Leaders at Syria summit call for lasting Idlib ceasefire. Following a summit in Istanbul on Saturday, the leaders of Turkey, Russia, France and Germany called for a Syrian-led political solution to the country’s seven-year conflict and a lasting ceasefire in Idlib, the last major opposition-held area. In a joint statement the leaders agreed on the need for conditions to be created “throughout the country for the safe and voluntary return of refugees” and to support the formation of a committee by the end of the year to work on constitutional reform as a prelude to UN-backed free and fair elections. The statement also said there was a need to ensure humanitarian access throughout the country. The talks came after a week of escalating violence in Idlib, despite a demilitarization agreement reached by Russia and Turkey last month. Shelling of rebel-held villages by Syrian government forces reportedly killed seven people on Friday. | | |
| Spain rescues another 520 refugees and migrants at sea. Spain’s maritime rescue service saved 520 people trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa on Saturday, including 53 passengers pulled from the water, but two seven-year-old children died and 16 Moroccan migrants were reported missing off the coast of north Morocco. Since the beginning of this year, nearly 45,000 refugees and migrants have arrived by sea to Spain, twice as many as in all of 2017, making it Europe’s new frontline for Mediterranean crossings. The Washington Post considers why Spain has maintained a relatively welcoming attitude towards the new arrivals in contrast to other Western European countries. Overall, some 94,000 refugees and migrants have crossed the Mediterranean this year – far fewer than the 172,000 who arrived in Europe in 2017. | | |
| As rich nations close doors on refugees, Uganda welcomes them. In an era of rising xenophobia in many parts of the world, the New York Times reports from Uganda, which has taken in more than a million refugees and continues to keep its borders open . The government’s policy of allocating small plots of land to refugees is only possible because of the willingness of rural Ugandans to accept an influx of foreigners. They do so partly because the government ensures that foreign aid for the refugees also benefits Ugandans in the form of new schools, clinics and wells. But many Ugandans have also had to flee their homes in the not so distant past. Some even found refuge in what is today South Sudan. | | |
| Australians support resettlement of refugees from Nauru. Eighty per cent of Australians surveyed in a poll commissioned by the Sunday Telegraph want their government to accept an offer from New Zealand to resettle refugees held at Australian facilities on the island nation of Nauru. Thousands of people attended rallies in Sydney and Melbourne to protest the government’s policy of off-shore asylum processing and to call for refugees and asylum-seekers on Nauru and Manus Island to be brought to Australia. The Guardian looks back on a week that has seen mounting pressure from doctors, charities, rights groups and UNHCR finally bring about a shift in public attitudes towards “the Nauru issue”. | | |
| Surge in militant violence halts aid to displaced people in Lake Chad region. Six aid agencies have suspended their operations in the island areas of western Chad after a series of militant attacks in late September and early October, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Friday. OCHA did not name the agencies, but the World Food Programme told Reuters it had halted food aid to about 120,000 displaced people in the Lac region since a deadly attack on 10 October. UNHCR’s representative in Chad, Mbili Ambaoumba, said most aid providers in the region had suspended their activities due to attacks that were presumed to have been carried out by Boko Haram. | | |
| Report calls for “paradigm shift” in refugee investment. A new report by the Refugee Investment Network (RIN) presents data and case studies showing that innovative refugee investments are already taking shape using “creative financing structures” to mitigate the perceived risks. Much more can and must be done, concludes the report, which offers recommendations for the impact investment community, foundations and corporations. | | |
| Sharmarke Dubow, a former refugee from Somalia, only became a Canadian citizen last year. Over the weekend, he cast his vote for the first time in Victoria’s municipal elections and was elected city councillor on the same day. “The first time to cast a vote but also be elected is so overwhelming. For me, this means a lot," Dubow told CBC News. | | |
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