| Dozens dead after collisions in Greece and Turkey. Eleven people died in Greece on Saturday when the mini-van they were travelling in collided with a truck and burst into flames, according to the Greek police. The crash occurred near the town of Kavala in the north-east of the country. The police said the vehicle they were travelling in was linked to a smuggling operation and that it was likely its passengers had crossed into Greece from Turkey and were heading to Thessaloniki to apply for asylum. The incident comes days after the discovery of the bodies of two women and a teenager girl near the Greek bank of the Evros River. Expressing shock at the deaths, UNHCR on Saturday called for “alternatives to these dangerous crossings for people in need of international protection”. Turkish state media reported that another 19 people were killed on Sunday when their vehicle plunged off a highway in the western Izmir region into a waterway several metres below. Turkish police said smugglers were transferring the vehicle’s passengers to the coast where they were to take a boat to the Greek island of Samos. | | |
| Aid groups fear for civilians in Idlib as ceasefire deadline arrives. Four international aid agencies working in Syria’s north-western Idlib region warned of dire consequences for millions of civilians if a ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia and Turkey, and due to go into effect today, fails to prevent fighting in the over-crowded province. In a statement on Friday, CARE International, the International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps and Save the Children said their local partners and civilians receiving aid have expressed fears that violence could erupt in the next few days if the ceasefire deal collapses. “The people of Idlib need a deal that offers long-term protection to civilians and allows aid to reach all those in need,” said Lorraine Bramwell, IRC Syria Country Director, adding that aid efforts in Idlib were already stretched to the limit. AFP reports that rebel fighters had yet to leave the planned buffer zone in time for today’s deadline and that mortar shells were fired from the area into government-held territory late Saturday. | | |
| Refugees to be moved out of Italian town of Riace. Italy’s interior minister Matteo Salvini has reportedly ordered hundreds of refugees and asylum-seekers be relocated out of Riace, a small town in Calabria widely seen as a model of successful integration. A circular sent to the town on Saturday cited “funding irregularities” in the use of public money to house and integrate the refugees. According to Italian media, the relocations will not be carried out by force but will be voluntary. Those who choose to remain in Riace will no longer “benefit from the reception system”. Riace’s mayor, Domenico Lucano, who was arrested earlier this month for allegedly mismanaging public funds and facilitating sham marriages, said he would appeal against the decision. | | |
| Almost 6,000 Australian doctors call for removal of children from Nauru.The doctors signed a letter, to be delivered to Prime Minister Scott Morrison today, demanding the government remove 80 children from Australia’s offshore processing facility on Nauru due to serious mental and physical health concerns . Australian Medical Association paediatric representative Paul Bauert, who has treated patients on Nauru, told reporters in Canberra that almost all refugee children there were traumatized and needed to be assessed and treated “as a matter of urgency”. On Friday, UNHCR called for all refugees and asylum-seekers to be evacuated from Australia’s offshore facilities. | | |
| Bus attacks in Yemen’s Al-Hudaydah leave 15 dead. At least 15 civilians have been killed and 20 others injured after the mini-buses they were travelling in were struck in Jabal Ras district in Yemen’s western Hudaydah governorate, on Saturday. According to aid groups, some 170 people have been killed and over 1,700 injured in Al-Hudaydah since fighting there escalated in June this year, forcing more than 425,000 people to flee their homes. In a report published on Friday, Save the Children spoke to children who survived another bus attack in August that killed 40 children in northern Saada province. The children’s charity warned of the lack of mental health services to support children suffering from trauma associated with the ongoing conflict. | | |
| Temporary residence permits offer lifeline to Venezuelans in Peru. Over 450,000 Venezuelans have made their way to Peru since 2015, the highest number after Colombia which has received nearly a million Venezuelans. In an effort to give the new arrivals quick access to work opportunities, the Peruvian government established a one-year renewable Temporary Stay Permit for those who enter the country legally. Since January 2017, UNHCR reports that more than 110,000 Venezuelans have obtained the permit granting them the right to work, study and open a bank account. During a visit to Peru last week, UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi commended the country “for keeping their doors open and creating alternative legal ways to allow Venezuelans to stay”. | | |
| This one-minute video by Nas Daily tells the story of successful Canadian businessman Jim Estill who has sponsored 87 Syrian families – more than 300 refugees – to start new lives in Canada. | | |
More than 12,700 refugees and migrants have crossed into Greece’s north-east from Turkey so far in 2018, more than double the number that crossed in 2017. More than 40 deaths have been recorded in the region in 2018.
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