85,000 children may have died from malnutrition in Yemen. An estimated 85,000 children under the age of five may have died from extreme hunger or disease since the start of the war in Yemen, according to Save the Children. The charity based its estimate on data compiled by the UN on mortality rates for untreated cases of severe acute malnutrition in children under five. The UN warned last month that up to 14 million Yemenis are on the brink of famine and is trying to revive peace talks to end the three-year war and the humanitarian crisis it has caused. Several media outlets report that fresh fighting has broken out in the port city of Al-Hudaydah since Monday. The UN Security Council is considering a British-drafted resolution that reportedly calls for a halt to the fighting in Al-Hudaydah as well as an unhindered flow of commercial and humanitarian goods across the country. | | |
| UK asylum-seekers housed in ‘dirty, vermin-infested’ accommodation. A report by the UK’s Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration has found that less than a quarter of state-run accommodation for asylum-seekers is compliant with standards. Inspectors found examples of housing that was damp, dirty and infested with rodents. Some of the accommodation was found to be unsuitable for vulnerable asylum-seekers, such as survivors of torture and pregnant women. The report found that the UK Home Office was “too accepting” of the limitations of the current system and was failing to work with private contractors to improve current conditions. The Home Office said it was “committed to improving” the service. | | |
| Displaced Malians in dire need of aid. More than 34,000 people recently displaced by violence in central and northern Mali are being left to fend for themselves because of a lack of humanitarian aid , warns the Norwegian Refugee Council. In total, nearly 70,000 people have been newly displaced over the last two months, bringing those displaced since of the beginning of the year to 120,000. More than two thirds are mothers with children, according to the NRC, which, along with other humanitarian actors, is calling for a rapid mobilization of funds. “Mothers are begging us for food and help, and so we, the aid community, are now calling international actors to heed their call," said Hassane Hamadou, the NRC’s country director for Mali. | | |
| Deep divisions separate communities in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. IRIN reports from the village of Pam Mraung in Rakhine State, where a bamboo fence has divided Buddhist Rakhine villagers from their Muslim Rohingya neighbours for the past six years. While such fences are not the norm, communities across the state continue to be divided by misunderstanding, fear and government policies that severely restrict the Rohingya’s freedom of movement. The few remaining ties between the two communities are mainly economic and researchers say such links could one day form the basis for building trust. Following initial assessments in Rakhine in October, UNHCR noted that fear and mistrust were limiting interactions between communities and impacting access to health and education. | | |
| New group of refugees lands in Cyprus. A boat delivered 47 Syrian refugees to the north-west coast of Cyprus on Wednesday before turning back towards the Turkish coast, according to local media reports. Cyprus has seen an increase in sea arrivals of refugees and migrants this year. According to the interior ministry, the country received 4,022 asylum applications in the first eight months of 2018, compared to 2,600 during the same period last year. Interior Minister Constantinos Petrides said on Tuesday that the increased flows were putting pressure on the island and called for EU member states to tackle the issue collectively. | | |
| Congolese refugees and local Zambians are benefiting from a new clinic and a school which have opened in the recently established Mantapala settlement in north-western Zambia. It’s part of a new approach in Zambia, enshrined in law last year, that aims to ensure both refugees and their host communities benefit from services set up in refugee settlements. | | |
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