Crises

Central African Republic

Humanitarian situation in Central African Republic deteriorates further, UN warns< (UN News Centre, 11 April 2013)

The humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) continues to deteriorate, with massive unrest and large-scale displacement across the country nearly three weeks after armed rebels seized power, the United Nations reported today.

Central African Republic: UN envoy briefs on ‘highly volatile’ situation< (UN News Centre, 9 April 2013)

More than two weeks after armed rebels seized power, the political and security situation in the Central African Republic continues to be “highly volatile,” a United Nations envoy said today, stressing the need to restore the rule of law in the country.

“The return to legality is extremely critical,” the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA) Margaret Vogt told reporters in New York via teleconference after briefing the Security Council.

Number of refugees from Central African Republic approaches 40,000 mark< (UNHCR, 5 April 2013)

The UN refugee agency on Friday reported that the number of civilians fleeing instability in Central African Republican has risen to almost 40,000 and people continue to cross borders and seek shelter in neighbouring countries.

Health concerns for thousands of refugees from Central African Republic in makeshift camps< (IFRC, 5 April 2013)

They come as families, unaccompanied children, pregnant women and the elderly, all searching for security that, for the moment, they fear they cannot find in their own country.

They are settling on the banks of the Ubangui river in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a short boat ride from their homes in Central African Republic (CAR). Or they are moving in with host families, which are already stretched for resources. When asked how they are managing to support extra people when it is already a struggle to provide for their own, the response from host families is simply: “On est ensemble” – “We are together.”

Democratic Republic of Congo

DR Congo rebels warn will retaliate if attacked by UN troops< (Agence France-Presse, 12 April 2013)

The M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday warned that they would retaliate if attacked by a peacekeeping brigade that the United Nations has recently approved to deploy to the country's restive northeast to disarm insurgents.

Mali

EU pledges 50 million euros to African Mali force< (Agence France-Presse, 9 April 2013)

The European Union on Tuesday pledged 50 million euros ($65 million) in support for the African force tasked with helping fight Islamist rebels in Mali.

The international community in January promised to provide $455 million dollars to support the force, known as the International Support Mission to Mali (AFISMA).

Host families feel the pressure of coping with mass migration< (IFRC, 9 April 2013)

Since conflict erupted in northern Mali a year ago, the Mopti region has hosted more than 40,000 people who have fled their homes in search of safety. A camp was established in Sévaré, however, only 600 people have chosen to settle there. According to UNHCR, 90 per cent of people fleeing the violence, more than 270,000, prefer to live with host families scattered across many regions and districts.

Sudan

Recent tribal clashes in Darfur displace 50,000 into Chad< (UNHCR, 12 April 2013)

In southeastern Chad, UNHCR staff are reporting the arrival of some 50,000 refugees from southwestern Darfur during the last one week. Refugees are fleeing fresh tribal clashes in the Sudanese town of Um Dukhun. In last two months, clashes have now displaced over 74,000 people into Chad including Sudanese and Chadians - who lived as refugees in the conflict zone.

Darfur and Sudan: visionary approach needed – and Qatar can help <(The Guardian, 5 April 2013)

The crisis in Darfur is now a decade old, yet fighting continues. More people were displaced by a surge of violence in January than in the whole of 2012. Over half the population (3.5 million Darfuris) still receives food aid – about the same amount as five years ago when the Darfur crisis was said to be at its height. Even more telling of the suffering of civilians, 1.4 million of those receiving food aid are still living in "temporary" camps.

Syria

UNHCR fears for safety of growing number of returning Syrian refugees <(UNHCR, 12 April 2013)

The UN refugee agency reported on Friday that an increasing number of Syrian refugees have been opting to return home from Jordan since the start of April despite continuing conflict.

Syria: Aerial Attacks Strike Civilians< (Human Rights Watch, 10 April 2013)

The Syrian Air Force has repeatedly carried out indiscriminate, and in some cases deliberate, air strikes against civilians. These attacks are serious violations of international humanitarian law (the laws of war), and people who commit such violations with criminal intent are responsible for war crimes.

Japan provides $1.5 million to assist Syrian refugee children in Iraq< (UNICEF, 10 April 2013)

Safe water, adequate sanitation and health services to be provided with funds

The Government of Japan has contributed $1.5 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) emergency response to Syrian refugee children and women in Iraq.

Funding gap threatens refugee response in Lebanon <(UNHCR, 10 April 2013)

The UN refugee agency and its UN and NGO partner organizations have warned that basic programmes and humanitarian assistance for Syrian refugees in Lebanon are being cut because of a lack of funding.

As more Syrians flee civil war, Jordan opens second camp for Syrian refugees with UAE funds <(The Washington Post, 10 April 2013)

Struggling to cope with the influx of Syrian refugees, Jordan on Wednesday opened a second camp for Syrians fleeing the civil war at home.

