16 illegal Bangladeshi nationals to be deported from South Africa

<p>Johannesburg, Dec 14 (PTI): South Africa is to deport 16 Bangladeshi nationals who arrived in the country on Friday with fake visas, officials said.</p><p>The Bangladeshis had arrived at OR Tambo International Airport on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.</p><p>The Acting Commissioner of BMA, Jane Thupana, confirmed that this was part of the authority's intensified efforts to combat human trafficking, irregular migration and transnational organised crime, particularly during the festive season peak.</p><p>Their interception followed the BMA's analysis of passenger details, which flagged their movement pattern as suspicious.</p><p>Preliminary investigations revealed a modus operandi commonly used in human trafficking syndicates, where individuals attempt to transit through South Africa enroute to neighbouring countries and later re-enter South Africa.</p><p>The Bangladeshis, all males, were intercepted after BMA officials discovered that they were in possession of fraudulent visas.</p><p>They were identified after officers noticed them blending suspiciously among South African travellers in the passport clearance area.</p><p>Through profiling, the individuals were separated from the queue and referred to the BMA Border Law Enforcement Office for secondary investigation. Their documentation was confirmed to be fraudulent, and their intentions were inconsistent with legitimate travel, raising concerns of possible human trafficking activity.</p><p>Commending the officers involved for their vigilance, technical capability and swift action, Thupana said it emphasised that these interceptions demonstrate the effectiveness of the BMA's intelligence-led approach to border management.</p><p>Thupana said the BMA was using advanced passenger data, behavioural profiling and on-the-ground enforcement as central tools to prevent South Africa from being exploited as a corridor for criminal networks.</p><p>"The authority will continue to work with national and international partners to ensure that South Africa's ports of entry are secure and that all attempts to undermine national security are decisively countered," she said.</p><p>Thupana also said that the airline which brought in the illegal migrants would be fined R15,000 for each of them, as it was expected to check the authenticity of their travel documents before allowing them to board the flight. The airline would also be held liable for the costs of repatriating the Bangladeshi nationals.</p><p>There has long been concern in South Africa that subcontinental migrants from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, as well as some African countries, especially Somalia and Ethiopia, were entering the country illegally, often through collaboration of local agents working with Department of Home Affairs officials to secure fraudulent documents, including South African passports.</p><p>The department had also expressed concern about South Africa being used as a transit point for access into third countries by those illegally seeking refugee status.</p><p>There are believed to be over 350,000 Bangladesh-origin residents in South Africa, most having sought political asylum here after Bangladesh established ties with South Africa following the election of Nelson Mandela in 1994. Before that, Bangladesh, like India, had prohibited its citizens from visiting South Africa because of apartheid-era minority white rule. PTI FH MPL MPL</p><p><i>(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)</i></p>

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Terrorist attack kills 6 Bangladeshi military peacekeepers in Sudan: Army

<p>Dhaka, Dec 14 (PTI): The Bangladesh Army has said that six of its personnel serving in the UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan were killed and eight others were injured during a terrorist attack.  "Six of our personnel in the mission were killed and eight others injured when terrorists attacked a UN base in Sudan's Abyei region," a military spokesman said in Dhaka on Saturday.   The defence ministry's Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) directorate said in an initial statement that fighting was still ongoing in the region, which borders South Sudan.</p><p>South Sudan became an independent nation in 2011 through a referendum after decades of civil war with Arab majority northerners.</p><p>After midnight Saturday, the Bangladesh Army issued a statement on its Facebook page saying the authorities were continuing all-out efforts to provide necessary treatment and carry out rescue operations for the injured peacekeepers.</p><p>"It has been learnt that the situation in the area is yet to stabilise and the fight with the terrorists is continuing," the statement said, adding that the military would share further details on the situation in due course once the information was available.</p><p>According to the BBC, citing UN officials, more than 50 people, including UN peacekeepers, have been killed in attacks in Abyei, marking it as the deadliest incident in a three-year-long series of clashes in the disputed oil-rich area claimed by both South Sudan and Sudan.</p><p>The "authorities in the Abyei Special Administrative Area" issued a statement saying a group of "rebels" joined armed youths from the Twic faction and carried out a series of "barbaric coordinated attacks", starting Saturday morning.</p><p>Media reports suggest that there is virtually no government presence, legal justice system, or police force in Abyei.</p><p>Bangladesh is a major contributor to UN blue helmet missions, while officials suggest that currently over 6,000 personnel from the army, navy, air force, and police are deployed, particularly in warring or war-ravaged African countries, including Sudan.   The UN recently renewed its mandate for its Abyei mission, known as UNISFA, as it continues to navigate an increasingly complex landscape. PTI AR MPL MPL</p><p><i>(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)</i></p>

