| Rescued refugees and migrants turned away by Italy arrive in Spain. The 629 men, women and children arrived at the Spanish port of Valencia on Sunday morning, nine days after being rescued off the coast of Libya by NGO rescue boat, the Aquarius. The group were met by cheers and more than 2,000 volunteers, translators and health officials. Spanish officials said they would receive 45-day humanitarian permits while they were given the opportunity to apply for asylum. France has offered to take in any passengers who qualify for asylum and wish to go there. Meanwhile, Italy closed its ports to two more NGO-run rescue ships on Saturday. In a statement on Sunday, UNHCR warned against any repeat of the standoff over where the Aquarius could disembark and for predictable responsibility-sharing arrangements between states. “Rescue at sea is too important a principle to jeopardize, and any wavering about disembarkation presents grave peril not just to refugees and migrants but to anyone in difficulty at seam” said UNHCR Chief Filippo Grandi. | | |
| Rising fears of humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen’s Hudaydah. Five days into an offensive on the port city, intense fighting and airstrikes are affecting thousands of civilians. The UN reported on Sunday that nearly 4,500 families have fled their homes in southern frontline districts since 1 June. Manal Qaed, an independent journalist in Hudaydah, told Al Jazeera that much of the displacement is taking place from outside the city towards it, with villages emptying of their residents. Some civilians and migrants are reportedly stranded near the frontlines without access to humanitarian assistance. The port, a vital lifeline for aid, remains open with several vessels offloading humanitarian supplies at the weekend, but the Norwegian Refugee Council warned that fewer goods were reaching the port and movement inland has “slowed or stopped altogether”. UN special envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths was in Sana’a, the capital, over the weekend to broker an agreement for the UN to take over administration of the port. He is due to report back to the UN Security Council today. | | |
| German coalition under pressure over refugee policy. Politico reports that after a weekend of crisis talks, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Interior Minister Horst Seehofer appeared close to a compromise over the issue of tougher asylum rules at Germany’s borders. Seehofer, who is chairman of Bavaria’s Christian Social Union – part of a coalition government formed three months ago – wants to immediately enact a rule that would turn back asylum-seekers already registered in other EU countries. Merkel opposes such a move, particularly ahead of an EU summit at the end of the month that could produce a European solution. She reportedly wants more time to seek bilateral deals with Italy, Greece and Bulgaria. | | |
| Angelina Jolie visits Mosul a year after its liberation. Jolie, who is a UNHCR Special Envoy, walked among bombed-out buildings in West Mosul and met with some of the first displaced families to return to the city since its liberation from ISIS a year ago. “This is the worst devastation I have seen in all my years with UNHCR,” she said, in a video message filmed outside the ruins of the Grand al-Nuri mosque. The operation to re-take Mosul was the largest and longest urban battle since World War II and left large swathes of West Mosul flattened. Jolie urged the international community not to forget the city and its people as they work to rebuild their homes and recover from “unimaginable trauma”. | | |
| Asylum applications fall across EU: report. Claims for asylum fell by 44 per cent across the EU in 2017 compared to the previous year, with 728,470 claims registered according to a report released today by the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). Provisional data from EASO finds asylum applications dropped further in the first four months of 2018. Germany registered almost twice as many asylum applications in 2017 as any other EU state, followed by Italy and France. The top three countries of origin were Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Half of asylum applicants were granted refugee status in 2017, down from 55 per cent in 2016. | | |
| Seven ways the private sector can support refugees. UNHCR’s chief spokesperson, Melissa Fleming, outlines some of the ways that businesses can go beyond traditional philanthropy to help refugees. Top of the list is hiring refugees or supporting refugee-owned businesses, but global businesses also have a powerful role to play as advocates, investors and innovators. “By demonstrating the benefits of employing and investing in refugees and advocating for more progressive policies, companies can turn “social responsibility” from a source of good PR into a true source of pride and inspiration,” writes Fleming. | | |
| This mesmerizing ‘zoom animation’ is inspired by the testimonies of four Eritrean refugees who fled their country and made the dangerous journey across Ethiopia, Sudan and Libya to Europe. It was created by the team at PositiveNegatives which produces literary comics about contemporary social and human rights issues. | | |
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