic front, opportunities have shrunk. By 2024, less than half of displaced women had jobs whilst the gender pay gap doubled since the beginning of the war. Meanwhile, the burden of unpaid care, from cooking to caring for children, has intensified as childcare services centres have closed and services dwindled. Women spent an average of 56 hours a week  on childcare in 2024 , up from 49 hours before the war. Leaders of humanitarian recovery Despite these hardships, Ukrainian women are leading humanitarian responses and driving economic resilience. Women have assumed key roles as aid workers, community leaders and entrepreneurs. Today, one in every two businesses in Ukraine is founded by a woman. Women are also entering traditionally male-dominated sectors such as security, transportation and demining. “Donors’ support to Ukrainian women-led organizations and programmes is crucial so they can continue promoting gender equality, women’s rights and leadership ,” said Ms. Gunes. “Women’s full engagement will be essential to rebuild Ukraine as a gender-equal and gender-responsive society,” she added. Support and call for action In 2024 alone, UN Women supported more than 180,000 women and girls  affected by the war through initiatives under the Women Peace and Humanitarian Fund . The agency provides life-saving humanitarian aid, psychosocial and legal support, protection services and programmes to strengthen women’s economic independence. Four years on since the beginning of the war, UN Women is working to ensure that women are included in decision-making and recovery efforts , advocating for legal reforms to secure equal rights and representation. Overnight attack on Odesa The UN aid coordination office in Ukraine, OCHA , reported that an attack on Odesa City in the small hours of Wednesday morning had injured a number of civilians, including a child. Local authorities say the attack left a large residential area without electricity and heating, affecting at least 160,000 people – in the midst of winter . “Multiple apartment buildings were damaged, as well as a children’s hospital, and a kindergarten. For our part, we are providing emergency shelter materials, hot meals, psychosocial support, legal aid, and child protection services,” said UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.             Medical teams are conducting quick health checks and distributing medicines, while schools will remain closed until power and heating are restored.   In the southern city of Kherson aid workers are continuing to respond to an attack that took place on 17 February, and damaged a critical energy facility. 2,500 residents were left without electricity, heating, and water.   © 2025 United Nations.

There are fears those being released could be pressed into joining junta forces in Rakhine state. RFA Burmese 2025.02.17 A guard stands outside Insein Prison in Myanmar's Yangon city, in an undated photo. Source: © AFP Myanmar’s military government has released from prison nearly 1,000 members of the mostly Muslim Rohingya minority, a human rights group said on Monday, a rare gesture of goodwill towards the persecuted community. The junta has not announced the release and there has been no explanation as to why they were set free but it comes days after a court in Argentina  called  for arrest warrants for the junta chief and 22 other military officials for crimes committed against the Rohingya  in a 2017 crackdown. “It is clear that the junta wants to cover up the crimes that they’ve committed against Rohingya,” said Thike Htun Oo, a senior member of the group Political Prisoners Network Myanmar. “They immediately released the Rohingya from detention as soon as a court in Argentina issued international arrest warrants for them. We must be aware of this,” he told Radio Free Asia on Monday. Most of the 936 people being released on Sunday from prison in the main city of Yangon, including 267 women and 67 children, were arrested after the military overthrew an elected government in 2021, Thike Htun Oo said. They were due to be sent by boat from Yangon to the Rakhine state capital of Sittwe in western Myanmar, he said. On Saturday, officials from the military’s immigration department entered Insein Prison in Yangon to issue the Rohingya with identity documents, Thike Htun Oo said, although adding he could not exactly confirm what type of documents they had been given. Details of what those being released had done to be locked up in the first place were not available but most were believed to have been imprisoned for violating restrictions on their movements. RFA tried to telephone the prison department spokesperson and the office of the department’s deputy director general for information about the release but they did not answer. Most Rohingya are from Rakhine state and most are stateless, regarded as migrants from South Asia and not one of the ethnic groups classified as indigenous in Buddhist-majority Myanmar’s constitution. Forced to fight? Myanmar government troops led a bloody crackdown in Rakhine state in 2017 in response to Rohingya militant attacks on the security forces and more than 700,000 members of the persecuted Rohingya community fled to neighboring  Bangladesh , where most remain. U.N. experts later said the military carried out mass killings and gang rapes with “genocidal intent.” The United States in 2022 determined that the violence committed against the Rohingya amounted to genocide and crimes against humanity. The Myanmar military lied that it was engaged in legitimate security operations. A court in Argentina ruled last week that international arrest warrants should be issued for the self-appointed president and junta chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and 22 other military officials for crimes committed against the Rohingya. Argentina became the first country to open an investigation into serious crimes against the Rohingya under the principle of universal jurisdiction, a legal principle allowing for the prosecution of serious crimes no matter where they were committed. Political analyst Than Soe Naing also said the junta was trying to improve its image in light of the Argentinian court ruling. “They’re releasing the Rohingya in order to try to restore justice from their side but they’re not going to succeed in trying to cover up their criminal mistakes,” he said. The leader of a Rohingya welfare organization said there was a danger those being released would be pressed to fight for the military in Rakhine state where an ethnic minority insurgent group battling for control of the state, the Arakan Army (AA), had forced junta forces into a few small pockets of territory, including Sittwe. The co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition, Nay San Lwin, said the military was already pressing Rohingya men in camps for displaced people in Sittwe to join junta forces. “They are really worried about being forcibly recruited,” he said, referring to those who had been released. Last year, embattled junta forces recruited Rohingya  into militias to help fight  the AA, which draws its support from the state’s Buddhist, ethnic Rakhine majority. The recruitment by the military of Rohingya led to attacks by the AA in which international human rights organizations said Rohingya civilians were killed. The AA denied that. Radio Free Asia is an online news service affiliated with BenarNews. © 2025 BenarNews

