Refugees Daily - Internal Global Press Review

BAGHDAD — For the first time, Iraqi forces engaged Islamic State fighters within the city center of Ramadi on Tuesday, reaching the edge of the inner government district in an attempt to seize the critical western provincial capital after months of approach and maneuvering, officials said.

"We went into the center of Ramadi from different axes, and we started clearing residential areas," Gen. Sabah al-Numani, a spokesman for the army counterterrorism unit in charge of the offensive, said in a statement Tuesday. He predicted that "the city will be cleared within the coming 72 hours."

Six hundred to 1,000 Islamic State fighters were said to have been in Ramadi when the overall offensive began two weeks ago, but several hundred of them have been killed in fighting and airstrikes since then, according to Iraqi and Western officials.

Those remaining did not appear to be giving up easily. Iraqi forces, including a mix of soldiers and policemen along with a contingent of Sunni tribal fighters, faced heavy fire and were assaulted by car bombs, Iraqi officials said. And fighters for the Islamic State destroyed three bridges over the Euphrates River to slow the security forces' advance, according to Gen. Ahmed al-Belawi, the leader of a battalion of Sunni tribal fighters. The force crossed on Tuesday using portable bridges supplied by American forces, officials said.

If the Iraqi forces manage to fully reassert control over Ramadi — the provincial capital of Anbar Province, in the Sunni Arab heartland — it would be the most important of a series of military setbacks for the Islamic State since its explosive expansion across Iraq that began with the capture of Mosul last year.

In early April, Iraqi forces and Shiite militias drove the Islamic State out of the city of Tikrit, and in October retook control of the northern city of Baiji and its oil refinery. Last month, Kurdish and Yazidi forces assaulted the northern city of Sinjar, driving out fighters with the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

The capture of Ramadi, 60 miles from Baghdad, would give the government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi a badly needed morale lift, and a successful cooperative effort with the country's alienated Sunnis. But more important, it would allow his often disparaged military to reverse a humiliating loss.

Ramadi fell to the Islamic State in May, in a sudden collapse after a long battle that exposed multiple weaknesses in the government's ability to fight the militants, including stark military shortfalls and disorganization, and an unwillingness by the government to arm or send reinforcements to help Sunni tribesmen who were fighting the militants.

The rapid advances on Monday and Tuesday held out hope that after months of preparation, the government had finally marshaled a large enough force to prevail in Ramadi and begin a wider operation to fight the Islamic State in other areas of Anbar Province.

"I think the fall of Ramadi is inevitable," Col. Steven H. Warren, the United States military spokesman here, said Tuesday. But he added, "That said, it's going to be a tough fight."

Other crucial battles, like the ones for Tikrit and Baiji, dragged on for weeks or months, and it remained to be seen whether the Islamic State would quickly melt away.

Over the past month or so, Iraqi security forces and tribal fighters have encircled Ramadi. Two weeks ago, they seized a large neighborhood, Tamim, on its southwestern outskirts.

Al Jazeera reported that 14 soldiers and 17 tribal fighters were killed by a suicide car bomber in Albu Diab, northwest of the city center, and that at least 12 militants had been killed. MSNBC released a video that it said showed an Islamic State counterattack on the eastern edge of the city, and it quoted a tribal fighter saying that at least seven Islamic State militants had been killed. Those casualty numbers could not be independently confirmed.

Iraqi airplanes dropped leaflets on Sunday urging residents of Ramadi to evacuate within 72 hours, warning of an impending operation and suggesting two evacuation routes. Colonel Warren estimated that thousands or even tens of thousands of civilians were still in the city; hundreds of thousands have fled.

In a telephone briefing on Tuesday, Colonel Warren said that coalition forces had recovered what he said were Islamic State leaflets in the nearby city of Falluja urging its fighters — if they lose control of the city — to impersonate Iraqi security forces and commit atrocities.

The authenticity of the leaflets could not be independently confirmed, and experts on the Islamic State were debating their validity after the coalition publicized them on Tuesday.

SITE, a research group that monitors jihadist communications, said that on Tuesday, some supporters of the Islamic State were seeking to play down the importance of the Ramadi battle, circulating photographs that it said showed a calm city.

Iraqi officials, though, said that the militants were finding multiple ways to slow the assault. One security official in Anbar Province said in a phone interview that "ISIS are preventing the people of Ramadi from leaving and using them as human shields."

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss military operations, added that the Iraqi forces, entering from the southeast of Ramadi, were within two miles of the city center, where the local government compound is. The official added that the suburb of Bakir had been "completely devastated" from airstrikes and shelling.

Since the middle of 2014, the Islamic State has controlled perhaps one-third of Iraq, including the northern city of Mosul. But it has lost several towns in recent months after the government in Baghdad and in the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq began to fight back.

President Obama said recently that the militant group had lost 40 percent of the Iraqi territory it had seized, as the United States and its allies have intensified their airstrikes against the group.

On Monday, Mr. Abadi said that he had agreed to the deployment of 200 American ground troops in Iraq to help with operations against the Islamic State.

Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter had offered to deploy Apache attack helicopters to aid the Iraqi government's effort. But so far, Mr. Abadi, under pressure from Shiite groups and Iran to keep the United States at a distance, has not accepted the offer, Iraqi officials said.

To make gains in Anbar Province, the United States has urged Mr. Abadi's government to reach out to Sunni tribal fighters trained and equipped by the United States. Although the Shiite militias are among the most effective of Iraq's military forces — playing a crucial role in retaking northern cities like Tikrit and Baiji — they have been kept out of the Ramadi fight for fear of alienating the local population.

Even if the Iraqi military finally does reclaim Ramadi from the Islamic State, regional experts warn, the Sunni city will not take kindly to being overrun by the Shiite-dominated Iraqi military. The Pentagon has been training Sunni tribal fighters to make up a holding force for the city.

