Archive for ‘Migrants and Refugees’

20/12/2021

Another Wake-Up Call: Sea Ice Loss Is Speeding Up

Human Wrongs Watch

20 December 2021 (UNEP)* — The Arctic is now amongst the fastest-warming regions on the planet, heating at more than twice the global average. Scientists are worried because carbon dioxide and methane previously locked up below ground are released as permafrost thaws.

Arctic_sea_ice_2_Photo_by_Andreas_Weith,_Wikimedia_Commons

Andreas Weith / Wikimedia Commons / 28 Sep 2020
20/12/2021

Afghanistan Economy in ‘Freefall’, Threatening to Take Entire Population with It

(UN News)* — Afghanistan’s economy is in “free fall”, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator told a special meeting on Sunday [19 December 2021], warning that if decisive and compassionate action is not taken immediately, it may “pull the entire population with it”.
© UNICEF/Sayed Bidel | Families in Afghanistan do not have the money they need, while prices for key commodities continue to rise.
Speaking virtually to the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad, Pakistan, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths painted a grim picture of 23 million people facing hunger; malnourished children overflowing in health facilities; 70 per cent of teachers working without salaries; and millions of students – Afghanistan’s future – out of school.
19/12/2021

‘Solidarity with Migrants Has Never Been More Urgent’

Human Wrongs Watch

PAHO/Karen González | Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Venezuelan migrant refugees have faced numerous challenges in Colombia.
 
Today, more people than ever live in a country other than the one where they were born. While many individuals migrate out of choice, many others leave home out of necessity. 

Approximately 281 million people were international migrants in 2020, representing 3.6 per cent of the global population.

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19/12/2021

Latin American and Caribbean Cities Can Halve Resource Consumption While Reducing Poverty

  • New UNEP report provides a guide to increase resource efficiency in cities through circularity, better connectivity, ecosystem restoration, among others.
  • If no action is taken, by 2050 cities in the LAC region will consume two to four times more resources over the limits of sustainability.
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Panama, 13 December 2021 (UNEP)* – If a sustainable transformation is pursued within this decade, Latin American and Caribbean cities can halve their consumption of natural resources such as fossil fuels, minerals and food, while succeeding in the fight against poverty and inequality, according to a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

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08/12/2021

UNICEF Launches Record Emergency Appeal as Escalating Conflicts Push Millions to the Brink 

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday [7 December 2021] launched an appeal for a record $9.4 billion as attacks against children continue to rise. Close to 24,000 grave violations against youngsters were confirmed last year, or 72 violations a day, according to the agency, in its largest ever appeal for funding.

© UNICEF/Fauzan Ijazah | A girl reads a book in front of her house in Papua, one of Indonesia’s poorest provinces.

The appeal is 31 per cent larger than last year’s campaign, as humanitarian needs continue to grow globally, exacerbated by conflict, the climate crisis and now the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Millions of children around the world are suffering from the impacts of conflict, extreme weather events and the climate crisis,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

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08/12/2021

‘Disastrous’ Human Rights Situation across Occupied Palestinian Territory – UN Human Rights Chief

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said on Tuesday [7 December 2021] that the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has become “disastrous”, with severe infringements occurring effecting some four million people. 

© UNRWA/Hussein Jaber | A girl stands in front of her home in Khan Younis Palestine refugee camp in Gaza.

“This clearly also has damaging impact on prospects for peace and sustainable development for Israel, as well as the surrounding region”, she argued. 

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07/12/2021

All Humans Are Born Equal in Rights? That’s Still Far from Being True

Human Wrongs Watch

MADRID, Dec 6 2021 (IPS) – ”All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” These words are a sound introduction to the transcendental issue of human rights and equalities, as stated by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

humanrightsforall

The Declaration proclaims the “inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”

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07/12/2021

Myanmar: UN Deplores Conviction and Sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The UN’s top human rights official on Monday [6 December 2021] condemned the imprisonment of Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi by a military-controlled court, and called for her release. She also faces additional charges of corruption and electoral fraud.

ICJ/Frank van Beek | Aung San Suu Kyi appears at the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 10 December 2019.
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The development follows media reports that a military vehicle slammed into demonstrators in the city of Yangon over the weekend, leaving an unknown number injured and at least five dead.
03/12/2021

A Green Paradox: Deforesting the Amazon for Wind Energy in the Global North

Human Wrongs Watch

By Francesc Badia I Dalmases*

A shift to wind energy is leaving a trail of destruction in Ecuador, with a brutal impact on Indigenous communities and fragile ecosystems | ESPAÑOL

An island on the Pastaza river seen from the community of Sharamentsa in the Ecuadorian Amazon | Francesc Badia i Dalmases
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1 December 2021 (openDemocracy)* — What has the destruction of balsa trees in the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest got to do with the wind power industry in Europe?
03/12/2021

Indigenous Peoples’ Lands: Stolen Fair and Square

Human Wrongs Watch

By Mark P. Fancher | Black Agenda Report – TRANSCEND Media Service*

Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday, in which exceptionalism and selective amnesia are celebrated. The sick fairy tale obscures the violent foundations of a settler colonial nation.

United American Indians of New England | Photo: Facebook

Tomorrow, in homes across the country, millions of people will cluster around dinner tables and say an obligatory prayer of thanks that they were born free and white in America. They will then stuff their faces with piles of bland food and wash it all down with too much beer and occasional shots of whiskey.

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