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4 die after four-storey temple in South Africa collapses; rescue ops suspended due to weather

<p>Johannesburg, Dec 14 (PTI): The death toll at the four-story Ahobilam Temple of Protection construction site in Indian town of Redcliffe, South Africa, has risen to four after tons of concrete collapsed.</p><p>Rescue workers, who spent two days trying to recover a fifth body that had been located, had to suspend operations on Saturday afternoon due to inclement weather, which made continuing their work difficult, Reaction Unit South Africa spokesperson Prem Balram told local media.</p><p>“At this stage, it cannot be confirmed whether additional individuals remain trapped beneath the rubble,” he added.</p><p>One of the deceased has been identified as Vickey Jairaj Panday (52), who had dedicated his life to the temple since its inception two years ago. Panday was an executive member of the temple and the manager of the construction project.</p><p>Sanvir Maharaj, director of Food for Love, a charity affiliated to the temple, confirmed that Panday was among those who had died following the collapse of the temple, situated on a steep hill in the mainly Indian area north of eThekwini (formerly Durban).</p><p>A statement by the eThekwini municipality said that the temple construction was being done without approved plans, suggesting that it had been an illegal venture.</p><p>Initial rescue efforts were based on mobile phone calls from one of the trapped persons, but by late Friday evening, the calls had stopped.</p><p>Meanwhile, the municipality of eThekwini said preliminary reports confirmed that no building plans had been approved for the construction of the temple, rendering it illegal.</p><p>On Saturday afternoon, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Thulasizwe Buthelezi visited the site. He pledged that rescue operations would continue for as long as necessary, even though experts on the scene noted there was little hope of finding any more survivors.</p><p>Buthelezi expressed gratitude to the combined government and private teams involved in the operation, including a special dog unit from the Western Cape that assisted in searching for any trapped individuals in the rubble.</p><p>Known as the Ahobilam Temple of Protection, the temple was being built to resemble a cave, using rocks brought from India, as well as those excavated from the site, which were then plastered to create a cave-like appearance on the first floor of the temple.</p><p>Construction began nearly two years ago, and the family building the temple had stated that it would feature the largest deity of Lord Nrsimhadeva in the world. PTI FH MPL MPL</p><p><i>(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)</i></p>

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Ex-Nepal PM Oli Attacks Karki Govt, Takes Indirect Dig At India: 'Some Couldn't Take It Easy...

