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The latest news worldwide is the horrendous refugee crisis in Ukraine caused by the Russian attack. More than a million refugees have shiftedto neighbouring countries for protection and a way out of the invasion. With long queues on the roads and commotion in traffic paths leading out of Ukraine, the people are in a total frenzy, desperate to leave their own country. And the ones who have no friends or family to take care of are being kept in reception centers with basic amenities keeping them secure and alive. Some of the places Ukrainians are shifting to the most are Poland, Hungary, Romania, Russia itself, Slovakia and Moldova.

Countries like Poland and Hungary have welcomed the Ukrainian refugees with the warmest regards and open arms; Poland in particular has been accepting a massive amount of refugees. As Zbigniew Rau had mentioned, Poland has embraced all asylum seekers without discrimination, as the Ukrainian crisis has threatened the security of the entire European continent. It is mainly women and children migrating to Poland after waiting for 24 hours, and since it is difficult to gather all the documents during wartime, only birth certificates for the children, passports, and medical reports are required for travel. But the Polish government has conveyed to the European Union that it requires more resources and financial aid to harbor the raging number of refugees.

The refugee policy of the European Union (EU) bears a strong root in the firm history associated with it. According to Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the asylum policy of the EU originates from the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees". The Policy is mainly regulated by the CEAS - Common European Asylum System, and due to the ongoing refugee crisis, it was last reformed in 2014.

The EU policy is predominantly enacted to grant refugee status and protection to international migrants by law. After assessing the process of a refugee by the CEAS, they are lawfully granted international protection. But with adequate awareness about the risks of returning to their home country for the refugee status in the other country. If the council or the Member States do not find the conditions for seeking asylum to be valid, they will be termed illegal economic migrants."

The EU has previously been criticised for its aversion to accepting refugees during the Syrian and Afghanistan crisis, the behavior contrasting withthe current acceptance during the Ukrainian crisis. It can be fairly well understood that there is a racial and geopolitical motive behind it as Ukraine, being a neighboring country, bears the right to enter the union and be accepted. Racially, Syrian and Afghani refugees are stereotypically perceived as violent and undermined since history, which persists today.

As it is known that there is still gender discrimination existing during a refugee crisis, the most prominent issues faced by women in the EU are sexual violence and harassment, and discrimination and violence against women refugees. The EU has brought forth certain changes that ensure their socio-economic rights, abolition of violence, and equal space in various areas.

During the Taliban invasion, Afghan women had migrated to the US with the hope of surviving, away from the orthodox universe the Taliban had unabashedly created back in their home. But even with resources in the United States, the Afghan women kept facing issues firstly to cope with their shyness stemming from their conservative roots to speak out loud about their needs relating to personal hygiene and sanitation. And even when they managed to fight their coyness, the resources were not always abundant. Not to forget, the tedious and intricate documentation process may not always be grasped by the Afghan women refugees when a majority of them had been excluded from the right to education and awareness.

It is no secret that women face a more challenging time surviving in the everyday world, unfairly so. So it can only be understood that it is worse for them during a life-threatening crisis when they are most vulnerable. But the problems persist, especially during a tumultuous refugee crisis.

In accordance with the UNHCR, the requisite fundamental rights of the women refugees are access to education and employment, rights against gender-based violence, access to resources and healthcare, freedom of expression, and right to life.

Naresh M. Gehi, Esq. is an Indo-US Lawyer and the Director of Gehis Immigration and International Legal Services based in Mumbai, India and is an expert in complex Immigration strategies, M&As (expansion, take-overs), foreign investments, optimization of tax benefits, cross-border investment and tax issues. Currently, he is the chief advisor to the President of Suriname and he has been representing eminent Indians and U.S. individuals in their international immigration & legal matters. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.

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From Ukraine to Afghanistan, Women War Refugees Have to Struggle Twice as Hard for Basics - News18

Russian President Vladimir Putin could be feeling trapped and despite his public statements, he can't just pretend that everything is going OK in Ukraine, where his troops have so far failed to capture the capital, Kyiv, said Jack Barsky, a former KGB agent and the author of "Deep Undercover: My Secret Life and Tangled Alliances as a KGB Spy in America."

Born Albrecht Dittrich in East Germany and recruited by the KGB to spy on the U.S. during the Cold War, Barsky stayed in the U.S. after the fall of the Soviet Union and worked with U.S. intelligence after he was exposed as a former sleeper agent.

Barsky told CBS News' Lana Zak that the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was a formative moment for Putin, who was then a mid-level KGB officer. As protesters gathered outside the office where he was stationed in Dresden, in East Germany, Putin was told Moscow was silent.

Putin "went from being a member of the most powerful organization, living the good life in East Germany, to somebody who was completely helpless, defending that position. I think that left a deep impression on him and it motivated him to rebuild not necessarily the Soviet Union, but greater Russia. This is what he is after," Barsky said.

Barsky told CBS News that in other wars, Putin sought to escalate the conflict and if the pattern holds, will go after more civilian targets.