The kingdom has sheltered nearly half a million refugees who escaped the two-year conflict but officials fear that the number of Syrians could double in the next six months as the fighting escalates as the weather becomes warmer.

In Syria's Aleppo, children adapt to war life< (Agence France-Presse, 9 April 2013)

"Goal! Goal!" children scream, kicking a football around like children everywhere. But in war-ravaged Aleppo, their playground is a strip of no-man's land near buildings on the front line.

In the courtyard of a school destroyed by bombing, they kick around without any apparent regard for the clatter of bullets fired by snipers from the Syrian regime and rebel sides.

Turkey building refugee camps for Syrian Christians, Kurds< (Reuters, 10 April 2013)

Turkey is building two camps along its far southeastern border with Syria to house a growing number of refugees from Syrian minority groups, mainly Assyrian Christians as well as ethnic Kurds, a government official said on Wednesday.

Iraqi refugees in Syria feel new strains of war< (The Washington Post, 10 April 2013)

As the conflict in Syria has raged over the past two years, the sectarian bloodletting, the car bombs and the rise of religious extremists have been all too familiar to one group of people in the country: Iraqi refugees.

Jordan appeals for aid to cope with 'one million' Syrians< (Agence France-Presse, 9 April 2013)

Jordan's health minister made an "urgent appeal" on Tuesday for around $355 million to provide medical care for hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who have sought safety in the kingdom.

Mjalli Mheilan told state-run Petra news agency that the total number of Syrians in Jordan had now reached one million, a sharp rise on the previous figure of more than 475,000 given by Jordanian authorities.

Ban appeals to Syrian Government to allow chemical weapons probe to proceed< (UN News Centre, 9 April 2013)

Noting the Syrian Government’s reported rejection of his proposals on arrangements for a United Nations probe of the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today appealed the authorities to extend their fullest cooperation and allow the investigation to proceed.

UN agencies face 'impossible' choices on Syria aid< (Agence France-Presse, 9 April 2013)

UN agencies helping to care for the millions driven from their homes in Syria by two years of conflict warned on Tuesday that they face "impossible" choices as funding fails to meet soaring needs.

"Agencies including UN and NGOs are forced into the impossible situation of having to prioritise equally compelling programmes," Lebanon representative for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ninette Kelley said in a statement.

Canadian Leadership in Addressing Syrian Crisis <(Government of Canada, 7 April 2013)

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today announced that Canada is providing real leadership to help address the effects of raging crisis in Syria. Canada is extending credit of up to $2 million to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The Canadian contribution will make possible the investigation announced recently by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon into alleged chemical weapons use in Syria.

Gender Based Violence

UK announces additional funding to address conflict sexual violence< (Gov UK, 11 April 2013)

During the G8 Foreign Minister’s meeting today at Lancaster House the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, announced an additional £5 million, from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Justine Greening announced £5 million from the Department for International Development, to support UK efforts to tackle sexual violence in conflict and violence against women and girls (VAWG).

Children make up majority of victims of sexual violence in many of world’s conflict and post-conflict zones, Save the Children warns, ahead of G8 meeting< (Save the Children, 9 April 2013)

In its new report Unspeakable Crimes Against Children, the charity has collated figures and testimonies from a range of countries affected by conflict over the past decade, including Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Colombia.

Reliable data on the issue is limited, as much sexual abuse goes unreported, but taken together, the figures collated in the report indicate that children frequently make up the majority of sexual abuse victims in war and its aftermath.

Immigration

UNHCR hails move by United Kingdom to end legal limbo for stateless people< (UNHCR, 9 April 2013)

The UN refugee agency on Tuesday welcomed a new stateless determination procedure that has just come into effect in the United Kingdom and said it was a "landmark step."

Romanian and Bulgarian immigrant impact 'modest' <(BBC, 5 April 2013)

Romanian and Bulgarian migration to the UK will hit schools but have a lesser impact on housing, a report has said.

However, it remains uncertain how many people will come to the UK when restrictions are lifted at the end of the year, said the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

Podcast

Will EU migrants strain UK services? < (BBC, 5 April 2013)

Fears that an influx of Romanians and Bulgarians to Britain will put a strain on public services have been downplayed in an independent report, published by the Foreign Office.

Photos

Aftermath of mass rape in Congo - in pictures< (The Guardian, 11 April 2013)

Last November, hundreds of women and children were raped in Minova, on the shores of Lake Kivu, by soldiers from the Congolese national army. As the G8 debates ways to prevent sexual violence in the DRC, photographer Fiona Lloyd-Davies gained unprecedented access to the town

Photocredit © Photocredit © UNHCR / Jared J. Kohler / March 2013