An ailing 85-year-old surrounded by her family in a camp for people displaced by floods in Balochistan, Pakistan. The elderly are especially vulnerable to water-borne diseases associated with flooding (photo, ©2011 UNHCR / D Khan, September 2010)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The numbers alone are daunting: 43.7 million displaced persons worldwide, of which 15.4m are refugees, 27.5m are internally displaced refugees and nearly 850,000 are asylum seekers, with one-fifth of asylum seekers in South Africa alone.
The world’s 49 least developed countries hosted some 2 million refugees last year.
Just under 100,000 refugees were admitted for resettlement in 2010, by 22 countries. The United States accounted for 71,000 of these.
The figures are part of the “UNHCR Global Trends 2010″ (2.7 MB pdf) published 20 June to mark World Refugees Day.
The numbers don’t yet include refugees from 2011 conflicts in Cote d’Ivoire, Syria and Libya, among others.
The imbalance in how the world supports refugees, or people who are forcibly displaced, is equally stark and marks this year’s report, says the UN High Commissioner for Refugees agency, based in Geneva: “Pakistan, Iran, and Syria have the largest refugee populations at 1.9 million, 1.1 million, and 1 million respectively. Pakistan also has the biggest economic impact with 710 refugees for each dollar of its per capita GDP (PPP) followed by Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya with 475 and 247 refugees respectively. By comparison Germany, the industrialized country with the largest refugee population (594,000 people), has 17 refugees for each dollar of per capita GDP.”
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Drawn-out wars taking their toll
Roughly one-quarter of the 15.4m refugees are registered with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. The UNHCR says that of those under its care, 7.2m or about one-third, have been stuck in a refugee situation for more than five years, mainly due to drawn-out wars.
Within view of the Itombwe Massif, a convoy of UNHCR trucks carries Burundian refugees home after years of exile in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (photo, ©2011 UNHCR / M Hofer, December 2010)
The figure is the highest since 2001 and at the same time the lowest number since 1990 have been able to return home, fewer than 200,000.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, comments bluntly that “Fears about supposed floods of refugees in industrialized countries are being vastly overblown or mistakenly conflated with issues of migration. Meanwhile it’s poorer countries that are left having to pick up the burden.”
Some people have been refugees for up to 30 years, with Afghanistan a notable case in point. Afghans were one-third of the world’s refugees in 2001, as they were a decade later, at the start of 2011.
60th anniversary for UNHCR shows dramatic changes
A woman returns to the ruins of her home after violence strikes southern Kyrgyzstan (photo, ©2011 UNHCR / S Schulman, June 2010)
The UNHCR will celebrate the 60th anniversary of its founding in July 2011 and the report notes that the picture today is “of a dratically changed protection environment”. The organization’s early “caseload was 2.1 million Europeans, uprooted by World War Two. Today, UNHCR’s work extends to more than 120 countries and encompasses people forced to flee across borders as well as those in flight within their own countries.”
Two relatively recent developments have been the huge growth in numbers of internally displaced persons and the growing number of stateless persons, or “people lacking the basic safety-net of a nationality”, says the Geneva group, which plans to highlight this group during 2011.
“The number of countries reporting stateless populations has increased steadily since 2004, but differences in definitions and methodologies still prevent reliable measurement of the problem. In 2010, the reported number of stateless people (3.5 million) was nearly half of that in 2009, but mainly due to methodological changes in some countries that supply data. Unofficial estimates put the global number closer to 12 million.”
Actress Angelina Jolie to help tell individual stories for 60th anniversary
The UNHCR’s Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie is helping draw attention to refugees’ stories in a series of videos, including one released 18 June of her visit to Syrian refugees in Turkey. The videos are part of the organization’s efforts to draw attention to refugees by recounting individuals’ stories.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The United Nations Security Council Wednesday debated a draft resolution that France and the UK presented condemning Syria’s actions against protesters, but the resolution does not appear to have Chinese and Russian support. It stops short of sanctions and military action, but the two have said they fear destabilizing a key Middle Eastern country. The resolution comes on the heels of a bloody weekend, where 120 police and army troops were killed.
Turkey has opened its arms to Syrian refugees fleeing the northern town of Jisr al-Shughur, where the killings took place, as residents fear government reprisals. Xinhua news agency carries a story picked up from Syrian agency Sana that says the Syrian government has begun a “delicate” operation designed to avoid casualties, in the city, following the deaths.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland’s extended list of individuals from Syria, including President Bashar Al-Assad, whose assets are being blocked, is effective today, Wednesday 25 May. The government yesterday said it was expanding its 18 May list of people whose assets are frozen and who cannot travel to or through Switzerland, from 13 to 18.