<p>Kathmandu: Deposed Nepal prime minister K P Sharma Oli on Saturday criticised the Karki-led interim government for &ldquo;biased and unconstitutional practices&rdquo; and also made sarcastic remarks against India albeit without naming the neighbour.</p> <p>Addressing a public meeting, the first after he was forced to resign three months ago following a Gen Z-led protest, Oli claimed that his Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist&ndash;Leninist (CPN-UML) would rise again to steer the country.</p> <p>The former prime minister, known for his China leanings, made sarcastic remarks against India, albeit without naming the southern neighbour, while addressing the CPN-UML's 11th general convention.</p> <p>&ldquo;When we promulgated the Constitution in 2015, some elements didn't like that, as we took a stance which invited sharp reactions. When we have reached an agreement (with China) to convert the land-locked country into a land-linked one, many couldn't digest that,&rdquo; Oli said.</p> <p>&ldquo;Many didn't like our efforts to stand on our own by opening up connectivity by joining North with South,&rdquo; he said.</p> <p>&ldquo;Some couldn't take it easy when we tried to protect our border and made sovereign claim on our own territory,&rdquo; he said, in an apparent reference to the controversy over Nepal's May 2020 revised political map including Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura territories, regions India maintains belong to it.</p> <p>&ldquo;Big trees standing on the roadside don't get hurt by stones thrown at it, it is the smaller trees that get hurt,&rdquo; said Oli. &ldquo;But even after facing so many blows, our party can withstand (it), I don't know where its strength comes from?&rdquo; Oli had resigned on September 9 following violent protests by the Gen Z group against his government over corruption and a ban on social media. Sushila Karki became prime minister on September 12. At least 77 people had died on September 8 and 9.</p> <p>President Ramchandra Paudel then dissolved the House of Representatives (HoR) as per the prime minister&rsquo;s recommendation and announced fresh elections to be held on March 5 next year.</p> <p>The UML chair, for the first time after three months of his ouster, expressed condolences to those killed -- the youth, security personnel and the general public -- in his inaugural message to the party's convention being held at Sallaghari in Bhaktapur district.</p> <p>Oli, however, demanded action against those responsible for the destruction during September's Gen Z protests, in which government buildings, private and public properties as well as party offices and houses of political party leaders were damaged.</p> <p>The veteran Communist leader claimed that &ldquo;stronger the Communist Party grows, the more robust nationalism will become&rdquo; and added, &ldquo;UML is working to maintain social harmony and national unity (and) has successfully foiled attempts to disintegrate the society and divide the people.&rdquo; &ldquo;We don't pursue violence and war as the means to change the society, as we believe in peaceful transformation,&rdquo; he said.</p> <p>Coming down heavily on the interim government &ldquo;for engaging in biased and unconstitutional practices&rdquo; instead of fostering an election-friendly environment, Oli said and termed the recent agreement between the government and Gen Z as &ldquo;bogus.&rdquo; He described the agreement as a serious conspiracy &ldquo;aimed at pushing the country towards confrontation.&rdquo; &ldquo;We were never against the issues raised by the youths such as controlling corruption, maintaining good governance and freeing social media sites,&rdquo; the former prime minister said.</p> <p>Nepal's interim government and Gen Z representatives on December 10 signed the 10-point agreement aimed at electoral reforms, good governance, and probing rights violations during the September protests.</p> <p>Under the pact, the government will provide compensation, free treatment, education support, and job opportunities to the families of those killed and injured in the protests.</p> <p>The deal was nothing more than political theatre designed to weaken democracy, Oli alleged.</p> <p>Insisting that the dissolved HoR must be reinstated, Oli still said, &ldquo;We will not run away from the March 5 elections,&rdquo; but expressed belief that the Supreme Court will reinstate the House.</p> <p>The 11th general convention of the UML will witness closed-door sessions at Bhrikutimandap in Kathmandu on Sunday and Monday. Around 2,260 general convention representatives are set to choose the party's leader.</p> <p>Oli is contesting the party's election aiming to capture the chair for the third consecutive term.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><em>(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)</em></strong></p>

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Trump Announces Thailand-Cambodia Ceasefire After 20 Killed In Deadly Border Clashes

<p>US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to a ceasefire following a week of border clashes that killed at least 20 people and displaced around half a million. He credited his personal talks with the leaders and assistance from Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.</p> <p>In a Truth Social post, Trump said he had a "very good" conversation with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet. Both agreed to "cease all shooting effective this evening" and return to the original Peace Accord signed in October in Kuala Lumpur, with Trump and Ibrahim as witnesses.</p> <p>"I had a very good conversation this morning with the Prime Minister of Thailand, Anutin Charnvirakul, and the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Manet, concerning the very unfortunate reawakening of their long-running War. They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim," his post read.</p> <p>Trump called the roadside bomb that killed and wounded Thai soldiers an accident but noted Thailand's strong retaliation. He praised the deal as a step toward peace and US trade.</p> <p>"The roadside bomb that originally killed and wounded numerous Thai Soldiers was an accident, but Thailand nevertheless retaliated very strongly. Both Countries are ready for PEACE and continued Trade with the United States of America. It is my Honor to work with Anutin and Hun in resolving what could have evolved into a major War between two otherwise wonderful and prosperous Countries! I would also like to thank the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, for his assistance in this very important matter," Trump's post added.</p> <p>The clashes began earlier this week after Cambodian shelling around 7 am in Thailand's Chong Bok area of Nam Yuen district killed one Thai soldier and injured four others, according to the Royal Thai Army.</p> <p>Thai troops returned fire and later launched airstrikes on Cambodian positions, as reported by the Bangkok Post. Major General Winthai Suvaree said the strikes aimed to stop the attacks.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

