(UN News)* — More than 3,000 people died or went missing while attempting to cross the Mediterranean and the Atlantic last year, hoping to reach Europe, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday [29 April 2022], appealing for $163.5 million to assist and protect thousands of refugees and asylum seekers.
Of the 2021 total, 1,924 people were reported to have died or gone missing on the Central and Western Mediterranean routes, while an additional 1,153 perished or went missing on the Northwest African maritime route to the Canary Islands, according to UNHCR’s newly published report: Protection, saving lives, & solutions for refugees in dangerous Journeys.
(UN News)* — The UN’s Humanitarian Country Team in Yemen on Saturday [30 April 2022] released its Response Plan (HRP) for this year, seeking nearly $4.3 billion to reverse a steady deterioration across the country, the grinding war there continues, despite a current pause in fighting.
The plan targets 17.3 million out of the staggering 23.4 million people in need of lifesaving humanitarian assistance and protection services across the war-ravaged Arab nation, as the first nationwide truce in six years, coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, continues to broadly hold.
The UN-led truce between the Saudi-led coalition forces supporting the internationally recognized Government, and Houthi rebels (formally known as Ansar Allah) who hold much of the country including the capital, Sa’ana, began on 2 April, and is due to continue through May.
Refugees and asylum seekers are often used as a political football. I want Westerners to hear their voices directly.
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The UK has announced proposals to resettle asylum seekers in Rwanda | Daniel Chesterton/ PHC Images/ Alamy
21 April 2022 (openDemocracy)* — There are reports of mass graves. There is clear evidence of crimes against humanity. Yet since 2017, more than 90,000 men, women and children have been forced back to Libya – a country run by militias, without a functioning government.
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Apr 27 2022 (IPS)* – Lebanon is perpetually at a crossroads, one where local, regional, and international interests seem to play against each other—all the more so today with the war in Ukraine.
In Lebanon, the impact of the Beirut port blasts, a rapidly weakening local currency and the effects of COVID-19 have sent more people into poverty. Nine out of 10 Syrian refugee families in Lebanon are now living in extreme poverty. Credit: World Food Programme (WFP)
Now, tiny Lebanon, all too familiar with the ripple effects of global conflicts, has been almost completely cut off from its staple food— wheat — which was almost entirely supplied by Russia and Ukraine before the conflict.
(UN News)* — Although the war in Syria may not be making headlines lately, the international community must remain focused on achieving a comprehensive political solution to the conflict, UN Envoy for the country, Geir Pedersen, said on Tuesday [26 April 2022] in his latest briefing to the Security Council in New York.
Recalling that Syria is “a hot conflict, not a frozen one”, he listed some of the threats resulting from the war, including an uptick in airstrikes, intensified clashes in the northeast, “regular incidents between or involving international actors”, as well as terrorism.
“My message today is simple: focus on Syria”, said Mr. Pedersen, speaking from Geneva.
Britain survived as a state by moving its tyranny and violence out of sight. Priti Patel’s plan to send refugees to Rwanda is business as usual.
The UK government has signed a deal to transport asylum seekers arriving in the UK to a processing site in Rwanda | Allstar Picture Library Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo
20 April 2022 (openDemocracy)* — “What do they know of England, who only England know?” was the ode that Rudyard Kipling once sang. His claim was a confession that, if you really needed to know about the structures that govern this island, you shouldn’t look here at all: you should look at India, Jamaica or Nigeria.
(UN News)*— Against the backdrop of shifting population demographics, conflicts, post-pandemic shocks and climate change, the developing world is on the brink of a “perfect storm” of debt, food and energy crises, experts warned the Commission on Population and Development on Monday [25 April 2022].
While sounding the alarm over the planet’s unequal COVID-19 recovery and notable reductions in public spending for youth, older people and other vulnerable populations, officials from across the UN system stressed that this multipronged crisis has a “decidedly female face.”
Zbigniew Brzezinski’s book, The Grand Chessboard, was published 25 years ago. His assumptions and strategies for maintaining ‘U.S. global dominance’ have been hugely influential in US foreign policy.
Rick Sterling
As the conflict in Ukraine evolves, with the potential of escalating into world war, we can see where this policy leads and how crucial it is to re-evaluate.
The Need to Dominate Eurasia
The basic premise of “The Grand Chessboard” is outlined in the introduction:
* With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States is the sole global power
* Europe and Asia (Eurasia) together have the largest land area, population and economy
* U.S. must control Eurasia and prevent another country from challenging US dominance
25 April 2022 (UN News)*— The explosive growth of extractive operations around the world often plays out on indigenous people’s lands without their consent, causing irreparable harm to their livelihoods, cultures, languages and lives, speakers told the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on Monday [25 April 2022], as it opened its 2022 session amid calls to respect their free, prior and informed consent on the existential decisions uprooting their communities.
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UN Photo/Manuel Elías | A view of the UN General Assembly Hall prior to the opening of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII).
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 