Ed Butler for the BBC World Service Burkina Faso's military is struggling to defeat jihadists who have taken control of much territory Three Ghanaians have told the BBC of their involvement in the fighting between Islamist insurgents and the military in neighbouring Burkina Faso, describing scenes of sometimes indiscriminate violence and bloody battles. "We are always with the dead. In some battles, I've seen 40, 50 or 100 dead people," one of the men told the BBC. The three, all in their late thirties or early forties, said they had fought in Burkina Faso multiple times since 2018. They crossed the porous 550km-long (340-mile) border between the two countries, without being detected by the security forces. They denied being primarily motivated by religion or being trained by the jihadists, saying they went to fight to defend civilian communities with whom they had strong family and ethnic ties. "My elder brother, his wife and children were all killed by the [Burkinabe] army. It pains me a lot. The military came to their community in the forest. They killed all of them, a whole household, including 29 people," one of the men said. But another of the men did articulate religious zeal, saying: "If you die while fighting with the jihadists, then you are driving to jannah (an Islamic word for paradise), on the path of the righteous." Challenged over whether they had taken part in civilian attacks, the men were divided. One denied doing so, but another conceded that he did. "Some local people support the military in attacking us, that's why we have to kill them too," he said. "You know... I'm not happy to fight like this. The number of people we kill, the people the military kill, it's very bad. But this fight has entered our blood," he added. All three spoke on condition of anonymity. The BBC was unable to confirm their claims but they showed us pictures of weapons, described the location of recent conflicts and named jihadist commanders in Burkina Faso. The BBC was put in touch with the men through contacts at cattle markets in northern Ghana, where jihadist groups are alleged to be recruiting fighters. In 2022, a France-based NGO, Promediation, said its research showed that the jihadists had recruited between 200 and 300 young Ghanaians. And the Netherlands Institute of International Relations think-tank , in a report released last July, external , said the jihadists had "minimal success" recruiting in Ghana. However, the men offered a different perspective, telling the BBC, in claims that could not be verified, that people from "all parts of Ghana" and from "many" ethnic groups were joining the insurgency in Burkina Faso. "Some are fighting for jihad. Some are doing it for business," one of them said. The financial incentive comes in the form of the plentiful livestock that the jihadists steal from communities driven out of their villages. "When we attack a community, we take their animals: sometimes 50, sometimes 100," the BBC was told by one of the men. The cattle are allegedly brought to northern Ghana, and sold at markets. The trafficking across the border was confirmed to the BBC by cattle dealers. It is thought to have become a major income stream for groups like Jama'at Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate that is the most active jihadist group in Burkina Faso. It also operates in Niger and Mali. The West African region was described by the UN last year as the epicentre of global jihadist violence. Aid agencies say that over the last decade some two-million people have been displaced by the insurgency, external in Burkina Faso and tens of thousands killed. Ninpoa Nasuri is one of the thousands who have fled to Ghana to escape the violence. She told the BBC her husband was killed in front of her in 2024 during a raid on their village in eastern Burkina Faso by fighters from JNIM. "They grabbed the men, and they beat them to death. My husband was a farmer. He had nothing to do with the government militia or the conflict," she told the BBC. Saafiya Karim fled to Ghana after her village was raided Other refugees described similar acts of violence by the Burkinabe military. "Some of the people they were killing were aged 80, aged 90. These people can't hold a gun, can't fight with anybody. They killed them for no reason," Saafiya Karim said. Ghana has so far remained largely untouched by the insurgency, although some attacks have taken place in neighbouring Togo and Ivory Coast. In a recent statement to Ghanaian journalist Mohammed Eliasu Tanko, a man calling himself a representative of JNIM said the group had no interest in launching attacks in Ghana. "They (JNIM fighters) are not allowed to take any action against Ghana. This is a clear and certain statement. JNIM do not seek war against Ghana," the man, known as Ansari, said in the statement, which the BBC has seen. However an upsurge in communal violence in one part of northern Ghana has raised concerns that the jihadists are trying to exploit the conflict to their advantage. The town of Bawku is embroiled in a decades-long struggle between different ethnic groups for control of the local chieftaincy. More than 100 people are thought to have been killed in clashes since fighting intensified in last October. "The evening in Bawku is always [one of] gunshots and fierce exchanges. People use AK47s, M16s, all kinds of automatic rifles," a resident told the BBC. Refugees from Burkina Faso have come to seek asylum in Bawku (file photo) JNIM smugglers are accused of selling weapons to both sides. "We understand they are supplying weapons that they have taken from the military in Burkina Faso. They do this by relying on the trucks that travel up to Niger and back carrying onions. They hide the weapons inside those trucks," Tanko told the BBC. "One intelligence officer confirmed to me this was the new way they are bringing firearms in. And the Ghanaian security are ill-equipped to be able to detect these vehicles coming through, putting Ghana in a very critical situation," he added. Ghana's Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah did not respond to a BBC request for comment. President John Mahama, who took office in January after winning December's presidential election, visited Bawku last month in an effort to promote peace between the rival groups. However, gunfights continue to be reported. Ghana's governing party spokesman Sammy Gyamfi told the BBC that ending the violence in Bawku was the government's "number one priority". "The violence is already spreading and if care is not taken it's likely that insurgents from the wider region can take advantage of this conflict," he said. The three men the BBC spoke to said they did not rule out the possibility of the insurgency spreading. "This thing can go to any place, or to any country. It didn't exist in Togo but now the attacks are happening there. If they can go to Togo, they can get to Ghana. This thing is strong, it's powerful," one of them said. But another of the men took a cynical perspective, saying the insurgents in Burkina Faso were no longer waging an "Islamic struggle". "They just kill the people, and steal their livestock. What is happening is not jihad and so I do not like it," he said. Copyright © 2025 BBC

