Donors asked to “stay the course” on Syrian refugee response. While a small number of Syrian refugees are making the journey home, 5.6 million remain in neighbouring countries in need of continued support, Amin Awad, director of UNHCR’s Middle East and North Africa operations, told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday. Awad was presenting the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan , aimed at supporting neighbouring host countries with a response requiring $5.5 billion in funding for next year. Although some 37,000 organized and voluntary returns of Syrian refugees took place this year, Awad listed a host of obstacles facing returnees, ranging from lack of documentation confirming their identity and property ownership in Syria, to the lack of services in some areas and the risk of unexploded mines. For the vast majority who remain in neighbouring countries, Awad said 70 to 80 per cent are now living below the poverty line. | | |
| Aid workers in Yemen describe war’s devastating impact. As UN-led peace talks between Yemen’s warring parties continue in Sweden this week, three local aid workers from the Norwegian Refugee Council talked to the Guardian about the physical and emotional toll the conflict has taken on their country and their own lives. “We already know that the shelling kills people, but I am seeing what a broken economy does too,” says Marwan Al-Sabri, a water and sanitation officer in Taiz. “People have been left so desperately poor that they kill themselves before the hunger does.” Ali Al-Makhaathis, a food security assistant in Amran, recalls trying to comfort his terrified children as bombs fell on his neighbourhood. “We are never free of anxiety,” says Hadil Al-Senwi, an education officer in the capital, Sana’a. The UN’s Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, said on Tuesday that after five days of talks, progress had been made “on a number of issues”. | | |
| MEPs call for humanitarian visa system for asylum-seekers. Members of the European Parliament requested on Tuesday that the European Commission bring forward legislation that would allow Member States to issue humanitarian visas from their overseas embassies and consulates. The system would avoid the need for people to risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean or relying on smugglers to reach Europe. Applicants would have to prove a well-founded risk of persecution and be subjected to a security screening before being issued the visa which would grant them access to a Member State for the purpose of submitting an asylum application. The initiative, which was backed by 429 MEPs , calls on the European Commission to table a legislative proposal by 31 March 2019. | | |
| Thailand urged to stop footballer’s extradition to Bahrain. On Tuesday, a Thai court extended Australian-based refugee Hakeem Al-Araibi’s detention for 60 to 90 days while court proceedings for his possible extradition to his home country of Bahrain are underway. Al-Araibi, who once played football for Bahrain’s national team, was arrested in Thailand on 27 November after arriving in Bangkok for his honeymoon. Thailand said it was acting on an Interpol “Red Notice” issued at Bahrain’s request, but rights groups have urged Thai authorities not to approve the extradition, pointing out that he risks being subjected to persecution and torture if returned. The Australian government has also called for Al-Araibi’s immediate release and return to Australia. | | |
| Canada’s first wave of Syrian refugees set to become citizens. Three years ago, the first plane filled with Syrian refugees touched down in Canada as part of a national Syrian refugee resettlement initiative that has since brought 58,600 Syrians to the country. The refugees among that first wave of arrivals are now eligible to become Canadian citizens , having met the three-year residency requirement. CBC News talked to some of those planning to embrace the opportunity to apply, and others who face barriers, including the US$470 application fee and a requirement that they obtain a certain level of proficiency in French or English. | | |
| Helping refugees good for US businesses, finds survey. Researchers from New York University’s Stern School of Business surveyed consumers in the United States about their sentiments regarding brands committed to supporting refugees. They found that almost half were more likely to purchase such brands. Among consumers under the age of 35, 60 per cent surveyed were more like to purchase pro-refugee brands. Support for refugees is paying off for brands that take a strong stance on social issues such as refugee support, according to two of the researchers involved in the survey. “Business and social responsibility do not need to be at odds,” they write in this piece for MarketWatch. | | |
| Al Jazeera reports on the opening of a winter bazaar in Amman, Jordan, that is allowing refugees to showcase and sell their handmade products. The money from sales is aimed at helping the refugees brace for the harsh winter season. The vendors come from all over Jordan and include refugees from five different countries. | | |
One million Syrian babies have been born in displacement since the conflict began nearly eight years ago.
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