| Ceasefires in Eastern Ghouta. The BBC reports that two of the remaining rebel groups in the besieged enclave of Eastern Ghouta have announced ceasefires. Busloads of rebels and their families withdrew from the town of Hasrata on Thursday while the Faylaq al-Rahman group said a UN-brokered truce was to begin yesterday evening in the south of the enclave to allow talks aimed at guaranteeing the safety of civilians. More than 50,000 people have already fled Eastern Ghouta to over-crowded, ill-equipped reception centers on the outskirts of Damascus. They are arriving “exhausted, malnourished and afraid of what comes next” according to the Norwegian Refugee Council, which said that “needs are dramatically increasing by the hour”. Many of the new arrivals need medical attention, having been cut off from healthcare in Eastern Ghouta. Meanwhile, a lack of toilets and safe water at the reception sites is posing health risks. | | |
| Surging levels of hunger linked to conflicts. Some 124 million people in 51 countries were affected by acute food insecurity in 2017, 11 million more than the previous year, according to a report released jointly by the World Food Program, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization and the EU on Thursday. The increase is largely attributed to new or intensified conflicts in Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Yemen and north-east Nigeria. Prolonged droughts caused by climate change were another major trigger. Conflict is expected to remain a major driver of food crises in 2018. DPA reports from Somalia where conflict and drought have combined to cause increasing levels of hunger and displacement. More than two million Somalis are now internally displaced while continued insecurity has made parts of the country inaccessible to aid workers. | | |
| Pakistan extends stay of Afghan refugees. Pakistan’s foreign ministry announced on Thursday that nearly 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees can legally remain in the country until 30 June . A previous two-month extension of the refugees’ Proof of Registration cards was due to expire on 31 March. Foreign Ministry spokesman Muhammad Faisal said Pakistan’s policy on Afghan refugees was focused on “dignified return” and urged donor countries, aid agencies and the Afghan authorities to step up housing and livelihood projects for returnees. In a statement, UNHCR expressed concern about the government’s limited time-frame for voluntary returns and the lack of progress on “alternative solutions”. | | |
| Congolese refugees describe mass killings in Ituri. Clashes between ethnic Lendu farmers and Hema herders in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ituri Province have left at least 70 people dead and forced some 60,000 people to flee to Uganda since the beginning of this year. Some of the new arrivals to the shores of Lake Albert in Uganda shared their stories with Reuters. They described their homes being torched and their family members killed with guns, machetes and axes and said the Congolese military had been unable or unwilling to help them. | | |
| Japanese companies turn to refugees to address labour shortage. AFP reports from a recent job fair organized by the Japan Association for Refugees, where refugees and asylum-seekers met prospective employers. JAR wants companies to offer them training and view them as assets who can help expand their customer base. Japanese fashion firm Uniqlo employs 46 refugees at its stores and is encouraging other companies to do the same. | | |
| Exiled Syrian doctors get back to work in Turkey. A program launched in January by the Turkish health ministry and the World Health Organization, with EU funding, is helping Syrian doctors and nurses to return to their careers . The refugee doctors and nurses are helping to bridge language and cultural barriers at health facilities where their compatriots are often patients. So far, more than 800 doctors have been recruited after finishing a seven-week training course. At one healthcare centre visited by AFP in Ankara, eight out of the 10 doctors were Syrian and 10 out of 13 nurses. | | |
| Over 4,000 schools have been destroyed or damaged by the conflict in Syria. Earlier this week, 15 children were killed by an airstrike on a basement school in Eastern Ghouta. Today, a coalition of Syrian NGOs will be holding a public hearing in Geneva to hear the testimonies of victims and to demand that Syria's remaining schools be saved. They're calling on more countries to sign the Safe Schools Declaration: a pledge to protect schools from attack and military use. | | |
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