| By Kate Bond | 26 February, 2019 | | UN seeks funds to save millions in Yemen from "horrific" plight. At a conference in Geneva, Switzerland, UN agencies are appealing for $US4.2billion to scale up the relief effort in Yemen, where years of war have spawned the world’s worst humanitarian emergency. It is the largest UN humanitarian appeal for a single country. The UN estimates that 7.4 million Yemenis need help to treat or prevent malnutrition and more than 20 million people are food insecure, including nearly 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger. In a blog published yesterday , a UNHCR worker in Aden described some of the horrors she has witnessed since she began working in the country. Separately, Oxfam has warned that the crisis is forcing families to take desperate measures to survive, including marrying off children as young as three. | |
| Pakistan allows Afghan refugees to open bank accounts. UNHCR has welcomed the decision made by Pakistan’s prime minister to allow Afghan refugees to open bank accounts . “I commend Prime Minister Imran Khan, the government and the people of Pakistan for taking this important step in support of Afghan refugees – a forward-looking, generous gesture of solidarity of global significance,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. The decision will enable hundreds of thousands of refugees to formally contribute and boost the local economy . “This is a bold demonstration of humanitarian leadership in a world that is not inclusive,” said Indrika Rawatte, who directs UNHCR’s Bureau for Asia and the Pacific. | | |
| Denmark announces extension of refugee apprenticeship programme. The Danish government and private-sector representatives have agreed to extend a scheme in which refugees are offered apprenticeships and skills development courses. The scheme, which was introduced in 2016, aims to help refugees to access the Danish labour market. | | |
| Germany's east 10 times more unsafe for asylum-seekers.’ According to a study by the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, asylum-seekers in eastern Germany are 10 times more likely to be hate crime victims as those who live in the west. The study looked at 1,155 incidents that took place between 2013 and 2015. | | |
| Government of Zambia appeals for funding to support refugees. As the number of refugees fleeing into Zambia grows, the government has appealed for increased funding from aid agencies and donor countries in 2019. Each month an average of 700 people flee to Zambia from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Somalia and other countries. | | |
| UNHCR highlights plight of asylum-seekers in Cyprus. According to UNHCR, asylum-seekers in Cyprus are living in poor conditions, without shelter or protection from the cold. “Some are sleeping in parks, others may sleep in absolutely inappropriate accommodation, whilst being stacked one on top of the other,” said a spokesperson for the agency. Many are thought to be homeless. | | |
| In Jinwar, north-eastern Syria, a pioneering group of Yazidi women who fled violence are rebuilding their lives in a female-only commune. | | |
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