| UN urges Myanmar to create conditions for Rohingya return. The UN Security Council urged Myanmar’s government on Monday to step up efforts to create conditions that will allow Rohingya refugees who fled a violent crackdown to safely return to their country from Bangladesh. AP reports that following closed briefings the council stressed that progress is needed by Myanmar on implementing an agreement on creating conditions conducive to safe and voluntary returns of Rohingya refugees made with UNHCR and the UN Development Programme in June. “I need dialogue, and for that I need open doors,” said the new UN special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener. The Myanmar government released a plan on Friday to rehabilitate and “restore racial harmony” to 30 villages in Rakhine State, reports the Irrawaddy. The project is to be implemented in coordination with UNHCR and UNDP. Officials from the two UN agencies and the government visited northern Rakhine over the weekend to select villages for the pilot project. | | |
| Italy to temporarily accept rescued refugees and migrants. Italy agreed on Monday to continue accepting people rescued by the EU’s naval mission in the Mediterranean, Operation Sophia, until the bloc agrees on how to share responsibility for them. Italy wants a revision of the operation’s terms, which call for all survivors to be brought to Italian ports. Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi said after talks with his German counterpart on Monday that Italy would allow ships from Sophia carrying refugees and migrants to dock at Italian ports for the next five weeks until EU talks come up with a new solution. | | |
| UN agencies condemn attack on aid workers in South Sudan. Protesters in Maban County in Upper Nile forcefully entered and looted around 10 humanitarian agency compounds on Monday, injuring two UN staff and burning offices and vehicles. According to statements by UNHCR and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the protest started peacefully, with local residents demanding job opportunities, but quickly became violent. "This is an act of senseless violence towards humanitarians and deeply regrettable," said UNHCR's officer in charge in South Sudan, Vincent Kwesi Parker. | | |
| Train in Greece kills two, injures third, near Turkish border. Greek police say two people have been killed in north-eastern Greece after being hit by the same train in two separate incidents. The train, which runs parallel to the Greek-Turkish border, reportedly struck two people walking on the tracks in the early hours of Saturday morning, shortly after its departure from Alexandroupolis, killing one and seriously injuring the other. Minutes after resuming its journey, AP said, the train fatally hit a third person. Refugees and migrants sometimes follow the tracks to orient themselves after crossing the border from Turkey. The nationalities of the victims are not known. | | |
| Uprising in Nicaragua could trigger region’s next displacement crisis. As the turmoil in Nicaragua deepens, with at least 350 people killed so far during clashes between anti-government protesters and pro-government forces, Jose Miguel Cruz writes for The Conversation that the violence may soon prompt an increasing number of Nicaraguans to flee their country . Nicaragua has largely avoided the widespread crime and instability that has pushed thousands to flee El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. But Cruz’s research on violence in Central America shows that similar destabilizing conditions are now taking root in Nicaragua. | | |
| Waheed Arian arrived in Britain from Afghanistan at the age of 15, unable to speak English but determined to become a doctor. Ignoring advice that his dream was unrealistic, he studied medicine at Cambridge University and qualified as a physician for the National Health Service. In his spare time, he now runs a charity that allows off-duty NHS doctors to give advice to medics in war zones using their smartphones. Earlier this month, Arian received the Rotary International Peace Award for his work on the messaging service. | | |
One in six people in Lebanon is a refugee, making it the country hosting the largest number of refugees relative to its national population.
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