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London — French authorities say a 7-year-old girl was among five migrants who drowned in the English Channel on Tuesday just hours after British lawmakers voted through legislation aimed at deterring asylum-seekers from making the crossing. Local officials said the inflatable dinghy carrying some 112 people hit a sandbank after leaving a beach near the village of Wimereux. “A few hundred meters from the shore, the engine stopped, and several people fell into the water,” said Jacques Billant, prefect of the French Pas-de-Calais region. “Despite this complex and delicate situation, 57 people who were still in the inflatable boat remained on board. Not willing to be rescued, they managed to restart the engine and decided to continue their sea route towards Britain,” Billant told reporters. Such is the determination of the migrants to reach British shores. Over 6,300 people have made the journey across the English Channel in small boats so far this year. The tragedy happened early Tuesday morning, a few hours after British lawmakers passed legislation that the government hopes will allow it to deport asylum-seekers arriving in small boats across the English Channel to Rwanda for processing. The migrants would be processed in the African state and have no right to return to Britain, even those granted refugee status. The legislation effectively orders the courts to ignore existing British laws or international treaties that could block the deportations. Britain’s Supreme Court ruled the policy was illegal in November 2023, as there was a risk that refugees could be sent from Rwanda back to their countries of origin. It is unclear if further legal challenges could delay the flights. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the prospect of being sent thousands of kilometers away to Rwanda will deter migrants from making the journey to Britain. “The first flight will leave in 10 to 12 weeks. Now, of course, that is later than we wanted. But we have always been clear that processing will take time,” Sunak said Monday evening after the legislation passed. The government argues the policy is moral, as it aims to end the dangerous journeys operated by people smugglers. But both the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the High Commissioner for Human Rights have called for Britain to rethink the legislation. “By shifting the responsibility for refugees, reducing the U.K. courts’ ability to scrutinize removal decisions, restricting access to legal remedies in the U.K. and limiting the scope of domestic and international human rights protections for a specific group of people, this new legislation seriously hinders the rule of law in the U.K., and it sets a perilous precedent globally,” Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said at a news briefing Tuesday in Geneva. Under the deal, Britain pays Rwanda at least $458 million over five years, with extra payments on top worth tens of thousands of dollars for each migrant sent to the country. The opposition Labour Party has called it an "expensive gimmick" that won’t work. The passing of the legislation after years of wrangling and court battles is being seen as a political victory for Sunak. Whether the policy deters migrants from making the deadly journeys across the English Channel remains to be seen. Migrant support groups dispute Sunak’s claims that the policy will stop the boats. “We will not see the boats stop because of this [Rwanda policy]. We will see more deaths, we will see more dangerous risks being taken,” Kay Marsh of the migrant charity Samphire told Reuters.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

washington — The South Korean government says it will push ahead with its foreign policy agenda despite a crushing defeat in parliamentary elections at the hands of a liberal opposition party that promises to push back against President Yoon Suk Yeol's foreign and security policies. South Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday that the Yoon government will press on with its security cooperation with the U.S. and Japan in bilateral settings and in a trilateral framework. Seoul will "cooperate closely" with the U.S. and Japan to carry out agreements made at a trilateral Camp David summit in August, the spokesperson said in an email to VOA's Korea Service. Those policies were developed in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. The spokesperson said the Yoon administration will also "continue to strengthen its partnership" with countries in the Indo-Pacific region “to support universal values that include freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and human rights." The ruling People Power Party (PPP) lost the general election on April 10, securing only 108 seats in the 300-seat National Assembly. The opposition Democratic Party (DP) won 175 seats but fell short of securing the 200 or more needed for a supermajority that would have allowed them to advance bills for passage without the PPP. Four independent parties secured the rest of the seats. Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation, said, "The opposition party is expected to step up its criticism of Yoon's foreign policies since it favors a more accommodating stance toward Pyongyang and Beijing, resistance to improving relations with Japan and greater independence from U.S. policies." Klingner, who served as the CIA's deputy division chief for Korea from 1996 to 2001, continued, "But such policies have less public support due to the failed U.S. and South Korean summits with North Korea in 2018-19, Pyongyang's rejection of all requests for dialogue and escalating provocations." North Korea said through its state-run KCNA on Tuesday that it had conducted its first nuclear counterattack simulation drills. The DP mounted criticism against the Yoon administration on Sunday for what it described as China exclusionary policies. It urged the administration to "abandon its biased foreign and security policies," said a report by The Korea Herald based in Seoul. The Rebuilding Korea Party, a DP partner that won 12 seats in the National Assembly, slammed Yoon for what it called his "one-sided foreign policies centered on the U.S. and Japan," according to the report. On Friday, Yoon called DP leader Lee Jae-myung and proposed to meet with him for the first time since he took office in May 2022, according to South Korean media. Lee lost the presidential election to Yoon nearly two years ago. The presidential office told the press on Saturday the details and time of their meeting are undetermined. Evans Revere, a former State Department official with extensive experience negotiating with North Korea, said, "The Democratic Party, together with its opposition partners, may try to use its budget-setting and investigatory powers in the National Assembly to slow or otherwise limit the ruling party's ability to easily pursue its foreign policy and national security agenda." He continued, "The DP may also try to use dialogue with the ruling party and the Blue House [former presidential residence] to express a willingness to compromise on domestic economic and social legislation in return for changes to President Yoon's foreign policy agenda." He added, "But President Yoon's commitment to his foreign policy agenda is highly principled and deeply felt, and it seems unlikely that he would yield to such an opposition party." At a conference that Yoon hosted Monday in Seoul for South Korean diplomats assigned overseas, he described the administration's "global pivotal state diplomacy" as the country's "signature policy." He credited the policy for key achievements such as an upgrade in the country's alliance with the United States and normalization of relations with Japan. Yoon has pursued his vision for the country to become the "global pivotal state" since taking office in 2022. It calls for South Korea to promote freedom, democracy and the rules-based international order. Robert Rapson, who served as charge d'affaires and deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul from 2018 to 2021, said it remains to be seen whether the DP and its affiliates can force adjustments on external issues such as Japan, China and North Korea, as well as economic security policy. “But they plan to give it a try, it seems." VOA’s Kim Hyungjin contributed to this report.

blantyre, malawi — Malawi and its development partners are trying something new to help the country’s most vulnerable women and girls get out of extreme poverty. Besides enhancing their socio-economic status, a new three-year program will strengthen their resilience to crises, shocks and disasters. The U.N children agency, UNICEF, the European Union and the Irish government say more than 20% of Malawi’s 19.6 million people live in extreme poverty. They said Tuesday women head over 75% of all families living in poverty amid violence and harmful practices that undermine their participation in economic activities. The new Gender Empowerment and Resilience program is expected to benefit more than 500,000 people in nine districts, giving them access to social services and cash transfers. The districts are Mzimba, Ntcheu, Balaka, Chikwawa, Mulanje, Mwanza, Neno, Nsanje and Zomba. Shadrack Omol, UNICEF representative in Malawi, said experience has shown that parents and caregivers need to be supported with livelihoods and resources to support their children. “That’s why this program is extremely important because through this program we will be working [with] parents,” Omol said, “to support them to have the right livelihoods and incomes to support their children to grow to their full potential.” About $26 million is being spent to tackle challenges that would help give Malawi women access to economic opportunities and essential social services. Besides cash transfers, the program will help promote access to social behavior change, nutrition, early childhood development, sexual reproductive health and prevention of gender-based violence. Jean Sendenza, minister of gender, community development and social welfare, said in a statement that Malawi has previously made progress in expanding social protections to reach more vulnerable people. However, she says significant gender gaps remain. Eneless Pemba, executive director for Chikondi Girls Project in southern Malawi, said she welcomes the program but says similar interventions haven’t yielded results in the past. That’s because there has been a tendency to impose solutions without asking what people really want, Pemba said. “We sometimes feel like a girl-child just wants money while there are a lot of issues happening,” Pemba said. “For example when you talk about mental health issues, a girl-child, maybe her parents are sick or they don’t have food at home like hunger we are facing in Malawi now.” Pemba, whose project teaches girls how to make sanitary pads and other skills, says there is a need to encourage girls’ entrepreneurship