Omar Al-Jawoshy reported from Baghdad, Sewell Chan from London, and Kareem Fahim from Cairo. Reporting was contributed by an employee of The New York Times from Anbar Province, Iraq; Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt from Washington; Rukmini Callimachi from New York; and Mona Boshnaq from London.
 

Iraqi troops made a new push on Tuesday to retake the center of Ramadi, a strategic city close to the capital Baghdad, which has been under Islamic State control since May.

Iraqi army units and American-trained counterterrorism forces, backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, attempted to advance on a former government compound in the city center from the north, south and east, said Sabah Karhout, a top provincial official.

The military launched a counteroffensive to retake Ramadi a month ago, and its forces have since recaptured a western district and the provincial military command headquarters. The presence of hundreds of civilians in the city, however, has caused weeks of delay in the start of the assault to retake control of the entire city, Iraqi military officers said.

The loss of Ramadi, the provincial capital of Anbar province some 60 miles west of Baghdad, was a stinging blow for the central government. But in recent months, Islamic State has suffered a string of defeats elsewhere at hands of Iraqi security forces and allied paramilitary groups. Those forces now hope to keep up that momentum by recapturing Ramadi.

Tuesday's ground offensive began at 6:30 a.m. local time, when military engineers installed a temporary bridge over the Euphrates River, according to Sabah al-Numani, head of the government's counterterrorism forces.

Iraqi troops crossed the bridge and entered the al-Huz neighborhood, south of central Ramadi, where they surprised Islamic State fighters.

"The enemy was in complete shock and confusion, which enabled our forces to defeat the enemy there," Mr. Numani said.

On Tuesday afternoon, Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition battling Islamic State, tweeted pictures of what he said were Iraqi soldiers practicing the same bridge-building maneuver they used to enter Ramadi at a U.S. training session early this month.

By early Tuesday afternoon local time, Iraqi troops had pushed into the neighborhood of al-Baker, close to the government compound south of the city center, said Mr. Numani.

U.S. intelligence estimates indicate that only about 250-350 Islamic State fighters are in Ramadi, said Col. Warren. Combined Iraqi government forces, including federal police and Sunni tribal fighters who weren't actively involved in Tuesday's initial push, number as many as 10,000 men, Col. Warren said.

The Iraqi troops were likely to face fierce resistance. Islamic State has routinely used improvised explosive devices, booby-trapped buildings and suicide car and truck bombings to repel much larger attacking armies.

"Victory in Ramadi means a victory for Iraqi security forces," said Brig. Gen. Yehya Rasool, an Iraqi military spokesman. "It means that our forces have the initiative now, and our forces will now lead the fight everywhere."

Iraqi state television announced the offensive Tuesday morning. The government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has twice announced major military operations to retake Ramadi and the surrounding Anbar province. In each instance, the operations have failed.

Iraqi planes dropped pamphlets in Ramadi last weekend, urging civilians to leave the city within 72 hours. Residents said Islamic State fighters were preventing them from fleeing, hoping to use them as human shields when the push to take full control of the city got under way.

As the offensive began, Mr. Abadi and his defense minister, Khalid al-Obeidi, were absent. The two leaders arrived in Beijing on Tuesday morning for meetings with Chinese officials to discuss military, economic and energy cooperation.

Mr. Abadi's visit to Beijing is only one part of the prime minister's attempts to seek international support as Iraq's economy struggles to absorb the cost of fighting Islamic State and sheltering hundreds of thousands of refugees as its oil revenues plummet.

The prime minister signed five separate memorandums of understanding for cooperation in various fields with the Chinese government on Tuesday, Iraqi state media said.

A success against Islamic State in Ramadi, coupled with the high-profile visit, offers a much-needed boost to Mr. Abadi's declining political stature at home.

The prime minister has spent the past several months staving off criticism from Iran-backed militia leaders and Shiite Muslim politicians who accuse him of relying too heavily on American support in the fight against the extremist group.

The mostly Shiite militias, known as Popular Mobilization Forces, are allied with the army and have played a key role in most of its gains against Islamic State over the past year. But Mr. Abadi, partly at the urging of U.S. officials, blocked the militias from fighting in Sunni-majority Ramadi for fear of inflaming sectarian tensions.

The U.S. and its coalition allies don't coordinate directly with most units of Popular Mobilization Forces, the majority of which are financially backed by Iran. The coalition tries to avoid deploying its airstrikes on battlefields where those forces are deployed to avoid accidentally killing the militiamen.

The power struggle between the U.S.-led coalition and the Popular Mobilization Forces has complicated the fight against Islamic State. And a victory in Ramadi risks angering the Shiite militias who might see a win in Ramadi as both violation of Iraqi sovereignty and ploy to strengthen American influence in the country.

The U.S. has been unusually engaged in the Ramadi operation. Coalition airstrikes have played a crucial role in Iraq's recent victories over Islamic State, Iraqi officials have said, and in the lead-up to Tuesday's offensive.

A battle to retake the small northern Iraqi city of Sinjar in November was won almost entirely from the air, allowing Kurdish fighters known as Peshmerga to wrest the city from remaining Islamic State militants in days.

American military officials in Iraq have warned against comparing Sinjar to Ramadi, a much larger city and a wellspring of local support for Islamic State.

But as in Sinjar, Iraqi and U.S. military leaders have credited several rounds of coalition airstrikes with crippling Islamic State enough to open a door for a final, major assault.

The coalition has pummeled the group's positions in and around Ramadi in recent weeks, culminating in a series of six strikes on Monday night.

As many as 800 to 1,000 Islamic State fighters remained in Ramadi just two weeks ago, Col. Warren said. Most of them, he said, had been killed in the interim by a combination of Iraqi ground soldiers and coalition airstrikes.

U.S. military officials in Baghdad said the Iraqis have also benefited from an American shipment of about 2,000 antitank rockets this past summer.

The Iraqi military has used the rockets to destroy Islamic State suicide car bombers. It was Islamic State's aggressive use of bomb-laden armored trucks that allowed them to easily rout Iraq's army from Ramadi in May.
 

