• Gazans ‘anxious and living in fear’ of Israeli assault on Rafah, warns top UN aid official
    13 February 2024 | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/02/1146482

    As international efforts continue to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, the head of UNRWA, the UN aid agency for Palestinians, warned on Tuesday that those in the enclave remain deeply traumatised by the war with Israel and afraid of a full-scale assault on Rafah in the south.

    “People are anxious and in fear of a possible large-scale military operation,” Philippe Lazzarini said, after emerging from a briefing with Member States at UN Geneva. “If the assault takes place, the question is, ‘Where will the civilians go?’ There is absolutely no safe place in Rafah anymore and the fear is that the number of people killed and injured might again significantly increase.”

    After more than four months of fighting, sparked by murderous Hamas-led attacks on 7 October in Israel that left some 1,200 people butchered and more than 250 taken hostage, more than 100,000 Gazans have been reported either killed, injured or are missing under the rubble by the local health authority, amid intense Israeli bombardment.
    Sea of displacement

    Mr. Lazzarini insisted that it was unfeasible to expect the more than one million displaced people crammed into Rafah governorate to move once again, so that Israeli forces can continue their sweep for Hamas militants.

    “They are asked to move, the question is where to move,” he said, noting that in Rafah, every spare piece of land over a 20-kilometre stretch was occupied by hundreds of thousands of people living in makeshift plastic shelters.

    Turning to the issue of the serious allegations that some UNRWA staff collaborated with Hamas, the agency chief noted that he had immediately sacked those involved and initiated an investigation. Mr. Lazzarini also called for the cooperation of the Israeli authorities. (...)

  • Israel-Palestine live: Communications blackout as heaviest strikes hit Gaza | Middle East Eye
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-live-gaza-hamas-war-invasion

    Israel says it can’t guarantee the safety of journalists in Gaza
    17 minutes ago [22h40 heure française 27 oct 2023]

    The Israeli military has told Reuters and AFP that it cannot guarantee the safety of their journalists currently working in the besieged Gaza Strip.

    In a letter written to the two international news agencies, the military said it was “targeting all Hamas military activity throughout Gaza” and that its bombardment could cause damage to surrounding buildings.

    “Under these circumstances, we cannot guarantee your employees’ safety, and strongly urge you to take all necessary measures for their safety,” it said.

    In response to the letter, Reuters said in a statement: “The situation on the ground is dire, and the [Israeli military’s] unwillingness to give assurances about the safety of our staff threatens their ability to deliver the news about this conflict without fear of being injured or killed.”

    According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 27 journalists have been killed since the war began (22 Palestinians, four Israelis and one Lebanese).

    #7oct23

  • World food prices drop for fifth consecutive month: FAO | | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/09/1125971

    World food prices have fallen for a fifth consecutive month but are still nearly eight per cent higher than a year ago, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported on Friday.

  • South Sudan: ‘hellish existence’ for women and girls, new UN report reveals | | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1114312

    Widespread sexual violence against women and girls in conflict is being fueled by systemic impunity, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said on Monday.

    The Commission’s new report, based on interviews conducted with victims and witnesses over several years, describes a “hellish existence for women and girls”, with widespread rape being perpetrated by all armed groups across the country.

    According to the UN Commission, sexual violence has been instrumentalized as a reward and entitlement for youth and men participating in conflict.

    The goal is to inflict maximum disruption of the fabric of communities, including through their constant displacement, the report continues.

    Rape is often used as “part of military tactics for which government and military leaders are responsible, either due to their failure to prevent these acts, or for their failure to punish those involved”, the Commission advanced.

