| Dozens drown off Libyan coast. More than 100 people died in a shipwreck off the Libyan coast in early September, reports Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which is providing medical care to the survivors now being held in a detention centre. One of two rubber boats that left Libya on 1 September carrying hundreds of people of different nationalities, deflated and sank near the coast of Malta. By the time Libyan rescuers arrived hours later, only 55 people out of 185 on board were still alive, according to one surviving passenger. MSF called for the survivors to be released from detention so they could recover from serious medical conditions including chemical burns. A new paper published by the University of Oxford’s “Border Criminolgies” unit on Tuesday calls into question Europe’s reliance on the Libyan Coast Guard for carrying out search and rescue. The researchers link a sharp rise in the number of drownings, despite a drop in departures, to a clampdown on NGO search and rescue operations in June and July. | | |
| European Commission President calls for greater EU solidarity on migration. In his final State of the Union address to the European Parliament today, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called on Member States to find “lasting solidarity ” in their responses to refugee and migrant arrivals, noting the reduced numbers. “We cannot continue to squabble and find ad-hoc solutions each time a new ship arrives,” he said. “Temporary solidarity is not good enough. Juncker announced that the European Commission was today releasing a package of proposals on migration including on strengthening the European Border and Coast Guard, further developing the European Asylum Agency, and accelerating returns of irregular migrants. He also stressed the need to open legal pathways to the EU and announced that the Commission was proposing a new Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs between Europe and Africa. EU nations and the European Parliament have yet to endorse the proposals. | | |
| UN chief calls for Idlib to be spared “humanitarian nightmare”. Speaking to the press in New York on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appealed to all parties involved in the conflict to “spare no effort ” in finding solutions to protect civilians in Idlib province ahead of an expected government offensive to retake the region from rebel control. “Fighting terrorism does not absolve warring parties of their core obligations under international law,” said Guterres. His comments came after Turkey renewed its calls for international backing for a ceasefire, telling the UN Security Council that a battle to retake Idlib would trigger massive displacement. | | |
| Legal work still inaccessible for refugees in Jordan, finds new report. The report by Refugees International finds that, despite commitments made in February 2016 to improve Syrian refugees’ access to the labour market in Jordan, relatively few refugees have found legal employment . As under-funded UN agencies are forced to reduce assistance, making ends meet is increasingly difficult for the majority of refugees working for low wages in the informal economy. RI’s Izza Leghtas writes that women refugees face particular challenges accessing employment. Yesterday, UNHCR warned about the impacts of funding shortfalls on Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan where some 68 and 85 per cent respectively are living below the poverty line. | | |
| Time for a coordinated financial response to Venezuela’s exodus. In this opinion piece for the Washington Post, Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, calls on the international community to offer coordinated support to Latin American countries bearing the brunt of Venezuela’s exodus. While the United States and Europe have pledged emergency aid, Moreno points out the need for substantial grants and loans that would allow governments to expand services, speed up processing and support integration of the new arrivals. | | |
| Refugees and migrants contributing to Sicily economy. This photo essay published by the Guardian focuses on five individuals living and working in Sicily who defy the political stereotyping of refugees as helpless dependents and recipients of charity. After years as a military man in Afghanistan, Mohammed Shapoor reinvented himself as the celebrated chef of a Palermo restaurant; two recent arrivals from Mali and Guinea are working as mechanics in the small town of Riesi; and Atta Jacob from Ghana is working as a representative for the CGIL, Italy’s largest labour union. “We just want the chance to build our lives, like everyone else,” says Mamud Shamsu, a petrol-station attendant from Ghana. | | |
| This compelling interview with Vincent Cochetel, who has worked for UNHCR for over 30 years, is the first in a new podcast series delving into what it takes to be a humanitarian worker in some of the world’s most difficult and dangerous locations. Vincent talks to Melissa Fleming about his early career interviewing asylum-seekers in Turkey, his experience of being kidnapped and held in captivity for 317 days, his current work with refugees in Libya and those he was not able to help who keep him awake at night. | | |
Only 4 per cent of 104,000 work permits issued to Syrian refugees by the Jordanian government have gone to women.
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