skills to help her find food for the whole family. “There are other small businesses she can do while in school, which can be sustainable for a long time rather than a project which can be there for a year and phase out,” Pemba said. Maggie Kathewera-Banda, executive director of the Women's Legal Resources Centre, says there still are some people who need more than resources to help lift themselves up. “Much as we have empowerment programs, where people are supposed to have the skills so that they can move out of poverty, we still have some section of population which are so vulnerable to the extent that they cannot move out of poverty on their own, they need a booster,” Kathewera-Banda said. “So as a starting point, cash transfers offer such kind of a thing.” Kathewera-Banda says the impact of some projects may not be seen or felt because they focus on small groups out of thousands of people facing poverty. However, EU Ambassador to Malawi Rune Skinnebach and Irish Ambassador to Malawi Séamus O'Grady said in a statement the program will help create an enabling environment for Malawi women and girls to contribute meaningfully to their communities.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Abuja, Nigeria — A high-level Africa counterterrorism summit opened Monday in Nigeria with hundreds of delegates from around the world. Africa has become the world's epicenter of terrorism. Leaders at the summit hope to change that through regional cooperation and partnerships. The summit was jointly hosted by Nigeria and the United Nations Office of Counter Terrorism (UNOCT) with the aim of strengthening regional security response and cooperation against acts of terror. "Terrorism snaps at the very fabric of the prosperous and just society we seek to build for ourselves and our children,” Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said during remarks at the two-day summit in Abuja. “This violent threat seeks to frighten the farmer from his field, children from their schools, women from the marketplace and families from their very homes. We must therefore fight this threat together, combining determined national effort with well-tailored and regional and international collaboration." The summit seeks to enhance intelligence sharing among African nations and promote African-led strategies on counterterrorism. Authorities say it will also serve as a guide to the international community’s collective response to terrorism in Africa. Terrorism and violent extremism are spreading at an alarming rate in Africa. According to a new study by the African Center for Strategic Studies, acts of terror increased by more than 100,000% in the last two decades despite local and foreign intervention. The report says more than 23,000 people were killed in Africa last year — a 20% increase compared to 2022. Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo says fighting terrorism goes beyond a country’s borders. "The evolving nature of terrorism demands a dynamic and coordinated response that transcends national borders and individual efforts,” Akufo-Addo said. “These groups are exploiting grievances, vulnerabilities and are manipulating ideologies to spread fear, division and chaos. We recognize the urgent need to combat this menace that continues to threaten the peace, security and development of our continent." Authorities say the threat of terrorism in Africa is exacerbated by the illicit arms trade, unemployment, poverty, inadequate policing, marginalization and political instability. For more than a decade, Nigeria has struggled to stem the violence by Boko Haram and its splinter, ISWAP in the northeast. And more recently, armed gangs known as bandits have been making matters worse. Nigeria’s security adviser Nuhu Ribadu said these factors need to be addressed. "Effective strategies require comprehensive approaches that address these drivers, promotes socioeconomic development, enhance governance resolve conflict and strengthen regional and international cooperation,” Ribadu said. But getting the funding to do this has been a major challenge in Africa. Authorities hope to change the narrative for the better. Vladimir Voronkov, undersecretary-general of the UNOCT, stressed the important role African regional organizations have in effectively countering terrorism. “The success of the United Nations in Africa hinges on our commitment to support Africa-led solutions to African challenges,” Voronkov said. “We recognize no single actor can resolve today's threats to peace and security. Instead we need multiple actors working together with solutions grounded with strong national ownership and support of bi-funding partners." Acts of terror in Africa are largely concentrated in the Sahel, Somalia, the lake Chad basin, North Africa and Mozambique. Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso were absent from the summit due to coup-related sanctions imposed by ECOWAS and the African Union. Critics say for counterterrorism measures to be truly successful every country must be involved.

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently announced its revision of the race and ethnicity question on federal surveys, including the U.S. census, adding “Middle Eastern or North African (MENA)” as a new category. This welcoming news came ahead of the Arab American Heritage Month in April. “These revisions will enhance our […]

The post Data Snapshot: Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants appeared first on Immigration Impact.

