Eleven refugee children transferred from Nauru to Australia. The children were transferred to Australia for medical treatment on Monday amid growing pressure on the government to accept New Zealand’s offer to resettle 150 refugees from Nauru and Papua New Guinea. Canberra has previously said it would only accept the proposal if the law was changed to prevent any of the resettled refugees from travelling to Australia in the future. In a statement today, UNHCR pointed out that immediately evacuating all refugees from Nauru and Papua New Guinea would not require legislative change . UNHCR Regional Representative, Thomas Albrecht, said that “while children are an obvious priority, there are many other acutely vulnerable men and women in both Papua New Guinea and Nauru who must not be forgotten”. Evacuation of only some individuals would exacerbate the severe mental health risks of those left behind, noted the statement. | | |
| ‘Caravan’ of Central Americans grows to 7,000. As a ‘caravan’ that has grown to an estimated 7,000 refugees and migrants inched through southern Mexico, UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards said it was “essential that people have the chance to request asylum and have their international protection needs properly assessed, before any decision on return/deportation is made”. He said that stabilizing the situation had become urgent. UNHCR has been mobilizing staff and resources to southern Mexico and is working with Mexican authorities to register asylum-seekers and assist the most vulnerable. | | |
| Germany’s housing shortage hampering refugee integration. Activists are concerned that a shortage of housing in Germany’s southern Bavaria region is hampering integration for many asylum-seekers and refugees who are still living in temporary refugee housing after a year or more. Reuters spoke to refugees in Munich where the housing shortage is so acute that brokers charge a fee to secure apartments. Those unable to afford brokers’ fees struggle to compete with Germans for affordable apartments in the private sector. Munich Refugee Council says the city’s tight housing market is having a negative impact on integration. | | |
| How Syrian refugees have strained and strengthened Jordan. The Christian Science Monitor looks at how the large influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan since 2012 has impacted the country’s schools, hospitals and economy. Despite the obvious strain on resources, Jordanians have largely remained hospitable to the newcomers. But as donor funding for Syrian refugees dwindles, aid agencies warn that this hospitality has its limits. The CSM reports from Mafraq, near the Syrian border, which has seen its population more than double as refugees became a majority. Initially, rents rose, and the water supply was under strain, but the refugees also brought jobs and foreign investment in local infrastructure. | | |
| Cuts in refugee admissions slow resurgence of US “Rust Belt” cities. AP reports from Buffalo, New York, where the arrival of more than 12,000 refugees in 10 years has helped slow decades of population loss and reinvigorated the local economy. But as the US administration slows the flow of refugees into the country, Buffalo and other cities that rely on new arrivals are beginning to feel the pinch . Hotels, restaurants and factories are struggling to fill job vacancies and landlords are noticing fewer refugee families renting properties. | | |
| French police clear 1,800 people from camp near Dunkirk. French police have reportedly cleared an estimated 1,800 people from a makeshift camp outside the northern port city of Dunkirk. The local prefecture said today that the migrants would be sent to reception centres in northern France where authorities will ask if they want to apply for asylum. AP reports that the camp in Grande-Synthe is a way-station, mostly for Iraqi-Kurds seeking to reach Britain. The camp reformed after previous evacuations last year. | | |
| Estonia's first refugee-run restaurant is open for business in Tallinn. It took two years, but Syrian refugees Mohamed and Nermiin Hanafy finally found someone who would rent them space to open their business. | | |
Australia has transferred about 3,000 refugees and asylum-seekers to offshore processing facilities in Papua New Guinea and Nauru since 2013. Of these, some 800 remain in Nauru and 650 in Papua New Guinea.
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