The president is now listed, along with Mahir (or Maher) Al-Assad, as the mastermind of the repression against Syrian protesters, but he is also named as the organizer.
The four others added to the sanctions list are all accused of aiding repression:
Munzir Al-Assad, born 1961 (correction to earlier spelling)
Asif Shawkat, born 1950
Hisham Ikhtiyar, born 1941
Faruq Al Shar’, born 1938
Muhammad Nasif Khayrbik, born 1937
European Union reacts to news of 11 more civilian deaths by Syrian forces
Protesters across Syria took to the streets, calling for President Bashar al-Assad’s resignation Friday, after prayers, and security forces reacted with force, killing 11 more people, according to human rights activists. The European Union, which has been threatening financial sanctions, “agreed today to impose asset freezes and travel restrictions against Syrian officials responsible for the violent repression, which rights campaigners say has killed more than 560 people,” reports the Irish Times.
Details of who is affected by the sanctions and what assets are being blocked were not announced immediately by the EU but news agency AFP says it was told 13 officials are affected, but not the Syrian president, and that the freeze will be reviewed Monday.
Links to other sites: BBC, Guardian, Le Monde (Fr)
Troops in Syria reportedly gained control of the city of Banias, on the coast, Tuesday 3 May, as the Syrian government clampdown on protesters continues. The National Organization of Human Rights in Syria says a new wave of arrests has involved 1,000 people, with Banias mostly sealed off by the army and security forces. Government troops last week took over Deraa, in the south, where the uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad began in mid-March. The Assad family has ruled in Syria for 41 years.
European leaders Tuesday and Wednesday morning began stepping up calls to for sanctions against Libya, while a US State Department spokesperson called the actions of the Syrian government “barbaric”.
Links to other sites: Guardian, newsfromsyria, Radio Free Europe
Escalating violence by Syrian government against its citizens drawing sharp rebukes
(video) Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The United States Wednesday 27 April in Geneva initiated a special session of the Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Syria. France announced that it has called in the Syrian ambassador for an explanation of his government’s attacks on its own citizens, along with four other European governments: Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Late Wednesday news agencies received a statement that 30 members of the ruling Baath party in the city of Banias, scene of protests, have resigned over deaths this week and the violence used on protesters.
Syria was accused by US ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, representative to the UNHRC in Geneva, of “the killing of hundreds of civilians in connection with peaceful political protests last week.” Donahoe stated, in initiating the special session, that “we strongly condemn the killing, arrest and torture of hundreds of Syrians by the Syrian authorities. It is entirely appropriate that the Human Rights Council condemn willful government violence against peaceful political protestors. At the Special Session we expect Human Rights Council members to call on the government of Syria to meet its responsibility to protect its population and stop these attacks.”
The United Nations agency for children affairs, Unicef, appealed for a ceasefire in Lybia saying at least 20 children had been killed in attacks by government forces.
Anthony Lake, Unicef’s Executive Director said at least 20 children have been killed and countless others have been injured in the city of Misrata in Libya.
“Reports of the use of cluster munitions are particularly alarming,” saysLake.
According to Unicef, the situation is also critical in Yemen, where at least 26 children have been killed and more than 800 have been injured since early February.
In Syria, Unicef reports,nine children were killed and many injured over the last few weeks.
Links: Unicef, GenevaLunch
Protests that the Syrian government has vowed to put down turned violent late Monday when government forces reportedly opened fire on a crowd in a square in Homs, the country’s third largest city. Thousands of protesters have occupied the square, saying they will not leave until President Assad’s regime is brought down.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reportedly accepted the resignation of his government Tuesday as new waves of protests rocked the country. At least 37 people have died in protests in the past week, according to the UN in Geneva. The president’s office says he will make what it calls “an important speech” Wednesday 30 March.
Accurate numbers are hard to come by Thursday evening, but it appears that scores of people have died in Syria in the latest outbreak of protests in a Middle Eastern country. Thousands are reported by the Guardian to have taken to the streets in Daraa where the funerals were held of nine people killed by the military. Human rights activists say up to 100 people may have been killed when government troops fired on a mosque, but the figures have not been confirmed independently.
President Bashar al-Assad has offered concessions to protesters, who have been sporadically organizing protests in recent weeks. But the initial response has been to reject them as not meeting the demands of people for greater freedom of expression and for emergency laws to be scrapped, according to Reuters.
