TheNewsGuru

Tag: Border

  • Trump threatens to shut border with Mexico soon

    Trump threatens to shut border with Mexico soon

    U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to shut the border with Mexico in the coming week, if the southern neighbour failed to prevent migrants from reaching and crossing the frontier.

    “If Mexico doesn’t immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States (though) our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, in the coming week,’’ Trump said in a series of tweets.

    He said that the U.S. was losing money to Mexico, “especially when you add in drug trafficking etc’’ and therefore “the Border closing would be a good thing!’’

    He also slammed Mexico, saying “they just take our money and ‘talk.’’

    In his campaign for the 2016 election, Trump attacked Mexico and even accused Mexicans of being rapists and murderers, in what was widely perceived as a racist attack.

    However, he has toned down some of his comments towards the country since becoming president and as the sides negotiated a new trade deal to replace NAFTA, along with Canada.

    Trump’s latest broadside comes as reports say a new caravan of migrants is working its way up from Central America to the U.S.

    Most new arrivals in the U.S. are not Mexicans, but transit through that country.

    Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Thursday conceded there is a problem, even as he pointed out that his country was not responsible for the situation.

    Trump has declared a national emergency on the southern border and is using the special powers in this pronouncement to tap funds to vastly expand a wall between the two countries.

  • FG closes land borders ahead of presidential poll

    The Minister of Interior, Lt.-Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (rtd), has directed the closure of all Nigerian land borders with effect from Friday Feb. 15 to Sunday Feb. 17 for the Saturday Presidential and National Assembly elections.

    A press statement issued by the Comptroller-General, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Mr Muhammad Babandede, in Abuja on Thursday said that there would be restriction of movements across the Nigerian borders during the election on the days announced.

    “The public is to take note and ensure compliance,’’ he said.

  • Seme-Krake border will foster Nigeria-Benin interests –Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said that the inauguration of the new Seme-Kraker joint border will foster the common interests of Nigeria and the Republic of Benin.
    Buhari said this as he inaugurated the new Economic Community of West African States Border Posts at Seme-Krake and Neope-Akanu in Badagry.
    In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media & Publicity, Femi Adesina, President Buhari said, ”As we all know, Nigeria and Benin share many things in common. Hence, the establishment of the Joint Border Post will certainly promote our brotherliness and emphasize our common interest.”
    President Buhari described the project, aimed at enhancing the free movement of persons and goods in the region, as ”a symbol of integration that brings together the peoples of Nigeria and Benin.
    ”Indeed, the Seme-Krake joint border is one of the busiest boundary lines not only in West Africa but the whole continent, daily recording huge movement of persons, goods and services.
    ”Permit me therefore to congratulate my brother, President Patrice Talon of the Republic of Benin on the successful completion of this magnificent project.
    “On the benefits of the joint border post, which sits on 17 hectares of land, the President noted that it would enhance trade facilitation by combining border clearance activities in a single location, increase cooperation and coordination of controls, in addition to fostering data and intelligence sharing between Nigeria and Benin Republic.
    ”The Border Post is strategically important and lies on the Lagos-Cotonou-Lome-Accra-Abidjan corridor, which accounts for about 70% of the entire transit traffic in the sub-region.
    ”I am aware that a Joint Committee with membership from Nigeria and Benin has been established for the coordination and management of this facility. I would like to call on the members of the committee to note the complex task ahead of them.
    ”The committee must ensure that border officials are sensitized on the mode of operation of the Joint Border Post concept which is a big departure from the traditional mode of operation. I call on the ECOWAS Commission to continue to provide the needed support to this Committee, ”he said.
    Adesina added that President Buhari in his capacity as the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Buhari also thanked the EU for supporting two other joint borders at Malanville (between Benin/Niger) and Noepe-Akanu (between Ghana/Togo).

  • Pregnant cow bags death sentence for illegal border crossing

    A pregnant cow will be executed as a result of crossing from her European Union farm in Bulgaria into the non-EU Serbia.

    Daily Mail reports that Penka, a pregnant red cow who is due in around three months’ time, wandered westwards away from her herd near the village of Kopilovtsi, straying over the border into non-EU Serbia.

    Two weeks later, she was returned to her owner, Ivan Haralampiev, by a farmer over the frontier.

    However, Bulgarian officials said the animal must be put down because of strict EU rules.

    Penka will now be executed because she didn’t have the proper paperwork — despite being given a clean bill of health by Serbian vets.

    “She had left the borders of the EU and cannot be imported back into the European Union,” Haralampiev told public BNT Television Thursday as he pleaded for his cow to be saved.

    “A vet comes and orders it to be immediately culled!”

    The farmer also lamented how the cow was able to saunter over the border unchecked in the first place. “How come nobody attempted to stop it?” he said.

    Although Serbian vets have written a statement saying Penka was in a perfect condition and fit to return home, Bulgarian authorities said she should be put down without delay.

    Officials said it was not in their powers to save Penka from the EU regulations.

  • Italy protests to France over border incident

    Italy on Saturday protested to France over a incident in which French border police entered a clinic run by a non-governmental organization that cares for migrants trying to cross the Alps, the foreign ministry said.

