'Unseen' News and Views
8 February 2021 (WMO)* — A major intrusion of sand and dust from the Sahara transformed skies and the landscape over Europe on the weekend of 6-7 February, with far-reaching impacts for the environment and health. It once again highlighted the importance of accurate forecasts and warnings of this transboundary hazard.
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(UN News)* — “An unknown number” of foreign nationals have died while being detained in squalid camps in Syria’s northeast, senior UN-appointed independent rights experts said on Monday [8 February 2021].
Citing concerns for the wives and children of extremists who have been detained in these “squalid” camps in northeast Syria, 57 unnamed countries have been urged to repatriate their nationals immediately.
Leading the appeal, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, said that many western Europeans countries could do more to bring them home.
Photo credit: Georgina Smith/UNEP / 03 Feb 2021
8 February 2021 (UNEP)* — Companies that ignore their impact on the environment don’t just alienate customers and turn off investors. Ultimately, says a new business brief from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), they face “existential challenges”.
Dakar, 7 February 2021 (IOM)* – A study conducted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on the impact of indebtedness on returnee migrants in six West African countries reveals that 68 per cent are in debt, while over two-thirds characterize either the shame or burden of their indebtedness as a hindrance to their reintegration in their home communities.
An IOM study on migrant debt reveals that the estimated amount of the indebtment of all returnees across the six countries surveyed may reach EUR 18 million Photo: IOM
As migration becomes increasingly hazardous and costly, many migrants take out loans and incur debt from relatives and friends to finance their journey. On a personal level –social and psychological– many of those surveyed cited feelings of anxiety, failure, social isolation and fear of not being able to repay their obligations.
Amsterdam, 8 February 2021 – Online only, free of charge, and streaming across the Netherlands. These are the unique features of the 9th edition of the Human Rights Weekend(February 12 to 14), 2021. All three documentaries are European or Dutch premieres and available on all days of the event, accompanied by various bonus content.
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© Pieter Scheltema for Human Rights Watch
The opening night, co-presented by De Balie, features a live event about refugee rights on Zoom and the Netherlands premiere of Mira Jargil’s documentary film Reunited, available from February 11 through February 14.
Reunited is the heartbreaking story of a family torn apart by the Syrian war and their attempts to navigate frustrating bureaucracies, living separately in Denmark, Canada, and Turkey.
About 25 percent of the greenhouse gases that we emit actually gets absorbed by the oceans, as does almost all of the globe’s excess heat… 93 percent of it, to be exact! ©Kimberly Jefferies/Coral Reef Image Bank
5 February 021 (FAO)* — Oceans are an essential part of our planet. They provide us with food to eat and keep our atmosphere healthy. Without the oceans, we simply wouldn’t exist.
But climate change means that ocean temperatures are increasing, icebergs are melting, and sea levels are rising. We need action to reverse these trends, and raising awareness is the first step.
5 February 2021 — The United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently announced a plan to extend citizenship opportunities to highly-educated, skilled, or wealthy foreign nationals and their families.
Unfortunately, the country’s citizenship law still leaves out other groups, including children born to Emirati women and foreign fathers, and stateless people.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Explores Diaspora’s Engagement in Humanitarian Assistance
Stronger diaspora coordination has the potential for better and more effective humanitarian assistance in countries affected by disasters. Photo: IOM/Muse Mohammed
Washington, DC, 6 February 2021 (IOM)* – Many people, when they consider the contributions of migrants to their countries of origin, think first of remittance flows —the billions of dollars travelling annually between high income, “developed” destination countries to lower income regions in the Global South.
6 February 2021 (UN News)* — The amount of money spent on food and beverages to enjoy, perhaps, the United States’ most high-profile annual sporting event, adds up to more than twice the global budget of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), according to the agency.
WFP says Americans spent around $17 billion on food, drinks, party supplies and other paraphernalia to mark the 2020 Super Bowl, the flagship event of the American football season, and in the process consumed a stomach-churning 1.3 billion chicken wings and almost 900 million pints of beer.
6 February 2021 (UN News)* — Two migrants, one young and one old, have been sharing their experiences of migrating to a small town in Costa Rica in Central America.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 