| UNHCR raises concerns about “sharp rise” in forced displacement in the north of Central America. UNHCR spokesperson Aikaterini Kitidi raised concerns at a press briefing in Geneva today about a significant increase in the number of people fleeing El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. They are escaping high levels of violence and insecurity, including homicides and violence against women and LGBTI communities. The vast majority of those fleeing are seeking refugee protection in Belize, Mexico, the US to the north and in Costa Rica and Panama to the south. “As people journey across borders and onwards they face numerous dangers, including violence at the hands of criminal groups, often leaving women in particular vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation,” Kitidi said. “We are calling on the international community to uphold their protection needs, while helping countries in the north of Central America address the root causes.” UNHCR has been working with governments and civil society on a framework known as MIRPS, through which forcibly displaced people can access improved reception and shelter capacity, more efficient and effective refugee procedures, and enhanced solutions. | | |
| Brazilian fishermen rescue 25 Africans at sea for weeks. A group of West Africans were rescued on Saturday off the coast of northern Brazil. The boat had left West Africa five weeks ago and had been drifting for five days after the engine failed, according to Reuters and CNN. Brazilian police have opened an investigation, and Reuters reported that two Brazilians on board the boat have been arrested. Some of the passengers were suffering from dehydration and had gone several days without food. Increasing numbers of refugees and migrants from Africa and the Middle East have attempted to reach Europe in recent years, but ocean crossings to Brazil are rare, Time reported. | | |
| South Sudanese refugees make the most of life in a large refugee settlement. Since civil war erupted in South Sudan five years ago, millions of its people have fled to neighbouring countries. Uganda is known for welcoming refugees, and this Guardian piece from Bidi Bidi, in the nation’s northwest, shows how refugees are creating businesses, volunteering with local NGOs and attending school. But life is not easy. “We just want to go home. Not to Europe. Not to America,” one South Sudanese woman said. | | |
| Uncertainty for Ethiopian refugees in Kenya. Thousands of Ethiopian refugees who fled Moyale, a market town straddling the border of Ethiopia and Kenya, two months ago have no idea when they’ll be able to return home. Most of them found shelter in northeastern Kenya’s Marsabit County, but recent heavy rains have caused flooding and some families have had to be moved to higher ground. Voice of America reports that some of the refugees, who are ethnic Oromos, tried to return to Ethiopia, but found that their homes had been looted of their belongings. | | |
| Teaching refugees to map their world could have benefits. When geographer Brian Tomaszewski first visited Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan in early 2015, he noticed how geographically complex the camp was. Officials and staff struggled to keep up with the camp’s ever-changing nature. Tomaszewski believed that the refugees themselves could be the best people to map the camp. He teamed up with UNHCR and Al-Balqa and Princess Sumaya universities in Jordan to teach 10 Syrian refugees to map places of interest in the camp using a technology known as Geographic Information Systems (GIS). They were able to create professional maps that now serve camp management staff and refugees themselves. | | |
| A 13-year-old Syrian refugee, Zain Al Rafeea, became the star of last week’s Cannes film festival after Capernaum, a Lebanese film in which he performed, won the Jury Prize. The film, a drama about refugee and marginalized children, cast amateur actors found mostly in the slums of Beirut, where Rafeea was working until recently as a delivery boy. Director Nadine Labaki made history as the first female Arab filmmaker to win a major prize in the competition. | | |
| Over 294,000 asylum seekers and refugees from the north of Central America were registered globally as of the end of 2017. This number represents an increase of 58 per cent from a year earlier. | | |
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