Istanbul — Nine Turks working for pro-Kurdish media outlets were arrested Tuesday in Turkey, their employers and lawyers said, with a relative of one saying they were accused of "terrorist activities." Four women and five men were arrested at dawn in Istanbul, the capital Ankara, and the southeastern city of Urfa, lawyers from the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), a press freedom organization, said. MLSA said those arrested work for news organizations including the Mezopotamia Agency and the newspaper Yeni Yasam and include several journalists and "press employees." The nine were denied access to their lawyers for 24 hours, MLSA said in a message on X. "No declaration has been made about the reasons for the detention of the journalists" on Tuesday morning, it said. Mezopotamia said one of its journalists was arrested in Ankara during "a police operation at his home.” A relative of one of the journalists, who asked not to be named, told AFP the police showed up at the journalist's home at dawn. She said the families of the journalists had been informed that their arrests were "part of an investigation opened in 2022 for terrorist activities.” The journalists based in Istanbul were being held on Tuesday in a police station in the city, she said. The international press freedom organization Reporters Without Borders, contacted in Istanbul, said it was "monitoring the situation closely.” Elsewhere, Belgian police searched the studios of two Kurdish channels, Sterk TV and Medya News, that broadcast from Belgium, the two media outlets said in a statement to AFP. The Belgian public prosecutor's office said in a statement on Tuesday that the searches were carried out "during the night" "at the request of the French judiciary," which is seeking to "establish possible evidence of terrorist financing. A source close to the police operation who asked not to be named told AFP those raids had "no link" to the arrests in Turkey.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

At least two countries have declared bankruptcy due to an inability to repay foreign interest payments, primarily to China.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — On a recent morning at a hospital in the heart of gang territory in Haiti's capital, a woman began convulsing before her body went limp as a doctor and two nurses raced to save her.  They stuck electrodes to her chest and flipped on an oxygen machine while keeping their eyes on a computer screen that reflected a dangerously low oxygen level of 84%.  No one knew what was wrong with her.  Even more worrisome, the Doctors Without Borders hospital in the Cite Soleil slum was running low on key medicine to treat convulsions.  "The medication she really needs, we barely have," said Dr. Rachel Lavigne, a physician with the medical aid group.  It's a familiar scene repeated daily at hospitals and clinics across Port-au-Prince, where life-saving medication and equipment is dwindling or altogether absent as brutal gangs tighten their grip on the capital and beyond. They have blocked roads, forced the closure of the main international airport in early March and paralyzed operations at the country's largest seaport, where containers filled with key supplies remain stuck.  "Everything is crashing," Lavigne said.  Haiti's health system has long been fragile, but it's now nearing total collapse after gangs launched coordinated attacks on February 29, targeting critical infrastructure in the capital and beyond.    The violence has forced several medical institutions and dialysis centers to close, including Haiti's largest public hospital. Located in downtown Port-au-Prince, the Hospital of the State University of Haiti was supposed to reopen on April 1 after closing when the attack began, but gangs have infiltrated it.  One of the few institutions still operating is Peace University Hospital, located south of the shuttered airport. From February 29 to April 15, the hospital treated some 200 patients with gunshot wounds, and its beds remain full.  "We urgently need fuel because we operate using generators. Otherwise we run the risk of closing our doors," hospital director Dr. Paul Junior Fontilus said in a statement.  More than 2,500 people were killed or wounded across Haiti from January to March, a more than 50% increase compared with the same period last year, according to a recent U.N. report.  Even if a hospital is open, sometimes there is little or no medical staff because gang violence erupts daily in Port-au-Prince, forcing doctors and nurses to stay at home or turn around if they encounter blocked roads manned by heavily armed men.  The spiraling chaos has left a growing number of patients with cancer, AIDS and other serious illnesses with little to no recourse, with gangs also looting and setting fire to pharmacies in the capital's downtown area.  Doctors Without Borders itself has run out of many medications used to treat diabetes and high blood pressure, and asthma inhalers that help prevent deadly attacks are nowhere to be found in the capital, Lavigne said.  At the Doctors Without Borders hospital, medical staff recently tried to save a boy with a severe asthma attack by giving him oxygen, she said. That didn't work, and neither did another type of medication. Finally, they ended up injecting him with adrenaline, which is used in emergencies to treat anaphylactic shock.  "We improvise and we do our best for the people here," Lavigne said.  People's health is worsening because the daily medication they need for their chronic conditions is not available, warned Doctors Without Borders project coordinator Jacob Burns.  "It becomes acute and then they run out of options," he said. "For certain people, there are very, very few options right now."  Despite the pressing need for medical care, the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Cite Soleil has been forced to cut the number of outpatients it treats daily from 150 to 50, Burns said, though all emergencies are attended to.  Scores of people line up outside the hospital each day and risk being shot by gang members who control the area as they await medical care.  Everyone is allowed to enter the hospital compound, but medical staff set up a triage to determine which 50 people will be seen. Those with less urgent needs are asked to return another day, Burns said.    On Friday morning, 51-year-old Jean Marc Baptiste shuffled into the emergency room with a bloody bandage on his right hand. He said police in an armored vehicle shot him the previous day as he was collecting wood to sell as kindling in an area controlled by gangs.  Once inside, nurses removed the bandage to reveal a gaping wound in his thumb as he cried out in pain. Lavigne told him he needed a plastic surgeon, which the hospital does not have, and ordered X-rays to ensure there was no fracture.  On average, the Cite Soleil hospital sees three wounded people a day, but sometimes it's up to 14 now, staff said.  Recently, five people wounded by bullets arrived at the hospital after spending all night inside a public bus that couldn't move because of heavy gunfire, Burns said.  "Cite Soleil was long the epicenter of violence," he said. "And now violence is so widespread that it's become a problem for everyone."

