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Time of India
10 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Butterfly effect: Flutter of jobs, migration & oil
By: Prem Udayabhanu A Kerala migrant's inside view of Pittsburgh's steel legacy, shifting politics and how oil prices and job shifts echo across oceans The lingering aura of home and the picture-postcard texture of the professed land differentiate Patoor from Pittsburgh. Much like the seemingly narrow differentiators that set Pittsburgh apart from its northeastern US cradle state of Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh, in the swing state of Pennsylvania, did not sway to the Red cauldron in 2025, though Pennsylvania did—as Trump triumphed. P ittsburgh has never elected a Republican mayor in a century. The last time a Republican won a mayoral election was in 1925. Polls are due this November. The scent of red color, though, is wafting across the boulevards that crisscross Meadowridge in Harrison City as Trump squeezed Democratic margins. Notice how the 'U' goes for a toss once you cross the oceanic swathes of the Pacific. Did we hear the linguistic echoes accompanying migration? Perhaps, yes. Just came across the lingering effability of Malabari slang in Patel's Indian store at Mall Plaza Boulevard, Monroeville. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trading CFD dengan Teknologi dan Kecepatan Lebih Baik IC Markets Mendaftar Undo We also stumbled upon a Tamil family. Telugu and Hindi whispers passed by—speaking loudly is not commonplace here. Official stats about Pittsburgh's scattered Indian demographic are scarce. These were real people, original migrant stories thinly spread across the demographic spectrum of Pittsburgh's so-called Rust Belt terrain. The Brussels-based Migration Policy Institute offered details of diaspora culled from the US Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey. Of the 2.4 million residents of Pittsburgh, 16,000 were of Indian origin. Pittsburgh's population has since crossed three million (a size comparable to Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, among Kerala's largest districts). But Pittsburgh's Indian count likely remains the same. STEM of knowledge Stumbled upon a finance graduate—a Mallu-Mumbaikar keen to chase the American dream at Penn State Behrend, Erie. The lanky teen is pursuing finance and business economics at the undergraduate level, sharing a hostel room with a White peer. First-year students are invariably paired with American students in hostels, rarely with another international student. Few Indians pursue finance, he says. Most flock to their national fixation—science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM), especially computer science or computer engineering. That's a broad indicator of Indian students' academic leanings. Nearly 70% of Indian students abroad pursue STEM courses. Employability is the gamble they dabble in when jobs are the sweepstakes. Conveyor belt of jobs Jobs and factories were poll issues at the core of Trump's presidential surge. Trump mocked conventional political wisdom by borrowing generously from the Democrats' playbook and reinforcing the Rust Belt imagery to lord over them. Rust Belt states—the US Midwest and Northeast—were once manufacturing hubs, especially for steel and autos. These include Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan—with Pittsburgh, a key steel hub, located in the Northeast per US Census definitions. Rust Belt was a contrasting play on Sun Belt states, used to describe booming economies in the South and Southwest. The term Rust Bowl was first coined by Ronald Reagan's presidential opponent Walter Mondale. Mondale failed miserably, and Reagan won in a landslide. Trump romped home convincingly, sweeping the Rust Belt states. It is another story that the Rust Bowl coinage itself was a play on the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, when severe dust storms colluded with economic misery to evoke the desolation and rusted factories. Mondale's insinuation was that Reagan's trade policies were turning the industrial US Midwest into a Rust Bowl. The term later morphed into Rust Belt, thanks to imaginative scribes who vouched for Mondale's theory. Golden avenues of dealmaking The new dispensation is eager to follow up on Rust Bowl, as is evident from efforts to bolster Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion bid to run Pittsburgh-based US Steel, and a golden share announced for the US to checkmate the yet unclear foreign, or Japanese, ownership issue. The golden share reportedly includes a clause allowing a presidential veto if the Japanese were to consider shifting US Steel's HQ from Pittsburgh. That should make the Rust Belt happy, but may worry foreign investors. As Trump zooms past the golden avenues of deal-making, invoking the magic wand wielded by the US President, by relentlessly escalating and backtracking on tariffs as a negotiating tool and nudging global companies to invest and Make America Great Again, oil prices have increased by roughly $10 a barrel, or 20 cents per gallon—thanks to Israel's military adventure in Iran. In the month since the Hamas-Israel conflict erupted, the price of the Indian crude oil basket surged nearly 10%. A litre of petrol now costs roughly Rs 107.48 in Thiruvananthapuram. If you crisscross the oceanic swathes of the Pacific to reach Pittsburgh, you could buy 1.45 litres for the dollar equivalent of that. This is one rare commodity in the US that you can buy cheaper than in India. A chai costs $1.5 at the Indian store in Monroeville. We do not need the IQ of STEM aspirants to understand that, unlike in our storied backyards, the welcome absence of the burden of cess alone would push oil prices out of the pricey terrain for all and sundry. For our political machinery, a tax on oil—which you cannot do without—remains the go-to fix for a pedestrian revenue-generation philosophy. The butterfly effect may move oceans and create giant waves. Oceans and titanic waves may spur the flutter of butterflies, if chaos theory is invoked. But the united colors of migration, jobs, stats, and oil may remain unique, distant truths across the planet—perhaps even farther than the oceans that separate them. (The writer is a senior journalist who has shifted to the US)