"He doesn't really care as much for the suffering of the Russian people. He's lashing out against his own people," Barsky said.

The Russian leader has "a tight grip on power," Barksy said. "As long as he satisfies his inner circle the folks that are directly supporting him he doesn't have much to fear."

While a military revolt could be a potential long-term scenario, Barsky said, right now "he is very well protected."

"Assuming that he can survive this, assuming there isn't a sort of coup against him so long term, he'll be in trouble if this keeps going like this, if more soldiers keep dying. He'll have an Afghanistan on his hands," said Barsky. Soviet troops entered Afghanistan in late 1979, toppling the Afghan leader and kicking off a nearly decade-long conflict with the mujahideen. "And as you know, Afghanistan was the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union and Ukraine may become the beginning of the end of Putin as a dictator."

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Former KGB spy Jack Barsky offers insights on what Putin wants - CBS News

Augusts adrenaline may have worn off but the harrowing memories have not faded. Its been six months since the Taliban took Kabul, the countrys then president and his cabinet fled and thousands of people flooded the airport in panic, so desperate for a way out that several men tried to hold on to a departing plane and fell to their deaths.

Food distribution in the northern Jowzjan province. Due to the economic crisis, many people cannot afford food, even though its widely available in the market.

Shaista, 50, from Jowzjan, says that since the Talibans takeover, her husband and children have lost their jobs. Right; Madina, 50, from Jowzjan.

Already scarred by four decades of war, Afghanistans rapid regime change has left a mark that will take a long time to process. As the Taliban are slowly putting their government in place, many Afghans feel lost and confused. With uncertain futures, some see little alternative but to seek a new life abroad, adding to a diaspora of more than 5 million worldwide.

Most people, even in Kabul, have no access to clean water in their homes. Here, people are seen filling up jerrycans with water for drinking and cooking.

Some of those who decided to stay, or who did not have an option to leave, say they will have to give the Taliban a chance, even though the group has not been recognised internationally. There isnt a large enough opposition anyway, and Taliban fighters have been stationed even in the most remote valleys of Panjshir, where the last battles of resistance played out.

We will keep fighting if we have to, were not tired, said Ziaul Rahman, a 21-year-old Talib stationed in Afghanistans Logar province. Resistance fighters, whether in Panjshir or in the Uzbek-dominated Jowzjan province, say the same.

For the past three and a half years of living and working as a journalist here, I have visited most of the countrys provinces. Since the Talibans takeover, I managed to return to many of them again, learning more about how people across the almost nation of 40 million perceive their new rulers.

The Taliban have been accommodating to foreign journalists, a privilege that has not been granted to all Afghan reporters. Several have been tortured, beaten, detained and intimidated and have since either left the country or are trying to get out.

To summarise or even generalise about the sentiment of a place as diverse as Afghanistan is, of course, impossible.

Destruction is widespread in Sangin, Helmand, previously right on the frontline. Here, every house is destroyed, few have been rebuilt, and people are starting over.

The data is bleak: last week Joe Biden announced that $3.5bn of frozen Afghan funds including the private savings of ordinary Afghans would be distributed to 9/11 victims, even though not a single Afghan was involved in the attacks.

The United Nations says at least half a million Afghans have lost their jobs since the Taliban takeover, and estimates that by mid-year up to 97% of people could be living below the poverty line. The majority of development aid funding almost 80% of the previous governments expenditure has ceased, throwing the country into economic crisis.

Human Rights Watch has reported executions and enforced disappearances of former government officials, and to this day many people live in fear and remain in hiding. With the newly appointed all-male cabinet and divisions within the Taliban, Afghanistans future remains uncertain.

As we feared, the situation is worsening in most respects a reflection of the Talibans determination to crush dissent and criticism, said Patricia Gossman, an associate Asia director for Human Rights Watch. Revenge killings, crushing womens rights, strangling the media the Taliban seem determined to tighten their grip on society, even as the situation grows increasingly unstable in the coming months.

At first sight, the changes on Kabuls streets arent all too visible. Surrounded by majestic mountain peaks, parts of the city are still bustling. Kebabs wrapped in fresh warm bread are sold by the roadside, and boys selling balloons navigate through busy traffic. The Talibans post-victory euphoria has ebbed, and while the city was flooded with insurgents in summer, most of them now seem to have left. Those remaining man checkpoints or work in the newly established government.

While the Taliban initially detained all drug addicts and moved many of them to prisons, now more are again seen on Kabuls streets. Right: Sayed Jafar, a carpet vendor, sits in his shop in Kabul. Since the Taliban takeover, business has essentially stopped as his customers have left the country.

Yet at a closer look the city is emptier, though the number of beggars has increased significantly. Once buzzing coffee shops are vacant; several restaurants have permanently closed. Outside the Iranian embassy, long queues of people wait for visa appointments; they say they are hopeless. At a Kabul maternity clinic, a newborn boy lies abandoned. His family doesnt have the money to take care of another child, said Latifa Wardak, one of the hospitals doctors.

