More than 1.7 million people flee war in Ukraine: UNHCR

More than 1.7 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, according to the latest data from the United Nations on Monday.

- 1,735,068 refugees -

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, recorded 1,735,068 refugees on its dedicated website, just over 200,000 more than the previous count on Sunday.

UNICEF, the UN children's agency, believes around half of them are youngsters.

Authorities and the UN expect the flow to intensify as the Russian army advances deeper into Ukraine, particularly as it approaches the capital, Kyiv.

More than 37 million people lived under the Kyiv government's control before last week's invasion.

"The military offensive in Ukraine has caused destruction of civilian infrastructure and civilian casualties and has forced people to flee their homes seeking safety, protection and assistance," UNHCR says.

The agency projects that as the conflict unfolds, "an estimated four million people may flee Ukraine", noting that many people were also displaced from their homes within the country.

Here is a breakdown of where the people who fled across Ukraine's borders now find themselves, according to the UN Refugee Agency:

- Poland - 

Six in 10 of those who have fled Ukraine are now in Poland. The UNCHR's figures published Monday said 1,027,603 refugees were now in Ukraine's biggest western neighbour.

The number swelled by 142,300 in 24 hours.

Polish border guards on Sunday said the total figure represented "a million human tragedies".

Poland has championed the cause of Ukrainian refugees. The government has set up reception centres and charities have mobilised in a massive aid effort, helped by the estimated 1.5 million Ukrainians already living in the EU member state.

- Hungary -

Some 180,163 refugees are now in Hungary -- 10 percent of the total who have fled Ukraine. The number was up 11,110 on Sunday's figure.

The country has five border crossings with Ukraine and several border towns, including Zahony, have turned public buildings into relief centres, where Hungarian civilians are offering food or assistance. 

- Slovakia -

Across Ukraine's shortest border, some 128,169 refugees are now in Slovakia, around seven percent of the total.

- Moldova -

Some 82,762 refugees are now in Moldova, though many thousands more have passed through the non-EU state on their way to other countries -- hence the number is down 1,305 since Sunday.

According to the UNHCR, many refugees are continuing on to Romania or Hungary, often to reunite with family.

Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita said Sunday that more than 230,000 people have crossed the border from Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Moldova on Sunday and Gavrilita urged Washington to provide more humanitarian aid to help her country of 2.6 million, one of Europe's poorest, cope with the influx.

- Romania -

Some 78,977 refugees from Ukraine are now in Romania.

Two camps have been set up, one in Sighetu Marmatiei and the other in Siret.

- Elsewhere in Europe - 

UNHCR said that 183,688 people, having crossed Ukraine's borders into neighbouring nations, had now moved on to other European countries.

- Russia -

UNHCR's latest figure for the number of refugees who have crossed Ukraine's longest border into Russia since the invasion, compiled up to the end of Thursday, is 53,000.

UNHCR notes that an additional 96,000 people moved to Russia from the separatist eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions between February 18 and 23, in the days before the Russian invasion.

- Belarus -

Some 406 refugees had made it to Belarus, according to the latest UNCHR tally for the country, compiled up to the end of Friday.

Agence France-Presse

Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher fundraiser for Ukraine refugees tops $6.8M

Hollywood couple Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis have raised over $6.8 million as of Friday, a day after setting up a GoFundMe page seeking humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees.

Kunis, who was born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine in 1983, moved to the United States in 1991.

"I have always considered myself an American, a proud American... But today, I have never been more proud to be a Ukrainian," Kunis said in an embedded video.

"The events that have unfolded in Ukraine are devastating. There is no place in this world for this kind of unjust attack on humanity."

Kutcher, sitting by Kunis' side in the video, said the funds would be used to provide refugee and humanitarian aid to Ukrainians affected by Russia's invasion of the neighboring country.

"The principle challenge right now is logistics. We need to get housing and we need to get supplies and resources into the area," said Kutcher. "And I have never been more proud to be married to a Ukrainian."

The two actors, who married in 2015, have agreed to match up to $3 million of donations, with the ultimate goal of raising $30 million. They are partnering with short-term housing website Airbnb.org and Flexport.org, which organizes shipments of humanitarian aid to refugees.

-reuters-

US man hurts nine in stabbing spree at children's party

WASHINGTON - A man went on a stabbing spree at a toddler's birthday party at a low-income apartment complex for refugees in the US state of Idaho, wounding 9 people including 6 children, police said Sunday.