The paramilitary group is trying to tighten its grip on Darfur, a traditional stronghold. The RSF has been besieging the area for months, claiming that the camp is a base for the Joint Forces, former rebel groups now fighting alongside the army [File: Hussein Malla/AP Photo] The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has stepped up its attacks on the  Zamzam refugee camp near el-Fasher, capital of the North Darfur state. On Friday, residents and medics said the RSF attacked the camp, which it surrounded three times within a week. At least seven people were killed in the camp this week, Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, said, adding that medics were unable to perform surgeries in Zamzam. Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the United Nations secretary-general, said the renewed fighting included the use of heavy weapons and urged the warring parties to stop the violence. The RSF is said to be trying to tighten its grip on its Darfur stronghold, losing ground to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in the capital, Khartoum. The entrance to Zamzam camp and market before and after the attacks [Maxar] Nearly 22 months since the war erupted in Sudan between the RSF and the SAF, the paramilitary group still controls most of Darfur in Sudan’s west and much of the neighbouring Kordofan region. The army controls Sudan’s north and east and has recently made crucial gains in Khartoum. Zamzam houses 500,000 people displaced by fighting in this and past wars in Darfur, while nearby el-Fasher is home to 1.8 million people and is the last significant holdout against the RSF across Darfur. The RSF has been besieging the area for months, claiming that the camp is a base for the Joint Forces, former rebel groups now fighting alongside the army. Some camp residents have burrowed holes into the ground for shelter and protection, fearing constant attacks, according to one resident and a video shared by activists. “Inside the neighbourhoods, they terrorise, steal, and kill … people hide in these holes when they are firing and when they are raiding, because there is nowhere else to flee,” a resident of the camp told the Reuters news agency. The top UN humanitarian official in Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, said on Thursday she was “shocked by the attacks on Zamzam IDP camp and the blockages of escape routes”. Aid Restrictions The RSF has also restricted aid efforts to the camp, according to the UN and aid workers. In August, a UN-backed report found that it is plausible that parts of North Darfur – especially the Zamzam camp – are experiencing “the worst form of hunger” , known as IPC Phase 5. IPC Phase 5 is a step in an internationally recognised Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) which indicates that at least one in five people or households severely lack food and face starvation and destitution, which would ultimately lead to critical levels of acute malnutrition and death. After the latest violence, MSF said it had to stop a nutrition programme for 6,000 malnourished children. Earlier this month, the group had announced that the proportion of the camp’s children who were malnourished had risen to 34 percent, a similar level to the nearby town of Tawila, to which many have fled from RSF attacks. Speaking on Friday at a high-level humanitarian conference in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the situation in Sudan as a catastrophe on a “staggering scale and brutality”. “We must do more – and do more now – to help the people of Sudan out of this nightmare,” he said, calling on world leaders to use their influence for peace and boost humanitarian aid efforts before the holy month of Ramadan, which begins in about 10 days. SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

A spurious U.S. ‘realism’ about Ukraine flirts with catastrophe The Washington Post February 17, 2025 By George Will   Trump and Vance might come to regret their indifference toward Ukraine in its fight against Putin. Vice President JD Vance delivers remarks at the Munich Security Conference on Friday. (Thomas Kienzle/AFP/Getty Images)   “The Czechs,” murmured Chamberlain. He had lit a cigar and pushed back his chair. “We have rather forgotten about the Czechs.” —  “Munich,” by Robert Harris   In Robert Harris’s meticulously researched novel about 1938, the leaders of four nations — Germany, Italy, France, Britain — settled the fate of a fifth, Czechoslovakia. “Realism” dictated its dismemberment.   A Czech official: “The Germans will be able to cut our country in half within a day.” British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s aide: “I am not responsible for the realities of geography. ... Ninety percent of your country will remain intact and you will not be invaded.”   Last week in Munich,  a city closer to  Ukraine than Washington is to Atlanta, Vice President JD Vance  told Europeans  that the principal security threat they face is insufficient free speech, exemplified particularly by the refusal of other German political parties to govern in coalition with Alternative for Germany, a fascist-adjacent party sympathetic to Ukraine’s would-be executioner, Vladimir Putin.   Vance spoke two days after President Donald Trump’s  90-minute phone conversation  with Putin. The day of that call, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth  declared it “unrealistic”  to hope for peace negotiations through which Ukraine regains pre-2014 territories (before Russia’s seizure of Crimea) or gains NATO membership. Perhaps those two outcomes are unattainable.  But Kaja Kallas , Estonia’s former prime minister and the European Union’s foreign policy chief,  tartly questioned the realism  of giving the Russians “everything that they want even before the negotiations have been started.”   Konstantin Malofeyev, a “tycoon who runs several Russian volunteer units fighting in Ukraine” (per the Financial Times), says of the E.U. and Ukraine: “Their opinion doesn’t matter anymore. Ukraine is just the pretext for a grand dialogue between two great countries.” In 1938, in Munich, four nations worked their wills at another’s expense. Trump told Ukraine about the call with Putin, and European leaders learned about it afterward.   Putin is waging what Johns Hopkins scholar Hal Brands calls (in his new book, “ The Eurasian Century ”) “ a quasi-genocidal war .” Barbarian regimes (see “‘Be Cruel’: Inside Russia’s Torture System for Ukrainian POWs,”  the Wall Street Journal , Feb. 10) will be barbaric until stopped. But a revanchist and expansionist Russia worries Europeans more than it worries Donald Trump.   “Look,”  he said on Feb. 3  regarding Europe, “we have an ocean in between. They don’t. It’s more important for them than it is for us.” But the ocean was there in 1941. And someone should explain to Trump the acronym “ IC BM.”   Vance, who has said  “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine,” might someday care. The American strategist  Nicholas Spykman (1893-1943) , referencing a European event that precipitated World War I in 1914, and another that accelerated the 1930s economic catastrophe, said: “The murder of an Austrian Archduke brought a million [U.S.] soldiers to Europe, and the failure of an Austrian credit institution closed all the banks in the United States.”   Hours before Chamberlain signed the Munich agreement, an aide told him (per Harris) that Hitler “plans a war of conquest to gain living space for the German people.”  Hitler had said so.  Chamberlain: “You need to learn a few lessons in political reality.” Realities such as the reluctance of democratic publics to face unpleasant realities. Particularly for the benefit of ( as Chamberlain had described  the Czechs) people in “a far away country,” “of whom we know nothing.” We know Putin’s thinking about who should be Russians, and what Russia should be.  He has told us.   Trump says he does not care “much about anything” other than “peace.”   “Peace for our time,”  Chamberlain said triumphantly  when he landed in London from Munich.   Peace  lasted 336 days , until Sept. 1, 1939, the first of the  European war’s 2,077 days .   Margaret Brennan , who hosts “Face the Nation” on CBS, on Sunday indicated that she missed school the day 20th-century history was taught. She said, disapprovingly, that Vance criticized speech restrictions while he was in Germany, “a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide.”   Brennan’s interlocutor, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, responded phlegmatically to her garbled gloss on complex history, noting that free speech was nonexistent in Nazi Germany.   Perhaps she meant that free speech in 1920s Germany produced Hitler’s 1930s. So, Vance must be wrong, and those who advocate restrictions on (others’) speech must be right?   The road to war in 1939 was paved with spurious “realisms.” Today, the road to a wider war is being paved by U.S. leaders’ ignorance of history, and by nonsense from people who are paid to make sense of things.     By  George F. Will George F. Will writes a twice-weekly column on politics and domestic and foreign affairs. He began his column with The Post in 1974, and he received the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1977. His latest book, "American Happiness and Discontents," was released in September 2021. follow on X@georgewill   Copyright 2025 The Washington Post

