| Syria opens “humanitarian corridor” for civilians to leave Idlib. Syria’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that it had opened a corridor for people to leave opposition-held territory in southern Idlib and northern Hama where an army offensive has gained ground in recent days. According to a statement carried by the state news agency SANA, the corridor was opened in the village of Soran on the southern-edge of the opposition-held area. It said those who used it would receive food, shelter and healthcare. The UN World Food Programme said on Thursday that the situation in the region was “deteriorating rapidly” and that “extreme levels of violence” were spurring new waves of displacement with more than 72,000 people having fled towards northern Idlib so far in August. More than half a million displacements have been recorded since the start of the offensive at the end of April. WFP said efforts were underway to expand camps in northern Idlib while many families were sheltering out in the open with no access to basic services. | |
| Two years on, what future for the Rohingya? Two years ago this Sunday, the first of more than 700,000 Rohingya began fleeing to Bangladesh to escape a violent military crackdown in Myanmar. Several NGOs and media outlets report that, two years on, the lives of Rohingya refugees remain on hold. The New York Times reports that repeated efforts by the Bangladesh and Myanmar governments to begin repatriating the refugees to Myanmar have failed, most recently on Thursday, because no refugees have agreed to go, despite the grim conditions in the overcrowded settlements where they are living. Many of the Rohingya who arrived in Bangladesh two years ago have switched from worrying about their everyday survival to longer-term concerns about accessing education, security and better healthcare, according to Al Jazeera. The New Humanitarian marks two years of the crisis with time-lapse satellite imagery showing the growth of the Kutupalong refugee settlements in Bangladesh, what’s become of former Rohingya villages in Myanmar, and the Bangladesh government’s controversial construction of refugee housing on an island in the Bay of Bengal. | | |
| Thousands of Congolese refugees head home from Angola. UNHCR reports that since Sunday, some 8,500 refugees have left a settlement in Angola’s Lunda Norte province and headed for the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo with the aim of returning home to the DRC’s Kasai region. More than a thousand of the refugees have already crossed the border in an apparent response to recent reports by visiting DRC officials of improved security in their home areas. The Angolan government has provided transport to those on the move, but others left on foot and have been camping along the side of the road. UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic said the agency had placed staff along the route to provide help and information and is working with local authorities in the DRC to determine what assistance is needed for the returnees. | | |
| Three-quarters of refugees on Manus and Nauru seriously ill, say doctors. In a submission to a parliamentary inquiry, the doctors said at least three quarters of refugees and asylum-seekers living on Manus Island and Nauru have a serious physical health condition . Their analysis was based on an audit of the refugees’ medical files over the past six years. The doctors, who are responsible for assessing medical transfer applications under a law which the Australian government is seeking to repeal, concluded that at least 96 per cent of 581 refugees and asylum-seekers who had applied for a medical transfer had a serious physical ailment. | | |
| Slovenia to extend border fence amid rise in crossings. Slovenia has begun work on an additional 40 kilometres of wire fencing along its southern border with Croatia to prevent people from entering the country irregularly, according to Reuters. The move came after Slovenian police registered 7,415 arrivals of undocumented migrants in the first seven months of this year, a 56 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2018. Once completed, the total length of fence will cover almost a third of the Slovenian border with Croatia. Reuters reports that most of those crossing the border come from Pakistan, Algeria, Afghanistan and Morocco and that only a fraction seek asylum in Slovenia, with most continuing on to neighbouring Italy and Austria. | | |
| Gender discrimination in nationality laws causing childhood statelessness, finds new report. Twenty-five countries still have nationality laws that deny women the right to pass their nationality to their children on an equal basis with men, while three countries also have laws that prevent men passing nationality to their children born outside of legal marriage. A report released this week by UNHCR, UNICEF and the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights finds that gender discrimination in nationality laws is a root cause of childhood statelessness and calls for urgent action to reform such laws. In this video, nine-year-old Rama from Lebanon, talks about how being stateless affects her and her dreams for the future. | | |
| A farming project for Yazidi refugees resettled to Manitoba, Canada, has grown ten-fold over the past year and offers the prospect of financial independence for the more than 30 families tending the land. CBC News reports that the donated land produced 9,000 kilogrammes of produce this season – enough to help feed the refugees’ families and sell at local farmers’ markets. Many of the refugees were farmers in Iraq, making the project a natural fit for them. | | |
Kutupalong refugee settlement in Bangladesh is home to more than 630,000 Rohingya refugees and covers an area of 13 square kilometres, making it the largest refugee settlement in the world.
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