    #Guerre #Culture_du_viol #Soudan

  • Yemen: UN agency helping stranded migrants to return home | | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/09/1099262

    Yemen: UN agency helping stranded migrants to return home
    Amid intensifying conflict in Yemen, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is helping nearly 5,000 Ethiopian migrants stranded in the country to return home, the UN agency reported on Tuesday. Some 300 migrants are set to depart for Addis Ababa this week on two IOM-run Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) flights leaving out of the southern port city of Aden, where the internationally-recognized Government is headquartered. The aim is to operate two flights weekly through the end of the year, and to expand to other places such as Ma’rib, where fighting persists between Government forces and the Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis.“Since the start of the pandemic, migrants in Yemen have been pushed even further into the shadows,” said John McCue, Deputy Chief of Mission with IOM Yemen.
    The country has been divided between Government forces, backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, and the Houthis, who hold most of the north, since 2015. More than 670 migrants have voluntarily returned so far this year, but IOM will need $3 million from the international community, and continued support from the Yemeni and Ethiopian authorities, to facilitate the flights.“We call on donors to make more significant contributions to this crucial lifeline which provides thousands of stranded migrants with their only chance to escape a dangerous situation and make their way home,” Mr. McCue said.
    IOM estimates that some 32,000 migrants are stranded in dire conditions in Yemen due to COVID-19 movement restrictions, preventing them from journeying on to Saudi Arabia.The restrictions have also had a knock-on effect on smuggling networks as this route is no longer as lucrative as in the past, meaning groups are adopting alternative ways to exploit migrants to make up for their financial losses.Some migrants are forced to work on farms to pay off their debts, while others are exposed to gender-based violence and abduction for ransom. The majority lack access to water, food, sanitation and healthcare. Many migrants have become increasingly desperate to return home. IOM reported that since May 2020, some 18,200 people have risked their lives taking the perilous sea route to Djibouti or Somalia. Dozens have drowned when overcrowded vessels capsized.
    Of the migrants who have taken VHR flights this year, 20 were under the age of 18. Unaccompanied minors account for more than 10 per cent of new arrivals to Yemen. IOM said the so-called Eastern Corridor – comprising Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen – has some of the highest proportions of children using an irregular migration route.
    Besides arranging the flights to Ethiopia, IOM also offers other support to migrants before they leave Yemen, including counselling and helping them to secure travel documents. IOM also liaises with the authorities in both countries to ensure safe passage and transit.
    When they return home, migrants are temporarily housed at the IOM transit centre in Ethiopia where they are provided with food, essential non-food items, counselling services, and a transport allowance to their final destination. The UN agency also arranges medical and psychological care, as well as family tracing and reunification for unaccompanied migrant children.“Facilitating safe voluntary return of migrants from Yemen remains to be an extremely critical programme, and ought to be accompanied by lasting solutions to irregular migration,” said Malambo Moonga, Head of the Migration Management Unit for IOM Ethiopia.“We continue to appeal for investments in sustainable reintegration of returnees and resilience-building in Ethiopian communities with high rates of irregular migration.”

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#yemen#ethiopie#somalie#djibouti#sante#frontiere#pandemie#retour#migrationirreguliere#OIM#resilience#psychosocial#reintegration#vulnerabilite

  • Deadly shipwreck off Venezuela underscores need for safe migration pathways, protection | | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/04/1090582

    Deadly shipwreck off Venezuela underscores need for safe migration pathways, protection. The latest shipwreck in the Caribbean has highlighted the need for safe migration pathways, particularly in the COVID-19 era when many borders remain closed, two UN agencies said on Monday.
    The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, expressed deep sadness over the deaths of two people after a boat capsized off the coast of Venezuela last Thursday while heading towards Trinidad and Tobago. At least 24 people were on board, according to local authorities. While commercial Venezuelan vessels rescued seven people, operations are ongoing to find survivors among the 15 others who remain unaccounted for.
    “The waters of the Caribbean Sea continue to claim the lives of Venezuelans”, said Eduardo Stein, Joint Special Representative of UNHCR and IOM for Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants. “As the conditions in the country continue to deteriorate – all worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic – people continue to undertake life-threatening journeys.” There are over five million Venezuelan refugees and migrants around the world, and it is estimated that 200,000 are being hosted in the Caribbean.
    The tragedy is the latest of several incidents involving the capsizing of boats carrying Venezuelan refugees and migrants towards Caribbean islands. The most recent was reported near the Venezuelan city of Guiria in December 2020. With land and maritime borders still closed to limit coronavirus transmission, the UN agencies said such journeys are taking place along irregular routes, thus heightening the danger as well as health and protection risks. “Shipwrecks, tragic deaths at border crossings and further suffering are avoidable, but only if immediate and concerted international action is mobilized to find pragmatic solutions that put saving lives and protecting human rights at the forefront of any response”, Mr Stein said. “The establishment of regular and safe pathways, including through humanitarian visas and family reunification, as well as the implementation of protection-sensitive entry systems and adequate reception mechanisms, can prevent the use of irregular routes, smuggling and trafficking.”
    The UN agencies are co-leaders of a platform that coordinates the work of at least 24 partners and governments across the Caribbean to meet the needs of refugees and migrants from Venezuela in the sub-region.

