| Thousands flee violence in Mali. The Norwegian Refugee Council is calling for international support to respond to the worsening humanitarian situation in central and northern Mali, where thousands of people have been forced to flee recent outbreaks of violence, including five armed attacks since the end of April. In a statement on Monday, the NRC noted that more than 600 people have fled clashes in the Koro area of Mopti in Central Mali and that counter-terrorist operations and fighting between armed groups have displaced more than 1,000 families from their homes in the northern Ménaka region since February. Last month, UNHCR reported that the spike in intercommunal violence in central Mali had driven some 3,000 people into neighbouring Burkina Faso. Distribution of emergency aid to displaced families was due to begin on Monday. | | |
| Greece considers expanding refugee centres on mainland. In response to the recent increase in refugees and migrants arriving via Greece’s northern land border with Turkey at Evros, the Greek daily Kathimerini reports that the Migration Policy Ministry is considering boosting the capacity of existing reception centres on the mainland. According to government figures, in the first five months of the year, 9,375 refugees and migrants arrived on the islands and 7,103 via the land border. The government is reportedly holding discussions with the European Union about the expansion plans. | | |
| Caring for refugees and migrants in Libya’s detention centres. In this interview, Médecins Sans Frontières Head of Mission in Libya, Christophe Biteau, shares his analysis of recent developments for refugees and migrants in the country. Since November 2017, some 15,000 migrants have been repatriated to their home countries from government-run detention centres, and UNHCR has evacuated more than 1,000 refugees to Niger. Biteau said this had reduced overcrowding and made conditions “a little less unbearable” than six months ago. However, an unknown number are still being held in clandestine prisons, where they are often subjected to extreme violence by their abductors. | | |
| Rohingya refugees “risking death at sea”. In the last month, around 180 Rohingya have tried to flee Myanmar by crossing the Andaman Sea. At least 10 have died. Sky News spent a week on board a rescue ship belonging to MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station), which just finished a month-long observation mission in the area. The crew were searching for a boat carrying 36 refugees who had become stranded after their engine failed. The passengers managed to row back to land, but MOAS founder Chris Catrambone warned that more will risk their lives and that an independent monitoring mechanism was needed at sea. | | |
| Time to end Australia’s separation of refugee families. On International Day of Families, UNHCR spokesperson Catherine Stubberfield writes about the hundreds of refugees living in Australia who are being kept apart from their loved ones indefinitely. Since January 2014, Australia has given its lowest priority to processing family visa applicants sponsored by permanent residents who arrived to the country by sea. With this legal route virtually closed, attempts to join close relatives in Australia by boat are the most common reason refugees have ended up in offshore detention in Nauru and Papua New Guinea. | | |
| Ireland expands family reunification programme. Ireland has opened applications for a humanitarian admission programme which will allow up to 530 refugees to join family members already living there. The programme is open to applicants from the top 10 major source countries for refugees and covers family members and dependants not covered by Ireland’s 2015 International Protection Act, which restricted family reunification applications to spouses and children under 18. UNHCR welcomed the announcement and called on the Minister for Justice and Equality to “apply his discretion flexibly” for family members of refugees not living in the 10 listed countries. | | |
| It’s a big week for Iraqi refugee Ahmed Abdulmajeed. Not only is he among a group of tango dancers hosting a fundraiser for refugee children in the US, he’s also graduating with a master’s degree in health administration from the University of Houston. Ahmed took up salsa dancing on a dare from a friend in Jordan, where he sought refuge in 2010. After resettling to the US two years later, he found a diverse salsa and tango dancing community in suburban Detroit. Now he plans to use his degree to help create health-care programmes for immigrant populations. | | |
Since November 2017, the number of migrants and refugees held in government-run detention centres in Libya has fallen from 17,000 to between 4,000 and 5,000.
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