The Independent
12 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Photos of Lesbos 10 years after the migration crisis
This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors. In 2015, more than 1 million migrants and refugees arrived in Europe — the majority by sea, landing in Lesbos, where the north shore is just 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Turkey. The influx of men, women and children fleeing war and poverty sparked a humanitarian crisis that shook the European Union to its core. A decade later, the fallout still reverberates on the island and beyond. For many, Greece was a place of transit. They continued on to northern and western Europe. Many who applied for asylum were granted international protection; thousands became European citizens. Countless more were rejected, languishing for years in migrant camps or living in the streets. Some returned to their home countries. Others were kicked out of the European Union. For Namjoyan, Lesbos is a welcoming place — many islanders share a refugee ancestry, and it helps that she speaks their language. But migration policy in Greece, like much of Europe, has shifted toward deterrence in the decade since the crisis. Far fewer people are arriving illegally. Officials and politicians have maintained that strong borders are say enforcement has gone too far and violates fundamental EU rights and values. 'Migration is now at the top of the political agenda, which it didn't use to be before 2015,' said Camille Le Coz Director of the Migration Policy Institute Europe, noting changing EU alliances. 'We are seeing a shift toward the right of the political spectrum.' A humanitarian crisis turned into a political one In 2015, boat after boat crowded with refugees crashed onto the doorstep of Elpiniki Laoumi, who runs a fish tavern across from a Lesbos beach. She fed them, gave them water, made meals for aid organizations. 'You would look at them and think of them as your own children,' said Laoumi, whose tavern walls today are decorated with thank-you notes. From 2015 to 2016, the peak of the migration crisis, more than 1 million people entered Europe through Greece alone. The immediate humanitarian crisis — to feed, shelter and care for so many people at once — grew into a long-term political one. Greece was reeling from a crippling economic crisis. The influx added to anger against established political parties, fueling the rise of once-fringe populist forces. EU nations fought over sharing responsibility for asylum seekers. The bloc's unity cracked as some member states flatly refused to take migrants. Anti-migration voices calling for closed borders became louder. Today, illegal migration is down across Europe While illegal migration to Greece has fluctuated, numbers are nowhere near 2015-16 figures, according to the International Organization for Migration. Smugglers adapted to heightened surveillance, shifting to more dangerous routes. Overall, irregular EU border crossings decreased by nearly 40% last year and continue to fall, according to EU border and coast guard agency Frontex. That hasn't stopped politicians from focusing on — and sometimes fearmongering over — migration. This month, the Dutch government collapsed after a populist far-right lawmaker withdrew his party's ministers over migration policy. In Greece, the new far-right migration minister has threatened rejected asylum seekers with jail time. A few miles from where Namjoyan now lives, in a forest of pine and olive trees, is a new EU-funded migrant center. It's one of the largest in Greece and can house up to 5,000 people. Greek officials denied an Associated Press request to visit. Its opening is blocked, for now, by court challenges. Some locals say the remote location seems deliberate — to keep migrants out of sight and out of mind. 'We don't believe such massive facilities are needed here. And the location is the worst possible – deep inside a forest,' said Panagiotis Christofas, mayor of Lesbos' capital, Mytilene. 'We're against it, and I believe that's the prevailing sentiment in our community.' The legacy of Lesbos Last year, EU nations approved a migration and asylum pact laying out common rules for the bloc's 27 countries on screening, asylum, detention and deportation of people trying to enter without authorization, among other things. 'The Lesbos crisis of 2015 was, in a way, the birth certificate of the European migration and asylum policy,' Margaritis Schinas, a former European Commission vice president and a chief pact architect, told AP. He said that after years of fruitless negotiations, he's proud of the landmark compromise. 'We didn't have a system,' Schinas said. 'Europe's gates had been crashed.' The deal, endorsed by the United Nations refugee agency, takes effect next year. Critics say it made concessions to rights organizations say it will increase detention and erode the right to seek asylum. Some organizations also criticize the 'externalization' of EU border management — agreements with countries across the Mediterranean to aggressively patrol their coasts and hold migrants back in exchange for financial assistance. The deals have expanded, from Turkey to the Middle East and acrossAfrica. Human rights groups say autocratic governments are pocketing billions and often subject the displaced to appalling conditions. Lesbos still sees some migrants arrive Lesbos' 80,000 residents look back at the 2015 crisis with mixed feelings. Fisherman Stratos Valamios saved some children. Others drowned just beyond his reach, their bodies still warm as he carried them to shore. 