Cameroon returns thousands of refugees fleeing violence in Nigeria. Following a violent attack by Boko Haram militants on the town of Rann in north-east Nigeria’s Borno State on 14 January, some 9,000 people fled across the nearby border with Cameroon earlier this week. But according to UNHCR, Cameroon has forcibly returned several thousand of the refugees as well as 267 Nigerian refugees who had been in the country since 2014. “This action was totally unexpected and puts the lives of thousands of refugees at risk,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi in a statement today. He appealed to Cameroon to abide by its obligations under national and international refugee law and immediately halt the returns. The violence in Rann, which before Monday’s attack was hosting more than 70,000 people displaced by previous fighting, has reportedly left large parts of the town destroyed and at least 14 people dead. | | |
| Ethiopia passes law allowing refugees to leave camps and work. Reuters reports that Ethiopia passed a law on Thursday that will give almost one million refugees the right to work and live outside of camps. Currently, the more than 900,000 people who have sought refuge in Ethiopia from mainly neighbouring countries are largely confined to 20 camps. The new law, which will allow refugees to travel across the country, work, attend schools, register births and access financial services, is in line with Ethiopia’s commitment to the Global Compact on Refugees, agreed by the UN General Assembly in December. The compact’s aims include increasing refugees’ self-reliance and easing pressure on host nations. UNHCR, which was involved in helping draft the law, welcomed its adoption today, describing it as “one of the most progressive refugee policies in Africa”. | | |
| Storms claim at least four refugee lives in Lebanon. efore flood waters from last week’s storm had receded, another storm – Storm Miriam – has brought more misery to Syrian refugees living in informal settlements in Lebanon. As of Thursday, extreme weather had affected more than 23,000 refugees living in 626 sites, according to UNHCR. Lebanese authorities said at least four refugees had died as a result of flooding, including three children. The Asia Times reports on how government regulations aimed at deterring refugees from building permanent structures have made it difficult to improve the infrastructure of refugee settlements and make them less susceptible to winter flooding. | | |
| New caravan of Central Americans enters Mexico. More than 1,000 people reportedly registered for humanitarian visas after entering southern Mexico on Thursday, just days after a new caravan of asylum-seekers and migrants set off from Honduras. According to Reuters, Mexican officials put wristbands on the new arrivals as they entered the country at an official border crossing . Those issued humanitarian visas will be allowed to work in Mexico or continue to the US border, said Ana Laura Martinez de Lara, director general of migratory control and verification. She said approximately 700 people were still waiting to cross into Mexico from Tecun Uman on the Guatemalan side of the border. | | |
| More refugees and migrants dying on Greek roads. IRIN reports that officials have recorded a sharp rise in the number of migrants and asylum-seekers dying in traffic accidents in northern Greece near the Evros border with Turkey. After crossing at Evros, refugees and migrants are often crammed by smugglers into cars or vans that are sometimes driven by under-age drivers. Many of the accidents occur during high-speed car chases with police vehicles. Last year, more than 40 refugees and migrants died in northern Greece, the majority in road accidents, according to UNHCR. Just over 18,000 refugees and migrants reached Greece via its land border with Turkey last year, up from 6,500 in 2017. | | |
| Syrian refugee women in Turkey take on new responsibilities. Journalist Molly O’Toole and photographer Jodi Hilton visited the Turkish border town of Reyhanli and met some of the Syrian refugee women attempting to carve out lives for themselves and their families. With many of their male partners and relatives either still in Syria or dead, most of the women have taken on the role of primary earners and leaders of their communities, even as they often face harsh judgement for working outside the home and discrimination because of their refugee status. They have come together to form community groups that fight children marriage and support other refugee women. | | |
| Lawrence was a prosecutor in her home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo before her work forced her to flee. In South Africa, she had to work as a cleaner to get by, but she was determined to do more. Now she volunteers as a maths tutor at her children’s school and received help from the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, which made this film, to find work doing legal translation. Her next goal is to have her law degree recognized in South Africa. | | |
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