    The episode angered many politicians, some of whom saw it as a violation of Italian territory.

    The ministry, which had earlier summoned the French ambassador for an explanation, said in a statement that it had conveyed the Rome government’s “firm protest for the behavior of the French customs agents, which was unacceptable …”

    The NGO, Rainbow for Africa, said that on Friday evening the French brought a Nigerian migrant to the railway station of the Italian border town of Bardonecchia.
    The NGO said they entered the clinic, which is in the train station, and conducted a urine test on the man because they suspected him of drug trafficking.

    The foreign ministry said France had been told earlier this month that the station was no longer accessible for its police because it was now being used for humanitarian purposes.

    In their account of the incident, French customs said they had the written consent of the man for the test and the NGO had also given them permission to use the facilities for it. The test was negative.

    French customs said they had followed regulations and were ready to clarify with the Italians any legal and operational procedures to avoid future incidents.

    Massimiliano Fedriga of the right-wing League, which made big gains in recent elections, said the French had made Italy look like the laughing stock of Europe.

    “French police do whatever they want on Italian territory without being disturbed, as if they are at home. What happened in Bardonecchia is grave and shows how our so-called friends in Europe have little or no consideration for us,” he said in a statement.

    Reuters

  • Czech, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia offer 35m euros for Libyan border protection

    The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have offered 35 million euros (41 million dollars) to assist an EU project aiming at beefing up border protection in Libya.

    This is in an effort to help tackle the bloc’s migration crisis in the area, the four countries said this in a statement while addressing the root causes of the problems.

    The move to financially assist the Italian-led project is meant to demonstrate efforts by the four countries, which belong to the so-called Visegrad group or Visegrad IV (V4) within the EU, to pull their weight on providing solutions to migration questions.

    The V4 have long been critical of EU policies on mandatory quotas to relocate migrants arriving to Italy and Greece, and they have called for stemming the flow of migrants in countries outside the EU.

    “The financial effort and the readiness in the implementation of the project is another demonstration of the V4 countries of their conviction that the migratory pressure on Europe can only be tackled by protecting external borders.

    On Dec. 8, the V4 launched a joint project to strengthen the Libyan border protection and improve the situation of refugees in Libya, the Government Office said in a statement on Friday.

    The project is to help prevent migrant crises, outgoing Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka wrote.

    Sobotka wrote in the statement that the V4’s joint project is to be one of a number of Czech activities to prevent migrant crises.

    The V4’s financial contributions will go to the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, which was established two years ago in support of African countries of migrant origin and transit, the Government Office wrote.

    The Czech Republic has contributed 1.66 million euros to the fund so far, being one of the biggest contributors in Central and East Europe.

    Earlier this year, the Czech government approved 25 million crowns worth of a contribution to the Libyan coast guards.

    on Friday, the Czech Republic launched a project together with Italy, which focuses on improving the situation of people in the Ivory Coast.

    The Czech contribution of 26 million crowns is designated to improve healthcare in this country and facilitate refugees’ return, the government office wrote.

  • We are tackling menace of porous borders -Osinbajo

    The Vice-president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has reiterated the Federal Government’s efforts in tackling the menace of porous borders to curtail smuggling of counterfeit products and boost local production.

    Osinbajo stated this while playing host to a delegation of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) on Thursday, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    According to a press statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-president on media and publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, Osinbajo said there was need for stringent laws guiding borders’ activities and transactions.

    “Certain sections of the laws should be amended to attract stringent monetary penalties for defaulters, which would serve as deterrent and also to protect the quality of goods in the country.

    “More importantly, the whole issue is that we are able to police the borders. Last week, we had discussions with all the agencies connected; including the Customs, the Minister of Internal Affairs, NPA, and we were looking at how we can work with our neighbours, especially the Benin Republic, and our neighbours also in the North, to police our borders as much as we can.

    “The Federal Government will also consider the request made by the association for a 35 per cent margin of preference for Made-in-Nigeria products for government procurement.

    “I think that, in this particular case, the 35 per cent threshold is entirely reasonable. We should be able to do better than that in terms of driving government procurement.

    “The country has a huge market for locally manufactured products, especially in the textile and footwear industries”, Osinbajo said.

    He further said that government had ordered some of these products for the military and other uniformed agencies of government.

    The Vice President emphasised that the major focus of the Buhari’s administration’s Ease of Doing Business reforms was to increase patronage for locally manufactured goods, as well as to create an enabling environment for the private sector and businesses in the country to thrive.

    “The whole point of the Executive Order on promoting “Made-in-Nigeria” products was to set the ball rolling, to create an environment for this sort of initiative, and I am extremely grateful to MAN for the work that it has done in bringing this to the fore.”

    The President of MAN, Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs, in his earlier remarks noted that the association’s advocacy campaign was not only aimed at improving the patronage of locally manufactured products by Nigerians, but to also help create more jobs for Nigerians in the local manufacturing sector by reducing imports.

    He later presented the Vice President a report on MAN’s advocacy campaign for patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products.