Immigration policy

Cambodian officials have promised to grant two-year residency cards to roughly 70,000 ethnic Vietnamese currently facing deportation to Vietnam where they have no legal status either. Officials said on Monday that they plan to issue the short-term documents to people of Vietnamese origin who can prove they arrived in Cambodia before 2012. There will be an application process but most people are likely to pass, officials said, as cited by the Phnom Penh Post. A drive to revoke their Cambodian documents, which were deemed “improperly issued”, has rendered many of them stateless, as they have no Vietnamese citizenship either. Nouv Leakhena, deputy head of the Immigration Department at Cambodia’s Interior Ministry, said the government recognized that many ethnic Vietnamese have lived in Cambodia for up to 30 years, some since before the Khmer Rouge regime. “Immigration officials cannot be nationalistic,” he said, as cited in the report. People of … [Read more...] about Cambodia offers ethnic Vietnamese short-term residency in migrant crackdown reprieve

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan  (L) and President of the Republic of Tartastan, Russia, Rustam Minnikhanov (Photo: VNA) Moscow (VNA) – Continuing her official visit to Russia, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan on December 9 met with President of the Republic of Tartastan, Russia, Rustam Minnikhanov. President Minnikhanov affirmed that his republic attaches importance to relations with Vietnam, and thanked Vietnamese leaders for their support to the acceleration of relations and cooperation between the two countries’ localities. He held that bilateral economic relations and trade have not matched up with the potential, and the two sides should further boost relations to increase trade. The president briefed his guest on his republic’s potential and pointed to the fields the two sides can cooperate in such as education, science and tourism. NA Chairwoman Ngan affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to the comprehensive … [Read more...] about Top legislator meets President of Russia’s Tatarstan

A teenage Palestinian girl who was filmed kicking and slapping an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank accepted a plea deal on Wednesday under which she will be sentenced to eight months in prison, her lawyer said. Ahed Tamimi, 17, became a hero to Palestinians after the Dec. 15 incident outside her home in the village of Nabi Saleh was streamed live on Facebook by her mother and went viral. The soldiers had deployed during a weekly Palestinian protest in the village against Israeli policy on settlements in the West Bank, one of the most heated issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Tamimi was 16 at the time of the offence. Her trial began last month and she faced 12 charges, including aggravated assault. "No justice under occupation!" Tamimi, handcuffed and shackled, shouted out to reporters at court in the Ofer military prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. Tamimi's attorney Gaby Lasky said that under the deal approved by the court, Tamimi will plead guilty to a … [Read more...] about Palestinian teen on trial for striking Israeli soldier agrees plea deal

Do Anh Tuan, General Director of Vinahankook Medical Equipment Joint Stock Company (Vinahankook), said tax authorities’ failure to pay VND12.5 billion ($543,000) in value added tax has brought his business to a standstill. Tuan claimed his company, which manufactures medical equipment, has not received VAT refunds for long. The VAT rate for the kind of products his company makes is 5 percent, and it had always used to receive tax refunds. But after Circular 130 was issued by the Ministry of Finance in August 2016 to guide a number of articles in the laws governing value-added tax, special consumption tax and tax administration, Vinahankook was no longer entitled to refunds due to its "failure to meet export conditions," he said. "Vinahankook's chartered capital is VND55 billion ($2.39 million). So the unpaid VAT refund accounts for 22 percent of the charter capital. This delay has brought the business to a standstill making it unable to attract more investment." Nguyen … [Read more...] about Local firms complain about tax refund delays

Women in Tokyo are most in favour of having single-sex carriages on public transport, according to a poll in five of the world's biggest commuter cities released on Thursday, despite such policies face growing criticism. A Thomson Reuters Foundation survey of 1,000 female travellers in Tokyo, London, New York City, Cairo and Mexico City found less than half were in favour of women-only sections on trains and buses to boost safety. But nearly 70 percent of women in Tokyo backed single sex carriages that were introduced into the city in 2000 to combat a phenomenon commonly known as "chikan", or groping, on trains. More than half of women in the Japanese capital said safety was their top transport concern but seven in 10 were confident they could now travel without sexual harassment or violence. Women in Cairo and Mexico City also said safety was their biggest concern about using public and private transport and 60 percent and 55 percent respectively said women-only sections on trains and … [Read more...] about Women in Tokyo strongly back single sex transport amid security fears