    #Covid-19#migration#migrant#venezuela#trinidadtobago#caraibes#sante#refugie#frontiere#pandemie#vulnerabilite

  • Migrants left stranded and without assistance by COVID-19 lockdowns | | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/04/1089302

    Migrants left stranded and without assistance by COVID-19 lockdowns
    Travel restrictions during the COVID pandemic have been particularly hard on refugees and migrants who move out of necessity, stranding millions from home, the UN migration agency, IOM, said on Thursday. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the first year of the pandemic saw more than 111,000 travel restrictions and border closures around the world at their peak in December. These measures “have thwarted many people’s ability to pursue migration as a tool to escape conflict, economic collapse, environmental disaster and other crises”, IOM maintained. In mid-July, nearly three million people were stranded, sometimes without access to consular assistance, nor the means to meet their basic needs.
    In Panama, the UN agency said that thousands were cut off in the jungle while attempting to travel north to the United States; in Lebanon, migrant workers were affected significantly by the August 2020 explosion in Beirut and the subsequent surge of COVID-19 cases.
    Border closures also prevented displaced people from seeking refuge, IOM maintained, but not business travellers, who “have continued to move fairly freely”, including through agreed ‘green lanes’, such as the one between Singapore and Malaysia. By contrast, those who moved out of necessity - such as migrant workers and refugees – have had to absorb expensive quarantine and self-isolation costs, IOM said, noting that in the first half of 2020, asylum applications fell by one-third, compared to the same period a year earlier. As the COVID crisis continues, this distinction between those who can move and those who cannot, will likely become even more pronounced, IOM said, “between those with the resources and opportunities to move freely, and those whose movement is severely restricted by COVID-19-related or pre-existing travel and visa restrictions and limited resources”. This inequality is even more likely if travel is allowed for anyone who has been vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19, or for those with access to digital health records – an impossibility for many migrants.
    Frontier lockdowns also reduced options for those living in overcrowded camps with high coronavirus infection rates in Bangladesh and Greece, IOM’s report indicated. In South America, meanwhile, many displaced Venezuelans in Colombia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Brazil, lost their livelihoods and some have sought to return home – including by enlisting the services of smugglers

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#sante#IOM#pandemie#restrictionsanitaire#confinement#circulation#frontiere

  • Clarity still needed on effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine passports, says UN health agency | | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/04/1089082

