| US investigates alleged atrocities against Rohingya. The US State Department has been leading an investigation into alleged atrocities against Rohingya Muslims. US officials told Reuters that a team of 20 investigators had carried out interviews with more than 1,000 Rohingya refugees in settlements in Bangladesh and that findings from the interviews could be used to prosecute Myanmar's military for crimes against humanity. A UN Security Council delegation plans to visit Rakhine State next week, in what would be the highest-profile UN visit since the crackdown on the Rohingya began last August. AFP reports that a previous request by the Security Council to visit Rakhine in February was turned down by Myanmar's government, but notes that this visit has been approved. | | |
| Donors pledge US$4.4 billion for Syria. Delegates to a donor conference in Brussels pledged US$4.4 billion in aid for Syrians displaced by the war and their host countries in the region on Wednesday. A further $3.4 billion was pledged for 2019 and 2020. The amount for 2018 fell short of the $7 to $8 billion the UN had said was needed to assist 5.6 million Syrian refugees and 13 million people in need inside Syria. Thirty-six donors at the conference made pledges, including Britain, Germany and France. The United States had not yet submitted a pledge, noted UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock at a press conference. “In an ideal world, we would have liked to raise even more money and we do expect to receive additional funding this year,” he said. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi also invited countries present at the conference to expand resettlement programmes for Syrian refugees. “We need to stay the course and show continued support and solidarity with the Syrian people but also the host communities,” he said. | | |
| Human rights groups critical of Greek government’s move to overturn court ruling. Twenty-one human rights and humanitarian organizations yesterday said the government's actions to overturn a 17 April court ruling – a ruling that would have made it easier for asylum-seekers arriving on the Greek islands to move to the mainland – raised "rule of law concerns”. An administrative order reinstated the ban on movement on 20 April, and lawmakers are now discussing legislation that would turn the policy into law. | | |
| Floods displace Kenyans and refugees. Flooding that has displaced more than 200,000 people across Kenya and killed 72 people has also affected hundreds of refugees at Dadaab camp. According to UNHCR, residents have been forced to take shelter in schools, and pit latrines are overflowing, raising concerns about outbreaks of waterborne diseases. The heavy rains have also destroyed hundreds of shelters, leaving many refugees homeless. | | |
| German court to rule on medical age tests for refugee minors. Germany’s Federal Administrative Court will decide today if a medical exam can be used routinely to help determine the age of an unaccompanied minor. Currently, such tests are only used when there is considerable doubt about a refugee’s age following an interview with a youth welfare officer. Deutsche Welle reports that the tests, which include x-rays and physical exams, have a considerable margin of error and raise ethical and legal concerns. | | |
| Webby Awards recognize refugee activism and photography. This year’s Webby Award for activism went to Refugees Welcome, a project designed to bring refugees and non-refugees around a table “to break bread and break barriers”. Searching for Syria, UNHCR’s collaboration with Google and R/GA, won the award for best use of photography. | | |
| Yara, a Syrian refugee who lives in Belgium, built up her catering business by approaching other Syrian women she found on the street, in trams or in supermarkets and asking them to work with her. Now the business, called ‘From Syria With Love’, feeds up to 800 people at a time from its permanent site in Antwerp. UNHCR and the OECD, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, this week launched an action plan to expand employment opportunities for refugees. | | |
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