Background, Al Jazeera
Violent winds and freezing rain wreaked havoc in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and Egypt 11 and 12 December, as fishing boats were smashed by 10m waves along the Lebanese coast, small planes were tossed about at area airports, and sandstorms blew over Egypt. A Moldovan freighter sank off the coast of Israel but all 11 crew members were rescued. In northern Lebanon a woman was crushed in her car by a falling tree and Egyptian authorities blamed the storm on the collapse of a factory, which killed three workers.
The heavy rains turned to snow in the mountains along the coast, trapping drivers in their cars, and shipping through the Suez Canal was disrupted as most Egyptian ports were closed due to the heavy winds.
Links to other sites: Al-Jazeera, NPR
India, Algeria, China, Venezuela, Malaysia and Syria are the main customers for the Russian arms industry, which expects to see a 12 percent increase in international sales in 2010, to $9.5 billion. Vietnam also recently became a client, ordering submarines, aircraft and “other military hardware”, reports Russian news agency Ria Novosti. Russia’s main competitors are China, Germany and the US.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Nearly 200,000 Iraqis who live outside their country as displaced persons, but in the region, could have help from the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) to vote in upcoming elections. The Geneva-based organization has told the Iraqi Election Commission (IHEC), in response to a demand it made, that the UNHCR “stands ready to facilitate the participation of Iraqi refugees living in the countries neighbouring Iraq.”
The UNHCR will work with the government to provide demographic data on the registered Iraqis, inform them of their rights for the elections, and provide logistical support. The organization calls the 7 March elections “a major opportunity to consolidate national reconciliation.”
Albert, 22, holding his one-month-old daughter, Adriana, wanted to be a physician, but had to start working at a construction site because his mother needed medical care as a result of the displacement (photo: ©2009 Zalmai/UNHCR).
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Half of the world’s 10.5 million official refugees now live in cities, according to the United Nation’s High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), António Guterres. And twice as many internally displaced persons and “returnees” who have come home from abroad following conflicts, are living in urban areas. Guterres’s statement was made ahead of the 9 December UNHCR annual meeting called the High Commissioner’s Dialogue, which this year will focus on “protection challenges in the context of urbanization.” The meeting is designed to underscore that while the rest of the world tends to think of refugees in terms of camps, the reality for many is very different.
The movement to cities of refugees and people displaced internally by conflict is in parallel with a general movement towards urban areas throughout the world, but it puts added strains on resources that are often already in short supply. Most live in overcrowded shantytowns with little or no health care or social services, the UNHCR says its experience on the ground shows. They are often reluctant to register and try to remain invisible for fear of deportation, and they get by as part of the informal economy, which leaves them open to exploitation, the Geneva-based organization says.
Update 18:10 Syrian Interior Minister Said Mohammad Sammour has said on Syrian state television that there was no bomb and that the explosion was due to overinflated tires on the bus, Al-Jazeera reports. He categorically denied that the incident was terrorist-related.
A bomb has gone off in the centre of Damascus, Syria, Thursday morning 3 December, killing several people. The number of dead has not yet been confirmed by Syrian authorities, but the country’s interior minister, Said Mohammad Sammour, told a Lebanese TV station that it appears to have targeted Iranian pilgrims. Initial media reports indicate that 12 people may have died.
US Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, arrived in Cairo, Egypt for talks with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak 27 July, after stops in Syria and Israel. It was Mitchell’s second visit to Damascus, Syria in two months. Talks were “candid and positive.” In Israel, Mitchell met Defense Minister Ehud Barak. After talks in Cairo, Mitchell is to see Palestinian President Abbas, and Israeli leaders 28 July. This is part of a concerted effort by the Obama administration to move the Middle East peace process along. Other senior US administration officials are expected in the region later this week. Al-Jazeera, BBC, Jerusalem Post
Drought but mainly poor water management is causing the Euphrates River to dry up and it is now about half the size it was just a few years ago, writes Campbell Robertson in a New York Times feature. One result is that Iraq has increased its grain imports, but the issue is also causing tensions to rise between Iraq and its neighbours, notably Turkey and Syria.
Parliamentary elections in Lebanon Sunday 7 June reinforced the government’s position and handed the pro-Western 14-March coalition 71 seats. Their opponents, a coalition led by Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, won 57 seats. A big loser in the vote was former General Michel Aoun, a Christian who had aligned himself with Hezbollah. He has stated that he will work with the majority.
Some saw President Obama’s conciliatory speech in Cairo, Egypt last week as an important factor in voters’ decisions, denying hardliners the possibility to demonize the United States, according to the New York Times. NYT, Le Monde, Now Lebanon
Syria has called in the US and Iraqi ambassadors after it accused the US of a helicopter raid inside its terroritory on its border with Iraq. It says that eight people died, four of them children. Al Jazeera, BBC