It will take a while to find out what exactly happened in the town of Sinjar in northern Iraq. But already the discovery of six mass graves, some of them booby-trapped with bombs, has thrown attention back on to the terrible crimes inflicted on the Yazidi population by so-called Islamic State (IS).

One of the graves contains the bodies of about 80 women thought to be too old to serve as sex slaves.

Now there's growing speculation that the US may soon start calling these and other crimes against the Yazidis genocide. There have also been calls in the UK for Prime Minister David Cameron to use the term to describe the killing of minorities by IS.

The term genocide was coined by Raphael Lemkin, a Jewish lawyer who escaped from Poland, towards the end of World War Two. It consists of the Greek genos, meaning race, and the Latin cide, meaning killing.

A UN declaration in 1948 defined it as "acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group".

A recent report by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum argued this is exactly what IS is doing to the Yazidis. It cited eyewitness accounts of how IS has captured the Iraqi village of Kocho in August 2014, executing Yazidi men and enslaving Yazidi women out of a belief they are devil-worshippers.

But, controversially, the report stopped short of calling the treatment of Christians or other minorities genocide arguing that IS at least gave them the option of avoiding death by paying taxes or converting.

Loaded term

Using a word which describes the ultimate crime is a big move for a country like the US. It was last deployed by Colin Powell, when he was Secretary of State, to describe the killings in Darfur in 2004.

But historically there have been many rows about what actually constitutes genocide and how much evidence is needed to prove a clear intent to exterminate a particular group.

Witness, for example, the fierce ongoing debate about whether the mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks in 1915 amounted to genocide. Governments can also be reluctant to use the term if they think they might be required to wade into a conflict and stop it.

The US avoided using the word during the fighting in Rwanda in 1994 that saw 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis, slaughtered. A State Department memo later revealed its lawyers were worried: "Be Careful... Genocide finding could commit USG (United States Government) to 'do something'."

The Rwandan genocide took place over a period of approximately 100 days from April to July 1994
In the case of IS, however, the US would argue it is already doing something by conducting air strikes, so that might actually embolden Mr Obama to start using the G-word soon.
'The word matters'

For the Yazidi community, it would be a moment of huge symbolism if the US does adopt the term.
But there could be practical implications too. If the UN Security Council voted to refer the issue to the International Criminal Court (ICC), an official case would be opened, evidence gathered and potentially individuals indicted at The Hague.

None of this, of course, would happen quickly. But Pari Ibrahim, a Yazidi activist, is adamant that "the word genocide matters".

"Starting an ICC case will eventually bring recognition, reparations and ensure the protection of civilians in the future," she says.

One hundred and fifty-eight members of Congress have now signed a motion calling for the US to start using the word to describe the worst crimes of IS.

Many believe a change in language would stiffen political resolve in the broader fight against IS.

They argue other phrases such as "ethnic cleansing" or "crimes against humanity" have less impact.
'Differentiating suffering'

But Prof Philippe Sands, an expert in international law, believes the word genocide can sometimes be problematic because it risks creating a hierarchy of IS's victims, saying: "Its use elevates the suffering of one group and might unwittingly diminish the crimes against other groups by suggesting their suffering is somehow less significant."

Already the White House is discovering that language is tricky. The State Department is being lobbied by Catholic bishops (including the Cardinal Archbishop of Washington) who fear the term might be applied only to the Yazidis and not to Christians and other minorities who have also suffered at the hands of the self-declared caliphate.

They reject the idea that IS offers Christians preferential treatment compared to the Yazidis and they point to the fact that Pope Francis himself has already used the word genocide to describe their plight.

Yet even if the US did include the Christians, there would be others – the Kurds or the Turkmen, for example – who could in turn argue that they were being excluded.

Using the G-word would help President Obama ramp up the international rhetoric against IS in 2016 and would throw more light on their terrible crimes.

But such is the potency of this strictly defined word that it might also cause the White House some political headaches if other minorities feel they are being forgotten.

----

1948 UN declaration

In the present convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

- killing members of the group

- causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group

- deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part

- imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group

- forcibly transferring children of the group to another group
 

Amman, December 21, 2015 (SSNA) – After Jordanian authorities forcibly evacuated a makeshift camp of Sudanese asylum seekers in Amman on 16 December to deport them to Sudan, a number of people went missing.

Asylum seeker Habib Mohamed Adam told radio Dabanga from the Jordanian capital that "children, brothers, and other family members disappeared in the chaos on Wednesday. We have not been able to find out their whereabouts so far".

He said that most of the Sudanese nationals, who were able to flee, are hiding in remote places in Jordan. "They suffer from fear and the cold, without knowing their fate."

On Wednesday morning, a number of Sudanese asylum seekers were injured in a police raid on their tent camp in front of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) office in Amman. Thousands of them set up the makeshift camp more than three weeks ago, demanding more protection, better housing, and treatment.

One of the deportees told Radio Dabanga that 921 out of the 1,000 people in the camp were detained. On Thursday, the deportation procedure of about 500 asylum seekers was completed. The Jordanian security imposed tight security on the rest of them (see videos taken by one of them below).

"Sudanese embassy staff members just laughed while they saw us being beaten and humiliated."

Jordanian government spokesman Mohamed El Momani said on Friday that 430 deportees arrived in Khartoum that day. The decision to deport the Sudanese nationals was taken in coordination with the Sudanese authorities.

According to El Momani the definition of a refugee does not apply to the Sudanese, as they received a visa to visit Jordan for medical treatment and did not obtain refugee status.

Sudanese asylum seekers reported more than once that the majority of those who were forcibly deported were carrying documents proving they are refugees;

Humiliated

The Jordan authorities only gave the UNHCR two hours' notice of the deportation decision, spokesman Mohamed El Hawary commented on Friday.

The Sudanese asylum seekers said that Jordanian security officers stormed the place where they were sleeping Thursday night. "They threw tear gas and beat us before handcuffing and cramming us into buses to take us to the airport for deportation to Khartoum.