    Clarity still needed on effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine passports, says UN health agency. Many countries around the world are considering developing a COVID-19
    Being vaccinated against COVID-19 may not prevent transmission and vaccination passports may not be an “effective strategy” for restarting travel, the World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned on Tuesday.
    “At this stage, we would not like to see vaccination passports as a requirement for entry or exit because we are not sure at this stage that the vaccine prevents transmissions,” said WHO spokesperson Dr Margaret Harris, just ahead of World Health Day on 7 April 2021.
    Dr. Harris added that vaccine passports may not be an effective strategy as “not everyone has access to vaccines and there are groups in society who are excluded…We are still waiting on adequate supplies to provide the vaccines to all the countries that need them.”Highlighting how COVID-19 has impacted some people more than others, Dr. Harris said that the virus “has really exposed the stark inequities in access to and coverage of health services…Groups who already faced discrimination, poverty, social exclusion, difficult living and working conditions were the hardest hit by the pandemic”.For this year’s World Health Day, the UN agency has urged countries to build a fairer, healthier world post-COVID-19. Dr. Harris called for action to “put in place policies and allocate resources so the most vulnerable groups can see their condition improve faster”.
    This means “improving living conditions for all”, tackling “poverty and health inequities”, building sustainable societies and strong economies, and promoting “a more equitable sharing of resources, ensuring food security and nutrition” and turning “the tide on climate change”. There is so much work to do”, she said.Latest WHO data from Tuesday 6 March at the time of posting, indicates that there have been 131,309,792 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 2,854,276 deaths globally, reported to WHO.
    By the end of 5 April, a total of 604,032,357 vaccine doses have been administered. Regionally, infections and deaths remain highest in the Americas, with 56,880,123 million confirmed cases, followed by Europe (46,085,310 million), South-East Asia (15,438,907), Eastern Mediterranean (7,785,717), Africa (3,126,037) and Western Pacific (1,992,953).

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#sante#passeportvaccinal#OMS#vaccination#inclusion#equite#vulnerabilite

  • 20 die after human traffickers force migrants into sea en route to Yemen | | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/03/1086392

    20 die after human traffickers force migrants into sea en route to Yemen
    [Migrants rescued from a vessel off the coast of Djibouti are accommodated at a rescue centre. At least 20 people have drowned after smugglers threw dozens of migrants overboard as they sailed from Djibouti to Yemen, UN migration agency IOM said on Thursday.This is the third such incident in the Gulf of Aden in the last six months, according to the International Organization for Migration, which said that survivors are receiving medical treatment in the port town of Obock, Djibouti.“Wednesday’s tragedy is further proof that criminals continue to exploit people desperate to improve their lives for profit regardless of the consequences”, said IOM Djibouti Chief of Mission, Stephanie Daviot. She called for smugglers and human traffickers to be prosecuted, before appealing for the creation of legal migration pathways, “to allow people to pursue work opportunities abroad” without having to risk their lives.
    At least 200 migrants including children were crowded onto the vessel when it departed, according to reports.Thirty minutes into the journey, smugglers forced around 80 people into the sea. Five bodies have already been recovered. Every year, tens of thousands of mainly young east African migrants make the dangerous journey from countries such as Somalia and Ethiopia to Djibouti and on to war-torn Yemen, in search of work in the Gulf countries further north. In 2019, IOM said that roughly 138,000 people made the journey in 2019, compared with 37,500 in 2020 – evidence of the impact of movement restrictions prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
    In January this year, more than 2,500 migrants reached Yemen from Djibouti, and the UN agency has expressed concerns that more migrants will cross when coronavirus transmission measures are lifted, raising the prospect of future tragedies.In Yemen, thousands of migrants are believed to be stranded and many face “extreme danger, exploitation and abuse in both Djibouti and Yemen”, according to IOM.It noted that staff continue to provide emergency medical care, food, water and counselling to stranded migrants.In August 2020, IOM launched a $84 million appeal to respond to the needs of migrants on the Horn of Africa and Yemen, including Djibouti.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#djibouti#yemen#somalie#ethiopie#cornedelafrique#sante#mortalite#trafic#droit#refugie#vulnerabilite#parcoursmigratoire

  • UN agencies begin registering asylum seekers at US-Mexico border | | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/02/1085642

