Crises

Conflicts in Syria, Mali pose unprecedented threats to children – UN report <(UN News Cenre, 12 June 2013)

Despite progress to protect children living in war-affected countries, the evolving character and tactics of conflict are creating unprecedented threats for children, particularly in Syria, Mali and the Central African Republic, a top United Nations envoy today said.

Briefing reporters in New York on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report on children and armed conflict, his Special Representative on the issue, Leila Zerrougui, said: “In 2012, we have seen positive developments in some areas of the world, but also extremely worrying situations in places such as Syria, Mali and Central African Republic.”

South Sudan

Fighting in South Sudan's Jonglei state displaces tens of thousands <(UNHCR, 1 June 2013)

The UN refugee agency said on Tuesday it was alarmed by fighting between government forces and armed troops in South Sudan's Jonglei state, which has displaced tens of thousands of people since erupting in March.

Syria

Confirmed death toll in Syrian conflict nearly 93,000, says UN< (The Guardian, 13 June 2013)

Syria's conflict has now claimed nearly 93,000 lives, the UN human rights commission has said, but it warned that the true deathtoll after 27 months of violence is likely to be even higher.

The figure of 92,901 was reached at the end of April, with an average of over 5,000 people being killed every month since July last year. Other killings, however, may be undocumented.

Thousands of children killed in Syria, UN study says< (BBC, 13 June 2013)

Thousands of children have been killed in the Syria uprising since March 2011, according to a new global UN report on children and armed conflict.

Calling the toll "unbearable", the study said government forces and rebels were using boys and girls as "suicide bombers or human shields".

In total the study covered 21 countries where children are victims of violence.

UN in talks with governments to temporarily resettle thousands of Syrian refugees <(The Washington Post, 11 June 2013)

The U.N. refugee agency says it’s in talks for the U.S., Germany and several other European countries to take in thousands of Syrian refugees.

Agency spokesman Adrian Edwards says U.N. and government officials are discussing the temporary resettlement of about 10,000 of the 1.6 million registered refugees from Syria’s civil war.

U.N. talks to Germany about resettling 10,000 Syrian refugees <(Reuters, 11 June 2013)

The United Nations refugee agency is talking to Germany about resettling up to 10,000 Syrian refugees, UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said on Tuesday.

UNHCR was also working with other European governments to find ways to resettle some of the 1.6 million Syrians who have fled the country, a number the United Nations expects to reach 3.45 million by the end of 2013, Edwards said.

Modern-day Slavery

Ten million child labourers in domestic work< (ILO, 12 June 2013)

An estimated 10.5 million children worldwide – most of them under age – are working as domestic workers in people’s homes, in hazardous and sometimes slavery-like conditions, says the ILO.

Six and a half million of these child labourers are aged between five and 14 years-old. More than 71 per cent are girls.

Pope appeals for an end to child labour< (Vatican today, 12 June 2013)

Today the World Day Against Child Labour is being celebrated all over the world, with a reference in particular to the Exploitation of Children in domestic work: Listen, it is a deplorable phenomenon which is constantly increasing, especially in poor countries. There are millions of children, mostly girls, who are victims of this hidden form of exploitation that often involves abuse, mistreatment and discrimination. This is a real form of slavery.

Pope leads Catholics in first worldwide 'Holy Hour'< (Reuters, 2 June 2013)

Pope Francis led Roman Catholics on Sunday in the first worldwide "Holy Hour," in which participants prayed at the same time around the globe for those suffering from war, slave labor, human trafficking and the economic crisis.

Immigration

UNHCR and faith-based NGOs to unveil declaration on protecting the forcibly displaced< (UNHCR, 12 June 2013)

The UN refugee agency and representatives of 25 faith-based Non-Governmental Organizations will today unveil a landmark declaration aimed at strengthening protection for the world's more than 40 million refugees, internally displaced, and stateless people.

UNHCR Office in Greece: concern for reported abduction of Turkish citizen in Greece< (UNHCR, 4 June 2013)

UNHCR expresses serious concern about the reports of abduction and forcible return from Greece to Turkey of a Turkish citizen.

According to witnesses, on Thursday evening (30 May 2013), a Turkish national was forced to enter a vehicle in central Athens. Despite efforts by organizations and agencies to locate him, as well as relevant queries to the competent authorities (including one submitted by UNHCR), his whereabouts remained unknown until Saturday noon (1 June 2013), when the organizations and agencies in Greece were informed by people close to him that he was kept in police custody in Istanbul.

It's a mistake to separate faith from development< (The Guardian, 7 June 2013)

Religious groups the world over have been trying to improve the welfare of poor communities long before such work became a branch of international development. However, with the ascent of secular enlightened thinkers and later Marxist doctrine, faith-based organisations have been viewed with scepticism because of the religious elements they employ when dealing with the poorer segments of society. Marx famously described religion as "the opium of the masses", and many regarded religion as a tool that the elites used to oppress and control the less educated.

Immigration policy tearing families apart, report shows <(The Guardian, 10 June 2013)

A cross-party group of MPs has called for an urgent review of new immigration rules, which they claim are tearing hundreds of British families apart.

Their inquiry report shows that a new minimum earnings rule of £18,600 a year, which came into effect last July, has meant that thousands of British citizens, including people with full-time jobs, have been unable to bring a non-European husband, wife or partner to live with them in Britain.

A Quick Catch-Up on Immigration Efforts< (VIDEO: NYT, 7 June 2013)

A brief tale of the journey made by the immigration bill that is set to hit the Senate floor this month.

Seeking Asylum<

EU puts common asylum system in place< (ECHO, 12 June 2013)

The Common European Asylum System was endorsed by the European Parliament on Wednesday, giving the green light for the system to be implemented in all EU Member States. The aim of the common system is to ensure fair and humane treatment of asylum seekers in Europe, wherever they arrive.

"Getting the Common European Asylum System in place is an historic achievement... We have travelled a tough road to get here", EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said in a comment.

Children seeking asylum should 'be better cared for' by the state< (The Guardian, 12 June 2013)

Hundreds of children who travel by themselves to Britain seeking asylum every year should be better cared for by the state, a parliamentary human rights committee has concluded, noting that currently the state does not always have their best interests at heart.

The report by the joint committee on human rights (JCHR) warns that the system designed to identify which children have been trafficked into the UK is flawed, and as a result many children who have been brought here by traffickers, usually to work or for sexual exploitation, are not helped. As a result, the system is failing to prevent child victims of trafficking from endingup in the criminal justice system, accused of committing a crime.

Swiss back tighter asylum rules< (BBC, 9 June 2013)

Swiss voters have overwhelmingly backed a controversial move to tighten asylum restrictions amid a spike in the number of refugees in the country.

Almost 80% of voters approved changes made to the asylum law last September, final results of a referendum said.

 Photo credit: © UNHCR / Shawn Baldwin / May 2013