On 27 January 2026, the Dutch court in Zwolle delivered a significant verdict in the case against a suspect known as Walid, or Tewelde Goitom, convicting him on nearly all charges related to widespread human rights abuses against refugees in Libya. The court, in a comprehensive ruling totaling around 100 pages, sentenced Walid to the […]
Situation Report Special: Cruel Eritrean smuggler Walid gets the maximum sentence of 20 years in prison
Walid hearing verdict (per 27 January 2026) The judges in the Dutch court in Zwolle found the suspect in the ‘Walid’ case guilty of almost all charges and sentenced him to the maximum of 20 years in prison. The full verdict comprises around 100 pages. The judge presented the main points of the verdict during […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: Alarm at inflammatory rhetoric in South Sudan
Situation in Sudan (per 26 January) Two civilians have been killed by a Rapid Support Forces (RSF) suicide drone strike on the besieged city of Dilling, South Kordofan state, reported The Sudan Doctors Network on Sunday. The network accused the RSF and allied Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), of ongoing deliberate attacks on unarmed civilians […]
India Between Power Blocs
Indo-Europe and BRICS 2026 crucial to New Delhi ‘Multi-Alignment’ By Ramesh Jaura This article was first published on https://rjaura.substack.com BERLIN | 23 January 2026 (WorldView) — For close to eight decades since World War II, world trade has been based, though imperfectly, on the premise that rules matter. This was from the General Agreement on […]
As Myanmar’s Civil War Drives Global Scam Industry, Human Rights May Need Rethink
*By Kalinga Seneviratne BANGKOK. | 23 January 2026 (IDN) —With Myanmar’s three-stage elections hitting the home stretch later this week on Sunday, ending the country’s civil war may need to take center stage in the post-election period. It is fueling a global scam industry that is destabilizing not only the Southeast Asian region, but also […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: Intensified fighting across South Sudan
Situation in South Sudan (per 22 January) Intensified fighting attacking military posts has been reported across South Sudan in the largest offensives by various coalitions of opposition forces since 2017. The heaviest fighting is occurring in Jonglei state, and Equatoria region, with battles raging in reportedly in all but two states, especially in old hotspots […]
How the EU’s Initiated Crackdown on Human Smuggling Will Impact Migration Systems for the Better or the Worse.
BRUSSELS. Belgium | 21 January 2026 (IDN) — “We Europeans, decide who comes to Europe and crosses our borders, and under what circumstances, and not the smugglers and traffickers” was the message in European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen’s speech, kicking off the Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling conference on 10 December in […]
Why World War II Analogies Are Reappearing in Debates Over ICE on America’s Streets
By Piet Gotlieb* This article was originally published on https://phdforsociety.com/world-war-ii-analogies-ice/ TILBURG, The Netherlands | 20 January 2026 (IDN) — On January 7, 2026, Renée Good was shot and killed by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The killing of the 37-year-old mother and author tugs at the heartstrings of the American and global […]
Situation Report Horn of Africa: Ammunition seized in Amhara
Situation in Sudan (per 19 January) At least 103 civilians were killed, 88 injured and 18,000 families displaced between 22 December – 16 January by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) attacks in the Um Baru, Tina and Kornoy areas, North Darfur, as fighting near the Chad border intensified over the past days, reports the Tina local […]
Human–Elephant Conflict: What Sri Lanka Can Learn from Africa
By Sydney Marcus Silva* NEW JERSEY, USA | 16 January 2026 (IDN) — Human–Elephant Conflict (HEC) has emerged as one of the most serious environmental and social challenges of our time. Across Asia and Africa, rapidly expanding human populations, shrinking forests, and intensifying climate stress are forcing people and elephants into dangerous confrontations. The results […]