Thousands fleeing new violence in South Sudan. In recent days, some 5,000 people from South Sudan have crossed into the Democratic Republic of the Congo to escape fighting and violence against civilians in Central Equatoria State. At a briefing in Geneva today, UNHCR said the refugees were arriving on foot in several remote border villages in north-east DRC’s Ituri province , where they were seeking shelter in churches, schools and abandoned houses and surviving thanks to food being shared with them by locals. Another 8,000 people have reportedly been displaced inside South Sudan, on the outskirts of the town of Yei, where clashes between the army and a rebel group, the National Salvation Front, have prevented aid groups from reaching them. Those arriving in the DRC said they had witnessed violence incidents, including the murder and rape of civilians by armed men. UNHCR said it needs funds to assist the new arrivals and move them to the nearest refugee settlement. | | |
| Syrians flee battle to capture last ISIL-held enclave. CNN reports from Baghouz Al-Fawqani in northeast Syria, where fighters from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched an offensive over the weekend to oust ISIL from its last remaining enclave in Deir-ez-Zor governorate. SDF officials had estimated that about 1,500 civilians remained in the town, but an SDF spokesperson told CNN they had likely underestimated the number . Trucks loaded with fleeing residents heading for displacement camps were reportedly stopped at an assembly point where they were given medical assistance, food and water, and questioned to identify any potential ISIL members. The UN has expressed concern that fleeing civilians arriving at Al Hol camp are being prevented from seeing medical workers until they undergo security screening . UNHCR and WHO have asked to set up a transit centre en route to the camp where life-saving assistance and medical care could be provided. As of last week, the WHO said 35 children and newborns had died on the way to al-Hol or shortly after arriving. | | |
| Australian MPs pass amended bill on transfers of sick asylum-seekers. Australian MPs have passed a landmark bill that will make it easier for sick refugees and asylum-seekers in off-shore centres on the Pacific islands of Nauru and Manus to come to Australia for medical treatment, despite the governing party’s opposition. Doctors have long warned of inadequate medical facilities on the islands. The bill, which would give doctors more power to recommend medical transfers of refugees, passed in the House of Representatives by one vote after the Labour opposition and crossbench MPs agreed on last-minute amendments. It is expected to be passed by the upper Senate and to become law later this week. | | |
| Hungary urged to reverse course on refugee rights. Following a visit to Hungary last week, the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, Dunja Mijatović, said the country was facing “many interconnected human rights challenges”, including the systematic detention of asylum-seekers in transit zones at the border and the extreme difficulty of gaining refugee status due to new inadmissibility grounds introduced by legislation passed last year. In a statement on Monday, Mijatović called on Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government to “reverse its worrying course” on human rights. PRI reports on the experiences of refugees living in Hungary, where anti-immigration laws and government rhetoric have shaped public attitudes towards them. | | |
| Venezuelans’ precarious life in exile still better than return. US News reports from Peru, which has received 650,000 refugees and migrants from Venezuela, second only to the more than a million now living in Colombia. Around 1,000 a day arrive at Tumbes, on Peru’s northern border with Ecuador, where UNHCR is coordinating efforts to provide assistance. Unable to afford bus tickets, many have endured weeks-long journeys on foot or hitching rides. Although many of the Venezuelans say they feel welcome in Peru, authorities have been overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of new arrivals in recent months and have stopped issuing work permits. | | |
| Abdulfatah Sabouni’s family have been making and selling Aleppo soap for so long that his last name means soap maker in Arabic. Sabouni didn’t expect to be able to continue the family tradition after being resettled to Canada. But with help from the Calgary Immigrant Support Society, he opened an Aleppo Savon factory and shop in the city last January. He talked to the Globe and Mail about making a clean start. | | |
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