The attack was apparently motivated by revenge after the man, identified by police as Timmy Kinner, 30, of Los Angeles, was asked to leave the residence in the state capital Boise on Friday.

He was not a refugee himself but had been staying with an acquaintance for a few days, police chief Bill Bones told a news conference.

He then returned on Saturday night to "exact vengeance," first targeting the children attending a three-year-old's birthday party, then the adults who tried to protect them.

The children ranged in age from 3 to 12 years old. Four of the victims had life-threatening wounds, but police did not specify how many of these were children or adults.

"It appears from the investigation, it was a matter of where they lived, not a matter if they knew the suspect," Bones added.

Most of the refugees in the complex are from Syria, Iraq and Ethiopia.

Kinner, who has been charged with nine counts of aggravated battery and 6 counts of injuring a child, had previously been convicted for numerous crimes and served prison time in Kentucky, said Bones.

Boise, in the southwestern corner of the western state, has a population of about 220,000.

The state of Idaho has a small but growing immigrant population, accounting for about 6 percent of the total. Immigrants make up some 40 percent of the labor force in the farming and fishing sectors.

On Saturday, several thousand people marched outside the Idaho State Capitol in Boise to protest the immigration policies of President Donald Trump's administration, one of many such rallies across the country.

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US lifts ban on refugees from 11 countries

WASHINGTON - The United States announced Monday it was lifting its ban on refugees from 11 "high-risk" countries, but said those seeking to enter the US would come under much tougher scrutiny than in the past.

Applicants from 11 countries, unnamed but understood to include 10 Muslim-majority nations plus North Korea, will face tougher "risk-based" assessments to be accepted.


"It's critically important that we know who is entering the United States," said Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

"These additional security measures will make it harder for bad actors to exploit our refugee program, and they will ensure we take a more risk-based approach to protecting the homeland."

The 11 countries, hit with a ban in October in the Trump administration's revised refugee policy, have not been identified officially.

But refugee groups say they comprise Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

NOT A 'MUSLIM BAN'  

Speaking anonymously, a senior administration official told journalists that the policy of enhanced security assessments for the 11 countries was not designed to target Muslims.

"Our admissions have nothing to do with religion," the official said, adding that there is "nothing especially novel" about tougher screening for countries deemed to have a higher level of risk.

Donald Trump has pursued a much tougher stance on immigrants and refugees from all countries since becoming president one year ago.

His predecessor Barack Obama set refugee admission in fiscal 2017, which began on October 2016, at 110,000.

When Trump took office a year ago, he slashed that to 53,000, a number that was cut again to a maximum of 45,000 in fiscal 2018. 

But refugee arrivals this year could come in significantly lower than that, due to the backlog from the 120-day halt and a slowdown in processing because of generally tougher applicant reviews.

DHS would not explain what the tougher vetting measures for the 11 countries would include. 

But all applicants are being asked to supply more detailed histories and evidence of their past activities, and many are having to allow access to personal electronics and social media accounts.

The move comes as Trump presses for a sharp turn in overall US immigration policy that critics say will result in a 50 percent cut in arrivals each year and bias admissions away from African, Asian and Muslim countries.

Last week, Trump proposed to end the 27-year-old "green card lottery" program that aims to diversify the source of immigrants, leading to an upturn in those from Middle Eastern and African countries.

He also proposed to tightly limit the family members who can join immigrants to only spouses and younger children. Until now, such "chain migration" could extend to immigrants' parents, grandparents, siblings and extended family.

The White House said the policy was necessary to protect national security from terror and crime threats.

In return, Trump proposed a plan that offers 1.8 million young unauthorized immigrants known as "Dreamers" a path to citizenship over 10-12 years.

Democrats and Republicans are starting negotiations on those proposals, along with Trump's request for a $25 billion "trust fund" to build a wall on the southern US border to deter illegal border-crossers from Mexico.

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Federal judge partially blocks Trump's latest refugee restrictions

WASHINGTON - US District Judge James Robart, a federal judge in Seattle, partially blocked US President Donald Trump's latest restrictions on refugee admissions on Saturday.

Robart said the refugee restrictions could not apply to refugees with "bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States."

In late October, the Trump administration effectively paused refugee admissions from 11 countries mostly in the Middle East and Africa, pending a 90-day security review.

