The Boston Globe - 07.09.2019

SEPTEMBER 7, 2019 7

THE WORLD

By Julie Hirschfeld Davis
and Michael D. Shear
NEW YORK TIMES
WASHINGTON — The
White House is considering a
plan that would effectively bar
refugees from most parts of the
world from resettling in the
United States by cutting back
the decades-old program that
admits tens of thousands of
people each year who are flee-
ing war, persecution, and fam-
ine, according to current and
former administration officials.
In meetings over the past
several weeks, one top adminis-
tration official has proposed ze-
roing out the program altogeth-
er, while leaving the president
with the ability to admit refu-

gees in an emergency. Another

option that top officials are

weighing would cut refugee ad-

missions by half or more, to

10,000 to 15,000 people, but re-

serve most of those spots for

refugees from a few hand-

picked countries or groups with

special status, such as Iraqis

and Afghans who work along-

side American troops, diplo-

mats, and intelligence opera-

tives abroad.

Both options would all but

end the United States’ status as

a leader in accepting refugees

from around the world.

The issue is expected to

come to a head on Tuesday,

when the White House plans to

convene a high-level meeting in

the Situation Room to discuss

at what number President

Trump should set the annual,

presidentially determined ceil-

ing on refugee admissions for

the coming year.

“At a time when the number

of refugees is at the highest lev-

el in recorded history, the Unit-

ed States has abandoned world

leadership in resettling vulner-

able people in need of protec-

tion,” said Eric Schwartz, the

president of Refugees Interna-

tional. “The result is a world

that is less compassionate and

less able to deal with future hu-

manitarian challenges.”

For two years, Stephen Mill-

er, Trump’s top immigration ad-

viser, has used his considerable

influence in the West Wing to

reduce the refugee ceiling to its

lowest levels in history, capping

the program at 30,000 this year.

That is a more than 70 percent

cut from its level when presi-

dent Barack Obama left office.

John Zadrozny, a top official

at US Citizenship and Immigra-

tion Services, has argued for

simply lowering the ceiling to

zero, a stance that was first re-

ported by Politico. Others have

suggested providing “carve-

outs” for certain countries or

populations, such as the Iraqis

and Afghans, whose work on

behalf of the American govern-

ment put both them and their

families at risk, making them

eligible for special status to

come to the United States

through the refugee program.

Advocates of the nearly 50-

year refugee program inside

and outside the administration

fear that approach would effec-

tively starve the program, mak-

ing it impossible to resettle

even those narrow populations.

The advocacy groups say the

fate of the refugee program in-

creasingly hinges on an unlike-

ly figure: Mark Esper, the secre-

tary of defense.

Barely two months into his

job as Pentagon chief, Esper, a

former lobbyist and defense con-

tracting executive, is the newest

voice at the table in the annual

debate over how many refugees

to admit. But while Esper’s pre-

decessor, Jim Mattis, had taken

up the refugee cause with an al-

most missionary zeal, repeatedly

declining to embrace large cuts

because of the potential effect he

said they would have on Ameri-

can military interests around the

world, Esper’s position on the is-

sue is unknown.

The senior military leader-

ship at the Defense Department

has been urgently pressing Es-

per to follow his predecessor’s

example and be an advocate for

the refugee program, according

to people familiar with the con-

versations in the Pentagon.

But current and former se-

nior military officials said the

defense secretary had not dis-

closed to them whether he

would fight for higher refugee

admissions at the White House

meeting next week.

One former general de-

scribed Esper as in a “foxhole

defilade” position, a military

term for the infantry’s effort to

remainshielded or concealed

from enemy fire.

A senior Defense Depart-

ment official said that Esper

had not decided what his rec-

ommendation would be for the

refugee program this year.

By Jill Lawless

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON — Britain’s be-

deviling Brexit dilemma in-

tensified Friday, as opposition

parties refused to support

Prime Minister Boris John-

son’s call for an election until

he secures a delay to Britain’s

exit from the European

Union, something he vows

he’ll never do.

Johnson insists Britain

must leave the EU in 55 days,

and says an election is the on-

ly way to break the deadlock

that has seen lawmakers re-

peatedly reject the divorce

deal on offer, but also block

attempts to leave the EU with-

out one.

