Archive for ‘Migrants and Refugees’

03/12/2025

Crackdown on Palestinian Civil Society Is Reaching Alarming Levels, Warns UN Human Rights

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The UN human rights office, OHCHR, has condemned an Israeli raid on the Union of Agricultural Work Committees in the occupied West Bank, warning that pressure on Palestinian civil society has reached alarming levels.

Olive harvest season in the Occupied West Bank in Palestine, October 2025.
© Agricultural Development Association – PARC
Olive harvest season in the Occupied West Bank in Palestine, October 2025.

Israeli security forces raided the organisation’s offices in Ramallah and Hebron on 1 December, vandalising property and detaining staff.

According to OHCHR, people present in the buildings were blindfolded, handcuffed and made to kneel or lie on the floor for several hours. Eight men were detained. 

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03/12/2025

‘Finance Can Put Trade at Risk, Leaving the Global Economy “On the Brink” – with Developing Countries Hardest Hit’

Human Wrongs Watch

By the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)*

Geneva, Switzerland, 2 December 2025 —Global growth will slow to 2.6 per cent in 2025, down from 2.9 per cent in 2024, as global trade and investment face growing pressure from financial volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, according to UN Trade and Development’s new ‘Trade and Development Report 2025: On the Brink – Trade, finance and the reshaping of the global economy’.
03/12/2025

Asia: Record-breaking Rains and Flooding Have Claimed Hundreds of Lives, Brought Devastation and Displacement Upon Entire Communities

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Across southeast Asia, record-breaking rains and flooding caused by back-to-back tropical storms have claimed hundreds of lives and brought devastation and displacement upon entire communities, UN agencies said on Tuesday [].

Across the world, more incidents of extreme weather events are being recorded.
WMO/Daniel Pavlinovic | Across the world, more incidents of extreme weather events are being recorded.

World Meteorological Organization (WMO) spokesperson Clare Nullis told reporters in Geneva that Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam are among the countries most affected by what she described as “a combination of monsoon-related rainfall and tropical cyclone activity”.

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03/12/2025

Millions of Jobs at Risk in Asia-Pacific as Artificial Intelligence Adoption Surges in Wealthy Nations

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Millions of jobs across Asia could be at risk as the AI industry booms at the expense of poorer nations still struggling to provide basic digital access and literacy, UN economists said on Tuesday [].

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A student works in a chemistry lab in Indonesia's Yogyakarta Province.
© ADB/Eric Sales | A student works in a chemistry lab in Indonesia’s Yogyakarta Province.
Just as industrialisation in the 19th century “split the world into a wealthy few and the impoverished”, the AI revolution could do the same.
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“Countries that invest in skills, computing power and sound governance systems will benefit, others risk being left far behind,” warned Philip Schellekens, Chief Economist for the UN Development Programme for the Asia and Pacific region.

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02/12/2025

In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Journalism Is ‘Both a Battleground and a Lifeline’

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — More than 260 media professionals were killed in the recent hostilities in Gaza – the deadliest conflict for journalists in decades.

UN News | Mourners perform the funeral prayer for Palestinian journalists killed in an Israeli airstrike on August 10.
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The issue was in the spotlight at UN Headquarters on Monday [] during a forum focused on the dangers and complexities of reporting from the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
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The conversation “could not be more timely, nor more necessary,” said Melissa Fleming, head of the Department of Global Communications (DGC) which organized the 2025 United Nations International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East.

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02/12/2025

Gaza: UN Reports Expanded ‘Winterisation’ Efforts as Cold Weather and Heavy Rain Continue to Impact Displaced Palestinians

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The UN says humanitarian partners in Gaza are scaling up winterisation efforts as cold weather and heavy rain continue to impact displaced Palestinians.

Cold and rainy weather has made some shelters in Gaza uninhabitable.
© UNRWA | Cold and rainy weather has made some shelters in Gaza uninhabitable.
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More than 230,000 families – that’s around 1.15 million people – received monthly food parcels between 1 and 27 November, through 59 distribution points, including 21 in northern Gaza.

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02/12/2025

UN Chief Warns Unpaid Dues Near $1.6 Billion, as Budget Cuts Deepen

Human Wrongs Watch

By Vibhu Mishra

(UN News)* — With nearly $1.6 billion in unpaid dues, the UN Secretary-General warned on Monday [] that chronic late payments are hampering the world body’s ability to function, even as sweeping cuts move forward through the General Assembly’s main budget committee.

António Guterres told the Fifth Committee the UN is facing its most fragile cash position in years, despite sharp reductions already built into next year’s budget plans.

UN News/Vibhu Mishra | The United Nations Headquarters as seen from First Avenue in New York City.

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02/12/2025

World Must Pay to Make America Great Again

Human Wrongs Watch

MANILA, Philippines, Nov 11 2025 (IPS)* US President Trump’s economic strategy for his second term aims to get the rest of the world, especially its wealthy allies with greater means, to pay more to help strengthen the US economy.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Recent US initiatives have undoubtedly accelerated de-dollarisation but these have largely been unavoidable consequences of its own actions rather than due to any conspiracy by others to that end.

De-dollarisation distraction
Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff recently observed, “We are absolutely at the biggest inflection point in the global currency system since the Nixon shock to end the last vestige of the gold standard.”

After the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, the gold price was set at $35 per ounce. In August 1971, US President Richard Nixon ended this gold-dollar parity.

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01/12/2025

Vulnerable Populations Will Suffer With UNAIDS Early Closure

Human Wrongs Watch

BRATISLAVA, Dec 1 2025 (IPS)* “It’s like adding fuel to an already burning fire,” says Aditia Taslim.
UNAIDS campaigns have dominated the global effort to end HIV/Aids as a public threat since 1999. Credit: UNAIDS

UNAIDS campaigns have dominated the global effort to end HIV/Aids as a public threat since 1999. Credit: UNAIDS

“We have not recovered from the impact of the US funding cuts earlier this year, and closing down UNAIDS prematurely will only make things worse, especially for key populations and other criminalized groups, including people who use drugs,” Taslim, who is Advocacy Lead at the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD), tells IPS.

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01/12/2025

Millions of Children and Adolescents Living with HIV, Left Behind Due to Shrinking Funding – UNICEF

Human Wrongs Watch

NEW YORK, 28 November 2025 (UNICEF)* – Children and adolescents living with HIV continue to be left behind in access to early diagnosis, life-saving treatment, and care, as shrinking funding threatens to increase their risks and reverse decades of progress, UNICEF on 28 November 2025 warned ahead of World AIDS Day (1 December 2025).

A mother holds her infant's hand.
 
UNICEF/UNI670039/Muthuramalingam