"Sudanese embassy staff members, accompanying the Jordanian security officers, just laughed while they saw us being beaten and humiliated."

The people deported to Khartoum on Friday reported that they were treated "like criminals" upon arrival.

"Jordanian authorities should focus on ensuring the protection of this vulnerable group of Sudanese instead of trying to deport them."

Details

UNCHR spokesman El Hawari said that the agency does not have any assurances regarding the situation of the deportees, because they have not received a list with details about the approximately 800 Sudanese nationals who were and are to be forcibly deported to Sudan.

He said that they are conferring with the Jordanian authorities to halt the deportation process, especially as the majority of the deportees from the Darfur region could be at risk if returned there.

The UNHCR is still awaiting a list with the names of the deportees, the spokesman said. In case the list includes people with refugee or asylum seeker status in Jordan, the agency will take the appropriate measures.

El Hawari confirmed that 430 Sudanese were deported on Friday. The rest of the 800 people detained on Wednesday will be leaving on five Amman-Khartoum flights.

Responses

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement on 16 December that what was done by the Jordanian authorities is in violation of international law that prohibits governments to return people to places where they risk persecution or torture, or inhuman treatment, or degrading punishments.

While not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol, Jordan is nevertheless bound by the customary international law principle of non-refoulement, whether the person seeking asylum has been officially registered or not, HRW said. "Jordanian authorities should focus on ensuring the protection and well-being of this vulnerable group of Sudanese instead of trying to deport them."

The Sudanese Democracy First Group, the Darfur Bar Association, the Sudanese Congress Party, and the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Minawi, also condemned the deportation.

They consider the action as a violation of international treaties and conventions, and hold "the UN and its agencies in Jordan" responsible for what has happened to the deportees.

El Sadig Ali Hassan, Secretary-General of the Darfur Bar Association said that the deportation of the Sudanese refugees has been "a deal of mutual interests between the two regimes". He did not elaborate on the issue.

According to the Jordanian newspaper El Ghad 3,480 Sudanese are registered as refugees with the UNHCR in Jordan, out of a total of about 687,000.
 

Dec 22, 2015 (WENN via COMTEX) – Pop star MIKA has returned to his native Beirut to meet Syrian refugees taking shelter in Lebanon.

The Grace Kelly star was born in Beirut but moved to Paris, France with his family when he was still a baby, and he returned to his homeland over the weekend (19-20Dec15) for a mission with UNHCR, The United Nations' Refugee Agency.

Mika met with Syrian refugees who fled the conflict in the country and are now living in a derelict chicken farm across the border in Lebanon, documenting his journey in a series of posts on social media and in a film for the BBC.

He started his social media posts by declaring, "So good to be back in Beirut!" before later sharing a video which showed him making music with a group of refugees.

In another clip which he shared via Twitter.com, he declared, "In an informal settlement here in the banana plantation in Lebanon, it's moving, but what I'm taking away more than anything, is the strength of human resilience."
 

Inside a garage in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley filled with green dust and piles of cannabis, stand a woman and a 13-year-old boy, sifting through the twigs and buds of the recent harvest.

They are Muslim refugees from Raqqa province – de facto capital in Syria of Islamic State fighters – and part of an extended family of about 25 that fled in the past few years to live in tents in the relative safety of a Lebanese village.

The 29-year-old woman, who declined to be identified for safety reasons, left two months ago with her youngest son, 5, to join family including cousins, second cousins and grandparents.

Wearing scarves over their faces to protect them from the crop, the women and their relatives work in fields of the sticky green, spiky-leafed plants. It is a job that migrant workers from neighboring Syria have done for many years, spending a few months a year in the region before returning home.

Since the rise of Islamic State, it is now a task that could put them, and their family back in Syria, at risk of harm including death because working with, getting close to or consuming drugs and alcohol is considered a sin in Islam, refugees say.

"If Islamic State back home knew we work with hashish, they would cut us" with knives, says another refugee, Aisha, 15.

Hind, a Lebanese landowner, spoke of the longstanding ties between Raqqa and the Bekaa, a broad and fertile valley in the center of Lebanon.

"Farmers from Raqqa have been coming to work our fields during harvest season for the past eight years," she says. However since the rise of Islamic State, Hind says that the Lebanese villagers tend to view the Syrians with suspicion.

The Syrian woman says she grew cotton on her 10 acres of land in Raqqa, adding that she often encounters racism from locals in Bekaa.

"The Lebanese villagers sometimes call us Daesh," she says, using a derogatory Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

Although what is said may sometimes sound like a joke, she says that she believes that some Lebanese regard Syrian immigrants from Raqqa with caution because of their home region's association with Islamic State.

Growing cannabis can be a lucrative business for landowners, even if it is illegal in Lebanon.

"Any job in Lebanon makes you $700 per month, but working with drugs can get you $10,000 a day," says Sharif, a landowner and grower of cannabis.

The woman earns $16 a day processing the plant, which allows her to send some money back home to her family still in Raqqa.

Living in Lebanon has also given her and other refugee women a measure of freedom they didn't enjoy in Syria, she says.

"In Raqqa I have to be covered from top to bottom, even my eyes are not allowed to show," she says, wearing a tight veil, jeans and long top. "If I went out with what I'm wearing now, I would get a few whips" from Islamic State supporters, she adds.

As she harvests and processes cannabis, the woman constantly thinks of family still in Syria, she says. She aims to get her husband and other son out of Syria to join her.

"It was really hard to flee Raqqa," she says, declining to give details on how she smuggled herself out of the country. The journey took about five days, much of it on foot. "I want my husband and son to get here, that's all I want now."

(Reporting by Alia Haju; Writing by Brian McGee; Editing by Dominic Evans)
 

Amin Ojjeh was confronted with the reality of the Syrian refugee crisis several years ago, at the age of 15, when his grandparents were forced to leave their home in Damascus and seek help in Lebanon. Living what he describes as a "relatively perfect" life in London, he could simply have raged against the injustice of their situation and carried on with his life.

