
-
China consumer prices slump for second straight month: data
-
Tearful Doncic scores 45 on return to Dallas as Lakers clinch playoff spot
-
Hamas leadership operating behind veil of secrecy
-
Trump stuns with tariff backtrack but hikes China rate to 125%
-
Messi scores twice in Miami's three goal comeback over LAFC
-
Amazon satellite launch scrubbed due to weather
-
Art of the deal? How Trump backed down on tariffs
-
Aston Villa boss Emery remains bullish despite defeat in Paris
-
Barca still improving: Flick warns rivals after thrashing Dortmund
-
Echavarria risks Masters Par-Three Contest curse with playoff win
-
Who stands in the crosshairs of Trump's tariffs?
-
US stocks soar on Trump tariff reversal, oil prices jump
-
Salah getting closer to new Liverpool deal: reports
-
NBA rescinds Doncic ejection foul in Thunder loss
-
Cricketer De Villiers gets a Masters hit with pal Bezuidenhout
-
Saudi top diplomat in US to prepare for Trump visit
-
Kvaratskhelia genius helps give PSG Champions League edge against Villa
-
Sensational Barca destroy Dortmund in Champions League mismatch
-
Author of explosive Meta memoir stars at US Senate hearing
-
King Charles addresses Italian parliament, greets pope on visit to Rome
-
Dominican Republic ends search for nightclub collapse survivors
-
Pentagon chief says US could 'revive' Panama bases
-
Trump stuns with tariff backtrack but punishes China
-
King Charles jokes, cites Monty Python at Italian state banquet
-
Strength in numbers: Latin America urges unity in face of Trump tariffs
-
France could recognise Palestinian state 'in June': Macron
-
Tariff war could cut US-China goods trade by 80 percent: WTO chief
-
Europa League success 'massive' for Man Utd, says Amorim
-
Scheffler tunes out talk of history in Masters title defense
-
Turkey opposition to fight Erdogan 'until the end': leader tells AFP
-
Argentina braces for 24-hour strike as it awaits news on IMF loan
-
Volkswagen says first-quarter profits impacted by Trump tariffs
-
Hope fades as deaths mount in Dominican Republic nightclub disaster
-
Herd of animal puppets treks from Africa to Europe in climate action
-
'Versatile' Sudharsan helps Gujarat to top of IPL table
-
Israel says seizing 'large areas' of Gaza as strike kills 23
-
Trump stuns with tariffs reversal but hits China harder
-
Amazon to launch first batch of satellites rivaling Musk
-
Sudharsan, Krishna lead Gujarat to top of IPL table
-
Settlement champion Huckabee confirmed as US Israel envoy
-
Trump pauses tariffs for 90 days but hits China harder
-
US federal judges halt deportations of Venezuelans under wartime law
-
No direct LIV path to Masters but Ridley wants one elite tour
-
UK cinemas fight viral 'chicken jockey' trend
-
Russia denounces brief detention of government employee in France
-
Nepal fights wildfires and pollution amidst drier winter
-
Jamaican speed merchant Thompson seeks fast progress in 2025
-
'Horrible' Djokovic falls in Monte Carlo, first win for Alcaraz
-
Masters chief defends Cabrera invite after domestic violence convictions
-
Pentagon chief in Panama vows to counter China 'threat'

US-bound refugees in Hong Kong despair as Trump halts arrivals
After 13 years in Hong Kong as a refugee, John received plane tickets that would grant his family new lives in the United States -- only for them to be snatched away with a stroke of the pen by President Donald Trump.
Trump's executive order to suspend all refugee admissions and halt the US asylum programme, signed hours after taking office, has left adrift dozens in the Chinese city approved for US resettlement.
John's scheduled flight to Los Angeles barely missed the Monday January 27 deadline -- had he been allowed to board, the executive order would have taken effect while he was in the air.
"It was devastating news for the whole family," said the 37-year-old, who fled persecution in an East African country and spoke to AFP using a pseudonym.
"(We had) just a few days remaining."
The order -- despite being up for review in 90 days -- has already caused "pain" and a "huge ripple effect" as asylum seekers in Hong Kong now fear being sent back to square one, according to advocates for refugee rights.
John said he had completed years of stringent US vetting, including security and medical checks.
The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) had "prepared everything" to resettle him, his wife and their children.
"We actually asked (the IOM), 'Is there any way we can buy the ticket for our own and just travel maybe on Sunday?' They say, 'No way possible.'"
- Sleepless nights -
Trump's order temporarily cuts off a legal migration pathway for the estimated 37.9 million refugees fleeing wars, persecution or disasters around the world.
In his order, Trump said the United States had been "inundated" and could not absorb migrants in a way that protects Americans' safety and security. In the 2024 fiscal year, more than 100,000 refugees resettled in the United States, the most in three decades.
James, who was cleared for US resettlement this month after waiting 14 years in Hong Kong, said it was "not fair" to halt all arrivals.
"First time we heard the news, I wasn't able to sleep... until now it's still difficult," said James, 31, who fled an East African nation and asked to use a pseudonym for safety.
"How many millions of people doesn't sleep... because of what (Trump) signed?"
John and James belong to the tiny fraction of the 15,800 asylum seekers living in Hong Kong who successfully jumped through all the hoops for resettlement, typically in the United States or Canada.
Both men said they were given short notice, forcing them to quit their jobs, end home leases and bid farewell to friends.
Social worker Jeffrey Andrews at the Christian Action Centre for Refugees estimates there were up to 50 people similarly "on the way out".
Typically up to 70 refugees would leave for the United States every year, he said.
But he said "panic set in" as refugees started calling about cancelled flights, with the centre also receiving walk-in requests for help.
Re-doing the approval process would be a "logistical, technical and bureaucratic nightmare", he warned.
"I thought this is the year we're going to say goodbye to more people," Andrews said, citing an upward trend last year.
"But now it's turned upside down."
- Community in 'pain' -
Justice Centre Hong Kong, a non-profit group helping refugees, has seen the order "affect families that we know" -- including one that was "packed and ready", said executive director Lynette Nam.
"When people get a chance to go and they know they're in the pipeline, it creates a lot of hope... Then all that hope disappears overnight," she told AFP.
And Nam said it was "doubtful" the 90-day review period would change the policy enough to make a difference.
The suspension is a "significant setback for families in our community, many of whom have been waiting for years", said Branches of Hope, another Hong Kong non-profit.
Uzma Naveed, an outreach coordinator at the Centre for Refugees, said the abrupt shift left the asylum seeker community "in a really painful place".
"I had families who came to me and they were like, 'I'm done,'" said Naveed, who went through refugee vetting herself.
"I was also feeling the same thing... but I cannot say that to them."
Stuck in Hong Kong again and looking for a new job, John said he hoped someday to be an all-American "big truck driver".
"You just need to wait for another decision from the president in the future."
O.Krause--BTB