The head of the Church of England on Sunday criticized the government’s new immigration strategy in his annual Easter Sunday sermon.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby addressed the "serious ethical questions" of sending refugees and asylum seekers to Rwanda, describing the idea as the "opposite of the nature of God," amid growing concerns about the legal implications of the plan.

“This season is also why there are such serious ethical questions about sending asylum seekers overseas. The details are for politics and politicians. The principle must stand the judgment of God, and it (the plan) cannot,” Welby said at the Canterbury Cathedral in southeast England.

“It cannot carry the weight of our national responsibility as a country formed by Christian values; because sub-contracting out our responsibilities, even to a country that seeks to do well like Rwanda, is the opposite of the nature of God, who Himself took responsibility for our failures,” he added.

The archbishop expressed his concerns over the cost of the living crisis faced by millions of families across the UK, who he described as “waking up in fear” following two years of national lockdowns and isolation inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic.

He also called for a cease-fire in Ukraine, urging the Russian government to withdraw and engage in peace talks with the Ukrainian government in order to prevent further deaths of innocent civilians.

“Let this be a time for a Russian cease-fire, withdrawal, and a commitment to talks. This is a time for resetting the ways of peace, not for what bismarck called blood and iron. Let the darkness of war be banished,” the archbishop said.

Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell echoed Welby's remarks, saying that as a nation, "we can do better than the Rwanda scheme."

He added: “It is so depressing and distressing this week to find that asylum seekers fleeing war, famine and oppression from deeply, deeply troubled parts of the world will not be treated with the dignity and compassion that is the right of every human being, and instead of being dealt with quickly and efficiently here on our soil will be shipped to Rwanda.”

On Thursday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that thousands of asylum seekers and refugees attempting to enter the UK would be sent to Rwanda for reprocessing in an effort to, what he calls, regain control of the UK’s borders and put an end to illegal smuggling of people across the English Channel.

Johnson’s new plan has been widely criticized as cruel and inhumane, with leaders of the main opposition Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, and the Scottish National Party all condemning it. The government could face legal action and a possible mutiny from civil servants in the Home Office who advised against the plan.

Human rights organizations, including the UN Refugee Agency, Amnesty International UK, and Refugee Action have also denounced the government for endangering the lives of vulnerable and persecuted people by sending them to a country allegedly notorious for human rights abuses./aa

Footage that showed the French police assaulting two Muslim women wearing headscarf has triggered anger across social media.

In the footage recorded on April 14, the French police use disproportionate force against the two women with hijab in the middle of the street in the Asnieres-sur-Seine city, beating one of them and trying to push the other to the ground.

As the police punched one of them in her head, the woman recording the video footage is heard saying: "Hey, I'm recording, let her go. He slapped (the woman) and hit her."

Later, the woman who recorded the incident got out of her car and went to the police to say that she had recorded it.

"Yes, I hit her, I have the authority to do this," said the police officer.

Islamophobic attitude

While harsh police treatment sparked outrage on social media, users called the French police "Islamophobic."

The statement attached to the footage on social media claimed that the police officers were stuck in the traffic and turned on the siren to move forward.

Meantime, the women with headscarves, who had the right of way, tried to cross the road, but the police officers got out of the car and did not allow them to pass and beat them.

The Paris Police Department said on social media that the police patrol team turned on the siren to respond to a vehicle breaking the rules, and despite the urgency, the two women tried to cross the road, "disrespecting the police and angering them."

The situation spun out of control as the crowd was involved in, and the police would file a complaint against the two women, it added./aa

Heavy rains have wreaked havoc in South Africa in recent days as floods and mudslides have killed more than 440 people, while rescuers searched for those still missing in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province on Sunday.

The floods have left thousands homeless, knocked out power and water services and disrupted operations at one of Africa's busiest ports, Durban. A provincial economic official estimated the overall infrastructure damage at more than 10 billion rand ($684.6 million).

The province's premier, Sihle Zikalala, said the death toll had risen to 443, with a further 63 people unaccounted for.

In some of the worst-affected areas, residents said they were terrified by the thought of more rain, which was forecast to fall on Sunday. Some faced an agonising wait for news of missing loved ones.

"We haven't lost hope. Although we are constantly worried as (the) days continue," Sbongile Mjoka, a resident of Sunshine village in the eThekwini municipality whose 8-year-old nephew has been missing for days.

"We are traumatised by the sight of rain," Mjoka, 47, told Reuters, adding that her home had been badly damaged.

In a nearby semi-rural area, three members of the Sibiya family were killed when the walls of the room where they slept collapsed and 4-year-old Bongeka Sibiya is still missing.

"Everything is a harsh reminder of what we lost, and not being able to find (Bongeka) is devastating because we can't grieve or heal. At this stage we are left feeling empty," Lethiwe Sibiya, 33, told Reuters.

