| Protesters demand access to villagers trapped by fighting in Myanmar. Thousands of people marched through the northern Kachin State capital of Myitkyina on Monday to demand humanitarian access to some 2,000 people trapped in a remote forest by fighting between government forces and fighters with the Kachin Independence Army. Between 4,000 and 5,000 people have been displaced by an escalation in fighting in Kachin State since early April, according to the UN. The figure does not include some 15,000 people displaced since the beginning of the year. Activists who organized Monday’s rally are calling for villagers trapped by the conflict to be allowed safe passage and provided with humanitarian aid. | | |
| Three hospitals in Syria’s Homs struck by airstrikes. In the past three days, three hospitals in Syria’s northern Homs province have been taken out of service by airstrikes, leaving thousands of people without access to medical care, according to the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM). The situation in a besieged area located between Homs and Hama that is home to an estimated 150,000 civilians has reportedly deteriorated rapidly as the area has come under heavy bombardment since Saturday when negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition groups broke down. "What we are seeing in Homs right now is no different to what we have seen in Ghouta, Aleppo and many other parts of Syria,” said Dr Ghanem Tayara, Chairman of UOSSM International. “Doctors and medical staff are terrified. It’s not a question of if their medical facilities will be attacked, but when.” | | |
| UN Security Council delegation visits Myanmar reception camps for returnees. The 15-member delegation, joined by government officials, headed to Maungdaw in northern Rakhine state on Tuesday to visit reception camps built by the Myanmar government to receive Rohingya refugees who agree to repatriate from Bangladesh. On Monday, the delegation met with Aung San Suu Kyi who reportedly said her country was ready for the return of “verified” Rohingya refugees. An official release from her office said that violence in the area could recur at “any time” without elaborating further. | | |
| Violence continues to displace Colombians. A year and a half after an historic peace agreement between the Colombian government and the country’s largest left-wing guerrilla group, the FARC, whole communities are still being forcibly displaced by violence , reports the Norwegian Refugee Council. Four community leaders have been killed in the country’s north-west and other leaders have reported threats from armed groups for participating in a national programme to replace illicit coca growing with other crops. Displaced families say they do not feel safe to return to areas where their leaders have been killed. | | |
| Language main barrier to integration for Syrian women in Turkey. A survey assessing the problems faced by more than 5,000 Syrian refugee women living in Istanbul and Ankara found that nearly 80 per cent did not speak Turkish and that the language barrier prevented them from making friends with locals and accessing free health and education services. The survey conducted by Turkish non-profit, the Women and Democracy Association (KADEM), also found that the women lacked knowledge about how to apply for work permits and that only nine per cent had jobs in the formal economy. | | |
| Global initiative promotes Canadian model of private refugee sponsorship. Canadian businessman and philanthropist Frank Giustra writes for the Globe and Mail about his involvement with the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative which is encouraging other countries to adopt Canada’s model of allowing groups of ordinary citizens to support and mentor refugee families following their resettlement. Britain, Argentina and New Zealand are now launching similar programmes and 20 other countries have expressed an interest. Giustra also urges the private sector to get more involved in developing solutions and providing leadership on refugee issues. | | |
| Yusra Mardini, UNHCR’s youngest goodwill ambassador, has written a memoir recounting her journey from Syrian refugee to Olympic swimmer. With the book due to hit shelves this week, she talked to Kat Lister of The Pool about why she felt the need to reclaim her own story and her struggle to identify with the word “refugee”. | | |
More than two million Canadians have helped sponsor refugees to resettle in Canada in the past two years alone.
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