| French assembly approves bill to tighten asylum rules. After 61 hours of debate, France’s lower house approved legislation on Sunday that would tighten the rules around asylum. The bill seeks to shorten the time asylum-seekers will have to file claims and to appeal negative decisions. It would also double the time for which undocumented migrants or people whose asylum claims are rejected can be detained pending deportation, and introduce a one-year prison sentence for entering France illegally. The bill opened divisions within President Emanuel Macron’s governing LREM party, but passed by 228 votes to 139, with 24 abstentions. Rights groups have warned that measures such as shortening asylum application deadlines will diminish access to protection. The bill now moves to the upper house, where it will be debated in June. | | |
| Rohingya refugees rescued after nine days at sea. Indonesian fishermen rescued a group of 76 Rohingya from a boat drifting off the coast of Aceh on Friday and brought them ashore. Authorities said the refugees, who had hoped to reach Malaysia, were suffering from varying degrees of dehydration and exhaustion . “We were forced to leave [Myanmar] because we could not stay, could not work, so our lives became difficult,” one man, who had paid about $150 for his place on the boat, told AP. The boat was the third this month carrying passengers fleeing Myanmar by sea. Following a recent visit to Myanmar, UN deputy relief chief Ursula Mueller warned the international community last week that more than 400,000 Muslim people were still living in dire conditions in Rakhine State. | | |
| Brussels conference on Syria must not fall short, say aid agencies. With donors and governments due to meet in Brussels tomorrow and on Wednesday to mobilize aid for Syrians inside the country and in the region, eight aid agencies are urging the international community to honour previous aid commitments and to increase pledges. A statement jointly released today by Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council, CARE and other NGOs notes that the current response is just over 20 per cent funded, while close to 700,000 people have been displaced so far this year and humanitarian access has been “systematically compromised”. | | |
| Cameroon deports hundreds of Nigerian refugees. Some 385 Nigerians fleeing Boko Haram have been forcibly returned from Cameroon since the beginning of 2018, most of them in the past month, according to UNHCR. The refugees and asylum-seekers were returned to Borno State, an area where residents still face the risk of violence. In a statement on Friday, UNHCR appealed to Cameroon to refrain from further forced returns. A senior Cameroonian official responded on Saturday by denying that any forced repatriations had taken place. | | |
| Rush to shelter Venezuelans as rainy season looms in Brazil’s north. Brazilian authorities and aid groups are rushing to help tens of thousands of Venezuelans find shelter before the start of the rainy season in Brazil’s Roraima state this month, reports Reuters. The federal government announced on Wednesday that it would build five additional shelters in Boa Vista, the state capital, and another in the border town of Pacaraima. Meanwhile, a UNHCR-supported information centre opened in Boa Visa on Friday to inform new arrivals about how to apply for refugee status, direct them to shelters and help them access health services. | | |
| How swimming lessons change the lives of refugee children. The experience of crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe in overcrowded, flimsy boats is traumatic for many refugee children, particularly those who don’t know how to swim. Günter Schütte is a German swimming instructor who specializes in helping refugees overcome their fear of water. He also views swimming as a tool for integration. The Guardian met some of his young pupils. | | |
| More than 60,000 Nigerian refugees live at Menawoa camp in Cameroon. Just four years ago, the camp was surrounded by trees, but now women and children must walk up to 12 kilometres every day to find firewood. This short film, launched to coincide with Earth Day on Friday, documents a project to reforest the land in and around the camp with 40,000 trees. The initiative aims to restore the degraded land and provide a new model for how to reduce the environmental impacts of refugee camps. | | |
| |
No comments:
Post a Comment