Happy Sunday everybody, lots of world affairs to blab about these days…
As things aren’t getting any better around Hungary, the Office of the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights issued statements on its Facebook page both in Hungarian and in English, emphasizing that seeking asylum cannot be viewed as a crime.
Unfortunately, as of 15 September, in Hungary, it is. At courts along the southern borders asylum seekers are now being prosecuted for entering Hungary illegally. Hopeful though, there are plenty of Hungarian lawyers who are ready to protest against the new laws, calling themselves Lawyers for the rule of law.
Meanwhile in New York, the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly just started this week. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon gave a funny interview to The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. This kind of showmanship seems a little out of character for him, but it wasn’t that bad, really, worth a watch. Anyway, there are a lot of things to look forward to, like Pope Francis addressing the General Assembly next week, later President Putin entering the floor of the GA after 10 years, and just in general, member states addressing the refugee crisis during the general debate.
On a personal note, once again, I am starting two MOOC courses this and the coming week, so I am going to be a bit busy with many other things on my plate as well. If anyone out there reading also takes International Law by LouvainX or Terrorism and Counterterrorism by GeorgetownX, please say hi and let’s study together! 🙂
Here’s this week’s reading…
Moving Beyond the Asylum Muddle
And doing so in a timely manner now is essential, before things get even more out of hand.
Yet another argument about the UK killing a UK citizen target in the fight against ISIS. I – among many others – am still not convinced that preventive killing is in accordance with the law of human rights. No matter how solid evidence we have that this person intends to do something in the future, we can never be 100% sure whether they would indeed act on it. Is it morally OK to kill them anyway?
What You Need to Know About the Coup in Burkina Faso
Well, let’s start with the information that a coup did happen in Burkina Faso this week, as news outlets are busy with all else these days.