    According to the agencies involved, an initial group could be allowed to enter the US this week, pending approval by authorities there. In a joint news release, the UN agencies said that the US and Mexican governments prioritized the Matamoros camp due to the difficult humanitarian conditions there. Other individuals with active MPP cases living outside the Matamoros camp will also be processed, they added. An estimated 25,000 applicants being processed in the US, were returned to Mexico under the policy known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). After the policy was terminated, a first group with active MPP cases entered the US on 19 February at the San Ysidro port of entry between Tijuana (Mexico) and San Diego (US).
    The UN agencies involved in the exercise – the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) – are conducting in-person registrations, ensuring humane treatment of children and their families, and carrying out COVID-19 tests.
    In coordination with US authorities, UNHCR launched a website on 19 February for people with active MPP cases to pre-register. About 12,000 people signed up in the first three days of operation. The website is supplemented by alternative registration channels including email, social media, and telephone. Similarly, in addition to conducting COVID-19 testing, IOM is coordinating transportation to the designated ports of entry. UNICEF is offering support for the most vulnerable child protection cases, and providing information to families and children. Similarly, partner organizations the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Mexican Red Cross are offering free telephone calls to allow asylum-seekers to maintain contact with their families before crossing into the US.
    The UN agencies also noted that according to the new US policy, all persons with active cases under the MPP programme will be able to enter the country to continue their immigration proceedings and lodge asylum claims.
    They clarified that the dates and points of entry to the United States for persons who have already completed registration are determined by the US government. “All individuals who qualify will be processed based upon the order determined by the US and not based on the date when they pre-register with UNHCR using the website or the hotline”, they added.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#etatsunis#mexique#sante#asile#politiquemigratoire#depistage#famille#vulnerabilite

  • COVID-19 impact exposes millions to the risk of trafficking, UN agency says | | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/02/1083542

    Migrants and people without jobs were among the groups most targeted by human traffickers, UNODC added, warning that the economic fallout and job losses due to the coronavirus pandemic have exposed millions more to the risk. “Millions of women, children and men worldwide are out of work, out of school and without social support in the continuing COVID-19 crisis, leaving them at greater risk of human trafficking”, Ghada Waly, UNODC Executive Director, said in news release announcing the findings from the agency’s report on human trafficking. UNODC’s Global Report on Trafficking in Person report found that traffickers integrated technology into their modus operandi at every stage of the process: from recruiting to exploiting victims. Children were especially vulnerable on social media, where many were “easy targets” for criminals. UNODC identified two types of tactics employed by traffickers: “hunting” or actively pursuing a victim, typically on social media; and “fishing”, when perpetrators post job advertisements and wait for potential victims to respond.
    The Internet also allowed traffickers to live stream the exploitation of their victims, enabling the simultaneous abuse of one victim by many perpetrators around the globe, said the UN agency. The share of children among trafficking victims tripled over the past 15 years, with girls mainly trafficked for sexual exploitation, while boys were used for forced labour, the report said. It added that while female victims continued to be the primary targets for trafficking in persons, the share of adult women among detected victims fell from more than 70 per cent to less than 50 per cent, over the same time period. For every 10 victims detected globally in 2018, about five were adult women and two were young girls. Around 20 per cent of human trafficking victims were adult men and 15 per cent, young boys, the report added. The report also found that globally, most persons prosecuted and convicted of trafficking in persons were male, accounting for 64 and 62 per cent, respectively. Offenders ranged from members of organized crime groups (which traffic the great majority of victims), to individuals operating on their own or in small groups on an opportunistic basis. Traffickers saw their victims as “commodities” without regard for human dignity and rights, the report said, noting that they would “sell” fellow human beings for a price ranging from tens of dollars to tens of thousands, with large criminal organizations making the highest incomes.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#sante#violence#traite#traffic#vulnerabilite#mineur#femme#droit

  • Decade of conflict triggering ‘slow tsunami’ across Syria, Security Council hears | | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/01/1082592