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Airbnb partners with aid agency for refugees

LONDON - Home-sharing website Airbnb has partnered with global aid agency International Rescue Committee (IRC) to provide short-term accommodation for refugees, joining a number of companies that has voiced their support for people fleeing conflicts.

The company said it plans to house 100,000 people in temporary homes over the next five years, including refugees, displaced people, disaster survivors and overseas aid workers. It has also pledged $4 million to the IRC.

"People who've been displaced, whether because of war or conflict or other factors, are acutely vulnerable to not being accepted," the company said in a statement this week.

"They are, quite literally, in need of a place to belong, which is why we've been inspired to take action," it said, encouraging customers to join the campaign by hosting refugees.

Former US Secretary of State, John Kerry supported the initiative, posting on Twitter: "Heartened to see people and companies standing with those doing so much good for those most in need -- leadership that's needed!"

Last week Airbnb offered free accommodation to refugees and others barred from entering the United States due to President Donald Trump's immigration curbs, which have since been temporarily suspended after a court ruling.

"It is important to remember that refugees have fled great harm, and in many cases their journey to the U.S. have been long and arduous. Now we want them to begin to feel at home," IRC spokeswoman Lucy Keating told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Airbnb is one of several global companies that has supported refugees after Trump's proposed 90-day travel ban on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and a 120-day bar on all refugees.

Swedish furniture giant IKEA last week announced it would stock rugs and textiles made by Syrian refugees by 2019, employing mostly refugee women living in Jordanian camps.

"The situation in Syria is a major tragedy of our time, and Jordan has taken a great responsibility in hosting Syrian refugees," said IKEA spokeswoman Johanna Martin.

"We decided to look into how IKEA can contribute in supporting Jordan's journey in integrating refugees with locals in labor market through jobs," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, adding that production should start by September.

But initiatives to help refugees have not been welcomed by everyone.

Global coffee chain Starbucks faced a backlash on social media last week after the company announced it would hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years in the United States.

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U.S. court denies request to immediately restore travel ban

WASHINGTON -- A U.S. appeal court late on Saturday denied a request from the U.S. Department of Justice to immediately restore a immigration order from President Donald Trump barring citizens from seven mainly Muslim countries and temporarily banning refugees.

The court ruling dealt a further setback to Trump, who has denounced the judge in the state of Washington who blocked his January 27 order on Friday. In tweets and comments to reporters, the President has insisted he will get the ban reinstated.

Trump says the temporary immigration restrictions on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and on all refugees, are necessary to protect the United States from Islamist militants. Critics say they are unjustified and discriminatory.

The judge's order and the appeal ruling have created what may be a short-lived opportunity for travelers from the seven affected countries to get into the United States while the legal uncertainty continues.

In a brief order, the appeals court said the government's request for an immediate administrative stay on the Washington judge's decision had been denied. It was awaiting further submissions from Washington and Minnesota states on Sunday, and from the government on Monday.

The government's appeal says the decision by judge James Robart in Washington posed an immediate harm to the public, thwarted enforcement of an executive order and "second-guesses the president's national security judgment about the quantum of risk posed by the admission of certain classes of (non-citizens) and the best means of minimizing that risk."

Trump denounced the "so-called" judge in a series of tweets on Saturday and told reporters: "We'll win. For the safety of the country, we'll win."

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Trump: U.S. will win appeal of judge's travel ban order

WASHINGTON/PALM BEACH, Fla - U.S. President Donald Trump said the Justice Department will win an appeal filed late Saturday of a judge's order lifting a travel ban he had imposed on citizens of seven mainly Muslim countries.

"We'll win. For the safety of the country, we'll win," he told reporters at his private Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, shortly after the Justice Department filed a notice that it intends to appeal the order.

Trump's personal attack on U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle went too far for some who said the president was undermining an institution designed to check the power of the White House and Congress.

"The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!" Trump said on Twitter early on Saturday.

Trump has said "extreme vetting" of refugees and immigrants is needed to prevent terrorist attacks.

Throughout the day, Trump continued to criticize the decision in tweets. Late Saturday, Trump showed no signs of backing down.

"The judge opens up our country to potential terrorists and others that do not have our best interests at heart. Bad people are very happy!" he tweeted.

As the ban lifted, refugees and thousands of travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen who had been stopped in their tracks last weekend by Trump's executive order scrambled to get flights to quickly enter the United States.

The Justice Department did not say when it would file its appeal with the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of the ruling made by Robart late on Friday that also lifted Trump's temporary ban imposed on refugee admissions.

