Archive for December 5th, 2014

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05/12/2014

‘Turning Blind Eye Not a Solution’ to Mediterranean Migrant Crisis – UN Rights Expert

Human Wrongs Watch

The rise of migrants and asylum seekers crossing the Mediterranean Sea in the last few months has resulted in a global crisis that calls for a global humanitarian response, a United Nations human rights expert on 5 December 2014 urged.

Migrants arriving on Italy’s Lampedusa Island after crossing the Mediterranean on a dilapidated boat. Photo: UNHCR/F. Noy

“This requires a new and concerted strategic approach by European States and the international community,” said François Crépeau, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, at the end of his follow-up official visit to Italy.

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Posted in Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean, Market Lords, Middle East, Mother Earth, Others-USA-Europe-etc., The Peoples | 3 Comments »

05/12/2014

Indian Ocean: UN Warns of Uptick in Clandestine Migration Despite ‘Horrific’ Dangers

Human Wrongs Watch

More people are risking their lives to cross the Indian Ocean on smuggler’s boats despite the great risks involved, including the prospect of “horrific violence,” the United Nations refugee agency on 5 December 2014 warned. 

People risking sea journeys across the Bay of Bengal often set sail at night. Photo: UNHCR/S. Alam

Speaking at a press briefing in Geneva, William Spindler, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters that an estimated 54,000 people had undertaken irregular maritime journeys in the Southeast Asian region of the Indian Ocean, including some 53,000 people leaving from the Bay of Bengal towards Thailand and Malaysia.

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05/12/2014

International Year of Soils: One Third of Humanity's "Silent Ally" Under Degradation

Human Wrongs Watch

Healthy soils are the foundation for food, fuel, fibre and even medicine said the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 5 December 2014 as it kicked off 2015 the International Year of Soils on the first-ever World Soil Day.

Healthy soils are critical for global food production and provide a range of environmental services. Photo: FAO/Olivier Asselin

Soils are also essential to our ecosystems, playing a key role in the carbon cycle, storing and filtering water, and improving resilience to floods and droughts, and yet we are not paying enough attention to this important “silent ally,” the UN agency explained.*

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05/12/2014

Global Wage Growth Stagnates, Lags Behind Pre-Crisis Rates

Human Wrongs Watch 

Geneva, 5 December 2014 (ILO)* — The latest ILO Global Wage Report warns of stalled wages in many countries and points to the labour market as a driver of inequality.

See how much wages have changed around the world year on year

See how much wages have changed around the world year on year 

Wage growth around the world slowed in 2013 to 2.0 per cent, compared to 2.2 per cent in 2012, and has yet to catch up to the pre-crisis rates of about 3.0 per cent, according to the ILO’s Global Wage Report 2014/15 *.

Even this modest growth in global wages was driven almost entirely by emerging G20 economies, where wages increased by 6.7 per cent in 2012 and 5.9 per cent in 2013.

By contrast, average wage growth in developed economies had fluctuated around 1 per cent per year since 2006 and then slowed further in 2012 and 2013 to only 0.1 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively.

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