Archive for September, 2015

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03/09/2015

Education under Fire: Conflicts Drive 13 Million Children Out of School in Middle East and North Africa

Human Wrongs Watch

Conflict and political upheaval across the Middle East and North Africa are preventing more than 13 million children from going to school, according to a new UNICEF report.*

© UNICEF/NYHQ2014-1771/El Baba |  Classmates hold hands while standing beside rubble from a destroyed part of the Shuje’iyah Girls’ School in eastern Gaza City.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2014-1771/El Baba |  Classmates hold hands while standing beside rubble from a destroyed part of the Shuje’iyah Girls’ School in eastern Gaza City.

AMMAN, Jordan, 3 September 2015 – Surging conflict and political upheaval across the Middle East and North Africa are preventing more than 13 million children from going to school, according to a UNICEF report released today.

The report, “Education Under Fire” focuses on the impact of violence on schoolchildren and education systems in nine countries* that have been directly or indirectly impacted by violence.

Attacks on schools and education infrastructure – sometimes deliberate – are one key reason why many children do not attend classes.

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03/09/2015

‘Liberated’ Iraq: Over 1,300 People Killed and 1,800 Injured in August Only in Baghdad

Human Wrongs Watch

Terrorism, violence and armed conflict in Iraq killed more than 1,300 people and injured over 1,800 others last month, reflecting a “steadily increasing number of casualties,” according to casualty figures released on 2 September 2015 by the United Nations Assistance Mission in the country (UNAMI).

Two small children who fled the escalating violence in Iraq (file photo). UN Photo/Bikem Ekberzade

Two small children who fled the escalating violence in Iraq (file photo). UN Photo/Bikem Ekberzade

The number of civilians killed was 585, and the number of civilians injured was 1,103 in August 2015, the Mission reported.

“Baghdad was the worst affected Governorate with 1,069 civilian casualties (318 killed, 751 injured),” according to the report. “Diyala suffered 108 killed and 162 injured; Ninewa 69 killed and 3 injured; Salah al-Din 23 killed and 13 injured and Kirkuk 17 killed and 15 injured.”

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02/09/2015

Tony Blair Could Face Grilling for ‘Trying to Save Gaddafi’ During Libya War

Human Wrongs Watch

1 September 2015 (RT)* – Former Prime Minister Tony Blair could be summoned before MPs to face allegations he offered to help rescue Colonel Gaddafi during the 2011 NATO-led military campaign against Libya.
**Tony Blair, 50th Munich Security Conference 2014 | Author: Marc Müller Link back to Creator infobox template | Source: www.securityconference.de, direct link | Wikimedia commons

**Tony Blair, 50th Munich Security Conference 2014 | Author: Marc Müller Link back to Creator infobox template | Wikimedia commons

A forthcoming biography of Prime Minister David Cameron claims Blair telephoned Downing Street during the Libyan war to explain he had been contacted by “a key individual close to Gaddafi.”

Blair allegedly told the PM’s office the Libyan dictator wanted to “cut a deal” with Britain, but Cameron did not take up the offer.

Former Foreign and Defense Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said Blair should face questions from MPs over the claim.

“There is no reason at all why [MPs] shouldn’t pursue it,” the Conservative minister under John Major said.

He added that while he thought it was “entirely reasonable” for Blair to pass a message on from Gaddafi, it was not Britain’s place to negotiate a deal with the Libyan leader because it was an international military campaign.

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02/09/2015

The Korean Peninsula: A View of the Future

Human Wrongs Watch

By Johan Galtung*

Seoul, 2 September 2015 – TRANSCEND Media Service – There was a big conference in 1972 in Kyoto, well over 40 years ago; that was my first effort, with thousands, millions of others. On the agendas for these countless encounters the U-word, “unification”, loomed high.

north south korea map asia

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In Kyoto, I made a distinction between unifying the Korean nation by opening the border for projects beyond unifying families, and unifying the two states. Which one are we talking about?

