Sophia Yan

The pending deportation from Turkey of French journalist Raphaël Boukandoura threatens to set a disturbing precedent for press freedom. Our full statement: fmaturkey.org/raphael-bouk...

YouTube video by The Telegraph Huge explosion at ‘vital’ Russia oil refinery | Ukraine: The Latest

Very interesting interview with Sophia Yan (Senior Foreign Correspondent of the Telegraph) on Friday's #Ukraine:TheLatest podcast (www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMI8...) about China's role in supplying Russia with dual-use technologies and materials.

A v late repost of a story I did 😬🤭

China’s passport trap: A new front in the global war on Uyghurs Threat to chef living in Kyrgyzstan raises spectre of new sinister tactics to crack down on persecuted minority

That’s led to a host of issues for Obulqasim, incl forced deportation back to China, where he faces torture, imprisonment, potentially death. #Uyghurs severely persecuted in #China

A look at China’s new front in its war against the Uyghurs

#humanrights

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

China’s passport trap: A new front in the global war on Uyghurs Threat to chef living in Kyrgyzstan raises spectre of new sinister tactics to crack down on persecuted minority

Obulqasim Isma’il, a #Uyghur, was given a new passport w the wrong name & DOB. The #Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan, where he lives with his family, refused to correct it

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

Revealed: Pakistani migrants tricking way into Britain with fake £50k visa documents Paperwork approved by Home Office despite being littered with grammatical errors

'Consultants' charging #migrants $$$ to help fake their way into #Europe w fraudulent paperwork – fake CVs, fake job references, fake bank statements

A scam of such breadth & depth to obtain real, approved visas

My latest @telegraphnews.bsky.social investigation
www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

How badly damaged is Iran’s nuclear programme? Here’s the evidence ‘Obliterated,’ declares Trump, ‘Nothing significant,’ says Khamenei. And was the uranium spirited away first? Questions need answering

‘Obliterated,’ declares #Trump, ‘Nothing significant,’ says #Khamenei. Was the uranium spirited away first? Many questions...

So how badly damaged is #Iran's #nuclear program?

Insights @armscontrolwonk.bsky.social @ddolzikova.bsky.social Farzan Sabet

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

But if conflict continues, could be looking at a very serious migration crisis

Impossible to predict the future. Plus so many variables

So far only a small increase of crossings by Iranians was reported into neighbouring countries - ie Turkey, Armenia, Iraq.

In southeastern Turkey, 50 to 100 more vehicles than normal were crossing – not a flood

#Iran pop 92m

GDP per capita higher than that of #Syria; more people in general, plus more people w financial means/family links abroad to #migrate

So if the Syria scenario holds (just as a reference), we're looking at 23m Iranians fleeing abroad

Very interesting analysis @mixedmigration.org on potential #migration impact from #Israel-#Iran war if ceasefire doesn't hold & conflict continues

Take the scenario of #Syria. At peak of civil war, 1/4 of its 23m pop fled abroad; another 1/4 internally displaced (+thread)

Portrait photo of Amanda Hsiao.

🚨SPECIAL🎙️EPISODE: In this NüVoices Special episode, host and board member @sophiayan.bsky.social talks to Amanda Hsiao, director in Eurasia Group’s China practice, to look back on the first five months of Trump 2.0, and what we can learn from US-China relations: nuvoices.com/2025/06/25/n...

