The Refugee Brief, 24 September 2019
| | Four EU states seek to break deadlock on asylum policy. At a meeting in Malta on Monday, interior ministers from France, Germany, Italy and Malta agreed on a joint proposal for a "temporary emergency mechanism" to relocate asylum-seekers rescued in the Central Mediterranean and end the plight of people being stranded indefinitely on rescue boats. Details of the proposal have not been made public, but it will reportedly be presented to the EU's other interior ministers at a meeting in Luxembourg in October. The discussions came as 182 people aboard the Ocean Viking prepared to disembark in the Italian port of Messina this morning. |
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UN experts call for action to end "dehumanising" hate speech. An open letter by 30 independent UN experts published on Monday calls on States and social media companies to take action to curb the spread of hate speech inciting discrimination and xenophobia towards migrants and other minority groups. The letter expresses "grave concern" that political leaders and other prominent figures have "spread fear among the public against migrants or those seen as 'others', for their own political gain". The experts said they had been receiving an increasing number of reports about hate speech and incitement to hostility, discrimination and violence, and felt it was time to speak out. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly called for an end to "loathsome rhetoric" aimed at minorities, including refugees. In an op-ed published by The Guardian in June, he wrote that "each of us is an 'other' to someone, somewhere. There can be no illusion of safety when hate is widespread". |
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Rohingya man killed by suspected landmine near border. A Rohingya refugee was killed early on Monday in the Ghumdum area along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in a suspected landmine blast, the second such incident this month. According to Bangladeshi border officials, the victim was a man in his 20s from Kutupalong refugee settlement in Cox's Bazar. A Rohingya community leader, who lives in a small settlement of 4,000 people in a small strip of no-man's land on the border, told AFP the explosion took place near their makeshift homes. At the height of the mass exodus of Rohingya from Myanmar in August 2017, several people were killed or seriously hurt in suspected landmine explosions along the border. |
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Asylum-seekers in Cyprus abandon cities for villages. Al Jazeera reports that, faced with a shortage of affordable housing in Cypriot cities like Nicosia, increasing numbers of African asylum-seekers are moving to rural villages in the island's interior, where they have had a mixed reception. Cyprus has received more than 8,000 new applications for asylum so far this year, making it the highest per capita recipient of asylum-seekers in the European Union. With the country's reception system at capacity, asylum-seekers receive rental allowances to find their own accommodation, but NGOs told Al Jazeera that a lack of affordable housing is pushing them into squalor. The village of Palaichori has received around 50 asylum-seekers. While some locals have viewed the new arrivals with suspicion, others have helped them find housing and jobs. |
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UN chief announces formation of Syrian constitutional committee. A Syrian constitutional committee made up of government, opposition and civil society members has been agreed after almost two years of negotiations, the UN announced on Monday. Speaking to journalists in New York, UN Secretary General António Guterres said the 150-member committee would meet in Geneva "in the coming weeks". He added that its launch "can and must be the beginning of the political path out of the tragedy towards a solution… that meets the legitimate aspirations of all Syrians". |
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Why are more people fleeing home than ever before? The BBC's visual and data journalism team takes an in-depth look at some of the factors behind record levels of forced displacement, a figure that has doubled in the past 10 years, according to UNHCR figures. More than half of the world's displaced people flee within their own countries, often ending up in areas that are difficult for aid agencies to reach. The next largest group are refugees, most of whom flee across borders to neighbouring countries. Alongside conflict and violence, extreme weather events are increasingly responsible for forcing people from their homes. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of such events. |
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With some of the highest levels of violent crime in the world, El Salvador is a dangerous place for LGBTI people. Trans people are particularly at risk, and many have no choice but to flee their homes and communities. One person championing their rights is Bianka Rodríguez, president and executive director of a San Salvador-based NGO called Comcavis Trans. Last week she was chosen as the regional winner for the Americas of UNHCR's Nansen Refugee Award. |
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