By Agencies, February 14, 2025 Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik (R) waves at a group of supporters, as he arrives at the courthouse of Bosnia-Herzegovina, in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Feb. 5, 2025. (AFP Photo) Bosnian Serbs' separatist leader Milorad Dodik called on Thursday for the initiation of a "liberation process" for Republika Srpska during Serbia's statehood day celebrations, held for the first time in the deeply divided Bosnia-Herzegovina. Leaders from Bosnia's ethnic Serb entity and from Serbia itself were overseeing celebrations in Banja Luka, which will include on Friday the unveiling of two 25-meter (85-foot) flagpoles bearing the flags of Serbia and Republika Srpska (RS). The holiday marks the first Serbian uprising against the Ottoman Empire in 1804 and has been celebrated in Serbia since 2002. Since the end of the 1992-1995 war, Bosnia has been split along ethnic lines into two semi-autonomous halves, the Serbs' RS and the Muslim-Croat Federation. The two are linked by weak central institutions, and each has its own government. The war started when Belgrade-backed Bosnian Serbs tried to create an “ethnically pure" region with the aim of joining neighboring Serbia by killing and expelling the country's Croats and Bosniaks, who are mostly Muslims. More than 100,000 people were killed and upward of 2 million, or over half of the country’s population, were driven from their homes before a peace agreement was reached in Dayton, Ohio, late in 1995. "Republika Srpska is trapped in Bosnia-Herzegovina," Dodik told a ceremony in Banja Luka that was attended by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. "I know that many do not like to hear this, but Republika Srpska must start its process of liberation against Bosnia-Herzegovina because we will not end up well in it." "That is something that (Bosnian Serb) people feel... We have never identified as Bosnian, never. We have always identified as Serbs only." Dodik has repeatedly threatened to pull the RS out of Bosnia and is currently on trial for refusing to comply with decisions made by the international envoy for Bosnia, German diplomat Christian Schmidt. Bosniak Muslim politicians have slammed the statehood celebrations as inflammatory. "Vucic's attempt to impose Serbia Statehood Day as Statehood Day of the (RS) represents an unprecedented violation of international and national law," wrote Denis Becirovic, the Bosniak Muslim representative of the country's tripartite presidency. On Thursday, Vucic dismissed such accusations and said Serbia was no one's "enemy." "We want peace, we want stability and we will preserve that," he said in a speech at the ceremony. "We love Republika Srpska, (and) respect Bosnia-Herzegovina." Dodik said that every national holiday in Serbia was a holiday for "every Serb wherever they are, and especially for us in Republika Srpska". "That's why today is the first time that RS is celebrating its Statehood Day also... it's so normal," he said. © Turkuvaz Haberleşme ve Yayıncılık 2021

Nicholas Koumjian, Head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar © Photo: IIMM/UN Nicholas Koumjian , Head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar ( IIMM ), based in Geneva, addressed the European Parliament on human rights violations in Myanmar on 17 February 2025. The European Union (EU) and its Member States have been strong supporters of the Mechanism’s mandate and activities. The IIMM was created by the United Nations Human Rights Council (OHCHR) in 2018 to collect and analyse evidence of the most serious international crimes committed in Myanmar since 2011. It aims to facilitate justice and accountability by preparing case files that can be used by authorities, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), to prosecute individuals in national, regional and international courts. In August 2017, a wave of violence by Myanmar’s security forces drove about 750,000 Rohingya, a Muslim minority who is denied citizenship, to flee their homes in Rakhine State and seek safety in Bangladesh. In February 2021, the Myanmar military, led by Min Aung Hlaing, seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD). Peaceful protests were suppressed using lethal force, and thousands of perceived opponents of the military junta have been arrested, with many tortured or killed in detention. As Nicholas Koumjian told us in this interview, the situation is worsening on the human rights front. How is the situation in Myanmar evolving four years since the military takeover? Nicholas Koumjian:  There are clear indications that the fighting is getting worse as opposition to military rule grows. As the authorities lose control of border areas, pushed out by ethnic armies across the country, it has increased its use of airpower, resulting in more civilian casualties. A recent report by Airstrikes Report for Myanmar indicates that the military launched 2,155 airstrikes between June and September 2024. Thousands of people remain in detention. The biggest cities are still under the firm control of the junta, and there is a lot of fear among the population because of conscription. The military is enrolling young men into the army, and many have fled the country. Neighbouring states such as Thailand and Bangladesh are burdened with tens of thousands of refugees. The education and health systems, as well as the economy, have significantly deteriorated since the coup. What are the consequences of the current crisis in Rakhine state? Rakhine State is an area that we are particularly concerned about. There was intense fighting in 2024, and the main ethnic group there, the Arakan people, have seized most of the State, except for the capital city and areas in the far South. The Arakan Army controls 15 of the 17 townships; now, it has to govern. In the fighting, many people suffered, including the remaining Rohingyas, often caught between the two forces. We are very concerned about how Rakhine State will survive the current situation. Will there be humanitarian aid allowed to come in? Will the Arakan army be considered a responsible actor that the international community and other States can interact with? That remains to be seen. There are allegations of war crimes by all sides. We need to see that those who control territories can responsibly govern, and hopefully, there can be cooperation with them to address this critical humanitarian situation. Are you investigating the alleged crimes committed by the Arakan army? We investigate crimes committed by any group that rise to the level of serious international crime as defined in our mandate – genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. There are allegations of crimes by all sides in Rakhine State. We have sent requests for information to both the junta and the Arakan army. The junta has consistently ignored us. The Arakan army said it’s working on a response, but we haven’t received it. An arrest warrant was issued in November by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court against Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the Myanmar military regime, for crimes against humanity committed against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority. Has this put some pressure on the