Crises

Central African Republic (CAR)

UNHCR urges governments against forcible returns to Central African Republic< (UNHCR , 30 April 2013)

The UN refugee agency has advised governments worldwide against forcibly returning people to the Central African Republic (CAR). This is in light of the current fluid and dangerous situation in the country, including the wide prevalence of human rights violations and the grave and deteriorating humanitarian situation.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

DR of the Congo: In east of country, suffering such as rarely seen< (ICRC, 25 April 2013)

"The violence and suffering inflicted on people in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have reached a level rarely seen in two decades," declared Peter Maurer, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), at the end of a four-day visit to the country.

"Amid almost total indifference, people are enduring violent treatment every day. Civilians are directly targeted in attacks that do not even spare children or elderly people, and many people are subjected to sexual violence," said Mr Maurer in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.

Syria

45,865 Syrians return home from Jordan since July< (AFP, 29 April 2013)

More than 45,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their war-torn country from a northern Jordanian refugee camp over the past nine months, a Jordanian official said on Monday.

Colonel Zaher Abu Shehab, who runs the Zaatari refugee camp, said a total of 45,865 Syrian refugees "have agreed to voluntarily leave the camp and return home" since July 2012, Petra news agency reported.

Syria: Shooting the messenger: Journalists targeted by all sides in Syria <(Amnesty, 3 May 2013)

Syria has become the most dangerous country in the world for journalists since the eruption of popular protests in 2011 and the development since then of a bitter internal armed conflict. In the vicious battles for power, both the Syrian authorities and armed opposition groups have deliberately targeted journalists who are risking their lives to report on the conflict and expose abuses. This Amnesty International report documents human rights abuses committed against journalists and others involved in reporting the conflict. Urgent action is needed to ensure their safety.

How Will Obama Make His Case On Syria?< (NPR, 2 May 2013)

The U.S. role in the civil war in Syria has been limited to humanitarian aid and nonlethal equipment for the rebels. But that may change with recent revelations about the use of chemical weapons.

Polls show that Americans are still not paying close attention to the conflict, but there is a reluctance to intervene — a byproduct of the experience in Iraq.

President Obama says he's weighing all options. Whatever he decides, he'll have to make a case to the U.S. public.

Syrian refugees flee to relative safety of Gaza< (The Guardian, 30 April 2013)

Nine years before his birth, Omar Ouda's family fled from the Palestinian village of al-Majdal – now the Israeli city of Ashkelon – to Gaza as refugees from the 1948 war. Sixty-five years on, the Ouda family are refugees again, this time from the civil war raging in Syria. After an adult life spent in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria, Ouda is back where he started – in Gaza.

UN chief condemns terrorist attack on Syrian Prime Minister’s convoy <(UN News Centre, 29 April 2013)

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the terrorist attack earlier today in Damascus on the convoy of Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi that resulted in deaths and injuries.

In Syria, educating students a priority< (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, 30 April 2013)

Now in its third year, the conflict in Syria has had a severe impact on children’s social, psychological, and physical well-being. The dangers inherent in travelling in war-torn areas has have meant that thousands of youth are denied access to education.

Blurring the Borders: Syrian Spillover Risks for Turkey< (International Crisis Group, 30 April 2013)

Turkey has struggled to find the right response to the Syrian civil war, which has brought shellfire, bombs, militias, refugees, sectarian tensions and uncertainty to its southern border. It has so far generously welcomed at least 300,000 Syrians. But this number could triple this year and prove unsustainable, with Turkey and the international community slow to work together, the Syrian conflict in a stalemate and Syria turning into a failed state. The border province of Hatay – whose geography and population make it a microcosm of Syria in Turkey – epitomises the humanitarian and security challenges Ankara faces. But Hatay also shows how refugees can be safely looked after. Turkey should allow entry to destitute Syrians waiting to cross, and change its regulations so that it can better receive international funds and assistance. The international community in turn should be far more generous and engaged in support of the Turkish aid effort.

