(UN News)* — The UN migration agency (IOM) called on Friday [] for the setting up of a humanitarian corridor in Niger to enable voluntary returns of stranded migrants, after July’s military takeover triggered border & airspace closures.
IOM Regional Director Christopher Gascon told reporters in Geneva that 4,800 migrants were hosted by IOM at seven transit centres in the country, awaiting voluntary return. They were primarily from western Africa: Mali, Guinea, Senegal and Nigeria, he said.
Mr. Gascon said airport access was crucial to “organise charter flights in order to return people home”.
He stressed that IOM’s transit centres were currently 40 per cent over capacity and an additional 1,400 migrants outside the centres needed help.
Mr. Gascon added that setting up a corridor would also facilitate the delivery of aid to conflict-affected areas of Niger.
(UN News)* – Haiti is in the grip of “extreme brutality”, with gang-related violence continuing to force thousands from their homes amidst widespread suffering, said the UN’s top humanitarian official there.
The desperate situation prompted a tweet on Friday [] from Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths calling for an immediate end to the fighting.
“This carnage needs to stop” said the UN relief chief.
Major escalation
In the past two weeks alone, 71 people have been killed and injured in capital Port-au-Prince, marking a major escalation, according to UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, which Mr. Griffiths heads.
IOM Calls for Increased Support, Sustainable Solutions for Rohingya Refugees
Rohingya refugees and humanitarians have faced unprecedented challenges in 2023, including fires, cyclones, and ongoing threats of monsoon-related disasters, putting their resilience to the test. Photo: IOM
Geneva/Cox’s Bazar, 25 August 2023 (IOM)*– As the Rohingya crisis marks its sixth year in Bangladesh, the plight of nearly 1 million refugees remains unchanged, trapped in a cycle of uncertainty and vulnerability.
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 30 2023 (IPS)* – The United Nations will host six “high-level” meetings, including two summits of world leaders– over a short span of five consecutive days, beginning September 18.
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The 2023 SDG Summit will take place on 18-19 September 2023 in New York. It will mark the beginning of a new phase of accelerated progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals with high-level political guidance on transformative and accelerated actions leading up to 2030. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias
The back-to-back meetings, described as unprecedented, includes the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit on September 18-19; a high-level dialogue on Financing for Development (FfD) on September 20; and a ministerial meeting of the Summit of the Future on September 21 (with the summit itself scheduled to take place September 2024).
CAMBRIDGE, MA., Aug 29 2023 (IPS)* – As the adage goes, when you find yourself stuck in a hole, stop digging. As African leaders and their philanthropic and bilateral sponsors prepare for another glitzy African Green Revolution Forum, convening September 5-8 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, they are instead handing out new shovels to dig the continent deeper into a hunger crisis caused in part by their failing obsession with corporate-led industrialized agriculture.
Women share nutritious diverse local crop varieties at 2022Djimini seed fair in Senegal. The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa is helping rewrite African laws and policies to favor conversion to hybrid and GMO maize seeds. Credit: AFSA or Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA)
(UN News)* — UN Secretary-General António Guterres marked Wednesday’s [] International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearance by condemning the “atrocious crime” and urging all Member States to hold those who perpetrate it accountable.
UNIC/Mexico | A protest rally in Mexico City on the case of Ayoitzinapa rural school attended by the 43 disappeared students.
Enforced disappearance has regularly been used as a tool for instilling fear and exert control over a population. The feeling of insecurity it generates is not limited to close relatives of the disappeared, but also their communities and society as a whole.
In a post on social media platform X, The UN chief said enforced disappearance was “a serious human rights violation that has frequently been used to spread terror…I call on countries to help put an end to this atrocious crime”.
(UN News)* — Attacks by armed groups against security forces in the Central African Republic (CAR), combined with increased food and fuel prices and an influx of refugees from Sudan, have aggravated an already fragile humanitarian situation there UN officials said on Tuesday [].
In a country of some six million people, over two million suffer from acute hunger, and the prevalence of chronic malnutrition in children under five of around 40 per cent is one of the highest in the world, according to the UN famine prevention and response coordination office (OFPRC).
The Israeli military and border police forces are killing Palestinian children with virtually no recourse for accountability.
Israeli forces should end the routine unlawful use of lethal force against Palestinians, including children. Israel’s allies should increase pressure to end the practice.
The UN Secretary-General should list Israel’s armed forces in his annual report on grave violations against children in armed conflict for 2023 as responsible for the violation of killing and maiming Palestinian children.
(UN News)* — Criminal gangs in southeast Asia are using torture and abuse to force hundreds of thousands of people into an online scam operation which generates billions of dollars per year, the UN rights office (OHCHR) said on Tuesday [].
OHCHR said that at least 120,000 people across Myanmar and another 100,000 in Cambodia may be held in situations where they are forced to execute lucrative online scams – from illegal gambling to crypto fraud.
Other States including Lao PDR, the Philippines and Thailand have also been identified as main countries of destination or transit.
Victims, not criminals
“People who are coerced into working in these scamming operations endure inhumane treatment while being forced to carry out crimes,” said UN rights chief Volker Türk. “They are victims. They are not criminals,” he insisted.
Bosaso, 28 August 2023 (IOM)* – In the early morning hours, more than 30 young women and girls, and at least a dozen men are gathered in a precarious settlement on the outskirts of Bosaso, in northern Somalia.
Habtham (right) and Abeba (left) sit in front of an informal settlement in Bosaso. They are amongst a group of migrants preparing to get on boats to Yemen in the coming days. Photo: IOM/Yonas Tadesse
Some lie directly on the floor, others on top of sleeping mats covered by a mix of sand and dust, making breathing difficult in the sweltering heat.
Situated at a strategic maritime point in the Horn of Africa, Bosaso serves as one of the last stops for those seeking to leave the region via the Eastern Route – a migratory path that continues through Yemen and leads to the Gulf States.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 