Tag: refugees

UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie visits Syrian refugee camp in Jordan

  (Reuters) — The United Nations Refugee Agency’s (UNHCR) Special Envoy Angelina Jolie called on world leaders gathering in New York later this month to put the “root causes of the Syrian conflict and what it will take to end it” at the centre of their discussions. During a visit to the Azraq refugee camp in Jordan on Friday (September 9), Jolie said all of the camp’s 60,000 residents had suffered loss and trauma, yet […]

Southern nations gear up for EU future showdown

ATHENS, Greece (AFP) – by John HADOULIS Sabine WIBAUX Southern EU leaders on Friday sought to close ranks on migration, extremism and austerity with the bloc’s future on the line, and ahead of a showdown with hardliners next week. Bringing together the members worst hit by the EU’s twin recession and refugee crises, the mini-summit will focus on “protecting borders, fostering growth, fighting against immigration… and acting together against terrorism,” French President Francois Hollande said at the […]

French farmers, truckers block roads in migrant camp demo

CALAIS, France (AFP) – by David COURBET Benjamin MASSOT Angry French truckers and farmers blocked the main routes in and out of the port of Calais on Monday to call for the closure of the sprawling “Jungle” migrant camp. Around 70 trucks mounted a “go-slow” on the A16 motorway — the main artery for freight and passengers heading for Britain either via the Channel Tunnel or on board ferries from the port. Dozens of farmers […]

UN bracing for massive flight from Iraq’s Mosul

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – The United Nations said Tuesday it was rushing to build camps to accommodate what it expects to be a mass exodus from Mosul once a battle begins for Iraq’s second city. The UN refugee agency warned that an expected battle to liberate Mosul, the Islamic State group’s last major urban stronghold in Iraq, was likely to “dramatically worsen” the displacement situation in the country. Iraq is already facing one of the world’s […]

Abuse rife in Australian immigration centre: leaked reports

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – More than 2,000 leaked reports detailing allegations of sexual assault, child abuse and self-harm in Australian immigration centres on Nauru were published Wednesday, prompting rights groups to renew calls for refugees to be resettled elsewhere. Under Canberra’s current policy, asylum-seekers arriving by boat are sent to the remote Pacific island nation of Nauru or to Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island. They will not be allowed to resettle in Australia even if […]

Both sides brace for crucial battle for Syria’s Aleppo

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) – by Layal Abou Rahal with Karam al-Masri in Aleppo Syrian regime forces and rebel factions sent hundreds of reinforcements to Aleppo on Monday as both sides braced for a crucial battle to control the country’s second city. Fighting for Syria’s former economic powerhouse is intensifying after an opposition advance at the weekend broke through a three-week government siege of the city’s rebel-held east, dealing a major setback to regime troops. Rebel […]

Yemen peace talks end in failure

Kuwait City, Kuwait—The United Nations special envoy for Yemen announced the end of peace talks Saturday without any major breakthrough, but also said a new round of negotiations would begin after one month. “We will be leaving Kuwait today but the Yemeni peace talks are continuing,” Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed told a press conference. He said he will be holding bilateral consultations with the two delegations in the coming few weeks to work out details […]

Czech president refuses to welcome any migrants

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP) – Czech President Milos Zeman has rejected a government proposal to take in some 2,700 migrants languishing in Italy and Greece, claiming they might pose a security threat, his spokesman said Tuesday. “The president is against welcoming any migrants on Czech territory. Our country can’t afford to run the risk of having terrorist attacks like those committed in France and Germany,” Zeman’s spokesman Jiri Ovcacek told reporters. Islamic State group jihadists have […]

Asylum-seekers held in PNG launch Australia court action

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — More than 750 asylum-seekers held in a Papua New Guinea detention camp launched legal action Wednesday to be moved to Australia after a court in the Pacific nation found the centre unconstitutional. Australian lawyers acting for the 757 men — who are held on Manus Island as part of Canberra’s tough policy of sending those who try to reach Australia by boat to camps in PNG and Nauru — sought an “urgent […]

Myanmar Rohingya boat dead ‘forced’ to travel by sea: witnesses

  by Athens Zaw Zaw YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Witnesses to a boat capsize that left some 20 people dead, including children, say the victims were from the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority and blamed the tragedy on travel restrictions that forced them to journey by sea. At least 21 people, including nine children, died after a packed boat capsized in choppy waters on Tuesday as it approached the Rakhine state capital of Sittwe, according to the […]

Greeks gather on street to support refugees in port city of Piraeus

Reuters – Greeks gathered to show support to refugees in the port city of Piraeus in the past weekend. Some threw leaflets to sky, on which printed Arabic slogans saying the western countries should be blamed for leaving so many homeless after wars. The protesters said opening the border is in accordance with humanitarian principles and they oppose the decision of the European Union deporting refugees. Some leaflets said the Greeks will stand together with […]

Syrians displaced by fighting returns home in south Damascus

Hundreds of Syrian families displaced by armed conflicts returned to their homes in south Damascus on Wednesday as part of a truce between the government and local rebels reached last year. About 4,000 residents of Qadam Municipality, who fled the fighting in the last three years, returned to their hometown on the buses provided by the government. “I feel so happy. How I wish that all Syrians could go back to their homes and that […]