    “Today, millions inside the country and the millions of refugees outside, are grappling with deep trauma, grinding poverty, personal insecurity, and lack of hope for the future”, Special Envoy Geir Pedersen said via video link.
    Ten years of death, displacement, destruction and destitution “on a massive scale”, have left millions of Syrians grappling with “deep trauma, grinding poverty, personal insecurity and lack of hope for the future”, he added.
    He cited the UN humanitarian office, OCHA, in saying that more than eight in 10 people are living in poverty, and the World Food Programme (WFP) has assessed that 9.3 million are food insecure. And with rising inflation and fuel shortages, he expects that the authorities will be unable to provide basic services and goods. The pandemic is also continuing to take its toll.
    “Syrians are suffering”, the UN official said, speaking out against economic sanctions that would worsen the plight of Syrians. “A torn society faces further unraveling of its social fabric, sowing the seeds for more suffering and even more instability”, he warned. Civilians continue to be killed in crossfire and IED attacks while facing dangers ranging “from instability, arbitrary detention and abduction, to criminality and the activities of UN-listed terrorist groups”, said the UN envoy. “The political process is not as yet delivering real changes in Syrian’s lives nor a real vision for the future”, he said, pointing to the need for confidence-building steps, such as unhindered humanitarian access; information on and access to detainees; and a nationwide ceasefire. He called for “more serious and cooperative international diplomacy” and urged States to build on common interests, including stability, counter-terrorism and preventing further conflict that “could unlock genuine progress and could chart a safe and secure path out of this crisis for all Syrians”. Mr. Pedersen flagged that, depending on COVID, the Syrian-led, Syrian-owned, UN-facilitated Constitutional Committee will convene in Geneva next week. “We need to ensure that the Committee begins to move from ‘preparing’ a constitutional reform to ‘drafting’ one, as it is mandated to do”, he spelled out.
    UN Humanitarian Coordinator Mark Lowcock, spoke of “historically high levels” of food prices and the “drastically” declining value of Syria’s currency that have together driven food insecurity. “As a result of decreased purchasing power, over 80 per cent of households report relying on negative coping mechanisms to afford food”, he told ambassadors. Also of grave concern is the continuing economic crisis that has created fuel shortages and power cuts during winter, and a rising dependency on child labor. Furthermore, harsh weather has sparked widespread flooding, forcing Syrians to “spend entire nights standing up in their tents due to rising flood waters”, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator said. As the COVID pandemic compounds the economic crisis, he said that amidst limited testing, “there are indications that Syria may be experiencing a renewed wave of infections”. Turning to desperate conditions at the notorious Al Hol refugee camp, the UN official stressed that security must be provided without endangering residents, violating their rights or restricting humanitarian access. He reminded that most of the 62,000 people there are younger than 12, and “growing up in unacceptable conditions”. Stressing the UN’s focus on life-saving humanitarian needs, Mr. Lowcock said the Organization was committed to assisting but required “adequate funding, improved access, and an end to the violence that has tormented Syrians for nearly a decade”.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#syrie#refugie#personnedeplacee#camp#sante#crise#vulnerabilite#sante

  • First Person: Cheese proves key to survival for Syrian refugee family amid pandemic | | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/01/1082262

    Syrian refugee Fatima Hussein Al Ahmad, a mother of four, lives on a farm with 50 other workers in Sahba, Jordan. COVID-19 travel restrictions meant that didn’t work for two months in 2020, and feeding her family became a daily struggle.

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#jordanie#syrie#sante#alimentation#vulnerabilite#economie

  • The virus that shut down the world: The plight of refugees and migrants | | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/12/1080742

    In part four of our review of the global impact of COVID-19, UN News considers the new challenges faced by refugees and migrants during 2020; from a heightened risk of catching the COVID-19 virus in crowded camps, to being stranded due to travel restrictions, and becoming the targets of criminal gangs.“We fled from home to save our lives, to escape war, and now we are faced with this new coronavirus”, said Rozhan, an Iraqi refugee who made a long and arduous journey to the European country of Bosnia-Herzegovina, with her husband, Ibrahim, and their three children. En route, the family dealt with being stopped, searched and detained, as well as cold and hazardous winter weather.By April they were sheltering in a camp run by the UN migration agency (IOM), where they became aware of coronavirus. “Everyone was talking about it, and there were posters explaining how we should protect ourselves.”IOM worked hard to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among people in its centres, installing sanitizer stations, educating staff and residents about safety, and closing community kitchens, to avoid large gatherings. Despite the fresh disruption to their lives, Rozhan and her family said that they understood why the new measures are necessary. “We are safe here”, she said