But Amin, still only 17, is not like most teenagers. His grandparents' experiences inspired him to co-found Helping Our People Endure (Hope), a charity which helps Syrian refugees in Lebanon. To date, he has almost single-handedly raised more than $112,000 (£75,000) which so far has directly helped 435 families and 1,467 children.

Although he was raised in London, where he attends the American School in St John's Wood, Amin thinks of himself as "100 per cent Syrian". When the reality of the refugee crisis became apparent to him in July 2012, he and his school friend Trilok Sadarangani hatched a plan to create Hope, an entirely self-funded charity which would allow them to spend every penny they raise on families in need.

Despite having to do their homework and prepare for exams like every other British teenager, Amin and Trilok make time to visit Lebanon two or three times a year, where they and a team of volunteers meet displaced Syrians in person to discuss exactly where the money they raise should go. Their speciality is children's education, which Amin believes will ultimately prove to be one of the biggest casualties of the crisis.

"I noticed that a lot of the aid provided to Syrian refugees was mainly focused on food and shelter – there was no meaningful impact on education," he explains. "These are children who haven't been in school for three, four years and no one's doing anything about it. There was a huge gap for aid and I saw it as an opportunity to step in and help. As a student, I truly see the benefit of education and how important it is. That's part of our philosophy."

With the help of the Lebanese charity Irshad and Islah, Amin and his fellow charity workers are put in touch with Syrian families who need money to survive. Although his focus is on education – 62 children have so far been sponsored by Hope for full academic scholarships in Lebanese schools – he is also willing to support them in other ways.

"Not every family needs the same thing," he says. "Some families can afford to pay for food but are unable to send their kids to school – others are unable to pay for food. It's done on a family-to-family basis. What we try to do is accommodate every family as best as possible, to make the most meaningful impact.

"I don't think many people realise that a lot of these refugees were part of the middle class only a few years ago – these people were teachers, doctors, drivers, living in apartments with a car and a family. Now they're living in tents, barely able to afford food, barely able to feed their families. It's a huge downgrade for them. As a Syrian, the most hurtful thing for me to see is this lost generation – a generation that has lost five, six years of education. It truly pains me."

Although he plans to attend university in the US, Amin is keen to keep his charity going and expand it into a larger organisation. When it was launched, few people in Europe were paying much attention to the refugee crisis – but then came the shocking image of Aylan Kurdi, the little boy found dead on a beach in Turkey, which this newspaper published on its front page. Amin acknowledges that the horror generated by the image sparked a long overdue "awakening" among the international community.

"What The Independent did was the right thing to do," he says. "We have to highlight these tragedies to the communities we live in, because a lot of people won't pay attention unless it's put in front of their face. Sometimes a picture is worth more than a thousand words, and it wakes a lot of people up. The Independent and other news outlets have been covering the Syrian crisis for a while now, and I'm very happy to see that; it makes me very proud."
 

The father of toddler Aylan Kurdi, whose lifeless body on a Turkish beach became a symbol of the refugee crisis, has made a Christmas appeal to the world to open its doors to Syrians fleeing conflict.

The message, to be broadcast by Britain's Channel 4 on Christmas Day, comes after the UN refugee agency said that more than one million migrants and refugees reached Europe this year.

They included over 970,000 who made the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean.

Three-year-old Aylan died in September after his family, sheltering in Turkey from the war in Syria, decided to make a desperate bid to reach Greece in a flimsy inflatable boat.

Shocking images of the toddler washed up and face down on the shore helped spur European nations to seek an effective response to the growing migrant crisis.

"My message is I'd like the whole world to open its doors to Syrians. If a person shuts a door in someone's face, this is very difficult," Abdullah Kurdi says in the video message.

"When a door is opened they no longer feel humiliated," he adds, according to a transcript released by Channel 4.

Aylan's mother Rihana and brother Ghaleb, 4, died in the same accident and were buried in the Syrian town of Kobane in September, days after the tragedy.

Abdullah Kurdi had been trying to escape along with his family and up to three other Syrians from the flashpoint town, which was last year the site of a months-long battle between Kurdish militias and jihadists.

"At this time of year I would like to ask you all to think about the pain of fathers, mothers and children who are seeking peace and security," says Kurdi who now lives in Erbil in Iraq.

"We ask just for a little bit of sympathy from you."

The UNHCR said that of the million who reached Europe in 2015, about half were Syrians fleeing the country's brutal civil war.

"The number of people displaced by war and conflict is the highest seen in Western and Central Europe since the 1990s," it said, referring to conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.

In a sign that the crisis shows no sign of abating, at least 10 migrants including five children died Wednesday when their boat sank near the Greek Aegean island of Farmakonissi, the national ANA news agency said.

Another 13 people were rescued and two more are feared missing, the agency said.

And on Tuesday, the Italian coastguard said that nearly 800 people had been pulled to safety in the Mediterranean as they attempted the crossing, and one body recovered.

Greece was by far the leading landing spot for migrants to Europe this year, with 821,008 arrivals including 816,752 by sea, the International Organization for Migration said this week.

A total of 3,692 migrants died or disappeared crossing the Mediterranean this year, it added.

EU leaders have set an end-of-June deadline to agree on a new border and coastguard force to slow the influx of migrants across the 28-nation bloc's porous external frontier.

They have also called for the rapid delivery of a promised 3.0 billion euros ($3.25 billion) in aid for refugees in Turkey in return for its help in stemming the flow.

Life is a struggle for most Syrians in Turkey, who live mostly off odd jobs that are often insufficient to feed and house a family.

Following a slew of emergency summits this year, EU leaders have acknowledged they were too slow to carry out a joint strategy to tackle Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II.
 

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, England, Dec 22 (Reuters) – Nearly two years after they met in a refugee camp in Jordan, Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai on Tuesday welcomed the Syrian schoolgirl activist Muzoon Almellehan to her new home in northern England.

