Archive for September, 2023

26/09/2023

US-Mexico Border World’s Deadliest Migration Land Route

Geneva/Berlin/San José, 12 Setpember 2023 (IOM)* – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) documented 686 deaths and disappearances of migrants on the US-Mexico border in 2022, making it the deadliest land route for migrants worldwide on record.

Deaths and disappearances of migrants in the Americas are increasing every year; 2022 was the deadliest year since IOM’s Missing Migrants Project began in 2014. Photo: IOM/Camilo Cruz

The figure represents nearly half of the 1,457 migrant deaths and disappearances recorded throughout the Americas in 2022, the deadliest year on record since IOM’s Missing Migrants Project (MMP) began in 2014.

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25/09/2023

How Fast Fashion Fuels Climate Change, Plastic Pollution, and Violence

Human Wrongs Watch

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9c88f2a9-gp1t21qs-510x34022 September 2023 — You know the feeling: wardrobe full of clothes, nothing to wear. Online, fashion sales fill your feeds. Clothes are cheaper than ever, and even cheaper in the sales, which now happen year-round.

25/09/2023

Iraq: Torture Survivors Await US Redress, Accountability

Human Wrongs Watch

By Human Rights Watch*

No Clear Path to Compensation for Iraqis Abused in Detention by US Forces

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  • The US government has apparently failed to provide compensation or other redress to Iraqis who suffered torture and other abuse by US forces at Abu Ghraib and other US-run prisons in Iraq two decades ago.
  • Iraqis tortured by US personnel still have no clear path for receiving redress or recognition from the US government though the effects of torture are a daily reality for many Iraqi survivors and their families.

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24/09/2023

Beyond Climate Colonialism and Food Imperialism to Earth Democracy and Food Freedom

Human Wrongs Watch

By Prof. Vandana Shiva | Navdanya International – TRANSCEND Media Service*

1. Mother Earth is a sacred, self organized living being. She creates and sustains life.Through her biosphere and her complex ecological processes, she regulates her water systems, her nutrition cycles, and her climate system.Over 4 billion years, using the energy of the sun, the power of photosynthesis by microbes and the green leaf of plants, she brought the temperature of the planet down from 290 C to 13 C, and the concentration of atmospheric CO2 down from 98% to .03%, from around 4,000 to somewhere around 250-270.

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24/09/2023

‘While Water Holds the Key to Life, All Too Often It Kills’

Human Wrongs Watch

Geneva 22nd September 2023 (WMO)*As proved so tragically in Libya last week, while water holds the key to life, all too often it kills.

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Whether – like in Derna – it’s too much water leading to floods, or too little water causing droughts, or polluted water resulting in health risks, addressing the dangers that water poses can save lives.

As climate change intensifies these threats, there is an urgent need for action.

That is why a new collaboration matters so much.

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24/09/2023

Humanity Facing ‘Unprecedented Global Toxic Emergency’ – Human Rights Experts

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The consequences of poor chemicals and waste management worldwide are fuelling an “unprecedented global toxic emergency”, independent UN human rights experts have warned, ahead of a major summit next week.

Children play in an area outside their home that has been turned into a large dumpsite of waste from leather industries in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
© UNICEF/Shehzad Noorani | Children play in an area outside their home that has been turned into a large dumpsite of waste from leather industries in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
24/09/2023

Healthcare: Lack of Universal Coverage, ‘Human Rights Tragedy on a Massive Scale’

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — World leaders on Thursday [] agreed to boost efforts to provide universal health coverage for all by 2030.

A young pregnant mother is seen for an antenatal checkup at a health centre in  Kassala state, Sudan.
© UNICEF/Mojtba Moawia Moawi | A young pregnant mother is seen for an antenatal checkup at a health centre in Kassala state, Sudan.

By approving a new political declaration at UN Headquarters during the high level meeting, Member States also pledged to take concrete action and provide the necessary funding to reach the ambitious goal.

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22/09/2023

Europe’s Lack of New Ideas on Migration Is the Real Crisis

Human Wrongs Watch

By Judith Sunderland | Human Rights Watch*

European Commission Response to Lampedusa Arrivals Rehashes Ineffective, Abusive Polices.

People sit on the ground of the overcrowded migrant reception center on Lampedusa, an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea, on September 16, 2023. © 2023 Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP Photo

(September 19, 2023) – When the European Commission president arrived on the island of Lampedusa in Italy on September 17, it was an opportunity to reset Europe’s broken approach to migration. Instead, we got a 10-point plan of ineffective and abusive policies, with some wishful thinking.

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22/09/2023

Funding Woes Continue to Plague UN Palestine Refugee Agency

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The head of the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees across the Middle East, UNRWA, on Thursday [] appealed for consistent and sustainable financing to keep its operations running and avert chronic shortfalls.

Palestinian children go back to school across the Gaza Strip.
© UNRWA/Mohamed Hinnawi | Palestinian children go back to school across the Gaza Strip.

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini was speaking at UN Headquarters alongside the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Jordan, Ayman Safadi, following a meeting to support its lifesaving work, which is almost entirely funded by donor contributions.“

It has become absolutely unbearable to deal with a situation where the needs of the Palestine refugees increase, the expectations increase, the region is hit by multiple crises, and at the same time to operate public-like services… with decreasing funding,” he said.

The tension is also fuelling “a feeling of abandonment by the international community”, he warned.

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21/09/2023

Barriers to Movement Are the Never Ending Normal for Palestinians

Human Wrongs Watch

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 21 2023 (IPS)* – Sundus Azza scans the news before she heads home, checking for signs that her 30-minute commute could turn into a four-hour-long slog. Any incident could make travel difficult.

72-year-old Kawthar Ajlouni stands alone in her yard in H2, Hebron, the occupied Palestinian territory. The backdrop reveals a fortified Israeli checkpoint. Amid 645 documented movement obstacles in the West Bank, 80 are here in H2 as of 2023. Isolated due to strict Israeli policies, she is one of 7,000 Palestinians enduring heavy restrictions, while many others have left. The Israeli-declared 'principle of separation' (between Palestinians and Israeli settlers) limits their life, generating a coercive environment that risks forcible transfers. Kawthar stays, fearing her home's conversion into a military post. Credit: OCHA/2023

72-year-old Kawthar Ajlouni stands alone in her yard in H2, Hebron, the occupied Palestinian territory. The backdrop reveals a fortified Israeli checkpoint. Amid 645 documented movement obstacles in the West Bank, 80 are here in H2 as of 2023. Isolated due to strict Israeli policies, she is one of 7,000 Palestinians enduring heavy restrictions, while many others have left. The Israeli-declared ‘principle of separation’ (between Palestinians and Israeli settlers) limits their life, generating a coercive environment that risks forcible transfers. Kawthar stays, fearing her home’s conversion into a military post. Credit: OCHA/2023

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