WASHINGTON — Myanmar’s ruling junta, the State Administrative Council, is criticizing a U.S. aid package that is being funneled through opponents of the regime, saying the United States should consider whether its actions amount to support for terrorism.  The assistance marks the first implementation of the BURMA Act, part of the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act aimed at helping pro-democracy forces battling the SAC.  Under the act, the aid is intended to strengthen federalism in Myanmar by providing nonlethal assistance to armed groups, helping pro-democracy organizations, assisting aid organizations operating from Thailand, and financing investigations of junta human rights violations. The aid is restricted to ensure it does not benefit the SAC or any entity affiliated with the Myanmar military.  “We believe the U.S. is manipulating Myanmar to counter China's influence in the region,” the junta said in a statement provided to VOA on March 29. “Despite the U.S. presenting itself as a champion of democracy, the aid disproportionately benefits Myanmar's opposition groups, particularly the National Unity Government (NUG) and the People's Defense Force (PDF).”  The NUG is the opposition’s shadow government; the PDF is made up of civilian armed groups battling the military.  The junta statement calls on the United States to review its aid allocation “to reassess whether their actions, which some label as terrorism, represent a legitimate path to reclaiming power.”  The junta, which has killed and imprisoned thousands of people since overthrowing the democratically elected government in February 2021, accuses the NUG and PDF of responsibility for the civilian deaths. The statement did not elaborate on the charge that U.S. support for resistance groups in Myanmar is linked to Myanmar’s adversarial relationship with China.  The promise of the BURMA Act  The Burma Unified Through Rigorous Military Accountability Act, commonly called the BURMA Act, says it aims to “continue to support the people of Burma in their struggle for democracy, human rights, and justice.”  It identifies specific resistance groups as beneficiaries, including the NUG, and the National Unity Consultative Council, or NUCC, which comprises several opposition groups.  Also named are the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, which is made up of members of the ousted Myanmar parliament; the civil disobedience movement; "and other entities in Burma and in other countries” that seek to “bring about an end to the military junta’s rule.”  The act promises to “hold accountable perpetrators of human rights violations,” and to “hold accountable the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China.”  It provides $75 million for refugee assistance programs, including in Thailand and India, and $25 million for “technical support and non-lethal assistance” to the NUG and PDF. Smaller amounts are earmarked for governance programs, documentation of atrocities, and assistance to political prisoners, Rohingya and deserters from the junta’s military.  The Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority group, have faced persecution and discrimination in Myanmar for decades. In 2017, a military crackdown by the Myanmar army forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, seeking refuge from the violence and persecution.  The act authorizes appropriations to be allocated annually from fiscal years 2023 through 2027, with $121 million earmarked for FY 2024.   Process of the funding  During debate on the bill, the U.S. House of Representatives initially proposed a more limited $50 million aid package but agreed to the larger sum advocated by the Senate before final passage.  "We are pleased with the $121 million proposed by the Senate, instead of the $50 million proposed by the House. However, we believe this amount is insufficient, and should be closer to $300 million to meet the humanitarian needs on the ground,” said James Shwe, from the Los Angeles Myanmar Movement, which works with Myanmar activists in the United States.  In a Zoom call with VOA, Shwe also criticized what he sees as the high administrative costs of aid distribution.  “Because of the lack of state-to-state cooperation in a case such as Myanmar, where the aid is meant for humanitarian assistance, but not for the ruling power, this leads to several layers of management,” he said.  “The aid is funneled through USAID partners, the biggest of which is the U.N., which has to operate under the rules of the junta. In many cases, the U.N. will in turn deal with [non-governmental organizations]. The NGO then needs to distribute that aid to [civil society organizations] on the ground. This leads to ever-increasing administrative costs and less actual assistance to those in need.”  Shwe said administration costs eat up around 45% of aid funds.  “Only $75 million of the $121 million is allocated for cross-border aid, which we believe will be more effective than channeling funds through the U.N., the largest partner of USAID," Shwe added. But he welcomed the lawmakers’ decision to specifically name the NUG and the NUCC in the act, ensuring that they will play a role in the allocation of the funds.  