'What's changed from back then to now, 10 years on? Nothing,' he said. 'What I feel is anger — that such things can happen, that babies can drown.' Those who died crossing to Lesbos are buried in two cemeteries, their graves marked as 'unknown.' Tiny shoes and empty juice boxes with faded Turkish labels can still be found on the northern coast. So can black doughnut-shaped inner tubes, given by smugglers as crude life preservers for children. At Moria, a refugee camp destroyed by fire in 2020, children's drawings remain on gutted building walls. Migrants still arrive, and sometimes die, on these shores. Lesbos began to adapt to a quieter, more measured flow of newcomers. Efi Latsoudi, who runs a network helping migrants learn Greek and find jobs, hopes Lesbos' tradition of helping outsiders in need will outlast national policies. 'The way things are developing, it's not friendly for newcomers to integrate into Greek society,' Latsoudi said. 'We need to do something. ... I believe there is hope.' ___
Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Times
Starmer urged to consider one-in, one-out migrant exchange scheme
Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to use next month's UK-France summit to strike a one-in, one-out migrant returns deal. A report by the Migration Policy Institute, a global immigration think tank based in Washington DC, has set out detailed proposals for France and the UK to pursue before the summit. It proposes setting up a series of hubs across France which would screen asylum seekers for eligibility for the UK. Under the plans, France would take back one small boat migrant for each asylum seeker resettled to the UK from the hubs. It would be modelled on the United States' Safe Mobility Offices scheme, which was introduced by the Biden administration in 2023 across countries in South and Central America to screen migrants for asylum before they are exploited by people smugglers and trafficked across borders. It helped individuals find support and access a wide range of services in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Guatemala and was credited with a reduction in illegal migration from the countries. In April France opened the door to taking back Channel migrants for the first time after Bruno Retailleau, the French interior minister, said that it would 'send a clear message' to others planning to make the journey. • Chaos on a French beach as police try to stop migrants His comments have raised hopes among officials and ministers in the UK government that a breakthrough is possible after failed attempts by successive UK governments to persuade France to agree to take back migrants who have crossed the Channel in small boats. More than 100 migrants are estimated to have crossed the Channel on Thursday, taking the total number of arrivals over the last nine days to more than 2,500. A total of 17,278 have arrived so far this year, up 50 per cent compared with last year. Downing Street admitted earlier this week that the situation in the Channel was 'deteriorating'. The Migration Policy Institute report proposes that the hubs in France would prioritise individuals with connections in Britain and those from countries with high asylum grant rates such as Sudan, which has a 98 per cent acceptance rate, and Eritrea, which has an 86 per cent grant rate. It recommends starting with a pilot programme that would exchange one migrant back to France for each asylum seeker going the other way following successful screening. The programme should operate with a monthly quota that is linked to the numbers returned to France from the UK. • How small boats crisis is linked to rise in rough sleeping The think tank said that the scheme would provide predictable admissions numbers that the UK government could communicate clearly to the public and would regain control of its borders. The report suggests using artificial intelligence to help support processing migrants' applications at the hubs. It argues that such a system would strengthen the deterrent effect of a returns agreement between the two countries because it would provide a viable and safe alternative to smuggler-facilitated crossings for a segment of the population most at risk of making such journeys. It would also reduce the danger of migrant journeys for the most vulnerable migrants who are most likely to be granted asylum, thereby saving lives. The detailed report also recommends creating a bilateral digital screening pilot that would mirror the EU's Eurodac scheme, which shares the fingerprints and other details of asylum seekers. • French police tear-gas child migrants trying to board dinghy This Eurodac-lite scheme would enable British border officials to check the biometrics of arrivals in the UK against the Eurodac system and thereby facilitate re-admissions from the UK to France. French liaison officers could be stationed at UK intake sites with secure tablets granting read‑only access to Eurodac data. The report said that combining re-admissions with a viable legal alternative held the best chance of curtailing the pull factors for these crossings. The UK-France summit, to be held on July 8-10, is also expected to rubber stamp new French police tactics allowing officers to intercept migrant boats up to 300 metres into the water. However, Care4Calais, the charity that led the successful legal challenge against the Rwanda policy, has said it is considering legal action against the plans. The Migration Policy Institute also proposes that France and the UK operate shared charter flights to reduce the possibility of secondary attempts to cross the Channel. Insufficient flight capacity is one of the major obstacles for France's attempts to deport migrants, according to the report.
