| EU to drop naval patrols from Operation Sophia mission. Maritime patrols will no longer form part of the European Union’s Operation Sophia mission in the Mediterranean following a tentative decision in Brussels on Tuesday aimed at resolving a dispute with Italy over where to disembark rescued refugees and migrants. The negotiations resulted in Sophia’s mandate, which was due to expire on Sunday, being renewed for another six months but with strengthened air patrols and closer coordination with Libya and without the two remaining navy ships that had been in service since Germany withdrew its frigate from the mission in January. Operation Sophia was launched in 2015 with the primary aim of deterring people smugglers, but it has also been involved in rescues at sea. | |
| Yemen sees spike in suspected cholera cases. Aid agencies are warning of an alarming increase in suspected cholera cases in Yemen. In a joint statement, UNICEF and the World Health Organization said nearly 190,000 cases of severe acute watery diarrhea and suspected cholera were reported between January and 17 March, resulting in 190 deaths. The agencies expressed fears that the number of suspected cases will continue to increase with the early arrival of the rainy season, the collapse of water and sewage disposal systems and the displacement of families by escalating violence in some areas. Separately, Save the Children reported that seven people were killed , including four children, when a missile hit a petrol station near the entrance of a rural hospital it supports in northern Yemen, on Tuesday. | | |
| In Jordan, refugee men find a place to laugh and cry together. Aid groups have tended to target their psychosocial support programmes and community activities to refugee women and children, but male refugees are also vulnerable, writes Marta Vidal for Refugees Deeply. Many of them suffer from anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder while financial difficulties can take a heavy toll. After women complained that their husbands were restless and depressed, the Collateral Repair Project started a weekly support group where refugee men can laugh and cry together while sharing their personal stories. Other NGOs in Jordan are also starting to offer activities and support for refugee men. | | |
| Traffickers guilty of crimes against humanity for treatment of Rohingya, say rights groups. A joint report released today by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia and Fortify Rights documents the abuses of Rohingya refugees at sea and in camps run by traffickers in Malaysia and Thailand between 2012 and 2015. In a press release, the rights groups said their multi-year investigation had found reasonable grounds to believe a human-trafficking syndicate responsible for deceiving Rohingya refugees to board ships bound for Thailand and Malaysia and then abusing them and enslaving them in remote camps along the Malaysia-Thailand border, had committed crimes against humanity. | | |
| Majority of immigration removals in UK cancelled. The Independent reports that more than half of forced removals from the UK last year were called off, often within a week or, in many cases, within a day of the scheduled removal. The most common reason for cancellation was because legal representations had been submitted. Commenting on the findings, immigration lawyers said the lack of legal advice available in detention centres was forcing people to make late submissions in response to removal proceedings. They described the high number of cancellations as a waste of public money that was also “very distressing” for those affected. | | |
| “There is a crisis, but not in Europe” says UN refugee chief. In this interview with the German web site, deutscheland.de, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi talks about the politicisation of Europe’s responses to refugees and migrants and how it has left the European Union unprepared to deal with another surge in arrivals. He argues that German Chancellor Angela Merkel made the right choice when she kept her country’s borders open to refugees in 2015, but that she was failed by the rest of Europe. | | |
| The ancient town of Perast in Montenegro is an idyllic spot for a hotel but finding locals to staff it is a constant challenge, according to the hotel’s manager, Simona Pulcinelli. Two years ago, she hired two Cuban refugees to do cleaning and maintenance work at the hotel. “I can say they help us, and we help them,” says Pulcinelli. “This is like a good exchange.” | | |
Two years ago, Yemen experienced the world’s largest cholera outbreak when more than one million suspected cases were reported.
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