Crises

Syria

Adversaries in Syria Trade Blame for Scores of Killings in Aleppo< (29 January 2013)

Scores of muddied and waterlogged gunshot victims, most of them men in their 20s and 30s, were found dead in a suburb of Syria’s contested northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday. Insurgents and the government accused one another of carrying out the killings in what appeared to be the latest civil war atrocity.

Syrian refugees describe horrors left behind <(29 January 2013)

“We think it’s going to get worse,” said the father, Ahmad al-Ahmad, a 42-year-old former sanitation worker. “Once I left, I had in mind that I would lose my place. I’m preparing to go back to nothing.”

OCHA operations director: Humanitarians must have access to make sure aid reaches Syrians in desperate need <(29 January 2013)

In these discussions, John Ging also reiterated the importance of the neutral role the UN plays in delivering aid in Syria. “Almost half the food assistance is delivered in disputed or Opposition-controlled areas. No funding is provided directly to the Syrian Government.” He also emphasized that with poor funding – only 50 per cent in 2012 – the quantity of aid was falling far short of the needs identified. Mr. Ging also noted that it is hoped that the upcoming Kuwait conference will deliver this urgently-needed funding so that aid operations can be scaled up quickly and significantly.

Switzerland pledges more aid for Syria <(29 January 2013)

Switzerland has raised its emergency aid budget by SFr10 million ($10.8 million) in response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Some four million Syrians need help inside the country and 700,000 more have fled to neighbouring countries.

UN seeks major humanitarian aid boost for ‘relentless’ Syrian crisis< (29 January 2013)

The urgency for a dramatic increase in international relief funds for Syria — seeking total pledges of $1.5 billion — will be the central message Wednesday in Kuwait from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other leaders such as Jordan’s King Abdullah II, whose nation is struggling with more than 320,000 refugees and more arriving every day.

Mali

Afraid and exhausted: Striking portraits of Mali’s refugees< (29 January 2013)

For example, Ina Toure, 52, left the northern Malian town of Gao nine months ago when Islamists took control of the area. Her family of 15 people now shares a two-room home in a Bamako suburb and struggles to pay their rent, which is about $50, the agency says.

Migration / Immigration

Fear-Mongering <(23 January 2013)

On January 16th Stewart Jackson, a conservative member of parliament, presented a bill calling for limits to be imposed on the immigration process for Romanian and Bulgarians coming to Britain. “We don’t want to make the same mistake that we made in 2004, which was to import a very large number of low-wage, low-skill workers and embed welfare dependency in our indigenous workforce,” he said. [...]

Surveys show that immigration is one of Britons’ biggest concerns. A report by British Future, a think-tank, has revealed that people worry more about immigration as a national than a local issue. Its State of the Nation poll found that 19% chose immigration as a top local worry while 30% placed immigration first when thinking about tensions facing British society as a whole. This suggests that immigration is more a problem of perception than of reality.

Obama Urges Speed on Immigration Plan, but Exposes Conflicts< (29 January 2013)

The president’s goal, the officials said, will be less to underline differences with the bipartisan plan than to marshal public support behind comprehensive immigration legislation. Mr. Obama, having failed to achieve that in his first term, has put it at the top of his agenda for his second.

Five things economists know about immigration< (29 January 2013)

1. It’s really good for immigrants

2. It’s very good for the economy as a whole

3. It increases innovation

4. The typical native-born worker probably benefits

5. Low-skilled immigrants probably don’t see any effect

'Migration Is Beautiful' Documentary Upends Negative Views About Immigrants And Illegal Immigration <(15 January 2013)

To tell the story of the battle over immigration in the United States in recent years, Rodriguez and her crew travel to Tucson, Arizona to watch Operation

Streamline in action, hop on the "No Papers No Fear Ride For Justice" and stop by the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Human Trafficking

Eliminating human trafficking from the global business landscape< (29 January 2013)

Ezeilo recommends that all global businesses commit themselves to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and become signatories to the UN Global Compact. Ezeilo also urges businesses to exercise due diligence and conduct a risk assessment for their entire production chain in order to eliminate risks of human trafficking in their operations.

Photocredit © UNHCR/ F.Noy / November 2012