Crisis in Central African Republic escalating rapidly, says UN. The UN’s humanitarian coordinator for CAR, Najat Rochdi, said on Wednesday that the humanitarian crisis in the country was worsening “ at an alarming rate ”, marked by growing forced displacement, insecurity and access constraints for aid workers. In recent weeks, 50,000 people have been impacted by violence in the towns of Batangafo and Alindao, including those sheltering at camps for the internally displaced that were set on fire. “These despicable attacks are taking a huge toll on the lives of innocent men, women, boys and girls. They have lost everything, including hope,” said Rochdi. While security has improved in some south-western areas of the country, allowing displaced people to return home, Rochdi said the attacks on IDP camps were reversing gains and putting things “back to square one”. The growing displacement is causing spiralling food insecurity as people abandon their fields. Rochdi said if the situation did not improve, the country could be pushed towards famine. | | |
| Self-harm and suicide worsening on Manus Island, says report. Increasing numbers of refugees and asylum-seekers confined to Manus Island in Papua New Guinea by Australia’s off-shore asylum policy are resorting to suicide and self-harm , according to a new report by Amnesty International and the Refugee Council of Australia. The report criticizes recent cuts to health and counselling services for the 600 men still on Manus Island as well as continued threats to their safety. There have been three suicides among the group plus five attempted suicides in the last two months alone and several acts of self-harm. Last month, UNHCR urged Australia to address the “collapsing health situation” in PNG and Nauru by evacuating all asylum-seekers and refugees. | | |
| Cameroon’s displacement crisis worsens. In a press briefing on Tuesday, the UN Human Rights Office expressed deep concern about the worsening violence in Cameroon’s South-West and North-West regions and the “massive internal displacement” that it has caused. At least 437,000 people have been displaced by fighting between armed groups and security forces, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. On Wednesday, OCHA warned that while the number of families forced to flee continues to increase, the humanitarian response is hampered by under-funding and limited access due to the insecurity. The 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan for Cameroon is only 37 per cent funded. | | |
| Tijuana offers jobs to Central American asylum-seekers. Around 3,000 people who travelled with a caravan of Central American refugees and migrants are now in Tijuana, near Mexico’s border with the United States, and another 1,000 will soon join them. While some residents have protested the presence of the caravan, employers view their presence as a potential boon to the local economy. They are staging a job fair where thousands of positions in manufacturing and tourism are on offer. While companies interview candidates, officers with the Mexican Commission for Aid to Refugees are on hand to issue humanitarian visas that will eventually allow them to apply for residency status and work permits. Faced with a long and uncertain US asylum process, some members of the caravan told AFP they would consider remaining in Tijuana if they can find work there. | | |
| Are ships in the Mediterranean ignoring refugee and migrant vessels? Der Spiegel reports on mounting evidence that the closure of European ports to rescued refugees and migrants is causing some captains to think twice about stopping to help boats in distress . Sicilian investigators are looking into the case of US Navy vessel, the Trenton, which allegedly delayed sending assistance to an inflatable boat carrying 117 people in June. By the time the Trenton dispatched motorboats and a helicopter, 76 people had drowned. Civilian rescuers say such incidents have become more frequent as NGO rescue boats have been prevented from operating in the Mediterranean and commercial ships face long delays disembarking rescued refugees and migrants. | | |
| EU top court rules against Austrian curbs on refugee support. The European Court of Justice on Wednesday ordered the province of Upper Austria to roll back regulations introduced in 2015 that reduced social assistance to refugees with temporary residency status. The ECJ ruled that Austria had broken EU law by imposing curbs on welfare for refugees. | | |
| “We Are Not Princesses” captures the journey of four Syrian refugee women in Beirut as they join a theatre workshop and prepare to stage the ancient Greek play Antigone. The workshop opens up a new world for the women, some of whom had rarely left the refugee camps where they lived before, while the play allows them to share their stories of love, loss, pain and hope. The film is now touring festivals across the world, and the producers hope to screen it in refugee camps and communities. | | |
The UN estimates that 2.9 million people in Central African Republic are now in need of urgent humanitarian assistance – more than half the country’s population.
| | |
| |
No comments:
Post a Comment