GENEVA, 26 March 2013 (ICMC) – In an unprecedented move by a non-neighbouring nation since the beginning of the uprising more than two years ago, Germany last week agreed to take in some 5,000 refugees fleeing ongoing violence in Syria.
Germany hopes its European Union partners will soon join it in sharing the responsibility for the humanitarian crisis that is severely affecting Syria’s neighbouring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey and that has already cost over 70,000 lives.Read more<
The massacre in Syria rages on and yet we stand idle. We must realise that, to millions of Syrians trapped in the country, the virtual absence of humanitarian relief is nearly as arbitrary and cruel as the war itself.
Bombs, even ballistic missiles, are tearing homes apart and more than 70,000 people have been killed. Weapons, not blankets, are pouring into the country. The BBC asks a child if he misses playing with his friends and he replies, "they are all dead." God is weeping.Read more<
50 people are estimated to have been killed and over 150 injured in a dozen bombings throughout Baghdad on the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. At least 10 car bombs were set off in a coordinated campaign which targeted busy areas in predominantly Shiite neighborhoods including a market, bus stops, and the Green Zone, which houses government offices and foreign embassies. Additionally, a suicide bomber attacked a police base in a Shiite town south of Baghdad and three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were set off in the northern region of Kirkuk. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the Islamic State of Iraq, the Iraqi wing of al Qaeda, has carried out similar bombings before and has vowed to increase attacks on Shiite targets in attempts to undermine the government of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Violence peaked in Iraq between 2006 and 2007, but sectarian tensions and the political crisis have worsened since U.S. troops departed in December 2011. In addition to continued violence, economic conditions are deteriorating and an influx of Syrian refugees into the country has only increased concerns.Read more<
GENEVA, 19 March 2013 (ICMC) - As one out of every 33rd person in the world today is a migrant – more than any other time in history – the United Nations Secretariat this month displays art work portraying the stages of hope and suffering that migrants undergo on their journey to a new life.
Titled Via Crucis del Migrante, the exhibition by Ecuadorian Sigifredo Camacho’s, held at Geneva’s Palais des Nations during the 22nd session of Human Rights Council, aims to bring attention to the suffering that comes with human mobility. Organized with support from the International Catholic Migration Commission, the exhibit runs from 4 to 22 March 2013.Read more<
Thirty-seven refugees fleeing violence in Syria have arrived in Switzerland as part of a United Nations resettlement programme. This is the second such group to be given special protection in Switzerland.
The seven families – six of Iraqi and one of Palestinian origin – including ten women and 14 children, had fled armed violence in Iraq between 2007-2010 to seek refuge in Syria.Read more<
BEIRUT, Lebanon — A Sunni militant jihadist group in Iraq claimed responsibility on Monday for killing dozens of Syrian soldiers who had sought temporary safety on the Iraqi side of the border last week, boasting about the massacre in an Internet posting that used demeaning references to Shiites and President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite sect.
The message from the group, the Islamic State of Iraq, which is affiliated with Al Qaeda, reflected the hardened sectarian animus spreading from the Syrian conflict, in which insurgents from the Sunni majority are battling to topple Mr. Assad and his Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. The conflict, now two years old, has increasingly become a proxy for a Sunni versus Shiite struggle in the Middle East.Read more<
The UN refugee agency, citing data received from UNHCR's offices in the Syria region, on Wednesday announced that the number of Syrians either registered as refugees or being assisted as such has reached the 1 million mark.Read more<
MAFRAQ, Jordan — The spread of makeshift aluminum shelters erected by Syrians now outpaces new rows of U.N. canvas tents here in chilly northern Jordan, home to one of the world’s fastest-growing refugee camps. A vast black-market bazaar has sprouted from the desert sand, where enterprising refugees hawk bottled water and other basic necessities that most fellow camp residents can’t afford.Read more<
GENEVA, 4 March 2013 (ICMC) – Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban from South Sudan was named winner of a United Nations peace prize this year in recognition of his efforts to build trust among warring communities in the conflict-torn region.
Bishop Emeritus Taban last week received the 2013 prize from UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon for his work at the Holy Trinity Peace Village in Kuron, in the east of South Sudan. Created in 2005, the village brings together people from different tribes and faiths who have been in conflict for years.Read more<
This Regional Analysis of the Syria Conflict (RAS) is an update of the January RAS. The RAS seeks to bring together information from all sources in the region and provide a coherent analysis of the overall situation in the region as well as in each of the affected countries. While Part I focuses on the situation within Syria, Part II covers the impact of the crisis on the neighbouring countries. The Syria Needs Analysis Project welcomes all information that could complement this report. For additional information, comments or questions, please email SNAP@ACAPS.org.Read more<
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