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#sante#protection#iom#violence#vulnerabilite

  • Pandemic curbs trend towards ever-increasing migration | | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/01/1082222

    Travel restrictions and other curbs to movement put in place in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, have put a significant dent in migration figures, but the overall trend shows 100 million more people living outside their countries of origin in 2020, compared to the year 2000, a new UN report revealed on Friday.International Migration 2020 Highlights, published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), shows that the pandemic may have slowed migration flows by around two million people last year, cutting the annual growth expected since mid-2019 by around 27 per cent.Since the year 2000, however, there has been a major increase in migration. That year some 173 million people lived outside of their countries of origin. Twenty years later, that figure had risen to 281 million.
    In a statement, Liu Zhenmin, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said “The report affirms that migration is a part of today’s globalized world and shows how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the livelihoods of millions of migrants and their families, and undermined progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.”

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#pandemie#restrictionsanitaire#frontiere#fluxmigratoire#sante

  • COVID-19: Support to frontline workers part of UN response in Brazil | | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/12/1080672

    More than 7.2 million cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Brazil, according to latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO). As of Tuesday, there were more than 76 million cases globally, with 1.7 million deaths. WHO and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are working with the Brazilian authorities on a campaign to highlight the importance of general immunization for young people, Mr. Dujarric told journalists. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has provided more than 100,000 items of protective equipment, “to boost the safety of frontline workers supporting vulnerable communities in rural areas and the Amazon, while the International Organization for Migration (IOM) continued providing cleaning supplies, COVID-19 testing support and free general consultation for migrants and refugees from Venezuela”, he said. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA), together with the embassies of the Netherlands and Canada, are also facilitating protection services for women and victims of violence, especially during the crisis. “At the same time, UNICEF is providing mental health counselling and support to young people in Brazil, as well as human rights training for indigenous community leaders to combat sexual violence, alcoholism and child labour”, Mr. Dujarric added. Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and partners are providing vocational training on starting a business in Brazil, for refugees and migrant entrepreneurs. They are also supporting Venezuelan refugees with cash-based assistanc

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#bresil#venezuela#sante#santementale#refugie#vulnerabilite

  • Refugee resettlement numbers fall to lowest in two decades : UNHCR

    Refugee resettlement numbers will be at a “record low” this year, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Wednesday, with only 15,425 people resettled in the first nine months of 2020, compared to more than 50,000 in 2019.

    In 2016, resettlement numbers globally stood at 126,291, according to agency figures. “Current rates point to one of the lowest levels of resettlement witnessed in almost two decades. This is a blow for refugee protection and for the ability to save lives and protect those most at risk”, said UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs.

    Syrians have been resettled in the biggest numbers so far this year (41 per cent) followed by refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (16 per cent).

    Of more than 15,000 people resettled between January and September, three in 10 were survivors of violence or torture.
    Undeniably vulmerable

    Other individuals have come from Iraq, Myanmar and Afghanistan and “most had legal and physical protection needs, were survivors of violence or torture or were women and children at risk”, UNHCR said.

    Although the COVID-19 crisis has caused delays in the number of vulnerable people being moved to a third country as some States have put a temporary freeze on resettlement, Ms. Triggs highlighted that the 50,000 quota for the whole year was “disappointingly low” in the first place.
    Libyan emergency

    Specifically, the pandemic had “put on hold” the life-saving evacuation of refugees from Libya on 12 March, with resettlement only restarting on 15 October.

    “Some 280 refugees who were previously evacuated to emergency transit facilities in Niger and Rwanda are currently waiting to depart to resettlement countries, while 354 people are waiting for decisions from resettlement countries”, the agency noted.

    More positively, UNHCR noted that refugees affected by the Beirut port explosion in August were prioritised for resettlement by several countries, once lockdown measures were lifted. In total, 1,027 refugees departed from Lebanon to nine resettlement countries between August and September.