Syria, Chemical Weapons, And The Intervention Question< (Brookings, 29 April 2013)

In an interview with NPR’s On Point program, Shadi Hamid calls for American intervention in Syria on the basis of humanitarian grounds, as well as rising levels of anti-American sentiment and radicalization on the ground. Hamid says a lot of damage has already been done with regard to radicalization in Syria and that the country’s future is bleak. Despite this reality, Hamid concludes it remains important for the United States to intervene.

Aid agency calls for improved humanitarian access to Syria as needs escalate< (Oxfam International, 30 April 2013)

Refugee numbers in neighboring countries steadily climb

The world risks failing the people of Syria as the scale of suffering increases and the humanitarian fall-out from the crisis worsens by the day, warned aid agency Oxfam today.

Host communities running out of space< (Norwegian Refugee Council, 30 April 2013)

Small communities in Lebanon’s border regions are hosting thousands of Syrian refugees who continue to flood into the country in search of safety. As a consequence, guestrooms, unfinished houses and public buildings are rapidly filling up with asylum seekers, making it increasingly difficult to find space for all. NRC is supporting this need with shelter assistance that is benefitting refugees and Lebanese host communities alike.

Regaining dignity – Cash assistance to Syrian refugees in Jordan< (ECHO, 24 April 2013)

Every time I check UNHCR’s page where all the newest data, reports and statistics are gathered and updated around the clock, the number of refugees has risen. One of those numbers is Hiba whose children are confined to the tiny apartment, apart from when they go to Save the Children and (European Commission’s Department for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection) ECHO’s psychosocial support workshop. Reem’s name is also behind one of those numbers, waiting to be registered with UNHCR. She tells me she’s lost count of those she’s lost, among them her husband and cousins. There is Roqaya who lost her three sisters. And then there is Rahma.

UNHCR report says Syrian influx strains host country health services< (UNHCR, 26 April 2013)

A UN refugee agency report released on Friday warns that the Syria refugee crisis is increasingly straining health services in surrounding countries, while refugees are facing increasing difficulties in accessing the quality treatment they need – particularly those with chronic and other costly health conditions.

Syria blast kills 13 as Obama urges caution< (AFP, 30 April 2013)

A bombing in the heart of Damascus killed at least 13 people on Tuesday, as US President Barack Obama said he would not be rushed to act on allegations Syria was using chemical weapons.

The attack in Marjeh district came a day after Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Haqi survived a car bombing in an upscale neighbourhood of the capital.

U.N. faces ghost of Iraq in evaluating chemical weapons use in Syria< (The Washington Post, 1 May 2013)

A few days ago, a little-known Swedish scientist with a career devoted to studying lethal warfare agents paid a quiet visit to London. He was there to examine evidence that British officials believe shows that Syrian forces used chemical weapons against their own people.

Sudan

‘1,500’ Sudan refugees transferred to Chad camp< (Radio Dabanga, 1 May 2013)

Over 1,500 Sudanese nationals that sought refuge in Chad following inter-tribal conflicts in Central Darfur are currently being transferred to the Goz Amer camp in the east of the country, a sheikh said.

Last week UNHCR announced it was relocating 5,000 refugees from Tissi to Goz Amer –situated some 230 kilometers to the north- where the agency could “better provide them with protection and assistance".

Eritrean women face threat of abuse even after they leave: report< (Sudan Tribune, 28 April 2013)

Eritrean women fleeing their country’s oppressive regime are increasingly finding themselves the repeat victim of abuse, exploitation and violence once outside their homeland, a new report by a women’s rights group has found.

The report titled ‘Letters from Eritrea: Refugee Women Tell Their Stories’ was compiled by the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) and released earlier this month. It seeks to provide a backdrop as to why the women left, as well as their experiences leaving Eritrea and while living as refugees in their host countries.

Labour and Migration

EU considers trade action to improve Bangladesh labour standards< (The Guardian, 3 May 2013)

The EU is considering trade action against Bangladesh, which has preferential access to EU markets for its garments, to pressure the country to improve safety standards after a building collapse killed more than 400 factory workers.