Malala, who moved to Britain in 2012 after being shot in the head in Pakistan by the Taliban for refusing to quit school, won acclaim for her advocacy of women's right to education. She became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Meeting with families in tow at a gleaming public library in the northeast English city of Newcastle, 18-year-old Malala and Muzoon, 17, pledged to campaign together for access to education for Syrian refugee children.

"I hope world leaders promise the future generation that they will not deprive them of their basic human right, which is education," Malala told Reuters in an interview.

The setting for their reunion was a far cry from the sprawling lines of tents comprising the Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees in the Jordanian desert, where the pair first met in early 2014.

Malala now lives in England's second city, Birmingham, where she was treated after being shot, and Muzoon is among the first Syrians from refugee camps in the Middle East to have come to Britain.

Since the two first met, the number of registered Syrian refugees has doubled to almost 4.4 million people, according to the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR).

More than 250,000 people have been killed since the Syrian civil war began in 2011.

"I hope 2016 becomes a year when this war ends and world leaders must try," Malala said.

Appeals for funding from the world's governments have fallen far short of targets. With only days before the end of the year, the UNHCR's $4.3 billion appeal for Syria in 2015 has raised just $2.2 billion.

SYRIA'S CHILDREN

U.N. children's agency UNICEF estimates 2.6 million Syrian children are no longer in school. Muzoon, often dubbed the "Malala of Syria", made her name encouraging girls to stay in school, rather than being married off at a young age.

"We need to speak about education and how to help children, especially in Syria, because there are more children in Syria without education," Muzoon said.

Malala and Muzoon met again in July this year to open a school for Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and have kept in touch through Skype and email.

"(World leaders) need to listen to Muzoon – she has a dream, she wants to become a journalist, she has been away from her home for three or four years, and she wants to go back to her country one day," Malala said.

Despite being occupied by school exams and plans to attend university in the next couple of years, the pair will be keeping a close eye on an international summit due to be held in Britain in early February, focused on Syria's humanitarian crisis.

"This coming generation of Syrians are going to be deprived of their right and it means that country is going to face more problems if its children are uneducated," Malala said.

Britain said in September it would resettle up to 20,000 Syrian refugees through to 2020. Germany was the world's biggest recipient of new asylum claims at 159,000 during the first six months of 2015 alone, according to the UNHCR.

Malala expressed hope that Newcastle would welcome Muzoon in the same way Birmingham did for her.

"I call myself a Brummie now," Malala said, referring to the nickname for residents of Birmingham.
 

US President Barack Obama is due to hold a refugee summit in 2016. The announcement follows calls from the United Nations (UN) refugee high commissioner to invest in Syria's neighboring countries.

US Ambassador Samantha Power announced late Monday that the summit will be held at the UN General Assembly in September, attended by government leaders from around the world.

Power told reporters that "this year has shown with painful clarity that our existing systems, approaches and funding are inadequate" to address the global refugee crisis.

She added that the summit is part of efforts by the US and its partners to "secure new commitments" sustained support for UN humanitarian appeals.

UN calls for international help

The announcement from the US came as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, urged Europe and the US to form an investment program to help Syria's neighboring countries.

"We need a 'new deal' from the international community," Guterres said, referring to the huge investment program that the US implemented in response to the economic crisis in the 1930s.

"Without education for the children, access to the jobs market and protection from poverty, ever more Syrians will have no choice when they make their way to Europe," Guterres warned.

"Massive investment in Lebanon, in Jordan and Turkey is essential in order to help the governments and to save refugees from misery," the refugee commissioner added.

According to a study by the UN and the world bank, nine out of 10 Syrians in Jordan Lebanon live under the poverty line and 50 percent of children don't go to school.

'Islamic State allies'

In a swipe at various US state governors and European leaders, Guterres also condemned those who reject Syrian refugees. His comments followed a proposal by US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump last week to ban foreign Muslims entering the US.

"Those that reject Syrian refugees, and especially if they are Muslim, are the best allies of the propaganda and the recruitment of extremist groups," Guterres said.

Europe is currently experiencing its biggest wave of mass migration since the Second World War, with a large majority of those refugees fleeing Syria and Afghanistan.

According to UN figures, some 60 million people have been forced to flee their home country in recent years. A report published last week showed that at least 5 million people were newly displaced in the first six months of 2015, with 4.2 million of them remaining inside their country and 839,000 crossing national frontiers. The statistics equate to 4,600 people becoming refugees every single day, the report said.

ksb/jil (AP, AFP, dpa)
 

At least 200 civilians have been killed in Russian air strikes in Syria, an Amnesty International report says, quoting witnesses and activists.

It says it "researched remotely" more than 25 Russian attacks in five areas between 30 September and 29 November.

The findings indicate "serious failures [by Russia] to respect international humanitarian law", Amnesty says.

Moscow has repeatedly denied causing civilian deaths, describing such claims as part of "information warfare".

Russia began air strikes targeting Islamic State militants (IS) and other groups on 30 September, saying it was acting at the request of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Moscow has also been accused of bombing rebel groups opposed to Mr Assad but backed by the West.

'No military targets'

In the report, Amnesty said it had researched the Russian attacks in Homs, Hama, Idlib, Latakia and Aleppo.

The group said it had "interviewed by phone or over the internet 16 witnesses to attacks and their aftermath", including doctors and human rights activists.

In addition, Amnesty "obtained and reviewed audiovisual imagery" relating to the attacks and "commissioned advice from weapons experts".

The report gives more details about six attacks.

On 29 November, for example, 49 civilians were killed and many others injured when three missiles hit a public market in Ariha, Idlib province, Amnesty said.

It added that testimony by witnesses and research by human rights activists had shown that "there were no military targets in the vicinity".

Amnesty said there was also evidence that Russia's military "unlawfully used unguided bombs in densely populated areas and inherently indiscriminate cluster munitions".

Russian officials have so far made no public comments on the report's accusations.

The Kremlin has previously described similar reports as attempts to discredit its operations in Syria.