authorities? Any time there is an international institution like the ICC issuing an arrest warrant, it puts pressure. You see that often in the response of those who are the subject of the warrant. I have been told by those who have spoken with the commander-in-chief that he is very upset with the arrest warrant. What are the main difficulties you are facing in your investigation task? We have several challenges. One is just the massive crimes that are recurring. We were created largely in response to the “clearance operations” against the Rohingyas in 2017. Since the military coup in February 2021, every month that goes by, we receive many reports of massive rights violations: torture, sexual assault against people in custody, aerial bombings, attacks, and killing of prisoners of war. The amount of work is undoubtedly a challenge. The difficulty is also that we don’t have access to the country. We’re not a police force. We can’t force anyone to talk to us. We rely on the cooperation of many brave individuals willing to provide us with information, witnesses and victims willing to talk to us, and defectors who tell us what happens within the military. We’re using modern techniques. There is so much information available on the Internet, so many people have videos of what occurred. Are you hopeful that one day, the perpetrators will be brought to justice? There are several purposes to our work. Our mandate is to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse pieces of evidence and share those with judicial authorities. Cases often take a very long time, but it’s important to preserve the evidence now and make sure it’s available when it can be used. We have three ongoing processes with which we are sharing evidence. First, there is an ICC investigation . The Prosecutor also announced the ICC is working on further arrest warrants linked to the Rohingyas situation in 2017. Second, we have a case in Argentina investigating complaints of victims about what happened to the Rohingyas in 2017. Finally, there is the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest UN court, with the dispute “ The Gambia versus Myanmar ”, launched in 2019. The Gambia, a predominantly Muslim country in Africa, has alleged that Myanmar failed to fulfil its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide . We expect the hearings to begin this year. That will be very interesting. We don’t, currently, have any court process dealing with other issues related to the post-coup violence. We hope that one day, there will be cases in Myanmar. Our work also sends the message to the perpetrators that someone is watching and collecting evidence. Criminal investigations are usually confidential, but we can publicise what we’re doing without putting anyone at risk. We published two reports, one about sexual violence against the Rohingyas  and another on hate speech against the Rohingyas  in March 2024. We also have told states that if sanctions are related to serious crimes in Myanmar, we can help by providing information. Several countries or regional organisations have taken sanctions against Myanmar – such as the EU, the United States, and the United Kingdom. © United Nations 2025.

Ukraine rejects Trump demand for half its rare minerals The Washington Post February 15, 2025 From right, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, second from left, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. (Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images)   By  Michael Birnbaum , Ellen Francis , Siobhán O'Grady  and Jeff Stein   MUNICH — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected a Trump administration request this week that Kyiv hand over 50 percent of its rare-earth mineral resources — an extraordinary demand that could significantly overshadow the value of aid that has been sent to Ukraine. Ukrainian officials are working on a counterproposal that would still offer Washington more access to the country’s natural resources but would bolster U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine, four people familiar with the discussions said.   Zelensky told reporters Saturday that he had not agreed to the Trump administration’s proposal “because it’s not ready yet.”   He said that security guarantees were not part of the U.S. proposal, and that Ukraine needed that in any agreement with the United States.   "We can consider how to distribute profits when security guarantees are clear. So far, I have not seen that in the document,” he told reporters at an annual gathering of U.S. and European security elite.   The request came when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent visited Kyiv on Wednesday, becoming the first Trump Cabinet official to meet the Ukrainian leader, according to two senior Ukrainian officials, two European diplomats and a fifth person familiar with the situation. They and others spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly about the sensitive issue.   The offer and Ukraine’s consideration of it rippled through European diplomatic circles not only for its audacity but also because the war-ravaged country appeared to be seriously considering how to reach a deal in the hope of a commitment from the United States to help defend against Russia’s aggression.   Ukraine’s rare-earth mineral resources could be worth trillions of U.S. dollars, with rising demand in electronics, defense systems, drones, and the clean-energy and automotive industries, among others.   They are difficult to extract at scale, and while Ukraine has some reserves, it does not mine them at the moment. China currently produces the vast majority of rare-earth minerals. Many but not all of Ukraine’s reserves are in territory occupied by Russia.   One of the   senior Ukrainian officials said that Kyiv received the proposed U.S. mineral deal just four hours before Bessent met with Zelensky in Kyiv on Wednesday. In that meeting, the treasury secretary “insisted” that Zelensky sign it immediately .  Zelensky did not, the official said.   The Ukrainians continued to discuss the proposal on Friday, when Zelensky met with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Munich. Ukraine has told the Trump administration that it cannot legally sign away its mineral resources in the way proposed by Washington, but Ukrainians have continued to discuss alternatives, two Ukrainian officials said.   The Friday meeting was delayed for several hours when Rubio’s plane experienced mechanical difficulties and had to turn around — buying the Ukrainians valuable time to come up with a counterproposal, one of the officials said.   Zelensky had only a few minutes to read the U.S. proposal before his Wednesday meeting with Bessent, said one person familiar with the discussions.   “Ukraine has theoretically agreed” to the concept of such a deal but disagreed with the lack of U.S. security guarantees listed in the proposal, the person said.   The document Zelensky declined to sign this week was more of a short memorandum of understanding “governed by New York law” than a major international agreement, the person said, adding that it would not have been enforceable.   Ukraine would expect any such deal to last for decades to come and wants such an arrangement to be ratified by its parliament.   The 50 percent idea appears at least partially inspired by Ukraine’s having identified the material as a resource that could help bolster Ukraine’s economy and be tied to Western security assistance. Zelensky first suggested providing the United States with the materials during a meeting with Trump in September, prior to the election.   Trump allies have expanded and seized on the idea as a way to maintain the president’s support for Kyiv. “Ukraine has value. Literally has value,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said Saturday in Munich at an event sponsored by Politico.   “Trump now sees Ukraine differently,” he said. “These people are sitting on literally a gold mine … I showed him a map.” If the United States is granted Ukraine’s mineral wealth, Graham said, “we will have something to defend. We will have an economic interest in Ukraine we’ve never had. And that’s a nightmare for Putin.”   “Investment now in the Ukrainian critical minerals sector could make a lot of sense. But President Trump’s initial offer seems unreasonable, exploitative, and unlikely to help end the war. This is not a good way to promote American interests.” said Simon Johnson, an economist at MIT who has been involved in helping Ukraine with its economic planning.   “I expect the Ukrainian reaction to be dismay and disbelief,” he said.   O’Grady reported from Kyiv and Stein reported from Washington.   Copyright 2025 The Washington Post