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Politics
- Business Insider
US resumes student visas, but tightens rules with mandatory social media checks
Foreign students will now be required to grant U.S. diplomats access to their social media profiles as part of the vetting process for educational and exchange visas. Foreign students must now include social media profile access in U.S. visa applications. Consular officers will monitor profiles for potentially hostile content towards U.S. values. Non-compliance with this rule may negatively impact visa vetting outcomes. The U.S. has ordered the resumption of student visa appointments, but with stricter requirements in place. Foreign students will now be required to grant U.S. diplomats access to their social media profiles as part of the vetting process for educational and exchange visas, according to a new announcement from the State Department. The department said consular officers will be on the lookout for posts and messages that could be deemed hostile to the United States, its government, culture, institutions or founding principles. It also warned that failure to comply could be viewed as a red flag during the vetting process. The directive instructs consular officers to search for any potentially derogatory information about applicants. 'For example, during an online presence search, you might discover on social media that an applicant endorsed Hamas or its activities,' the State Department cable states, noting that such findings could render an applicant ineligible for a visa. "Remind the applicant that limited access presence could be construed as an effort to evade or hide certain activity," the cable said. The announcement comes just weeks after Secretary of State Marco Rubio directed U.S. embassies worldwide to halt student visa interviews as the administration considered tougher social media screening policies. Application demands grow The new rules add another layer of scrutiny for foreign nationals hoping to study in the U.S., building on an already demanding process that requires applicants to demonstrate strong academic credentials, sufficient financial support, and a clear intent to return to their home country after graduation. International students make up 5.9% of the nearly 19 million students enrolled in U.S. higher education. Often paying full tuition, they play a vital role in supporting the financial stability of colleges and universities, helping to offset costs and enabling institutions to offer more financial aid to American students. The new policy reflects a broader trend of tightening access for international students, particularly those from the Global South. Critics highlight the growing scrutiny of African applicants and persistently high visa rejection rates as part of a troubling pattern that threatens global academic equity. According to data from the Migration Policy Institute, African nationals already face some of the highest U.S. visa denial rates globally. This latest restriction risks further widening the educational gap for students from developing countries, limiting their access to academic and professional opportunities abroad.
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Politics
- Business Insider
US resumes student visas, but tightens visa rules with mandatory social media checks
Foreign students will now be required to grant U.S. diplomats access to their social media profiles as part of the vetting process for educational and exchange visas. Foreign students must now include social media profile access in U.S. visa applications. Consular officers will monitor profiles for potentially hostile content towards U.S. values. Non-compliance with this rule may negatively impact visa vetting outcomes. The U.S. has ordered the resumption of student visa appointments, but with stricter requirements in place. Foreign students will now be required to grant U.S. diplomats access to their social media profiles as part of the vetting process for educational and exchange visas, according to a new announcement from the State Department. The department said consular officers will be on the lookout for posts and messages that could be deemed hostile to the United States, its government, culture, institutions or founding principles. It also warned that failure to comply could be viewed as a red flag during the vetting process. The directive instructs consular officers to search for any potentially derogatory information about applicants. 'For example, during an online presence search, you might discover on social media that an applicant endorsed Hamas or its activities,' the State Department cable states, noting that such findings could render an applicant ineligible for a visa. "Remind the applicant that limited access presence could be construed as an effort to evade or hide certain activity," the cable said. The announcement comes just weeks after Secretary of State Marco Rubio directed U.S. embassies worldwide to halt student visa interviews as the administration considered tougher social media screening policies. Application demands grow The new rules add another layer of scrutiny for foreign nationals hoping to study in the U.S., building on an already demanding process that requires applicants to demonstrate strong academic credentials, sufficient financial support, and a clear intent to return to their home country after graduation. International students make up 5.9% of the nearly 19 million students enrolled in U.S. higher education. Often paying full tuition, they play a vital role in supporting the financial stability of colleges and universities, helping to offset costs and enabling institutions to offer more financial aid to American students. The new policy reflects a broader trend of tightening access for international students, particularly those from the Global South. Critics highlight the growing scrutiny of African applicants and persistently high visa rejection rates as part of a troubling pattern that threatens global academic equity. According to data from the Migration Policy Institute, African nationals already face some of the highest U.S. visa denial rates globally. This latest restriction risks further widening the educational gap for students from developing countries, limiting their access to academic and professional opportunities abroad.
