Crisis

Syria

Number of Syrian refugees tops 1.5 million mark with many more expected <(UNHCR, 17 May 2013)

The UN refugee agency announced on Friday that the number of Syrian civilians who have fled their country to escape conflict has passed the 1.5 million mark. "The Syrian conflict continues to have a devastating impact on the lives of those who are forced to flee," added UNHCR spokesman Dan McNorton in Geneva.

US has seen Syria chemical weapons evidence, says Obama< (BBC, 16 May 2013)

President Barack Obama has said the US has seen evidence of chemical weapons being used in Syria.

However, speaking after meeting Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he insisted it was important to get more specific details about alleged chemical attacks.

Syria crisis: the EU responds to spiralling needs with more emergency humanitarian aid< (European Commission, 12 May 2013)

The European Commission is announcing today an additional €65 million in response to the rapidly growing scale of the humanitarian crisis resulting from the conflict in Syria. With more intense fighting in Syria and just three months after pledging € 100 million at the Kuwait donors' conference, the Commission is stepping up its effort to fund aid agencies because of the scale of the emergency.

94,000 dead in Syria conflict: NGO revised toll <(AFP, 14 May 2013)

More than 94,000 people have been killed in more than two years of conflict in Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a newly-revised toll on Tuesday.

The watchdog group said it revised the toll -- just two days after it announced a tally of 82,257 dead -- after receiving new information from regime-controlled Alawite areas of the Sunni-majority country.

Turkey looks for international aid, and countries to host refugees, in Syrian crisis< (The Washington Post, 16 May 2013)

Facing one of the world’s largest refugee crises in decades, Turkish officials are urgently appealing for international financial assistance and calling on wealthy nations, particularly the United States and the countries of Europe, to start accepting large numbers of Syrian refugees.

<

Sectarianism in Iraq stoked by Syrian war< (The Washington Post, 17 May 2013)

A recent tide of sectarian tensions that erupted into the worst violence seen in Iraq in five years is testing the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose ability to contain the crisis could hinge on a conflict raging beyond his control in Syria.

Democratic Republic of Congo

UNHCR Burundi inaugurates a new camp for Congolese refugees< (UNHCR, 15 May 2013)

Bujumbura - Congolese refugees fleeing eastern Democratic Republic of Congo will be hosted in a new refugee camp in Kavumu (Cankuzo province), inaugurated this Wednesday 15th of May 2013 by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). With a total capacity of 13,000 refugees the new camp is expected to accommodate 5,000 of them by the end of 2013.

Mali

United States Announces Additional Humanitarian Assistance to Mali< (U.S. Department of State, 16 May 2013)

On May 15, 2013, at the Mali Donors’ Conference in Brussels, USAID Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance Nancy Lindborg and Department of State Acting Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Don Yamamoto reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to Mali as the country returns to democracy, peace, and stability. Assistant Administrator Lindborg also announced that the United States is providing more than $32 million in additional humanitarian assistance to support Malians affected by the crisis.

Mali donor conference raises 3.25 bn euros< (AFP, 15 May 2013)

International donors pledged a much more than expected 3.2 billion euros in aid Wednesday to help Mali avoid the mistakes which allowed Islamist rebels to seize vast swathes of the troubled country.

The meeting, co-hosted by the European Union and France, Mali's former colonial ruler, had an initial target of two billion euros ($2.6 billion) to cover about half the cost of a 2013-14 economic and political reconstruction programme agreed in cooperation with the international community.

Ireland Announces €2.5 million Support for Mali Humanitarian Crisis< (Government of Ireland, 15 May 2013)

The Minister for Trade and Development, Joe Costello TD, will today pledge an additional €2.5 million from the Government in support of the humanitarian and recovery effort in Mali.

The Minister is attending a major international Donor Conference on Mali in Brussels today, May 15. The Conference, which is jointly hosted by the EU and the French Government, will be attended by representatives of more than 80 countries and international organisations to mobilise international funding for Mali.

Myanmar

After decades in camps, Myanmar refugees facing the unknown as repatriation looms< (The Washington Post, 12 May 2013)

Since the day she was born, 20-year-old Naw Lawnadoo has known almost nothing of the world beyond the fence and guard posts that hem her in with 45,000 others — ethnic minorities from Myanmar and those like her who were born and raised in the Mae La refugee camp in neighboring Thailand.

Myanmar relocates thousands of displaced people ahead of Cyclone Mahasen< (UNHCR, 16 May 2013)

As Cyclone Mahasen approaches the coasts of Myanmar and Bangladesh, more than 35,000 internally displaced people in Myanmar's Rakhine state have been moved to safer locations under a government evacuation plan. Many more have moved spontaneously into local communities to avoid the brunt of the storm, which is expected to hit land on Thursday night.