He wants to go to the pub-

lic on Oct. 15, two weeks be-

fore the scheduled Brexit day

of Oct. 31, but needs the sup-

port of two-thirds of lawmak-

ers to trigger a snap election.

Johnson lost a vote on the

same question this week, but

he plans to try again Monday.

After discussions Friday,

lawmakers from several oppo-

sition parties said they would

not back an election unless

the government asked the EU

to postpone Brexit, removing

the risk the UK could crash

out without a deal. Johnson

says he would ‘‘rather be dead

in a ditch’’ than delay Brexit.

Parliament is trying to

force his hand, passing an op-

position-backed law that

would compel Johnson’s Con-

servative government to seek

a three-month Brexit post-

ponement if no divorce deal is

agreed by Oct. 19.

The legislation was ap-

proved Friday by the unelect-

ed House of Lords, after gain-

ing backing from the elected

House of Commons earlier

this week. It will become law

within days once it gets the

formality of royal assent.

But pro-EU lawmakers

want to hold off on triggering

an election until the Brexit de-

lay has actually been secured,

fearing Johnson will try to

wriggle out of the commit-

ment.

‘‘I do not trust the prime

minister to do his duty,’’ said

Liz Saville Roberts, leader in

Parliament of the Welsh party

Plaid Cymru.

She said lawmakers need-

ed to be sitting in Parliament

in late October, rather than on

the election campaign trail, to

ensure Britain does not crash

out of the EU. That makes an

election before November un-

likely.

‘‘We need to make sure

that we get past the 31st of

October,’’ she said.

Blocking an election is a

risky strategy for the opposi-

tion, which could be accused

of denying the public its say.

The Conservative Party on

Friday tweeted a mocked-up

image of Labour Party leader

Jeremy Corbyn in a chicken

suit, and Johnson said he had

‘‘never known an opposition

in the history of democracy

that’s refused to have an elec-

tion.’’

‘‘I think obviously... they

don’t think that the people

will vote for them, so they’re

refusing to have an election,’’

he said.

Scottish National Party

leader Nicola Sturgeon tweet-

ed: ‘‘An early general election

is now a question of ‘when’

not ‘if’ — but Johnson mustn’t

be allowed to dictate the tim-

ing as a device to avoid scruti-

ny and force through a ‘no

deal’ Brexit.’’

Johnson’s options are un-

clear if he loses Monday’s

vote. He could call a no-confi-

dence vote in his own govern-

ment, which would only need

a simple majority to pass. He

could try to change the law

that governs how elections

can be triggered. He could

even resign.

In short, it’s a complicated

mess.

Johnson became prime

minister in July after promis-

ing Conservatives that he

would complete Brexit and

break the impasse that has

paralyzed Britain’s politics

since voters decided in June

2016 to leave the bloc and

which brought down his pre-

decessor, Theresa May.

After only six weeks in of-

fice, however, his plans are in

crisis. The EU refuses to rene-

gotiate the deal it struck with

May, which has been rejected

three times by Britain’s Parlia-

ment.

Johnson’s push to leave the

EU at the end of next month

is facing opposition in the

courts as well as in Parlia-

ment. Most economists say a

no-deal Brexit would cause se-

vere economic disruption and

plunge the UK into recession.

HONG KONG — Protesters
besieged a police station and a
subway stop Friday, prompting
police to fire tear gas and rub-
ber bullets as new violence
erupted despite the govern-
ment’s promise to drop a pro-
posed law that sparked
months of demonstrations in
the semiautonomous Chinese
territory.
About 2,000 angry protest-
ers surrounded the police sta-

tion in the crowded, working-

class district of Mong Kok late

Friday for a second straight

night, demanding accountabil-

ity over a violent police raid

on the nearby Prince Edward

subway station on Aug. 31.

Rumors have been circulat-

ing on social media accusing

police of covering up the al-

leged death of a protester dur-

ing the earlier raid at the sub-

way station. Videos taken then

show police swinging batons

and shooting pepper spray at

people inside a stopped train.

Protesters want surveillance

camera recordings of the raid

to be released to determine

the truth.

The demonstrators retreat-

ed after riot police confronted

them with more tear gas but

refused to leave.