Rahela Shahavi, 25, works as a nurse in the postnatal ward at Malalai maternity hospital, where up to 100 babies are delivered each day. Out of the 446 staff, 400 are women. Right: nurses and midwives working in the prenatal ward at Rabia Balkhi hospital in Kabul sit down for lunch.

The trauma of the last months haunts many, and although Afghans are private people who often choose to conceal emotion, they visibly carry their pain. Ive noticed it when interviewing people. The conversations last longer, because there is a real need to talk and process. With countless cups of green tea consumed, many describe the loneliness felt after their family members escaped the country. Memories of the past Taliban regime are recalled, often linked to present fears. Tears are shed.

There are good moments, too. On a snowy morning, Naim Naimy, 63, from the southern Kandahar province, said he had travelled six hours to see a white Kabul. Ive been watching the weather forecast, he said, standing amid trees in a park, soft white flakes melting on his skin. I love snow, he added, smiling.

In Kan-e-Ezzat village, as on many other similar frontlines, the guns have fallen silent since the Talibans takeover. Wardak had been one of the first provinces to see a resurgent Taliban after the start of the 2001 US-led invasion, with conflict almost a constant over the past decade.

Whenever fighting erupted, Lal Mohammad, 48, would run through the familys compound gathering his children and other relatives, shoving them towards a small, dark, underground cowshed. They would sit amid the dung, crammed in and scared, around 40 of them, sometimes for hours, listening to the sounds of bullets and mortars, often in the cold of the night, waiting for the flare-up to pass.

Naila, 10, from Wardak, has been having nightmares for months, even now that the war has stopped.

The Kabul-based International Psychological Organisation (IPSO) has said Afghanistan is a trauma state, estimating that 70% of Afghans are in need of psychological support.

Lal admitted to being traumatised too. He never aligned with the Taliban, but said he was glad that fighting had at least stopped. Most of his family sustained injuries over the years. He pointed to his 12-year-old nephew Sheer, sitting on a cushion next to him, his right hand deeply scared by a shrapnel wound. Little aid had trickled down to Lals village. The foreigners brought us cookies but little development, he said cynically.

Everyone in this village has either lost a family member or has an injury. Everyone is traumatised and tired. We didnt want the Russians, nor the Americans, nor the Taliban. We just want peace. Today I can at least tell my children that the war is over.

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Afghanistan six months on from the Taliban takeover photo essay - The Guardian

Taliban Takeover: The Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan in August last year. (File)

The United States and Russia on Wednesday presented opposing visions at the Security Council for the UN's role in Afghanistan, with Washington's call for robust support of human rights running contrary to Moscow's desires.

With the UN political mission's mandate in need of renewal by March 17, the United States underscored its "strong support" for the human rights work being carried out.

Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva said, however, that Moscow does "not agree that the human rights component of the mission should be reinforced."

"We stand against linking the human rights situation to humanitarian and recovery assistance," she said.

The mission "must not become a kind of a supervisor to meet the interests of those who are not ready to help Afghans without preconditions," she said.

For his part, US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Jeffrey DeLaurentis said the United States supports the mission's human rights monitoring functions and humanitarian coordination role.

He also highlighted its child and civilian protections and work to promote equal participation of women "in all aspects of public life."

The United States additionally took a swipe at Beijing, with DeLaurentis stating that it was "a pity that China spends more time criticizing US actions, than focusing on helping the Afghan people themselves."

"China's the second largest contributor to the UN. What China has done to help the people of Afghanistan, or contribute to regional security, does not match that standing," he said.

At the beginning of the session, the UN envoy to Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, asked the UN to engage with the Taliban without isolating them, which she said was the only way to enact positive change.

"We believe, as the winter season comes to an end, that we have perhaps averted our worst fears of famine and widespread starvation," she said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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"Pity That China Spends More Time...": US Slams Beijing On Afghanistan - NDTV

Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced theAfghanistan Vetting and Accountability Act,a bill to strengthen vetting procedures for Afghans who were evacuated to the United States following Joe Bidens botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. Senator Hawleys bill would implement careful and appropriate vetting standards for evacuees and declassify intelligence related to the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.

Senator Hawley said, "Nearly seven months after the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, there has been zero accountability. Now we know that the vetting process for evacuees was rushed and careless. My bill would implement strong new vetting procedures, declassify intelligence related to the withdrawal, and take steps to ensure public transparency and accountability for a disaster that claimed the lives of 13 American service members."

APentagon Inspector General reportreleased last month revealed numerous failures in the Biden administrations vetting process, including at least 50 evacuees with significant security concerns who were allowed to enter the U.S.

Bill text can be foundhere.

TheAfghanistan Vetting and Accountability Actwould:

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New Hawley Bill to Strengthen Afghan Vetting Procedures, Declassify Afghanistan Withdrawal Intel - Josh Hawley