President Vladimir Putin said in October that reports of alleged civilian casualties had emerged before the first air strikes were even carried out.

Russia's air campaign comes as a US-led coalition continues its own air strikes against IS targets in Syria.
 

NEW YORK 22nd December 2015 (WAM) – Hospitals markets and bakeries have been hit scores of civilians are killed and injured almost daily and doctors themselves have become targets in escalating fighting and airstrikes in Syria reportedly by the government and its allies a senior United Nations relief official has reported voicing outrage.

In the first briefing to the Security Council since the 15-member body on Friday gave the UN an enhanced role in shepherding the opposing sides to talks for a political transition endorsing a timetable for a ceasefire a new constitution and elections UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Kyung-wha Kang described a litany of the ongoing attacks against civilians. Also giving a brief was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres who said the rate at which Syrians were fleeing the country "shows how unbearable things have become."

"This loss of innocent lives and wanton indiscriminate destruction of populated areas is an outrage and those responsible must be held accountable" said Ms. Kang referring specifically to Idlib in the north of the country where six airstrikes hit a busy market place several public buildings and residential areas yesterday killing 43 people.

The escalation of attacks in the north of the country reportedly by Syrian and allied forces is such that doctors working to save injured civilians "fear that the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems are no longer the shield of protection that they must be" she added.

"Since the start of this crisis (nearly five years ago) Physicians for Human Rights have documented 336 attacks on at least 240 medical facilities and the death of 697 medical personnel. These attacks are flagrant violations of international humanitarian law and an affront to the core of our shared humanity that must be guarded caring for the wounded and the sick" she said.

"I plead with the parties to the conflict to ensure the protection of health facilities workers and patients under international humanitarian law. Similarly the removal of surgical supplies and trauma kits from convoys by the Syrian government must end" she underscored.

In his remarks Mr. Guterres said that nearly one million people have arrived by boat in Europe this year more than 50 percent of them Syrians. His office UNHCR just published a survey of over 1200 of them and the findings confirmed something the agency has long suspected: Syria is experiencing a massive brain drain.

"Some 86 percent of those we interviewed have a secondary education. Almost half have gone to university. One can only imagine the disastrous consequences of such an exodus on the future post-conflict reconstruction of Syria" he said adding that the fact that two-thirds of the Syrians interviewed in Greece by UNHCR had left the country in 2015 with 37 percent coming directly from Syria after just a few days in transit shows how unbearable things have become.

"We need a 'New Deal' between the international community Europe in particular and Syria's neighbours. It is clear that without education for their children access to the labour market and protection against poverty more and more Syrians will see themselves left with only one option moving on" he emphasised.
 

The United Nations envoy on Syria, Staffan de Mistura, plans to convene peace talks in Geneva in about a month's time, a senior U.N. official said on Tuesday.

On Friday the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution endorsing an international road map for a Syria peace process, a rare display of unity among global powers on a conflict that has killed more than 250,000 people.

"The intention is that (de Mistura) starts some time toward the end of January," Michael Moller, head of the U.N.'s Geneva office, told a news conference, adding that he hoped there would be more clarity in the first half of next month.

"Mr De Mistura is, as you know, basically living on a plane these days. Every day, evolutions in how things are being planned and being perceived by the different parties make it very hard to give you some idea of how this is going to evolve."

The United Nations has said the talks aim to establish "credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance" in Syria and to draft a new constitution in the country now in its fifth year of civil war.

Friday's resolution gives a U.N. blessing to a plan negotiated earlier in Vienna that calls for a ceasefire, talks between the Syrian government and opposition, and a roughly two-year timeline to create a unity government and hold elections.

The United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and other countries meeting in Vienna asked De Mistura to set up the Syria talks in Geneva, while promising they would try to engineer a nationwide ceasefire into force as soon as the talks begin.

But the obstacles to ending the war remain daunting, with no side in the conflict able to secure a clear military victory. Despite their agreement at the United Nations, the major powers are bitterly divided on who may represent the opposition as well as on the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia and Iran have been Assad's main allies in the conflict, while Saudi Arabia, other Gulf Arab states and Western powers have supported rebels fighting to overthrow him.

The Security Council also called on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to draw up options within a month for monitoring a ceasefire in Syria. It is the second time since Syria's conflict broke out with mass street protests in March 2011 that the council backed a plan for peace talks and a truce.

(Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
 

'We must not forget that – despite the rhetoric we are hearing these days -refugees are the first victims of such terror, not its source,' saysAntonio Guterres

The head of the United Nations' refugee agency has issueda thinly veiled attack on Donald Trump by branding those who reject Muslims fleeing war-torn countries as the "best allies" of extremist groups like Isis.

Addressing the crisis surrounding the 4.3 million Syrians who have fled the country's five-year civil war, UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres' comments come after the Republican said he would impose a blanket ban on Muslims entering the United States if he were elected president.

"Those that reject Syrianrefugees, and especially if they are Muslim, are the best allies of the propaganda and the recruitment of extremist groups," Mr Guterres said.

Isis has captured huge swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq. The group claimed responsibility for the co-ordinated terror attacks on Paris on 13 November and said the married couple who carried out a mass shooting in San Bernadino, Southern California, on 2 December were its followers.

Those killings prompted warnings from politicians that the US and Europe could be at an increased risk of terrorism if refugees are not vetted to root out potential extremists.

But Trump was condemned across the political spectrum both at home and abroad when he told a rally in Iowa that he would ban Muslims from entering the country "until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on".

And while he did not mention the outspoken Republican by name,Mr Guterres said: "We must not forget that – despite the rhetoric we are hearing these days -refugees are the first victims of such terror, not its source.

"They cannot be blamed for a threat which they're risking their lives to escape.

"Yes, of course there is a possibility that terrorists could try to infiltrate refugeemovements.

"But this possibility exists for all communities – and homegrown radicalisation is by far the biggest threat, as all recent incidents have shown."

