Last week’s run off was peaceful and orderly.

Will it bring stability to the former Portuguese colony that’s suffered a series of assassinations and  coups.

Umaro Cissoko Embalo won the run-off election.

His opponent Domingo Simoes Pereira will contest the result.

Both are former Prime Ministers.

Guinea Bissau is trying to cast aside its reputation as a coup-prone narco state, used as transit point for South American cocaine headed for Europe.

Outgoing President Jose Mario Vaz made tearful appeal for stability.

He congratulated the military for staying out of the election and called for a new page to be written on the country’s democratic history

He came to power in 2014, two years after a coup. The electorate punished him for his administration characterized by frequent sacking.

The post Guinea Bissau has a new president appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

The wind picks up on the sea these late summer evenings, whipping up the waves. If one hopes  to navigate the Mediterranean with any safety in a small boat, it had best be before winter turns the water colder and rougher.

So this is a crucial time for those fleeing conflict and persecution back home – or simply wishing to feed a family – by crossing the Mediterranean and finding shelter in Europe.

Indeed it is crunch time for refugees everywhere as the spotlight is turned on them by the United Nations General Assembly starting in New York.

The bigoted Matteo Salvini , who aligned himself with United States President Donald Trump in making cruelty a policy for deterring migrants, has disappeared for now as Italy’s Interior Minister. 

The full effect of this has yet to be revealed.

But for now captains of rescue ships do not risk imprisonment by taking aboard those cynically thrown to their fate by people smugglers. 

Some relief then for those taking this route to Europe. Their numbers have dramatically diminished:About a tenth of the number crossing  three year ago. But the Mediterranean  claims proportionately more of their lives.

Thanks to the efforts of the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, fewer of them will be taken to Libya where they face detention in appalling conditions or worse.

The country rendered ungovernable after the fall of Muammar Gadaffi is no longer an easy option for European countries trying to reduce the migrant wave.

This does not mean European countries will take appreciably more people from Africa and the Middle East.

No more than the United States will welcome those from Central and South American countries seeking safer, better lives.

Indeed, South Africa will not be able to take in all those Africans coming  across the Limpopo and the Kruger National Park.

One must hope an international understanding can be reached that there is a universal responsibility to provide a refuge.

The post Crunch time for migrants appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.

She says every effort is made to ensure they have consular access.

A fifth of the South Africans in foreign jails have been convicted of drug offences in South American countries.

At least 98 people are being held in China on alleged visa irregularities.

Foreign Minister Lindiwe Sisulu says officials are in touch with the family of English teacher Tristan-Lee Niemand being denied consular access where she held in Jiangsu on visa offenses.

Sisulu urges South Africans planning to teach English in China to check with authorities that they have the correct documentation.

South Africans travelling abroad must ensure they have legal documents and visas.

They just familiarize themselves with details of South African diplomatic missions in their countries of destination and remember the DIRCO telephone number 012 351 1000.

The post Concern for South Africans in foreign jails appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.