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Two die after four-storey temple in South Africa collapses; more people trapped under rubble

<p>Johannesburg, Dec 13 (PTI): Two people were confirmed dead after a four-storey temple in the Indian township of Redcliffe, north of Durban, collapsed on Friday afternoon.</p><p>Rescuers cautiously drilling through the rubble to find survivors stopped operations close to midnight amid difficult conditions, vowing to return at the first light on Saturday morning.</p><p>One construction worker died when concrete, which was being poured onto the structure, caused the entire site to collapse, trapping several more under it.</p><p>Initial rescue efforts were based on mobile phone calls from one of the trapped persons, but by late evening the calls stopped.</p><p>The exact number of workers and temple officials believed to be trapped is unknown.</p><p>Rescue workers told concerned family members gathered at the site that there have been previous incidents where trapped people were rescued even after three days with no communication, so they should not give up hope.</p><p>Meanwhile, a 54-year-old devotee, who arrived at the temple with his family, died after he ascended the steep hill on which the temple stood, after hearing about the incident. While he has not yet been named, paramedics who treated him said he suffered a massive cardiac arrest.</p><p>The municipality of EeThekwini (formerly Durban) said preliminary reports confirmed that no building plans have been approved for construction of the temple, rendering it illegal.</p><p>Rescue teams of both the city administration and private companies will return on Saturday morning with cameras and other equipment to search for survivors.</p><p>Known as the Ahobilam Temple of Protection, the temple was being built to resemble a cave, using rocks brought from India and those excavated from the site, which were being plastered onto the first floor of the structure.</p><p>The family building the temple said the construction work started almost two years ago and once over, it would house the biggest Lord Narsimhadeva idol in the world. PTI FH RUK RUK</p><p><i>(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)</i></p>

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Critically Ill Bangladesh Ex-PM Khaleda Zia’s Self-Exiled Son To Return On Dec 25

<p>Dhaka: Critically ill former prime minister Khaleda Zia's son Tarique Rahman, who has been living in self-exile in London for 17 years, will return to Bangladesh on December 25, the BNP said on Friday.</p> <p>The announcement by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) came as its 80-year-old chairperson Zia's health condition deteriorated and she was placed on ventilator support on Thursday.</p> <p>&ldquo;We are pleased to announce that our Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman will return to Dhaka on December 25," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told reporters after a meeting of the party&rsquo;s policy-making standing committee.</p> <p>Alamgir added: &ldquo;The party welcomes him.&rdquo; Rahman, the self-exiled 60-year-old has been living in London since 2008. For obscure reasons, he has been unable to return home and be with his ailing mother. Instead, he steers the party as its de facto leader through virtual platforms.</p> <p>The announcement came a day after Bangladesh&rsquo;s election commission announced that the country&rsquo;s 13th&nbsp;parliamentary elections would be held on February 12.</p> <p>BNP earlier said that if Zia is deemed physically unfit, Rahman would be the prime minister if the party were voted to power.</p> <p>Zia has been undergoing treatment at Dhaka's Evercare Hospital since November 23 for multiple health complications.</p> <p>On Thursday, the former premier was placed on "elective ventilator support to give rest to her lungs and other vital organs." The BNP has re-emerged as the frontrunner in Bangladesh's changed political landscape after a student-led violent street protest toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina&rsquo;s Awami League government on August 5, 2024.<br /><br /><em><strong>(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)</strong></em><br /><br /></p>

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