UN sounds alarm as Yemen fighting nears vital hospital. UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock and UNICEF head Henriette Fore have welcomed the recent lull in fighting in Yemen’s port city of Al-Hudaydah, but in a joint statement on Thursday they urged warring parties not to target or occupy vital health facilities, in particular Al Thawrah Hospital – the only hospital in the city equipped to provide a full range of secondary and tertiary care. Al Thawrah has already been damaged by fighting. Although it is currently functioning, Fore and Lowcock noted that “front lines remain very close by”, meaning that any resumption of fighting could quickly render the hospital unusable. A “durable cessation of hostilities” is one of five measures the UN is calling for to avert “potential catastrophe” in Yemen. UN special envoy Martin Griffiths arrived in Yemen this week as part of his renewed push for peace. | | |
| Up to Myanmar to create conditions for voluntary Rohingya returns, says UNHCR. Following last week’s failed attempt by Bangladesh and Myanmar to begin voluntary repatriations of Rohingya refugees, UNHCR said today that the responsibility for creating conditions conducive for voluntary return lies with Myanmar. In a statement , the agency called on Myanmar to “exert all efforts” towards creating those conditions and to addressing the root causes of the refugees’ displacement. Before refugees can contemplate return, notes the statement, Myanmar should demonstrate “concrete progress toward ensuring freedom of movement, access to services, documentation and livelihood opportunities”. UNHCR has offered to support “go-and-see” visits that would allow refugees to assess conditions in Rakhine State for themselves. | | |
| Refugees face desperate lack of medical care on Lesvos. Around 6,000 refugees and migrants are currently living in and around the overcrowded Moria reception centre on the Greek island of Lesvos. Newsweek reports that even for refugees arriving with serious conflict-related injuries, chronic conditions and mental health issues, medical care is virtually non-existent . Those trying to seek medical help are often prescribed little more than ibuprofen and advised to “drink water”, according to refugees who spoke to Newsweek. NGOs are working to try to meet some of the need but admit that there are still “huge” gaps. Earlier this month, UNHCR called on Greece to accelerate emergency measures on the Greek islands of Lesvos and Samos. | | |
| Fourteen people rescued from dinghies in English Channel. The two dinghies, each carrying seven people, were intercepted by the UK Border Force on Thursday off the Kent coast and brought to Dover, reports the Guardian. French maritime authorities said they rescued a further 11 people whose boat was in distress off the French town of Wimereaux. Four of the passengers were taken to hospital suffering from hypothermia. So far this month, 78 people have crossed the Channel from France in small boats. The majority are Iranian asylum-seekers. “Despite recent events, crossing the Channel in this way thankfully remains relatively rare,” said the UK Home Office. | | |
| Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh make the switch to “clean” cooking fuel. More than 200,000 refugee households , as well as a significant number of vulnerable Bangladeshis in Cox’s Bazar District, are set to receive stoves and a monthly supply of Liquefied Petroleum Gas for cooking and heating. Until now, refugee women and children have spent much of their day collecting firewood for cooking or using what few resources they have to buy it. The reliance on firewood has had serious impacts for the local environment and for the refugees’ health, with respiratory illnesses from inhaling smoke a common health problem. The use of LPG is expected to improve air quality in the densely populated refugee settlements. | | |
| Kenya finds way to make refugee camps benefit host communities. Alexander Betts, former director of Oxford University’s Refugee Studies Centre, writes for Foreign Policy about Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp, where refugees and members of the local community in Turkana County live and work alongside one another . He credits the governor of Turkana County, Josphat Nanok, for recognizing that Turkana could significantly boost its long-term development by creating refugee settlements that would give locals opportunities even after refugees have gone. Nanok worked with UNHCR to plan Kalobeyei, a new settlement designed to relieve overcrowding in Kakuma. Kalobeyei opened in 2016, and today refugees and locals live side-by-side, using the same shops, hospitals and schools.In this Tedx Talk, Nanok talks to UNHCR's Melissa Fleming about changing the narrative on hosting refugees. | | |
| The New York Times reviews three recent books for children that feature young refugees as their main characters. “Nowhere Boy” tells the story of a Syrian teenager who is befriended by an American expat in Brussels. The graphic novel “Illegal” follows the journey of Ebo as he journeys from sub-Saharan Africa to Italy, while “Zenobia”, another graphic novel, tells the tragic story of Amina, a Syrian girl who boards a fragile ship to cross the Mediterranean. | | |
The estimated 900,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar area have needed 700 metric tons of wood every day for cooking alone.
| | |
| |
No comments:
Post a Comment