South Sudan

South Sudan establishes commission for refugee affairs< (Sudan Tribune, 12 May 2013)

The Republic of South Sudan has established a Commission for Refugee Affairs (CRA) as hundreds of thousands of refugees have entered the new republic from the neighbouring countries.

Seeking Asylum<

EU urges Greece to respect refugees' right to asylum< (AFP, 14 May 2013)

The European Union on Tuesday called on Greece to review its asylum policies, especially for Syrians fleeing "atrocities" in their country.

European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmstroem told a news conference after talks with Greek leaders that the number of people gaining asylum in Greece "continues to be very low, and I am particularly worried about this situation, especially about the Syrians.

Cape Town's asylum seekers struggle to get documented< (IRIN, 16 May 2013)

When Jean Baptiste*, a medical student from Lubumbashi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), arrived in South Africa in September 2012, he headed straight for Cape Town, where he knew he would be able to stay with his brother. No one at the border told him that it was no longer possible to apply for asylum in Cape Town.

Aid and Development

Minds traumatised by disaster heal themselves without therapy< (The Guardian, 12 May 2013)

Aid agencies that promote one-off counselling sessions after major traumas only prolong victims' suffering

One of the largest earthquakes ever recorded hit on Boxing Day 2004. The resulting tsunami devastated huge swaths of the Indian Ocean coastline and left an estimated quarter of a million people dead across Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. Aid agencies quickly arrived to help battered and traumatised survivors.

INTERVIEW-Syria, Somalia are toughest places for aid workers – MSF< (Reuters, 13 May 2013)

Syria, Somalia, Afghanistan, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo are the toughest places for aid workers, who not only struggle to reach vulnerable people due to conflict, but are also killed for being seen to help opposing groups, the head of medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said.

Let's tackle inequality head on for development after the MDGs< (The Guardian, 15 May 2013)

In UN corridors you'll often hear frustrated diplomats whispering that the amount of process around an issue is inversely correlated to the likelihood of achieving anything on it.

The process of replacing the UN's millennium development goals (MDGs) will certainly be a long one: it doesn't end until September 2015. But despite the huge bureaucracy surrounding it, we don't have to accept an outcome based on the lowest common denominator.

Bangladesh's garment workers face exploitation, but is it slavery? <(The Guardian, 16 May 2013)

It has taken a tragedy on the scale of the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh to finally strip away any remaining illusions that cheap clothes don't come with a serious human rights price-tag somewhere down the line.

"We've Returned to the Golden Calf" – Francis on Money<(Whispers in the Loggia, 16 May 2013)

Earlier today, the Pope received a group of four new ambassadors to the Holy See for the presentation of their credentials.

Per custom for the pontiffs, Francis gave an address on issues of geopolitical concern. Yet while his predecessors would tailor their remarks to issues in the home-countries of the diplomat(s) being welcomed, the new Pope targeted what's long been one of his key focus-areas – the poor, and their treatment in the economic system.

Video

Asylum: Fixing a broken system< (Euronews, 8 May 2013)

Last year, 330,000 people sought asylum in Europe. Thousands arrived in Greece, however only 152 were able to apply for asylum. Of these, just two were granted refugee status. Currently, an asylum-seeker’s chance of success depends on where they apply because each EU member state assesses asylum requests differently

Greece: Syrian Refugees Struggle< (UNHCR, 17 May 2013)

As Syrian refugees escape conflict and seek refuge in Greece, they face major new challenges.

Photos

Erbil's Children: Syrian Refugees in Urban Iraq <(UNHCR, 16 May 2013)

Some of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees are children who have sought shelter in urban areas with their families. Unlike those in camps, refugees living in towns and cities in countries like Iraq, Turkey and Jordan often find it difficult to gain access to aid and protection. In a refugee camp, it is easier for humanitarian aid organizations such as UNHCR to provide shelter and regular assistance, including food, health care and education. Finding refugees in urban areas, let alone helping them, is no easy task.

In Iraq, about 100,000 of the 143,000 Syrian refugees are believed to be living in urban areas - some 40 per cent of them are children aged under 18 years. The following photographs, taken in the northern city of Erbil by Brian Sokol, give a glimpse into the lives of some of these young urban refugees. They show the harshness of daily life as well as the resilience, adaptability and spirit of young people whose lives have been overturned in the past two years.

Life is difficult in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The cost of living is high and it is difficult to find work. The refugees must also spend a large part of their limited resources on rent. UNHCR and its partners, including the Kurdish Regional Government, struggle to help the needy.

Photocredit © UNHCR/E.Dorfman
Photocredit © UNHCR/ E. Byun/ April 2013