Hopes for assistance amid U.S. engagement  Hopes for continued humanitarian assistance to Myanmar are on the rise after U.S. State Department Counselor Derek Chollet and USAID Assistant Administrator Michael Schiffer met this month with representatives from the NUG.  “The meeting underscores the ongoing commitment of the United States to engage with Myanmar's NUG leadership and support their endeavors to promote democracy, peace, and stability in the region,” said an April 11 State Department press release.  Chollet also met in late March with ethnic armed organizations allied with the NUG. "Met today with leaders of Burma’s ‘K3C’ ethnic group alliance on their extraordinary efforts to pursue a federal democracy in Burma,” he wrote on X on March 28. “We discussed steps for the international community to expand assistance to those in need and secure a better future for the people of Burma." The K3C alliance, comprising the Kachin Independence Organization, Karen National Union, Karenni National Progressive Party, and Chin National Front, is politically aligned with the NUG and collaborates militarily with its armed wing, the People’s Defense Force.  "We briefed them on the political and military situation in our state, as well as the humanitarian situation,” said Aung San Myint, secretary of the Karenni National Progressive Party, who shared details of the meeting with VOA by phone.   “Following our presentation, they assured us of continued collaboration as the U.S. Department of State. ... We have hope for increased humanitarian aid as discussions progress with U.S. officials."

Baku, Azerbaijan — Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Tuesday a peace deal with Armenia was closer than ever before, as teams from both countries began demarcating the border in a bid to end decades of territorial disputes and clashes. Aliyev's optimism comes amid progress on marking the border despite protests in Armenia, still bruised after Baku seized control of the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region in a lightning offensive last year. On Tuesday, teams from both countries installed the first border marker after officials had agreed to delimit a section based on Soviet-era maps. "We are close as never before," Aliyev said on Tuesday of an elusive peace deal. "We now have a common understanding of how the peace agreement should look like. We only need to address details," he said. "Both sides need time... We both have political will to do it." Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan last month agreed to return four border villages that were part of Azerbaijan when the two countries were republics of the Soviet Union. Aliyev said Tuesday he had accepted a proposal by Kazakhstan to host a meeting of their foreign ministers. Several countries have tried to play mediator — including Russia, Iran, the United States, France and Germany — but years of talks have failed. Aliyev downplayed the need for third party intervention. "We are not talking about any kind of mediation, because what happens now on our border demonstrates that when we are left alone... we can agree sooner than later," he said. Experts from both countries installed the first marker on Tuesday, they announced in identical statements. Rallies had earlier erupted in Armenia, with protestors briefly blocking traffic at several points on the Armenia-Georgia highway, fearful of giving up more land. Yerevan said Tuesday it would not transfer "Armenia's sovereign territory." The four abandoned settlements that are to be returned to Azerbaijan — Lower Askipara, Baghanis Ayrum, Kheirimly and Gizilhajili — were taken over by Armenian forces in the 1990s, forcing their ethnic Azerbaijani residents to flee. But Armenian residents of nearby villages worry they will end up isolated from the rest of the country and that some houses could fall into Azerbaijani territory. The area has strategic importance for landlocked Armenia: Several small sections of the highway to Georgia — a vital trade artery — could be handed over. The delimited border will run close to a major Russian gas pipeline, in an area that also offers advantageous military positions. Pashinyan has insisted on the need to resolve the border dispute "to avoid a new war." On Saturday, he said Russian guards deployed in the area since 1992 would be replaced "and border guards of Armenia and Azerbaijan will cooperate to guard the state border on their own." Border delimitation was a "significant change," he said, adding: "now have a border and not a line of contact, which is a sign of peace." Last autumn, Azerbaijani troops recaptured the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region from Armenian separatists in a one-day offensive that ended a bloody three-decade standoff over the region. But lingering territorial claims have continued to threaten a fresh escalation. Baku has claims over four more villages located in exclaves deeper in Armenian territory. It is also demanding the creation of a land corridor through Armenia to connect the mainland to the Nakhichevan exclave and onwards to close ally Turkey. Yerevan, in turn, points to its own exclave in Azerbaijan and pockets of land Baku has seized over the last three years outside of Karabakh.