| Rohingya children risk becoming “lost generation”, warns UNICEF. In a report marking one year since the start of the Rohingya crisis, the UN children’s agency warns that the lives and futures of more than 380,000 refugee children in Bangladesh are in peril due to their lack of access to a proper education . By July this year, some 140,000 children had been enrolled in non-formal education of some kind and 1,200 learning centres were operational, but classrooms are overcrowded, there is no agreed curriculum, and learning opportunities are scarce for children over the age of 14. In a statement on Thursday, UNICEF’s representative in Bangladesh, Edouard Beigbeder, said more investment in education was desperately needed to avert a “lost generation ” of refugee children. This AP report highlights some of the many other visible and hidden dangers for children living in refugee settlements in Bangladesh – from waterways swelled with monsoon rains, to crumbling hillsides, domestic violence, malnourishment and disease. | | |
| Italy allows children to disembark ship docked in Catania. Following a request from the agency in Sicily responsible for child welfare, Italy’s prime minister gave permission for 29 women and children on board the Diciotti to disembark on Wednesday night. The Italian coast guard ship, which still has around 150 passengers aboard, entered Catania’s port on Monday night but was refused permission to disembark until Italian authorities receive assurances from EU states to take them in. The Guardian reports that prosecutors from the Italian city of Agrigento on Wednesday opened an investigation into whether keeping the migrants detained on board the Diciotti was in breach of the law. | | |
| Calls for more international support as outflow of Venezuelans rises. The heads of UNHCR and IOM appealed on Thursday for greater support from the international community to the countries in South America receiving growing numbers of Venezuelans. Filippo Grandi and William Swing also expressed concern about new passport requirements for Venezuelans trying to enter Ecuador and Peru. “It remains critical that any new measures continue to allow those in need of international protection to access safety and seek asylum,” said Grandi. Ecuador’s government on Wednesday said it would host an emergency regional summit in Quito next month to discuss the situation. | | |
| Thousands of Libyans in Sirte still homeless after offensive to oust Islamic State. A year and a half after Libyan soldiers retook Sirte from the Islamic State, IRIN reports that rubble, mines and unexploded ordnance have not been cleared and 20,000 people remain displaced . Many residents have been forced to rent temporary homes outside the city centre until their homes can be rebuilt, but with limited international aid, no compensation forthcoming from the government, and parts of the city still littered with unexploded ordnance, prospects of reconstruction appear a long way off. | | |
| The Italians opening their homes to asylum-seekers. AP reports that not all Italians are on board with their new government’s more restrictive asylum policies and that some are responding by reaching out to asylum-seekers and migrants. A growing number of Italians have reportedly applied to host young asylum-seekers in their homes. The Italian chapter of Refugees Welcome, a Germany-based group that facilitates refugee hosting in 16 countries, has seen an 80 per cent spike in hosting offers since June. A survey by pollster Ipsos MORI found that 72 per cent of Italians support the principle of asylum and 61 per cent are concerned about the rise of racism and discrimination in the country. | | |
| A Syrian refugee is using puppets to bring his country’s rich heritage to life for Syrian children in Lebanon, many of whom have no memory of home. “Those children are the future of Syria,” says Jassem, 28, a former physical education teacher from Raqqa. “How will they rebuild it if they know nothing about it?” | | |
More than half of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are under 18.
| | |
| |
No comments:
Post a Comment