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Constitutional Court suspended a controversial law allowing Republika Srpska to display foreign symbols like the Serbian flag in its institutions, citing concerns over sovereignty and territorial integrity. Azem Kurtic, February 12, 2025 A Serbian flag displayed over the Palace of the President of Republika Srpska in Banja Luka. Photo: N1.  The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday has issued a temporary measure suspending legislation that allowed the Serb-dominated entity to fly foreign flags and symbols in its institutions.  The legislation – the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Use of the Flag, Coat of Arms and Anthem of Republika Srpska – allowed foreign country symbols alongside Republika Srpska symbols on public institutions, seals and official documents. The Constitutional Court decision said this could be “interpreted as a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Bosnia and Herzegovina.  “In such a situation, the display of foreign state symbols alongside the symbols of the entity, with or without the symbols of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, could create the impression of a lack of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the court added.  While the court did not explicitly mention which foreign state symbols were involved, statements from officials strongly indicate that they refer to the symbols of Serbia. The court warned that implementing the amended law could escalate tensions within Bosnia and Herzegovina, strain entity-state relations, and affect international ties and imposed a temporary measure suspended the legislation until a final ruling is made. The court acted on the request of the Bosniak member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, Denis Becirovic, who argued that the law is unconstitutional, anti-Dayton, and undermines the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.  It remains unclear whether Republika Srpska will adhere to the Constitutional Court decision, considering that in 2023, it adopted a law that bans the implementation of Constitutional Court decisions in the entity.  The amendments were initiated following an event held by Republika Srpska and Serbia called the All-Serb Assembly in June last year, when both agreed to jointly celebrate their statehood day on February 15. For 33 years, Republika Srpska had commemorated its statehood day on January 9.  Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will make a two-day visit to Republika Srpska on February 13-14 to attend a ceremonial event marking statehood day and meet Dodik. Copyright BIRN 2007

By Olivia Cash The Goz al-Haj camp, north of Khartoum, Sudan, 25 December 2024. Photograph: The Guardian    In April 2023, Sudan erupted into one of the deadliest civil wars of the 21st century. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have battled for control over the Darfur and Kordofan regions, leaving only four of the eighteen Sudanese states free from civil war by October 2024. Civilians continue to bear the brunt of this war: murdered, sexually assaulted, displaced, and left to starve by both sides. LeMonde estimated in November 2024 that at least 150,000 civilians have died as a result of the war. In Khartoum alone, over 61,000 people have been killed, 26,000 directly by the war. With 90% of deaths in Khartoum going unrecorded , experts believe death and casualty statistics to be severely underestimated across Sudan. North Darfur’s capital, El Fasher, has been a deathtrap for civilians since the RSF besieged the city in September 2024. At least 782 civilians have been killed by indiscriminate shelling and bombardment from both forces. The RSF has committed ethnically targeted massacres of non-Arab groups, especially the Masalit ethnic group. A UN panel of experts on Sudan concluded that between 10,000 and 15,000 Masalit people were murdered by the RSF in El Geneina, West Darfur in 2023. Tens of thousands more Darfuri Sudanese have died since then. Civilians have fled Sudan en masse . 2.9 million of Sudan’s 14.6 million displaced persons have sought refuge in neighbouring countries such as Chad and South Sudan. In refugee camps they face malnutrition and disease , due to lack of clean water and hygiene facilities. In a camp in Arkoum, Chad, ten children die from malnutrition every week. Lack of hygiene has caused a lethal cholera epidemic in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps across Sudan. Rape, gang rape, and sex trafficking are rampant. Most such crimes are attributed to the RSF. In South Kordofan, girls as young as thirteen are kidnapped for sexual slavery by RSF soldiers , who use racial slurs while assaulting non-Arab victims. A UN Fact Finding Mission reported that over 400 women sought medical aid for sexual violence in the year between April 2023 and July 2024. The real numbers of victims are likely much higher, as stigma prevents many women from reporting rapes. Many kidnapped women commit suicide to avoid being raped by RSF soldiers. Both the SAF and RSF use starvation as a weapon of war . Since April 2023, 145 healthcare facilities have been looted and destroyed, resulting in 65% of the Darfuri population being deprived of even basic medical services. The SAF and RSF block humanitarian assistance from reaching civilians . The Global Hunger Monitor released a famine alert for five areas in Sudan. At the UN, Burhan’s Sudanese government denied the famine. It barred all international and UN aid workers from Darfur in October 2024, claiming they violated “national sovereignty.” At least 22 aid workers have been killed . Against the Masalit and other non-Arab ethnic groups, the RSF violate the following articles of the Genocide Convention: Article II (a) : Killing members of the group, (b) : Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, (c) : Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, (d) : Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group. This is Genocide. Genocide Watch deems the war in Sudan to have escalated to stage nine of the genocidal process: Extermination . Genocide Watch recommends: The UN Security Council should create a Commission of Inquiry to report on crimes being committed in Sudan. The UN Security Council should authorize reestablishment of a powerful UN/AU force to stop these crimes. The African Union and UN should deploy 10,000 troops to re-establish their peacemaking mission in Sudan. RSF and SAF leaders should be charged by the ICC and tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Police should be deployed with the UN/AU Mission and be authorized to arrest those charged by the ICC. The UN embargo on all funding and weapons shipments must be extended to all of Sudan. Nations that violate this embargo, such as the UAE, should be heavily and effectively sanctioned. An immediate ceasefire must be demanded by the UN, AU, Arab League, OIC, and NATO.