Earlier, authorities were

forced to shut down the Prince

Edward subway station during

the evening rush hour after

demonstrators protested there

against the alleged police vio-

lence.

The protest movement was

triggered by the extradition

bill, but the focus has since

shifted to alleged excessive use

of force by police in the in-

creasingly violent clashes and

to other issues.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Protests f lare in Hong Kong despite extradition bill’s withdrawal

US considers barring most refugees from entering country

One plan would

exempt some

Iraqis, Afghans

Brexit crisis

deepens

for Johnson

Opposition

rejects call for

election in UK

‘I do not trust the

prime minister to

do his duty. We

needto...get

past the 31st of

October.’

LIZ SAVILLE ROBERTS

leader in Parliament of the

Welsh party Plaid Cymru

CHRIS MCGRATH/GETTY IMAGES

Demonstrators threw things on a burning barricade after taunting police outside the Mong Kok police station Friday.

JAKARTA, Indonesia —
Iran’s foreign minister de-
fended his country’s plan to
take further steps away from
the 2015 nuclear deal with
world powers if Europe fails
to provide a solution on re-
viving it by a deadline that
expired Friday.
The remarks by Moham-
mad Javad Zarif came as Iran
is poised to begin work on
advanced centrifuges that
will enrich uranium faster as
the nuclear deal unravels.
The European Union,
meanwhile, expressed con-
cern about Iran’s plan to defy
provisions of the agreement
and urged the Islamic Repub-
lic to step back from the
brink.
The crisis stems from
President Trump’s pullout
from the accord over a year
ago and the imposition of es-
calated US sanctions on Teh-
ran that have choked off
Iran’s ability to sell its crude
oil abroad, a crucial source of
government revenue.
Meanwhile, a last-minute
French proposal offering a
$15 billion line of credit to

compensate Iran over the

choked off crude sales looked

increasingly unlikely.

Zarif did not say what ex-

act steps his country would

take as he met with his Indo-

nesian counterpart, Retno

Marsudi, in Indonesia’s capi-

tal, Jakarta.

Zarif described the US

sanctions as ‘‘illegal restric-

tions on Iran, which we call

economic terrorism... be-

cause they target ordinary

Iranian citizens, the civilians.’’

MarsudisaidIndonesia

would like to see the nuclear

deal ‘‘implemented fully and

effectively.’’

As the nuclear deal steadi-

ly unraveled over the past

months, the Iranian govern-

ment scaled back its commit-

ments under the accord. It

began breaking limits of the

deal, such as just creeping

beyond its 3.67 percent-en-

richment limit and its stock-

pile rules. Using advanced

centrifuges speeds up enrich-

ment and Iranian officials al-

ready have raised the idea of

enriching to 20 percent.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Nuclear work planned, Iran says

KABUL — With US-Tali-

ban peace talks at a critical

moment and insurgent vio-

lence on the rise, Afghan

President Ashraf Ghani de-

layed his trip to Washington,

planned for Saturday, by sev-

eral days, an aide said.

Meanwhile, the top US

peace negotiator, Zalmay

Khalilzad, returned to Qatar

on Thursday to meet with

Taliban officials after the lat-

est round of talks there had

already ended, according to a

US official.

Both unscheduled moves

came as Afghan society

reeled from a surge of Tali-

ban bombings and attacks

that erupted over the past

week in Kabul and elsewhere,

even as Khalilzad and other

US officials declared that a

peace deal was imminent.

The attacks left scores of

people dead and residents

full of anxiety, confusion, and

anger.

WASHINGTON POST

Afghan president postpones US trip

TOKYO — Japan will start

using the traditional order

for Japanese names in Eng-

lish in official documents,

with family names first, a

switch from the Westernized

custom the country adopted

more than a century ago,

government officials said Fri-

day.

The idea has been floated

for years, but some ministers

in Prime Minister Shinzo

Abe’s Cabinet recently started

pushing for it again.

China and South Korea

traditionally stick with the

surname-first order both at

home and internationally. But

Japan has chosen to be seen

more as part of the West

rather than Asia.

The reaction has been

mixed even within the gov-

ernment.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Japan to alter name-order custom

ERIN SCHAFF/NEW YORK TIMES

Stephen Miller has worked

to cut the refugee ceiling to

its lowest levels in history.

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