Archive for ‘War Lords’

18/12/2020

Integral to Societies, ‘Migrants Must Remain Central to COVID-19 Recovery’

Human Wrongs Watch

18 December 2020 — (UN News)* — The United Nations is commemorating International Migrants Day, on Friday [18 December 2020], highlighting their contributions to societies globally, and underlining the need to ensure that they remain central to the recovery from COVID-19. 

UN Women/Pornvit Visitoran | Women migrant workers at a ceramics factory in northern Thailand. As part of the labour force, migrant workers support local businesses and also communities back home.
 
In a message, Secretary-General António Guterres said that in the midst of the global pandemic, societies have come to appreciate their dependence on migrants “who are too often invisible within our communities.” 
 
17/12/2020

The Ten Uncommandments

Respect thy food providers, Lakshmi Narasimha & Matyalamma, Kondakindapalli village, Southern India © Ashish Kothari
Respect thy food providers, Lakshmi Narasimha & Matyalamma, Kondakindapalli village, Southern India © Ashish Kothari | Image from Wall Street International.

1. Thou shall not centralize power

We are born with power inherent in us. Why cede it to governments (capitalist, socialist, royal, and whatever other brand)? Why forever run after parties, however revolutionary, thinking they will do the right thing when in power… when we know from experience this is usually not the case?

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17/12/2020

Ethics for the Future

Human Wrongs Watch

By John Scales Avery – TRANSCEND Media Service*

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John Scales Avery

Cultural Evolution

In all terrestrial organisms, information is transmitted between generations by means of the genetic code; and genetic evolution takes place through natural selection acting on modifications of this code.

In human cultural evolution, information is also transmitted between generations by means of language and writing.

This second mode of evolution gave our species enormous adaptive advantages. While genetic changes are random and slow, cultural changes are purposeful and rapid.

For example, when our ancestors moved out of Africa and spread over Europe and Asia, they did not adapt to the colder climate by growing long fur, but instead invented clothing.

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16/12/2020

‘All Migrants Are Entitled to Equal Protection of All Their Human Rights’

A family walks faces an uncertain future after dozens of refugees and migrants were rescued by an Italian coastguard vessel and landed at the port of Augusta after their own ship was sinking in the Mediterranean sea in 2015. They had been trying to reach. PHOTO:UNHCR/Francesco Malavolta

16 December 2020 (United Nations)* — Throughout human history, migration has been a courageous expression of the individual’s will to overcome adversity and to live a better life. Today, globalization, together with advances in communications and transportation, has greatly increased the number of people, who have the desire and the capacity to move to other places.
16/12/2020

Who Is a Refugee?

Human Wrongs Watch

© UNHCR/A. Zavallis | A volunteer life-guard helps a young girl out of the sea after the boat she used along with her family and other Afghan refugees to cross part of the Aegean from the coast of Turkey to Lesbos towards the end of 2015 crashed on a rock off the island’s coast.

(United Nations)* — The world is witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record. An unprecedented 70.8 million people around the world have been forced from home by conflict and persecution at the end of 2018. Among them are nearly 30 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18. There are also millions of stateless people, who have been denied a nationality and access to basic rights such as education, healthcare, employment and freedom of movement. People fleeing persecution and conflict have been granted asylum in foreign lands for thousands of years.

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16/12/2020

Who Is a Migrant?

Human Wrongs Watch

16 December 2020 (United Nations)* — Since the earliest times, humanity has been on the move. Some people move in search of work or economic opportunities, to join family, or to study. Others move to escape conflict, persecution, terrorism, or human rights violations. Still others move in response to the adverse effects of climate change, natural disasters, or other environmental factors.

Raber Y. Aziz/UN Migration Agency | Migrant women at work in the “Hopeful Hands” sewing factory started by two Iraqi women in Canada.

Today, more people than ever live in a country other than the one in which they were born. In 2019, the number of migrants globally reached an estimated 272 million, 51 million more than in 2010.

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16/12/2020

A Dream for a Bright Future Sinks in the Mediterranean Sea 

16 December 2020 (IOM)* — Twenty-eight-year-old Roam Khot sits in his small corner shop, in South Sudan’s capital, Juba. Shoppers trickle in, one by one.

He gladly asks us to enter the shop and take a seat.

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Roam Khot, de 28 años en su pequeño negocio en Juba. © Nabie Loyce / OIM 2020

Roam has gone through a rough time in his struggles for a better life and future. In 2017, he left South Sudan for Egypt with the hope of starting a new life there after losing both his parents.

“I decided to leave South Sudan because I wanted a better life, better education, and I knew I would not get this here, as the country was still reeling from years of civil war,” he says.

Roam, together with his friend Abraham Puok, packed a bag of clothes each, took their modest savings and embarked on a journey to Egypt, leaving behind everything they knew.

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16/12/2020

‘Put Me Out of a Job’ by Addressing the Root Causes that Drive Millions to Flee Their Homes Due to War and Insecurity – UN Refugee Agency Chief

Human Wrongs Watch

15 December 2020 (UN News)* — The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has challenged world leaders to put him “out of a job” by addressing the root causes that drive millions to flee their homes due to war and insecurity.

UNICEF/Enri Canaj Magnum Photos | Refugees cook food and charge mobile phones at a temporary site after a fire destroyed the main camp at Moria, in Lesvos island, Greece.

In a message commemorating the 70th anniversary of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), High Commissioner Filippo Grandi called on the international community “to build a world in which there is truly no need for a UN refugee agency because nobody is compelled to flee.”

“Don’t get me wrong: as matters stand, our work is crucial”, he continued, “yet the paradox is that we ought not to exist. If we find ourselves observing many more birthdays, the only conclusion will be that the international community has failed.”

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16/12/2020

The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene

Human Wrongs Watch

Many scientists believe that for the first time, instead of the planet shaping humans, humans are knowingly shaping the planet. This is the Anthropocene – the Age of Humans – a new geologic epoch.

7Taking the Earth for granted. Photo from UNDP.

15 December 2020 (UNDP)* — Thirty years ago, UNDP created a new way to conceive and measure progress. Instead of using growth in GDP as the sole measure of development, we ranked the world’s countries by their human development: by whether people in each country have the freedom and opportunity to live the lives they value.

15/12/2020

Drop in Remittances -A Financial Lifeline for 800 Million People- Could Impact Financial Stability of Numerous Countries

Human Wrongs Watch

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UNITED NATIONS, Dec 9 2020 (IPS)* – On Dec. 2 Gabriel Arias, 42, left a Washington Heights, New York, money transfer agency after sending money home to the Dominican Republic. For the past eight years, every fortnight he would come to this branch at 171st street after getting paid from his construction job. But things are different this year and he worries about his family back home.

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A landmark United Nations report is calling on governments to declare remittance transfer an essential service. Photo by Christine Roy on Unsplash

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