Refugees Daily - Internal Global Press Review

LIBREVILLE

Gabon's opposition leader Jean Ping called on Thursday for national talks to form a "new republic" and urged foreign powers to impose sanctions on allies of President Ali Bongo, sworn in this week after a disputed election in the oil-producing nation.

Ping remained intransigent during his speech in the capital Libreville, saying he refused to recognize Bongo's presidency. But his appeal for dialogue – albeit on his own terms – could help usher in a return to normal after post-election violence last month killed at least six people.

Ping ridiculed Bongo's earlier appeals for talks, saying that the president, who came to power in a contentious 2009 election following his father Omar Bongo's death after 42 years in power, had won fraudulently.

Instead, he said he would organize his own talks, though he provided few details.

"This inclusive national dialogue will be...the occasion to put in place the foundations of a new republic," he said.

Ping also called for sanctions against the authors of what he called "a military-electoral coup d'etat" and urged the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to come to Gabon to investigate violence after Bongo was declared the winner.

Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement on Thursday that she had begun a preliminary examination of the situation in the country at the request of the government. She will decide later whether to open a formal investigation.

Bongo's victory in last month's poll by less than 6,000 votes drew accusations of fraud from Ping. France called for a recount and the European Union said it found anomalies in Bongo's stronghold province of Haut-Ogooue, where he won 95 percent of the vote on a 99.9 percent turnout.

But fears of resurgent violence after the Constitutional Court upheld Bongo's victory last week failed to materialize and Bongo was sworn in at a subdued ceremony on Tuesday.

He has promised to name an inclusive new government in the coming days and to address some of the issues that have fueled anger in the country of 1.8 million, like youth unemployment and over-reliance on dwindling oil revenues.

However, the conduct of the poll may hurt his international reputation as a reformer, analysts said. Just a handful of African leaders attended his inauguration.

(Writing by Aaron Ross; editing by Ralph Boulton)
 

Le Service d'aide et d'assistance aux réfugiés et apatrides (Saara) du ministère des Affaires Étrangères et le Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les Réfugiés, ont accueilli le 27 septembre 2016, au poste frontalier de Sipilou, un convoi de 127 réfugiés ivoiriens en provenance de N'zérékoré en Guinée.

Arrivée par voie terrestre à 19 h 05 min, les réfugiés et les autorités guinéennes ont été d'abord reçus à la frontière ivoiro-guinéenne, par Assamoi Florent, préfet de Sipilou, Dr Kouamé Kouakou Lacina, Conseiller Technique du ministre des Affaires Étrangères, Coordonnateurs du Saara, représentant du ministre des Affaires Étrangères et par Aïssatou Dieng, représentante adjointe de Haut-commissariat aux réfugiés (Hcr) en Côte d'Ivoire.

Cette première étape a été marquée par la remise officielle des Vrf (Volontary Refugee Formula) des rapatriés aux autorités ivoiriennes, notamment au Coordonnateur du Saara pour confirmer les identités et pour un meilleur suivi des bénéficiaires.

Les rapatriés ont ensuite été accueillis à la salle des fêtes de la mairie de Sipilou où le maire de la localité leur a souhaité la cordiale bienvenue.

A sa suite, Aïssatou Dieng leur a expliqué le rôle du Hcr dans le processus du rapatriement volontaire avant de leur réitérer la volonté de son organisme à continuer de trouver des solutions durables pour les rapatriés.

Dans son adresse, Dr Kouamé Kouakou Lacina a félicité les rapatriés au nom du gouvernement et du ministre des Affaires Étrangères pour l'option de leur retour au pays. Il les a assurés que le Saara dont certains bureaux sont à Guiglo, Danané et Toulepleu, mettra tout en œuvre pour coordonner leur insertion dans le tissu socio-économique et éducatif à travers les différents programmes gouvernementaux prévus pour à leur intention.
 

NAIROBI, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) – The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Thursday the number of Somali refugees voluntarily repatriated from the Dadaab camp in northwest Kenya had reached 30,349 since December 2014.

The UNHCR said in its report released in Nairobi that among them, 24,248 refugees left in 2016 alone.

"During the reporting period (Sept.1-15), 482 returnees were supported to voluntarily return to Somalia by flight,"

UNHCR said in its bi-monthly report.

Kenya, in collaboration with the UNHCR, is working on a program that will ensure a smooth and voluntary repatriation of over 500,000 refugees at the Dadaab refugee camp after Nairobi announced the closure of the camp early this year.

Kenya, which hosted protracted negotiations that culminated in the formation of the transitional federal government of Somalia, said the refugee situation continues to pose security threats to Nairobi and the region apart from the humanitarian crisis.

Kenya believes Somalia militant group Al-Shabaab, which killed 148 people at Garissa University in April last year, are behind a spate of attacks that have hit several parts of northern and coastal regions, as well as the capital.

The UNHCR has decided to increase the return and reintegration assistance package offered in Kenya and Somalia, which include cash grants, customized shelter package, education and health grants.

"The return of Somali refugees from Dadaab camps gained significant momentum as many refugees are reported to be registering for repatriation across the camps," the UNHCR said.

It said, however, that road convoys were suspended from Aug. 30, after the Jubaland administration notified UNHCR Somalia about their decision not to receive any more returnees until integration processes inside Somalia are addressed.

The UN refugee agency said it's also working on the construction of two new transit centers in both Ifo and Hagadera camps at Dadaab in response to the high number of refugees willing to return.

"These centers will have a capacity of accommodating 2,000 individuals each. In addition, the expansion of the Dagahaley transit center is ongoing," it said.
 

Famine-like conditions in the former stronghold of Boko Haram militants in northeast Nigeria could kill 75,000 children over the next year if they do not receive aid, the United Nations children's agency said on Thursday.

Some 15,000 people have been killed and more than two million displaced during a seven-year insurgency by the Islamist militant group that has been pushed back to its stronghold in the northeast's vast Sambisa forest in the last few months.

The U.N. has called for military escorts for aid workers trying to reach areas affected by the crisis, which has been exacerbated by soaring food prices and scarce reserves from the last harvest.

"The 75,000 is from the three states – Borno, Yobe and Adamawa," said UNICEF spokesman Patrick Rose, in an emailed response to questions, referring to the number of children in those areas who could die over the next year.

The agency has said 400,000 children aged under five would suffer from severe acute malnutrition in those states, which have been worst hit by the insurgency, and more than four million people faced severe food shortages in the region.

UNICEF also said it had increased the sum sought in its humanitarian appeal to help malnourished children in the region, where food supplies are close to running out, to $115 million – more than double the previous amount of $55 million.

It said it had so far received just $28 million, which it said "presents a serious obstacle to UNICEF's scale up plan".

(Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram, in Lagos, and Kieran Guilbert for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, in Dakar; editing by Dominic Evans)