Archive for ‘Migrants and Refugees’

12/08/2024

Killings of Palestinian Journalists Continue –Aided by Uninterrupted Flow of US Arms

Human Wrongs Watch

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 12 2024 (IPS)* – The growing number of killings of Palestinian journalists in Gaza has triggered a demand for a cut-off in US arms supplies to Israel.
 

The journalists gather in front of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital to commemorate their friends, Al Jazeera reporter Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Rifi, who lost their lives in Israeli army attack on a moving vehicle in the Al-Shati refugee camp, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza on July 31, 2024. Source: Middle East Monitor. Credit: Ashraf Amra, Anadolu Agency

A letter addressed to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken—and signed by scores of reporters, news outlets and journalist unions— says Israel has killed more than 165 Palestinian journalists since October 7 last year.

read more »

11/08/2024

‘Another Day of Horror’: UN Human Rights Office Condemns Israeli Strikes at Gazan School

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The UN Human Rights Office condemned on Saturday [] the increasing frequency of Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) strikes on schools, where hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced Palestinians have sought shelter, with the latest attacks killing dozens at a Gaza City school.

An UNRWA-run school, which was converted into a shelter, was severely damaged by previous strikes. (file)

© UNRWA | An UNRWA-run school, which was converted into a shelter, was severely damaged by previous strikes. (file)

At around 4:30am during dawn prayer on Saturday, a mosque inside Al Tabaeen School was struck by the IDF “at least three times”, the UN rights office, OHCHR, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said in a statement, adding that the attacks were “conducted with apparent disregard for the high rate of civilian fatalities”.

10/08/2024

Explainer: Why Kenya Is Considered a High Climate Risk for Development Banks

Human Wrongs Watch

Climate change-related extreme weather jeopardizes Kenya’s development agenda; even though it contributes very little to global warming, it is marked as a high-risk country by development banks.

Drought in Kenya's Ewaso Ngiro river basin in 2017 when pastoralists had to dig for water because much of the river system in Isiolo county had dried up. Credit: Denis Onyodi/KRCS

Drought in Kenya’s Ewaso Ngiro river basin in 2017 when pastoralists had to dig for water because much of the river system in Isiolo county had dried up. Credit: Denis Onyodi/KRCS

NAIROBI, Aug 7 2024 (IPS)* Kenya contributes less than 0.1 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions every year, yet development banks have flagged the East African nation as a high climate risk.

read more »

10/08/2024

UN Human Rights Chief ‘Shocked and Appalled’ by Israeli Minister’s Comment on Starving Gazans to Death

(UN News)* — The UN human rights office, OHCHR, called on Friday [] for the Israeli authorities to monitor senior officials whose public statements on the Gaza conflict may promote war crimes.
.
Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, addresses a conference for youth human rights defenders at the UN in Vienna (file)..
UNIS Vienna | Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, addresses a conference for youth human rights defenders at the UN in Vienna (file).
09/08/2024

Gulf States: Inadequate Heat Protection Putting Workers in Peril

Human Wrongs Watch

By Human Rights Watch*

Migrant Workers Fainting, Vomiting in Summer Heat

Construction workers in Doha, Qatar.

Construction workers in Doha, Qatar, November 16, 2022.  © 2022 ddp images via AP Photo

(Beirut) – Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are failing to protect outdoor migrant workers experiencing dangerous, heat-related health risks as global warming-fueled heatwaves envelope the region, Human Rights Watch said on 8 August 2024.

read more »

09/08/2024

Gaza: Thousands on the Run again Following New Israeli Evacuation Order

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Thousands of people in Gaza have been fleeing west toward Al Mawasi after the Israel military issued a new evacuation order on Thursday [], UN humanitarian partners on the ground have reported.

A family moves possessions amidst the rubble in Gaza (file).
© UNRWA | A family moves possessions amidst the rubble in Gaza (file).

The directive affects people located in parts of eastern and central Khan Younis as well as the Al Salqa area of Deir Al-Balah.

read more »

07/08/2024

The Demise of Democracy and Human Rights Violations in Bangladesh: International Financial Institutions’ Culpability

Human Wrongs Watch

SYDNEY, NEW YORK, WASHINGTON DC, Aug 6 2024 (IPS)* The International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) are complicit in the gross human rights violations and death of democracy in Bangladesh.

Anis Chowdhury

They continued to supply financial blood line to the regime, well-documented for its corruptions, human rights violations – such as forced disappearances and tortures in custody – and riggings of votes, including politicization of state institutions in its slide into autocracy.

This is despite their professed commitment to transparency, accountability and good governance (IMF, World Bank, ADB).

read more »

03/08/2024

“Systematic Dehumanisation of Civilians” in both Gaza and the West Bank: UN Humanitarian Chief

Human Wrongs Watch

Humanitarian efforts ‘nowhere near where they should be’ 300 days into Gaza war

Families in Gaza continue to search for the safest places to shelter.
© UNRWA | Families in Gaza continue to search for the safest places to shelter.

(UN News)* — Scaling up aid delivery remains a challenge in Gaza as the war reaches the 300-day mark, the head of the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said on Thursday [].

Andrea De Domenico was speaking from Jerusalem in his final briefing to journalists at UN Headquarters in New York as the Israeli authorities have not renewed his visa.

read more »

03/08/2024

Gaza: ‘Frightening Increase’ in Hepatitis A Cases

Human Wrongs Watch

()* — UN agencies warned on Friday [] of the high risk of the further spread of infectious diseases in Gaza, amid chronic water scarcity and no way to adequately manage waste and sewage.  

People in Gaza are living in increasingly unsanitary conditions.

© UNRWA | People in Gaza are living in increasingly unsanitary conditions.
01/08/2024

Skyrocketing Violence against Children in Sudan Demands Urgent Protection Measures: United Nations

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The conflict in Sudan has led to a horrifying surge in violence against children, a new UN report has revealed, underscoring the need for urgent and tangible protection measures.

Children sheltering at the Tambasi IDP centre in El Fasher, North Darfur.
© UNICEF/Mohamed Zakaria | Children sheltering at the Tambasi IDP centre in El Fasher, North Darfur.
.
The report on Children and Armed Conflict in Sudan, released on Tuesday [], documented a staggering 2,168 grave violations against 1,913 children in 2022 and 2023 – a significant increase compared to the previous reporting period.