When it comes to Somalia's displaced, don't mistake ambition for achievement< (The Guardian, 29 April 2013)

Somalia's new government is beginning to build confidence in its ability to progress the country's recovery. The UK opened its new embassy – a collection of shipping containers painted white – in Mogadishu last week, and other European countries are following suit. Somalia's progress raises an immediate question: is it now time for hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced people living in the region to return?

South Africa's flawed asylum system< (IRIN, 30 April 2013)

South Africa attracts the largest number of asylum seekers in the world, but grants refugee status to very few of them, ranking only thirty-sixth in the world for the size of its refugee population, which the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) puts at about 58,000.

More than 30,000 refugees and migrants make risky sea crossing to Yemen this year< (UNHCR, 26 April 2013)

The UN refugee agency announced on Friday that its staff in Yemen have recorded the arrival by sea from the Horn of Africa of more than 30,000 refugees and migrants since the start of the year. This compares to 33,634 arrivals over the same time period in 2012.

Refugee resettlement referral from Nepal reaches six-figure mark < (UNHCR, 26 April 2013)

The resettlement of refugees from Bhutan reached a major milestone this week, with 100,000 people having been referred for resettlement from Nepal to third countries since the programme began in 2007. Nearly 80,000 of them have started their new lives in eight different countries – an important step towards resolving one of the most protracted refugee situations in Asia.

Videos

Syria refugees film - 'Where the war still echoes' <(IRIN)

Selim and Leila were farmers in Dera'a, southwest Syria, until the day their village was shelled by government forces and they decided to leave the country. This entailed a terrifying nighttime journey on foot through government-held territory, escorted by the Free Syrian Army. To keep the children quiet and avoid detection, they gave them sleeping pills. Many of their relatives are still stuck in Syria.

Syria Emergency: Greece: A way into Europe< (UNHCR, 2 May 2013)

Desperate Syrian refugees take deadly risks to get to Europe.

Photos

Syria Emergency: From Paris With Love, Toys for Syrian Children< (UNHCR, 2 May 2013)

Every year, the Quai Branly Museum in Paris organizes a collection of toys from schoolchildren in Paris and, with a little help from UNHCR and other key partners, sends them to refugee children who have lost so much.

The beneficiaries this year were scores of Syrian children living in two camps in Turkey, one of the major host countries for the more than 1.4 million Syrians who have fled their country with or without their families. Most of these traumatized young people have lost their own belongings in the rubble of Syria.

Last week, staff from the museum, UNHCR and the Fédération des Associations d'Anciens du Scoutisme gathered up the toys and packed them into 60 boxes. They were then flown to Turkey by Aviation Sans Frontières (Aviation without Borders) and taken to the kindergarten and nursery schools in Nizip-1 and Nizip-2 camps near the city of Gaziantep.

A gift from more fortunate children in the French capital, the toys brought a ray of sunshine into the lives of some young Syrian refugees and reminded them that their peers in the outside world do care.

Mali Emergency: Relocation from the Border Country of Burkina Faso< (UNHCR, 1 May 2013)

The process of relocating refugees from one site to a safer one is full of challenges. In Burkina Faso, the UN refugee agency has been working with partner organizations and the government to move thousands of Malian refugee families away from border sites like Damba to a safer camp some 100 kilometres to the south. Working under hot and harsh conditions, the aid workers had to dismantle shelters and help people load their belongings onto trucks for the journey. The new site at Mentao is also much easier to access with emergency assistance, including shelter, food, health care and education. These images, taken by photographer Brian Sokol, follow the journey made by Agade Ag Mohammed, a 71-year-old nomad, and his family from Damba to Mentao in March. They fled their home in Gao province last year to escape the violence in Mali, including a massacre that left two of his sons, a brother and five nephews dead. As of mid-April 2013 there were more than 173,000 Malian refugees in neighbouring countries. Within the arid West African nation there are an estimated 260,000 internally displaced people.

Photocredit © UNHCR/F. Lejeune-Kaba

Photocredit © UNHCR/ A.Akad/ April 2013