The judge appointed by former Republican President George W. Bush questioned the constitutionality of Trump's order.

The three-judge panel that will decide whether to immediately block the ruling includes appointees of George W. Bush and two former Democratic presidents, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.

Trump's tweets criticizing the judge's decision could make it tougher for Justice Department attorneys as they seek to defend the executive order in Washington state and other courts, said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, adding that presidents are usually circumspect about commenting on government litigation.

"It's hard for the president to demand that courts respect his inherent authority when he is disrespecting the inherent authority of the judiciary. That certainly tends to poison the well for litigation," Turley said.

U.S. immigration advocacy groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and International Refugee Assistance Project on Saturday in a joint statement urged those with now valid visas from the seven nations "to consider rebooking travel to the United States immediately" because the ruling could be overturned or put on hold. A U.S. State Department email reviewed by Reuters said the department is working to begin admitting refugees including Syrians as soon as Monday.

SEPARATION OF POWERS

It is unusual for a president to attack a member of the judiciary, which the U.S. Constitution designates as a check to the power of the executive branch and Congress. Reached by email Saturday, Robart declined comment on Trump's tweets.

Democratic U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont said in a statement Saturday that Trump's "hostility toward the rule of law is not just embarrassing, it is dangerous. He seems intent on precipitating a constitutional crisis."

"Read the 'so-called' Constitution," tweeted Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence committee.

In an interview with ABC scheduled to air on Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence said he did not think that Trump's criticisms of the judge undermined the separation of powers.

"I think the American people are very accustomed to this president speaking his mind and speaking very straight with them," Pence said, according to an excerpt of the interview.

The court ruling was the first move in what could be months of legal challenges to Trump's push to clamp down on immigration. His order set off chaos last week at airports across the United States where travelers were stranded and thousands of people gathered to protest.

Americans are divided over Trump's order. A Reuters/Ipsos poll this week showed 49 percent favored it while 41 percent did not.

Wes Parker, a retiree from Long Beach, California, held a sign saying "Trump is love" at the Los Angeles International Airport, and said he supported the tighter measures.

"We just have to support the travel pause," said Parker, 62.

"If you were a new president coming in, wouldn't you want what you feel safe with?"

Rights groups, Democrats and U.S. allies have condemned the travel ban as discriminatory. On Saturday, there were protests against the immigrant curb in Washington, New York, Los Angeles and other cities.

At the White House, hundreds of protesters chanted "Donald, Donald can't you see? You're not welcome in D.C."

TRAVELERS MOVE WITH HASTE

The sudden reversal of the ban catapulted would-be immigrants back to airports, with uncertainty over how long the window to enter the United States will remain open.

In Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, Fuad Sharef and his family prepared to fly on Saturday to Istanbul and then New York before starting a new life in Nashville, Tennessee.

"I am very happy that we are going to travel today. Finally, we made it," said Sharef, who was stopped from boarding a New York-bound flight last week.

The Department of Homeland Security said on Saturday it would return to its normal procedures for screening travelers but that the Justice Department would file for an emergency stay of the order "at the earliest possible time."

Some travelers told Reuters they were cautious about the sudden change.

"I will not say if I have hope or not. I wait, watch and then I build my hopes," said Josephine Abu Assaleh, 60, who was stopped from entering the United States after landing in Philadelphia last week with five members of her family.

"We left the matter with the lawyers. When they tell us the decision has been canceled, we will decide whether to go back or not," she told Reuters in Damascus, speaking by telephone.

Virtually all refugees also were barred by Trump's order, upending the lives of thousands of people who have spent years seeking asylum in the United States.

Friday night's court decision sent refugee advocacy and resettlement agencies scrambling to help people in the pipeline.

Iraqi refugee Nizar al-Qassab, 52, told Reuters in Lebanon that his family had been due to travel to the United States for resettlement on Jan. 31. The trip was canceled two days before that and he was now waiting for a phone call from U.N. officials overseeing their case.

"It's in God's hands," he said.

(Additional reporting by Issam Abdullah in Beirut, Dan Levine in Seattle, Alana Wise in New York, Robert Chiarito and Nathan Layne in Chicago, Daina Beth Solomon in Los Angeles, and Julia Edwards Ainsley in Washington; Writing by Roberta Rampton and David Shepardson; Editing by Bill Trott, Mary Milliken, Diane Craft and Nick Macfie)

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