President Cyril Ramaphosa's office said late on Saturday he had delayed a working visit to Saudi Arabia to focus on the disaster. Ramaphosa will meet cabinet ministers to assess the response to the crisis.

KZN Premier Zikalala told a televised briefing that the floods were among the worst in his province's recorded history.

"We need to summon our collective courage and turn this devastation into an opportunity to rebuild our province," he said. "The people of KwaZulu-Natal will rise from this mayhem."/Reuters

Turkey’s humanitarian organizations have been continuing their efforts of sending aid to Syrians in need since the start of the war over a decade ago.

The Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) has been trying to meet the food, shelter, health and educational needs of Syrians since the war erupted and has, within this scope, sent at least 63,433 trucks of aid for over 6.7 million people in the country.

Kızılay has organized an aid program on the occasion of World Orphans Day in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province and has shared with Anadolu Agency (AA) a report on the institution’s aid activities spanning from August 2012 to March 2022.

The aid programs include the regions of Idlib, the Operation Euphrates Shield, Operation Olive Branch and Operation Peace Spring areas. According to the report, 33.8 million liters of water, as well as at least 143.5 million lavash bread (a thin Turkish flatbread), were sent to Syrians in those areas.

The 63,433 humanitarian aid trucks were sent through 14 border aid points while the aid reached 6.7 million people.

Turkey has also initiated a project of building briquette houses. In Idlib and Azaz, 2,461 houses have been completed so far and delivered to their new owners. Furthermore, the construction of new briquette homes has also started.

Turkey has been pushing ahead with its efforts to establish a safe environment and housing for Syrians in the country's north and around 500,000 Syrians returned to their country. The briquette houses offer a warm shelter in contrast to the harsh living conditions in tents, which often get flooded during heavy rains or cause poisoning when Syrians try to light a fire amid harsh winter conditions.

Furthermore, Kızılay has ensured shelter for 27,092 Syrians residing in eight camps and orphanages. The report said that 871,575,377 food materials, 28,674,670 hygiene materials, 129,656 shelter materials, and 168,791,073 health materials were delivered.

Speaking at an iftar event, a dinner to mark the breaking of the daily fast, on Orphans Day, Director General of Kızılay Ibrahim Altan said: “We provide iftar to 77,000 people in Syria. We deliver food materials to 30,000 families. We have 12 orphanages where 3,000 orphans stay. In Ramadan, we try to answer the need for iftar while we try to meet the nutritional and other needs during other times. Again, in the field of health, we have two mobile clinics.”

A girl who lost her father during the attacks of the Assad regime, Betül Sevade, said that they moved to a village south of Idlib and resided currently at the Faruk camp. She was brought to Kızılay’s iftar and was given new clothes for Bayram.

For 10 years, the Bashar Assad regime has ignored the needs and safety of the Syrian people, only eyeing further territorial gains and crushing the opposition. With this aim, the regime continues to bomb vital facilities such as schools, hospitals and residential areas, causing the displacement of almost half of the country’s population while adopting policies to ensure their lives are more difficult.

The Idlib region, where 2.8 million displaced people live, is the last Syrian enclave to oppose the regime in Damascus. Humanitarian aid reaches the region mainly through the Turkey-Syria border under special U.N. authorization free from Damascus' interference, which expires in July.

Idlib falls within a de-escalation zone forged under an agreement between Turkey and Russia in March 2020. However, the Syrian regime has consistently violated the terms of the cease-fire, launching frequent attacks inside the de-escalation zone.

Another orphan, 11-year-old Rimas Bustani said: “We migrated from southern Idlib’s Ariha district. I lost my father during the regime’s attack.”

Ankara spearheaded humanitarian aid efforts for Syrians in opposition-controlled parts of northern Syria and Turkey while making large investments for Syrians in Turkey in social cohesion policies to help Syrians integrate into society smoothly.

Since launching several operations in northern Syria to fight terrorism, Turkey also rolled up its sleeves to reconstruct hospitals, schools, mosques and roads destroyed by the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist organization, the YPG.

Within the scope of ameliorating the region's social infrastructure, several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) gave people food and clothing while roads and buildings were rebuilt. These efforts paid off as hundreds of displaced Syrians started to return to the liberated areas.

Meanwhile, the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) also continued its aid efforts and has delivered Ramadan packages to 135,000 people in Syria.

Selim Tosun, the organization’s Syria media official said in a written statement: “In this process, we have delivered 22,656 Ramadan packages with basic needs material such as dry legumes, breakfast materials, tea, sugar, tomato paste and oil to families in the regions of Syria’s Idlib, Afrin, Azaz, al-Bab, Jarablus, Ras al-Ain and Tal Abyad.”/DS