Watch: Lebanese dance and cheer under missiles heading for Israel ‘It’s payback’ – some see the attack as retribution for Israeli air strikes last year

ICYMI

View from #Beirut where many feel avenged by #Iran’s retaliatory strikes against Israel, which has invaded #Lebanon 3x + attacked countless times

(Am filing faster than I can post so please follow @telegraphnews.bsky.social for more)

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

Hezbollah hurting, but its fighters are ready to join war on Israel Air strike that took out military leader fuels supporters’ demands for retaliation to help Iran

#Hezbollah supporters believe the militant group is ready to join the #war against #Israel once #Iran gives the order

Even w less firepower + men, Hezbollah can still distract/tire out Israeli military

Dispatch from Dahieh, a Hezb stronghold

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

Why Putin and Xi will be panicking over Iran Russian and Chinese leaders in danger of losing a key partner in the fight against US hegemony in the region

Why #Xi + #Putin - #Iran’s strongest strategic partners - are panicking right now 🤯🤬🤢

Analysis @telegraphnews.bsky.social

Insights 🙏 @geringtuvia.bsky.social @nicolegrajewski.bsky.social

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

Europe tried to crack down on people smugglers. It only made them stronger Gangs in the Balkans are adapting to tighter border controls and ‘fighting over territory’

How #Europe's tight border enforcement & anti-smuggling policies are backfiring. Instead they're making smuggling gangs more powerful & putting refugees at even greater risk of exploitation, violence

2nd in a series from the Balkans, @telegraphnews.bsky.social

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

EU says illegal migration has dropped, but I saw the reality on the ground Along the Serbia-Hungary border, The Telegraph finds plenty willing to gamble for a better life

This activity isn’t reflected in official data that indicates a drop in irregular #border crossings — simply because it’s going undetected by the authorities.

Read/watch:
www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

#migration #smuggling #borders

Human smuggling has adapted quickly to #Europe’s tighter #border controls. Now, smugglers are moving smaller groups of people at a time and using encrypted apps to avoid surveillance. They even sometimes use coded language to talk about their ‘business.’ No wall is too high to tackle, so they say.

Along the Serbia-EU border, we shadowed a group of #smugglers and #migrants preparing to cross — illicitly, and in secret.

^^My first dispatch @telegraphnews.bsky.social in a series on human #smuggling through the Balkans

telegraph.co.uk/world-news/202…

More to come…

EU says illegal migration has dropped, but I saw the reality on the ground Along the Serbia-Hungary border, The Telegraph finds plenty willing to gamble for a better life

Gone are the sprawling #refugee tent camps. Frontex touted a 78% drop in irregular #border crossings for 2024 on the Western Balkan route

But human #smuggling is still in force — it’s just moved underground & therefore not reflected in the data

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

#migration

#Chinese technology pioneered in East Turkistan (aka #Xinjiang) against the #Uyghurs… rolls out to #Turkey

2/ Nearly 2,000 mostly young people were detained during the March protests against the arrest of #Istanbul's mayor, #Imamoglu. 819 are facing charges in 20 investigations - many arrested in dawn raids, held for weeks without trial. Often, their “crime” was just being present.

4/ A Chinese-made Hikvision camera was spotted at a major Istanbul rally. It matches a model listed in a Turkish interior ministry document - capable of detecting 120 faces simultaneously.

5/ In late 2024, Turkey's police bought 3,500 facial recognition cameras and 278 servers. In 2025, more contracts and tenders followed - including one for 13,000 new cameras, published just a day before the mayor’s arrest.

Interesting

Migrants sneak into UK in lorries while police ‘too focused on small boats’ Watchdog says chances are being missed to intercept illegal immigrants who take less high-profile routes

Police watchdog blasts UK authorities for being too laser-focused on small boat crossings, leading to "missed opportunities" to respond to other routes that migrants are using as guided by #smugglers - ie via trucks, visa fraud

www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

Thank you to @sophiayan.bsky.social for featuring our newly released Criminalisation report for 2024 in this piece for @telegraphnews.bsky.social

Read Sophia's report here: www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

bsky.app/profile/bord...

Revealed: How people smuggling is arranged on the British high street Money exchange shops are working directly with human smugglers to help them evade police

We went undercover & filmed covertly @telegraphnews.bsky.social to unveil how human #smugglers exploit legitimate networks to move illicit proceeds around the world - incl through the UK 💸🌎

My latest on a long-term investigation that spans Kabul to Birmingham

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05...

Enjoyed reading the same essay: