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Musings From Abroad

Despite legal setback, UK vows to continue Rwanda deportation flights

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The British government has vowed to explore other avenues to organize more flights to deport asylum-seekers from the UK to Rwanda after a last-minute legal setback which saw a court judgment grounding the first plane due to take off under a controversial deal with the East African country.

The flight which was suppose to take around 30 illegal migrants, was scheduled to leave on Tuesday night but was put on hold after a ruling by the European Human Rights Court (EHRC), which issued a last-minute injunction to stop the deportation of of migrants on board.

But despite the setback, the Boris Johnson government says there is no going back in the plan to deport the migrants who came to the UK illegally through the English Channel.

UK Home Secretary, Priti Patel, while reacting to the last minute injunction that stopped the take off of the flight on Wednesday, said “preparation for the next flight begins now” despite legal rulings that none of the migrants earmarked for deportation could be sent to the East African country.

She insisted that under the deal signed in April between Britain and Rwanda, the UK government is not relentiing in going ahead with the plans to send “migrants who arrive in the UK as stowaways or in small boats to Rwanda”, where their asylum claims will be processed.

As part of the deal which is with £120 million to Rwanda, successfully profiled migrants will stay in the African country, rather than return to Britain.

Johnson’s government has also repeatedly said the plan is a legitimate way to protect lives and thwart the criminal gangs that send migrants on risky journeys across the English Channel and must be carried through after Britain had already paid Rwanda upfront for the deal.

UK courts had last week, refused to ground the first flight but the number due to be aboard was whittled down by appeals and legal challenges.

But the European Court, an international tribunal supported by 46 countries including the UK, ruled late Tuesday that an Iraqi man due to be on the plane shouldn’t fly, saying he faced “a real risk of irreversible harm,” which allowed the final few migrants on the plane to win a reprieve.

A full trial of the legality of the UK government plan is due to be heard in the British courts by the end of July.

Musings From Abroad

UAE’s IRH to consider stake in Zambia’s Lubambe copper mine

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A division of the International Holding Company of Abu Dhabi, International Resources Holding (IRH), has announced that it plans to submit a proposal for a share in Zambia’s Lubambe Copper Mine.

 

The deal has opened up more potential to profit from Africa’s second-largest copper producer, according to IRH, which just acquired a 51% stake in Mopani Copper Mines in Zambia.

 

 

Even after Chinese firm JCHX Mining agreed to buy the stake, it was reported on March 22 quoting sources, indicating that IRH, a division of the most valuable company in Abu Dhabi, is interested in purchasing an 80% stake in Lubambe held by EMR Capital.

 

 

“IRH’s commitment (at Mopani), has opened doors for additional investment opportunities in Zambia, including an intention to bid for a stake in the Lubambe Copper Mine,” the company said.

 

Due to the company’s interest in Lubambe, which may be among Zambia’s biggest copper mines, a bidding battle between Shanghai-listed JCHX, a mine maintenance and contracting company, and itself may result.

 

Wealthy oil companies from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have recently begun to follow China’s lead and engage in African businesses to acquire resources to diversify their economies and capitalize on the move to electric vehicles (EVs). In addition to making bids for mining projects, IRH stated that it was actively investigating a range of investment prospects.

 

“In the forthcoming years, our goal is to seek diversification opportunities beyond copper… (with) targeted investments in other pivotal energy transition minerals, such as cobalt, nickel, rare earth elements, manganese, graphite, and the 3T minerals – tin, tungsten, and tantalum,” it said.

 

The Zambian government currently plans to increase copper production from approximately 850,000 metric tonnes to 3 million metric tonnes annually by 2032.

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Musings From Abroad

China, Zambia’s major creditor, cooperating on debt rework— Official

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A spokesperson of Zambia’s foreign ministry has stated that one of its major creditors, China, has remained supportive of Zambia’s debt restructuring.

The diplomat did not, however, disclose whether China approved of a planned agreement the country in southern Africa made with foreign bondholders.

On Monday, Zambia and the bondholder group announced that they had come to a fresh understanding to restructure $3 billion in foreign notes. The proposal was given the go-ahead by Zambia’s formal creditors, the largest of which is China.

On Monday, Zambia announced that it has reached a deal with a group of private creditors on the restructuring of $3 billion of its foreign notes, which is a noteworthy achievement that brings the country closer to ending its lengthy debt restructuring.

Being the first nation in Africa to miss payments on its foreign debt during the Covid-19 outbreak, they have expressed a strong desire for the debt to be restructured. Unfortunately, the protracted delays in the process have strained the local financial systems, impeded desperately needed investments, and delayed economic progress.

Zambia defaulted more than three years ago and its debt rework process has hit many obstacles, including in November when the official creditors rejected a previous bond deal because it did not offer comparable debt relief to theirs.

“China, as co-chair of the Zambian Debt Committee, has made concerted efforts with all parties concerned to promote significant progress in the disposal of Zambia’s debt,” Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a regular press conference.

“China will also continue to coordinate and cooperate with all parties concerned to steadily advance the work related to Zambia’s debt disposal,” he said when asked for China’s response to the latest bondholder deal.

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