Archive for ‘Migrants and Refugees’

21/06/2021

Letter to Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed

Human Wrongs Watch

By José Ramos-Horta, former President of East Timor *

We urge immediate action to end the crisis in the Tigray Region

The crisis in the Tigray Region
The crisis in the Tigray Region | Image from Wall Street International.
 
21 June 2021 (Wall Street International)*

His Excellency
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, PhD
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Addis Ababa

Your Excellency, Dear Prime Minister,

I am writing to you on behalf of colleagues and friends whom you know well:

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21/06/2021

The Dictator’s Daughter or the Farmer’s Son?

Human Wrongs Watch

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LIMA, Peru, Jun 21 2021 (IPS)* – Peru’s first round of elections on 11 April saw voters choosing between 18 presidential candidates with no one candidate leading by an impressive margin.

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Police-in-Peru_

Police in Peru used “unnecessary and excessive force” during protests in the capital last November challenging the legitimacy of the interim President, the UN Human Rights Office found, in a January 2021 report. Meanwhile, supporters of socialist Pedro Castillo and conservative Keiko Fujimori took to the streets on Saturday June 19, as tensions rose over the result of the Jun 6 presidential election. Castillo was leading the official count while Fujimori sought to get votes annulled. Credit: Patricio Lagos Bustamante / LaMula.pe via UN News

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21/06/2021

Despite the Pandemic, the Number of People Fleeing Wars, Violence and Human Rights Violations Rose in 2020 to More than 82 Million

Human Wrongs Watch

UNHCR: World leaders must act to reverse the trend of soaring displacementEspañol   |  Français   |  عربي

Congolese asylum-seekers await health screening in Zombo, near the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo in July 2020.

Congolese asylum-seekers await health screening in Zombo, near the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in July 2020.  © UNHCR/Rocco Nuri

(UNHCR)* — UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, on 18 June 2021 urged world leaders to step up their efforts to foster peace, stability and cooperation in order to halt and begin reversing nearly a decade-long trend of surging displacement driven by violence and persecution.

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21/06/2021

‘As World Leaders Are Seemingly Unable or Unwilling to Make Peace, More and More Displaced People Pay the Price’

Human Wrongs Watch

By Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees*

Venezuelan doctor Samuel, 27, fled to Ecuador in 2018 where he now cares for locals and Colombian refugees during the pandemic.

Venezuelan doctor Samuel, 27, fled to Ecuador in 2018 where he now cares for locals and Colombian refugees during the pandemic.  © UNHCR/Jaime Giménez

And as world leaders are seemingly unable or unwilling to make peace, more and more displaced people pay the price.

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21/06/2021

‘We Heal Together When We All Get the Care We Need’ – World Refugee Day

Human Wrongs Watch

By António Guterres, UN Secretary General*

War, violence and persecution have forced more than 80 million people around the world to flee their homes, leaving everything behind to save themselves and their families.

Refugees must begin their lives anew.

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Group of people wait by the side of the street.

But for so many, the pandemic has wiped out their livelihoods, led to stigmatization and vilification and exposed them disproportionately to the virus.

At the same time, refugees once again demonstrated their invaluable contribution to their adoptive societies as essential and frontline workers.

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18/06/2021

‘Drought Has Directly Affected 1.5 Billion People So Far this Century, More than Any Other Slow-Onset Disaster’

17 June 2021 (WMO)* — Drought has directly affected 1.5 billion people so far this century, more than any other slow-onset disaster.
This number will grow dramatically because of climate change, environmental degradation and demographic shifts.

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18/06/2021

UN Chief Urges Debt Relief Extension for More than 100 Middle-Income Countries

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Innovative measures to address debt are required to help the world’s more than 100 middle-income countries expand their economies and exit the COVID-19 pandemic, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told the General Assembly on Thursday [17 June 2021].

© ILO | Workers in a garment factory in Bangladesh.

Addressing a high-level meeting on these nations, which account for more than half of the UN’s 193 Member States, he underlined the need for financing to help them recover in the wake of the global crisis.

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18/06/2021

‘Every Year, More People Die as a Result of Suicide than HIV, Malaria or Breast Cancer ̶or War and Homicide’

Human Wrongs Watch

WHO guidance to help the world reach the target of reducing suicide rate by 1/3 by 2030

(WHO)*Suicide remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, according to WHO’s latest estimates, published on 17 June 2021 in “Suicide worldwide in 2019”.

Every year, more people die as a result of suicide than HIV, malaria or breast cancer  ̶  or war and homicide. In 2019, more than 700 000 people died by suicide: one in every 100 deaths, prompting WHO to produce new guidance to help countries improve suicide prevention and care.

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18/06/2021

‘Bring Crimes of Sexual Violence in Conflict Out of ‘the Shadows’, Punish Perpetrators’

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Sexual violence in conflict “reverberates down generations” and threatens both human and international security, the UN chief said on 17 June 2021 in his message for the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict.

© UNICEF/Vincent Tremeau | Conflict and displacement place women and girls at increased risk of gender-based violence.

Already a “cruel tactic of war, torture, terror and repression”, Secretary-General António Guterres pointed to the turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that “has made it even more difficult to hold perpetrators of sexual violence to account”.

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17/06/2021

‘It is shameful and tragic that EU countries can’t agree on something as fundamental as saving lives at sea’

Human Wrongs Watch

By Human Rights Watch*

EU: Protect Lives on Central Mediterranean Route: 20-Point Action Plan to Protect People at Sea and on the Move

Migrants and refugees on an overcrowded rubber boat during a rescue by the Spanish NGO Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea, Feb. 12, 2021
Migrants and refugees on an overcrowded rubber boat during a rescue by the Spanish NGO Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea, Feb. 12, 2021. © AP Photo/Bruno Thevenin

(Milan) – European Union governments have a collective responsibility to protect the lives and rights of people on the move along the central Mediterranean route, Human Rights Watch on 16 June 2021 said.

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