15 January 2021 (UN News)* — UN agencies have stepped up efforts to help thousands of Rohingya refugees left without shelter after a devastating fire tore through a crowded refugee camp in south-eastern Bangladesh on Thursday [14 January 2021].
15/01/2021
UN Steps Up Support for Thousands Left Homeless after Devastating Fire at Rohingya Refugee Camp
15/01/2021
Israel: Ensure Equal COVID-19 Vaccine Access to Palestinians – UN Independent Human Rights Experts
Human Wrongs Watch
14 January 2021 (UN News)* — Israel’s “impressive” vaccination programme against the COVID-19 pandemic must include Palestinians under occupation, UN independent human rights experts stressed on Wednesday [13 January 2021].
“In this early stage of the worldwide inoculation programme, Israel has delivered the vaccines to a higher percentage of its citizens than any other country”, said Special Rapporteurs Michael Lynk and Tlaleng Mofokeng.
While noting that Israel has offered Palestinians with resident status in occupied East Jerusalem the vaccines, they noted however, that it has not ensured that those under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza will have any near-future access to the vaccine.
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14/01/2021
Fewer Protections, Lower Wages, and Higher Health Risks: Homeworking in the COVID Era
(UN News)* — The UN’s labour agency (ILO) on 13 January 2021 called for greater recognition and protection for the hundreds of millions of people who work from home, accounting for almost eight per cent of the global workforce even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Since movement restrictions linked to the global spread of the virus were implement in many countries, the number of people working from home has increased sharply, and that trend is expected to continue in coming years, despite the rollout of vaccines that began in late 2020.
13/01/2021
EU: Respect Rights Amid Pandemic, Economic Downturn
Human Wrongs Watch
By Human Rights Watch*
Tackle Inequality, Abuses against Migrants, Autocratic Backsliding
(Brussels) – The Covid-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the lives and rights of people across the European Union, Human Rights Watch on 13 January 2021 said in its World Report 2021.
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13/01/2021
India: Growing Crackdown on Activists, Critics
Human Wrongs Watch
By Human Rights Watch*
Attacks on Muslims, Marginalized Groups; Abuses Persist in Kashmir
(New York) – The Indian government increasingly harassed, detained, and prosecuted activists, journalists, and others critical of the government or its policies, Human Rights Watch o 11 January 2021 said in its World Report 2021.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government brought politically motivated cases, including under broadly worded sedition and counterterrorism laws, against human rights defenders, student activists, academics, opposition members, and other critics.
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13/01/2021
Small Towns Are Bigger than We Think
Human Wrongs Watch
Innovative FAO study maps urban-rural catchment areas and points to ways to optimize policy and planning coordination for agriculture, services and agri-food systems
Southern Africa’s rural-urban pattern.
ROME, 12 January 2021 (FAO)* — Fewer than one percent of the global population live in truly remote hinterlands, sharpening the need for better understanding of how urban forms impact food systems as well as social and economic development, according to ground-breaking new research by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the University of Twente.
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13/01/2021
Learning From Indigenous Peoples: My Morocco Diary
Human Wrongs Watch
– Once a year, on 9 August, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is commemorated, celebrating their unique culture and knowledge. This is done mostly from a distance, from our homes in (nominally) developed countries. But are we as developed as we pretend to be? On this question, I reflected for a while, still remembering a special and personal experience of having spent several days with an indigenous Berber family in Morocco.
Credit: Heike Kuhn
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13/01/2021
UN Refugee Agency Calls on European Union for ‘New Chapter for Refugee Protection’ across Europe and Beyond
Human Wrongs Watch
(UN News)* — As Portugal assumes the presidency of the European Union (EU), to be followed by Slovenia later this year, the UN refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Tuesday [12 January 2021] called on them to lead the effort to forge a better protection system for those seeking refuge across the continent and beyond.
Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, UNHCR’s Representative for EU Affairs, also called for reform to be central during negotiations over a new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, and highlighted the importance of “an EU that saves lives, protects refugees in Europe and globally, and finds solutions to end forced displacement and build resilient societies is needed more than ever”.
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13/01/2021
Humanitarians Seek $1.3 Billion to Help Millions of People in Need of Life-Saving Assistance in War-Weary Afghanistan
Human Wrongs Watch
12 January 2021 (UN News)* — The UN and humanitarian partners in Afghanistan are seeking $1.3 billion to assist almost 16 million people in need of life-saving assistance as a result of decades of conflict, recurrent natural disasters, and the added impact of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
12/01/2021
Nomination of Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize
Human Wrongs Watch
By The Peace People | Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate – TRANSCEND Media Service
Ms. Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate, has today [4 January 2021] nominated Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.
Mairead Maguire
In her nomination letter to Nobel Committee in Oslo (copy attached) Ms. Maguire wrote:
“My reasons for nominating them together are simple. Individually each has given countless examples of courage exposing governments’ illegal actions that caused millions of deaths – putting their own freedom and lives on the line.
“Collectively, their lives of self-sacrifice and selflessness constitute remarkable demonstrations of the magnificence of the human spirit. They are indeed breathtaking testimonies to the goodness inherent in the human heart.
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HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 