    Throughout the year, UNHCR staff identified, processed and submitted resettlement files for more than 31,000 refugees from around 50 countries.

    With only half of that number successfully resettled so far this year, it has urged countries to take in as many refugees as possible now, so that those in need of international protection do not lose their place in next year’s quota.
    Legal pathways

    “Expanding safe and legal pathways to protection, including through resettlement, saves refugees’ lives and it can also mitigate their resort to dangerous journeys by land or sea,” Ms. Triggs said.

    Resettlement is the transfer of refugees from an asylum country to another State that has agreed to admit them and grant the permanent right to stay.

    In a call for more countries to join the Global Compact on Refugees that was affirmed by the UN General Assembly in 2018, UNHCR highlighted the programme’s twin aims of providing better protection for refugees and support for countries that host large refugee populations.

    UNHCR is mandated by its Statute and the UN General Assembly to undertake resettlement. There were 20.4 million refugees of concern to UNHCR around the world at the end of 2019 and but fewer than one per cent of refugees are resettled each year.

    Of the 1.4 million people requiring resettlement, Africa has the greatest needs (667,432), followed by Europe (420,000), the Middle East and North Africa region (249,705), Asia/Pacific (98,281) and the Americas (4,990).

    https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/11/1078052

    #réinstallation #asile #migrations #réfugiés #2020 #HCR

    –—

    statistiques 2019 :
    https://seenthis.net/messages/801803

    ping @isskein @karine4

  • Le calvaire des femmes incarcérées pendant la pandémie de COVID-19 – Prison Insider
    https://www.prison-insider.com/articles/le-calvaire-des-femmes-incarcerees-pendant-la-pandemie-de-covid-19

    Peu de données sont disponibles sur les femmes en prison.
    https://fr.globalvoices.org/2020/10/21/256652

    Lorsque le #Covid-19 a fait son apparition dans les #prisons du monde entier, il a atteint des endroits surpeuplés, insalubres et oubliés, où les femmes constituent la minorité et doivent faire face à des risques spécifiques. Les femmes représentent environ 2 à 10 % de la population carcérale dans le monde, mais leur nombre augmente plus rapidement que celui des hommes.

    Pourtant, les femmes sont rarement représentées dans les données ventilées par genre. Elles sont rarement mentionnées dans les médias, voire pas du tout. Il existe par exemple des rapports sur la propagation du COVID-19 en prison. Mais le public ne sait pas si les #femmes_incarcérées font partie de cette population affectée.

    https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/07/1068471

  • UN agency for Palestine refugees runs out of money as COVID-19 spreads | | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/11/1077332

    “Despite the immense efforts to raise sufficient funds in 2020 to maintain UNRWA’s critical services to 5.7 million Palestinian refugees across the Middle East, as of yesterday November 9, UNRWA has run out of money”, Ms. Alrifai said.“If we do not have additional funding by the end of this month, November, then we will have to enact really disheartening measures that will affect the salaries of our frontline 28,000 UNRWA staff, in the middle of a global health emergency.”The number of refugees who have contracted COVID-19 has jumped from fewer than 200 in July to nearly 17,000 as of this week, she said. The situation partly reflected the situation in the countries the refugees were in, and numbers had risen across the region. UNRWA had put measures in place to slow the spread of the virus, including giving medical consultations by phone, delivering humanitarian assistance to avoid overcrowding at distribution centres, and blending school with remote learning. But respect for lockdown measures had increasingly given way to pressure on people to leave home in search of a daily wag

    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#palestien#refugie#camp#confinement#accessante

  • FROM THE FIELD: coping with COVID in refugee camps | | UN News
    https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/11/1076962


    Physical distancing, handwashing with soap, wearing masks: these are some of the most basic, recommendations for slowing the spread of COVID-19, but for many refugees, and other displaced people, they can be very difficult to follow.
    #Covid-19#migrant#migration#afrique#refugie#demandeurdasile#mesuresanitaire#sante#camp