As violence and forced conscription of Rohingya youths continue in Myanmar, hopes for the safe return of refugees to their homeland are fading. A surge in fighting has driven tens of thousands more Rohingya to flee Myanmar, escaping with little more than harrowing tales of war © Mohammed Shajahan/ZUMA Press Wire/picture alliance Bangladesh has been taking in fellow Muslims from Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state to the southern coastal district of Cox's Bazar, providing food and shelter since a bloody 2017 army crackdown forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims across the border.    Myanmar's military junta has ruled since a coup in February 2021 ousted the democratically elected Aung San Suu Kyi-led civilian government.    Since then, Myanmar has been rocked by fighting between numerous ethnic rebel groups and the military.    The Arakan Army (AA) rebel group — which is fighting the ruling junta for control of Myanmar's western borderlands — wants more autonomy for the ethnic Rakhine people, a population that is also accused of aiding the military in their expulsion of the Rohingya. Militant Rohingya groups in Bangladesh have forcibly recruited hundreds of young Rohingya men and boys to battle the Arakan Army © AFP The AA is the well-armed military wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority that seeks autonomy from Myanmar's central government. It has been attacking army outposts in Rakhine state since November 2023. Escaping the civil war    Roshid Ahmad, who fled Myanmar's fighting , is grateful for being "one of those who made it out alive."    The 21-year-old Rohingya from Rakhine's Maungdaw township got a boat to Bangladesh  with his mother and brother in December 2024.    "Not every Rohingya gets to flee Myanmar in one piece, let alone with their loved ones," he told DW in a video call from a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar .    "The Arakan Army rebels are forcibly taking away Rohingya young men from villages, conscripting and making them fight against the Myanmar Military," Ahmad said.    "Many of the abducted Rohingya have disappeared without any trace."    "Starvation and untreated diseases are killing the Rohingya in Rakhine,” Ahmad claimed, adding that, "I don't believe Rohingya can ever go back." Last year, both the junta and the AA began forcibly recruiting Rohingya youths, reported Human Rights Watch.    Several Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh recently told DW about how their community had suffered in Myanmar.    Jawad Alom, who fled to Bangladesh in September along with his four brothers and cousins, as well as their families, accused multiple AA rebels of gang raping his sister-in-law.    "The AA men raided our village in Buthidaung, aiming to abduct some Rohingya men. My brother and I slipped out of the village," Alom told DW.    Alom said they returned to their village after the rebels had left, only to find they "had gang-raped at least half a dozen Rohingya women, including my brother's wife."    "When we left our village for Bangladesh, on the way we found scores of bodies floating on roadside ponds," Alom claimed.    "They looked like Rohingya men, apparently executed by AA rebels. They sometimes killed Rohingya who resisted against their attempts of abduction or conscription."      According to a recent estimate by the Bangladesh government, over 65,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since the end of 2023. Other estimates put the figures as high as 80,000. 'Little hope' of repatriation to Myanmar    Several attempts in the past years to repatriate Rohingya failed with the community members refusing to return home citing insecurity.    Refugee experts say that although repatriation with dignity and rights would be the ideal option, there is no hope for it in the near future.    Canada-based refugee resettlement expert Mohammad Zaman noted that the military has "remained repressive and carried out a second, or some say, even a third wave of genocide" against the Rohingya people.    "That is no right environment to return to," Zaman told DW.    "Even though the AA controls a large part of northern Rakhine State, displaced people can't trust them due to atrocities committed in the process by the AA. This is an issue as political as it is humanitarian. The resolution wouldn't be easy."    Zaman added that the inaction of the international community in terms of the latest genocide  is "deplorable."    Khalilur Rahman, high representative on Rohingya issues for Muhammad Yunus , Bangladesh's interim government leader, told DW that his country stands ready to positively consider supporting  the efforts of the United Nations system to provide humanitarian and livelihood assistance to the people of Rakhine. "However, this can be done only if conflict and violence, air strikes and bombings, and widespread violations of the human rights of Rohingyas, in particular, are ended," he said.    "Moreover, aid providers and recipients should have unimpeded access and be free from any violence, displacement, discrimination, intimidation, and harassment."    If these conditions and aid principles are met, said Rahman, it will create enabling circumstances on the ground for "voluntary, safe, and dignified return of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas from Bangladesh to Rakhine."    Denial of Rohingya identity    Rohingya human rights activist Htway Lwin said that besides the varied forms of violence against the Rohingya, the AA also denies their identity as natives of Myanmar.    "While we maintain our dream of returning to our ancestral lands, we cannot accept any repatriation process that would expose us to further harm," Lwin told DW.    "The Bangladesh and [the] international community must ensure that repatriation is not a forced process into continued statelessness, but one based on legal recognition, accountability, and structural protections." "Without these guarantees, return risks becoming yet another cycle of genocide and dispossession," Lwin concluded.    Edited by: Keith Walker   Author: Shaikh Azizur Rahman Copyright © 2025 Deutsche Welle.