The second is problematic if it means one state–and one president!–less. Could wait; from a human point of view unifying the nation has priority.

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02/09/2015

Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims Barred from Voting

Human Wrongs Watch

By Kayleigh Long*
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BUTHIDAUNG, Myanmar, 1 September 2015 (IRIN)* – In the 2010 general elections, about 150,000 Muslims in this isolated township in western Myanmar were able to cast ballots. When the country returns to the polls in November the number of Muslim voters here is likely to be about a dozen.
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**Photo: Lauren DeCicca/IRIN | An ethnic Rohingya Muslim woman walks past a cart carrying bags of rice in downtown Buthidaung, Myanmar, in early 2014

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There’s a simple explanation for the dramatic decline: the government has disenfranchised almost all of Myanmar’s approximately one million minority ethnic Rohingya Muslims.

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02/09/2015

Number of Women and Children Crossing Macedonia to Seek Refuge in Europe Triples in Three Months

Human Wrongs Watch

GENEVA/SKOPJE (UNICEF)* – The number of women and children fleeing violence in their countries of origin and passing through the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia seeking refuge in Europe has tripled in the past three months, UNICEF on 1 September, 2015 said.

Source: UNICEF

Source: UNICEF

An estimated 3,000 people are transiting through the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia daily. A third of them are women and children – up from 10 per cent in June. Some 12 per cent of the women are pregnant.

According to figures from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Ministry of Interior, 80 per cent originate from Syria, while 5 per cent are from Afghanistan and another 5 per cent are from Iraq.

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02/09/2015

The Orphanage in the Rubble

Human Wrongs Watch

By Almigdad Mojalli*

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SANA’A, 1 September 2015 (IRIN)* – Amongst the rubble of ruined Sana’a, the shutters of a once-proud orphanage hang loosely from their hinges. Huddling below smashed windows, a few dozen children, dirty-faced and hungry, wait for food.
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**Photo: Almigdad Mojalli/IRIN

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Before the war, the orphanage – commonly referred to as just Dar al-Aytam – was known for turning Yemen’s street children into soldiers, business leaders and politicians.

Now, it struggles even to get by. Many children have fled the relentless bombing and run off to track down relatives.

Those who stay get little food and even less education. It is becoming a sad relic, just another victim of the conflict.

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02/09/2015

‘Refugee’ or ‘Migrant’ – Which Is Right?

Human Wrongs Watch

By Adrian Edwards*

GENEVA, August 2015 (UNHCR)* – With almost 60 million people forcibly displaced globally and boat crossings of the Mediterranean in the headlines almost daily, it is becoming increasingly common to see the terms ‘refugee’ and ‘migrant’ being used interchangeably in media and public discourse. But is there a difference between the two, and does it matter?

© UNHCR | Refugee or Migrant – word choice matters.

Yes, there is a difference, and it does matter. The two terms have distinct and different meanings, and confusing them leads to problems for both populations. Here’s why:

Refugees are persons fleeing armed conflict or persecution.

There were 19.5 million of them worldwide at the end of 2014.

Their situation is often so perilous and intolerable that they cross national borders to seek safety in nearby countries, and thus become internationally recognized as “refugees” with access to assistance from States, UNHCR, and other organizations.

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02/09/2015

‘Gaza Could Become Uninhabitable in Less than Five Years’

Human Wrongs Watch

1 September 2015 – A new report published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on assistance to the Palestinian people warns that the Gaza Strip could become “uninhabitable” by 2020 if current economic trends persist.

A man holds the hands of his granddaughters near the remnants of the residential towers where the girls used to live, in the city of Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip. Photo: UNICEF/Eyad El Baba

In addition to eight years of economic blockade, over the past six years, Gaza has endured three military operations that have shattered its ability to export and produce for the domestic market, ravaged its already debilitated infrastructure, and left no time for reconstruction and economic recovery.

According to UNCTAD, conflict has accelerated the “de-development” of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, a process by which development is not merely hindered but reversed.

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