Violence and displacement hinder Ebola response in DR Congo. The UN has warned that insecurity in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has forced tens of thousands of people to flee and forced humanitarian organizations to suspend or limit their work, increasing the risk that an outbreak of the Ebola virus will continue to spread. A total of 238 cases have been reported in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, resulting in 155 deaths, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization. Half of the new cases have been in and around Beni, where response efforts have been plagued by attacks on health workers and civilians. The Guardian reports that attacks by rebel groups have repeatedly disrupted treatment, burials and vaccination programmes in recent weeks. Fresh fighting reportedly broke out on Wednesday night in Oicha, 30 kiometres north of Beni, sending civilians fleeing. | | |
| Honduran caravan met with outpouring of support in Guatemala. Al Jazeera reports on local efforts in Guatemala to help the hundreds of Honduran refugees and migrants who have been passing through cities such as Esquipulas on their journey north since early last week. Volunteer-run shelters and support groups are providing food, donated clothing and a place to sleep. Many of the Hondurans are families with small children while some are lone youths fleeing forced recruitment and violence by gangs back home. UNHCR and national authorities are working to identify and register some of the most vulnerable among the caravans moving slowly through Guatemala and Mexico. | | |
| Four ways to promote refugee financial inclusion in Germany. Labour market integration of the influx of asylum-seekers who arrived in Germany in 2015 remains slow while their financial needs are rising, writes researcher Swari Mehta for Refugees Deeply. She suggests four ways to help refugees become less dependent on financial assistance and more integrated into Germany’s economy. They include educating refugees about German financial systems and personal financial management, involving private-sector and nongovernmental institutions in helping refugees to build savings and raise funds for business ideas, and ensuring that solutions are available across the country as opposed to the current decentralized approach to refugee programming. | | |
| Homeless asylum-seekers in Paris ‘perfect prey’ for exploitation. Charities warn that rough-sleeping refugees and migrants, with no right to work, are being lured into transporting drugs and prostitution in order to survive. Unaccompanied minors, in particular, are “perfect prey for exploitation ”, a volunteer with Paris Refugee Ground Support told the Independent. The risks facing asylum-seekers in Paris are exacerbated by long waits for their asylum claims to be processed and the lack of state support during that time, reports the Independent. Unaccompanied minors are eligible for state support, but many are initially refused help based on what Human Rights Watch described earlier this month as “summary age assessments”. | | |
| Making a living in a Ugandan refugee settlement. Refugees living in Bidi Bidi settlement in north-west Uganda struggle to get by on the small amount of aid they receive. This photo essay published by the Guardian looks at some of the ways they are generating an income from hairdressing to vehicle repair to running a ‘tech-hub’. | | |
| Harry Leslie Smith describes himself as “the world’s oldest rebel”, but at the age of 95 he might also be the world’s oldest advocate for refugees. As a young British soldier, he witnessed the refugee crisis at the end of the Second World War first-hand and the memory of the refugees’ suffering has stayed with him. Harry travels to refugee hotspots around the world and shares the stories of those he meets. | | |
Around 1,500 people travelling through Mexico as part of a ‘caravan’ of refugees and migrants have so far lodged asylum claims.
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