Pope Francis reaches out to US President Donald Trump… credit: LNW Pope Francis condemns US deportation policies, directly criticising Trump’s immigration actions Lanka News Web February 12, 2025 By:   Isuru Parakrama Pope Francis has issued a sharp critique of the United States’ current approach to immigration, directly condemning the mass deportation programmes that have characterised the first weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term. The letter, addressed to the bishops of the United States on February 10, 2025, condemns the dehumanising treatment of migrants and refugees, drawing a stark contrast to the Christian values of compassion, solidarity, and human dignity. In his letter, Pope Francis reflects on the biblical narrative of the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt, asserting that the experience of migration is a deeply sacred one, shared even by Jesus Christ. “ The family of Nazareth in exile, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, emigrants in Egypt and refugees there to escape the wrath of an ungodly king, ” he writes, framing the Church’s view on migration as one of profound empathy. This message sharply counters the anti-immigrant rhetoric that has been a hallmark of Trump’s administration, which has actively pursued policies that characterise migrants as criminals rather than victims of hardship and persecution. The Pope’s words challenge the very core of Trump’s aggressive stance on immigration. Pope Francis asserts that the notion of associating migrants’ “illegal status” with criminality is not only morally wrong but a violation of basic human rights. “ The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality, ” he states. In doing so, the Pope critiques the recent actions of President Trump, who has ramped up deportations and maintained harsh policies against migrants during the early days of his second term. Further condemning the punitive measures being enacted, Francis highlights the deep harm caused by deporting vulnerable individuals—many of whom have fled extreme poverty, violence, and environmental degradation. The Pope insists that a nation’s true moral standing is reflected in how it treats its most vulnerable citizens, especially those who have no choice but to flee their homelands. “ An authentic rule of law is verified precisely in the dignified treatment that all people deserve, especially the poorest and most marginalised ,” he writes. Whilst acknowledging that nations have a right to defend their borders, the Pope stresses that immigration policies must be guided by a sense of dignity and human rights. He argues that Trump’s approach, which has sought to prioritise security and exclusion over compassion, ultimately undermines the foundations of justice and equality. “ What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly ,” he warns. The Pope’s letter does not shy away from the deep ideological divide that exists in the United States, particularly under President Trump’s leadership. Francis cautions against the use of national identity as an ideological weapon, warning that focusing on the self-interest of the privileged few over the welfare of the many distorts the very notion of social life. “ Worrying about personal, community or national identity, apart from these considerations, easily introduces an ideological criterion that distorts social life and imposes the will of the strongest as the criterion of truth, ” he asserts, implicitly taking aim at the nationalist rhetoric that Trump has championed. In closing, Pope Francis calls on all Christians and people of good will to reject the narrative of division and exclusion, urging them to adopt an approach based on fraternity and solidarity. He also invokes the figure of Our Lady of Guadalupe, seeking her protection for those suffering due to the harsh realities of migration and deportation. In his timely and moral intervention, Pope Francis has not only raised his voice against the continuation of Trump’s controversial immigration policies but has also provided a powerful moral framework for a more humane approach to migration, one that centres the dignity of every human being, regardless of their legal status. The Pope’s letter serves as a reminder of the enduring need for compassion, solidarity, and the protection of human rights. Copyright 2025 Lanka News Web Full Letter from Pope Francis to U.S. Catholic Bishops Pope Francis rebukes Trump over mass deportations Washington Post February 11, 2025 By  Sabrina Rodriguez Pope Francis attends the weekly general audience, in Paul VI hall at the Vatican, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo   Pope Francis sharply rebuked President Donald Trump’s policy of mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and urged American Catholics not to lean into anti-immigrant sentiment in an open letter to U.S. Catholic bishops Tuesday.   “I exhort all the faithful of the Catholic Church, and all men and women of good will, not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters,” Francis wrote in a lengthy letter.   The letter served as a strong rejection of Trump’s treatment of migrants, with the pope emphasizing that “an authentic rule of law is verified precisely in the dignified treatment that all people deserve, especially the poorest and most marginalized.”   Francis also appeared to take aim at Vice President JD Vance’s recent use of a medieval Catholic concept to justify and defend the Trump administration’s deportation policy.   In his letter, the pontiff offered a different reading of “ ordo amoris”  in an apparent correction of Vance’s understanding of theology.   “Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups,” he wrote. “The true ordo amoris  that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan,’ that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”   Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, who is overseeing the mass deportation efforts, dismissed the pontiff’s criticism, calling on Francis to stay out of U.S. national security issues.   “Concentrate on the Catholic Church,” Homan, a Catholic, said in a message to the pope during an interview on Newsmax. “You’ve got a lot of problems right there in the Catholic Church. You have enough to fix in your own home. Leave the border stuff to us. We know what we’re doing.”   There has long been friction between the pope and Trump, particularly over the president’s treatment of migrants. During Trump’s first candidacy in 2016, Francis said Trump was “not Christian” for his plan to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall to deter migrants. Most recently, the pontiff called Trump’s plan to mass deport migrants “ a disgrace ” ahead of the inauguration.   And days earlier, the Vatican  named  one of the leading liberal prelates in the United States — known for his support of migrants and the LGBTQ community — to run the Washington-area archdiocese, a move some viewed as sending a message to the then-incoming Trump administration.   Ahead of the  2024 election , Francis described the choice for Americans as the “lesser of two evils” — noting Trump’s anti-migrant policies and the  abortion  rights stance of Vice President  Kamala Harris .   Ultimately, American Catholic voters backed Trump by a 20-point margin, according to  exit polls . It was a reversal from 2020, when Joe Biden, who would become the nation’s second Catholic president, won Catholic voters by a five-point margin.   Massimo Faggioli, a Catholic theologian at Villanova University, said part of the letter was a clear “text message to Vance, or a subtweet" as the pontiff grapples with how “Catholicism has become part of Trumpism.”   “There are some bishops here … who need to figure out whether they are following J.D. Vance’s orders, or they’re faithful to the Vatican,” Faggioli said.   The Vatican, he added, wants to “make it clear that Vance’s Catholicism is not global Catholicism.”   The Vatican and the Trump White House are also now  facing tensions  as the administration is moving to gut funding that religious groups have long used to help migrants. Vance has openly  questioned  whether the Catholic Church’s substantial, decades-long work with migrants is driven by a desire for money, criticism that has dismayed Catholic leaders.   The Catholic bishops’ organization works with immigrants in different ways — mostly through Catholic Charities. It contracts with the federal government to resettle refugees who have been vetted by the U.S. government. It also — like many other aid groups and municipalities — receives public funds, including during the first Trump term, to help people at the border who need basic services such as shelter and food.   Catholic Charities across the country are facing layoffs amid uncertainty over the future of funding. Catholic Relief Services, the international sister organization founded by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is the top recipient of funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development and has been forced to shut down programs funded by the agency and begin to lay off staff as the administration looks to shut down USAID.   In his letter, Francis, who has made migrant rights a guiding light of his papacy, also warned that criminalizing immigrants over their legal status deprives them of their dignity and “will end badly.”   “The true common good is promoted when society and government, with creativity and strict respect for the rights of all — as I have affirmed on numerous occasions — welcomes, protects, promotes and integrates the most fragile, unprotected and vulnerable,” Francis wrote.   Stefano Pitrelli and Michelle Boorstein contributed to this report.   Copyright 2025 The Washington Post