He added that a UN survey of 1,200 Syrians who had fled to Europe found 86 per cent of them had a secondary school education and almost half had gone to university.

During a televised debate last Saturday, would-be Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton claimed Isis was "going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists".

Site Intelligence Group, a social media monitoring organisation, said radical jihadists were sharing his comments on social media as an example of "Westernoppressionagainst Muslims".

Following the Paris terror attacks, four US states said they would close their doors to Syrian refugees and the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to suspend President Obama's refugee program that would admit 10,000 people fleeing the country.

Trump's fellow Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said admitting Syrian refugees would be putting Americans at risk and likened them to "a rabid dog running around your neighbourhood".

At least one of the Paris attackers had entered Europe through the Balkans posing as a Syrian refugee, but Mr Guterres said the fake Syrian passport found near the body of one of the Stade de France suicide bombers was a deliberate tactic on the part of Isis to "put refugees in the spotlight" and pitch European countries against them.

He had previously insisted military action and border closures could not eradicate the terrorism risk.

"An essential part of this is to convince the potential recruits of terrorist organisations that that is not the way to express their own anger or their own concerns or their own perspectives," he said.

Independent Print Ltd.
 

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) – More than 2,700 civilians have been killed since the start of conflict in Yemen in January, senior UN officials said here Tuesday.

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, said in his briefing to the UN Security Council that the UN Human Rights Office in Yemen has estimated that the conflict in the Middle East country has also left more than 5,300 people injured in addition to the heavy civilian death toll.

The office has also documented dozens of cases of alleged illegal detention, primarily at the hands of the Popular Committees affiliated with the Houthis, he said.

UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Kyung-wha Kang said that around 7.6 million people in Yemen need emergency food assistance to survive. At least two million people are malnourished, including 320,000 children who suffer from severe malnutrition.

The conflict between the factions has worsened Yemen's already poor food situation, with more than 3 million people thrusted to the ranks of the hungry in less than a year and 7.6 million people severely food insecure, a level that requires urgent, external, food aid.

Also briefing the 15-nation UN council, the UN secretary-general's special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said that the recent meetings in Switzerland between the parties provided a solid foundation for resumed talks in the future and a basis for renewed, strengthened cessation of hostilities.

At the same time, he said, the talks revealed deep divisions between the two sides and trust between the parties remains weak.

In the face of numerous violations of the cessation of hostilities in Yemen, the special envoy on Sunday decided to adjourn peace talks in Switzerland for a month to allow for bilateral in-country and regional consultations to achieve a ceasefire.

"Given the centrality of the cessation of hostilities to the success of talks, the special envoy has elected to adjourn the talks until the middle of January 2016," Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a communique.

The special envoy also noted the worsening security situation in Yemen, saying that the residents of Taiz continue to suffer the consequences of heavy fighting and a severe lack of assistance. He said that the conflict and the security vacuum it caused have led to a dangerous expansion of extremist groups in the country.

The situation in Yemen has substantially deteriorated since the conflict broke out in early 2015, with a 9 percent increase in the internally displaced persons (IDPs), which have reached 2.5 million, according to a recent United Nations-backed report on the issue.

"The ongoing conflict, damage to civilian infrastructure, and strain on already depleted resources have exacerbated an already precarious humanitarian situation," said Johannes van der Klaauw, the representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Yemen, highlighting the latest report of the Task Force on Population Movement (TFPM), which was led by UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and partners.

The main needs of IDPS, according to the report, are food, water, sanitation and hygiene, and shelters. Most IDPs have lost their livelihoods and have sought shelter with relatives and friends, in schools, public and abandoned buildings and makeshift shelters or in the open with little to no protection.

Last week, the UN World Health Organization and its partners appealed for 31 million U.S. dollars to ensure the continuity of medical services for nearly 15 million Yemenis following the collapse of the country's health system.

Endemic food shortages, along with reduced access to health facilities and sanitation, have further been compounded by the lack of fuel, electricity, gas and water.

Yemen has mired in political gridlock since 2011 when mass protests forced former President Ali Abdullash Saleh to step down.

The ongoing crisis in conflict-stricken Yemen is reflection of a regional unrest in the Middle East, especially after the forces of fleeing President Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi seized strategic southern city of Aden against Shiite Houthi fighters, reports said.

The Shiite Houthi group launched attacks on Aden city, which President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi declared as temporary capital after he fled weeks of house arrest by the Houthis in Sanaa.

On March 26, a Saudi-led coalition started airstrikes on Houthi targets in Sanaa and other cities, saying the multinational action was to protect Hadi's legitimacy and force the Houthis to retreat from cities it seized since September 2014.
 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that a Saudi-led coalition's military campaign in Yemen appeared to be responsible for a "disproportionate amount" of attacks on civilian areas.

Speaking at the council's first public meeting on Yemen since the Saudi-led bombing campaign began nine months ago, Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein said he had "observed with extreme concern" heavy shelling from the ground and air in civilian areas of Yemen including the destruction of hospitals and schools.

He said all parties to the conflict were responsible, "although a disproportionate amount appeared to be the result of air strikes carried out by coalition forces."

A Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in Yemen's civil war in March to try to restore the government after it was toppled by Iran-allied Houthi forces, but a mounting civilian death toll and dire humanitarian situation has alarmed human rights groups.

Western nations have been quietly increasing pressure on Saudi Arabia to seek a political deal to end the conflict, U.N. diplomats have said. Diplomats said Tuesday's session was convened to shine a spotlight on the conflict and pressure all sides to seek a negotiated end to the bloodshed.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, president of the council for December, said all parties must abide by humanitarian law. She said the Houthis must stop indiscriminate shelling of civilians and cross-border attacks.

"We will also continue to urge the Saudi-led coalition to ensure lawful and discriminate targeting and to thoroughly investigate all credible allegations of civilian casualties and make adjustments as needed to avoid such incidents," Power said.

Warring parties in Yemen agreed to a renewable seven-day ceasefire under U.N. auspices that started Dec. 15, but it has been repeatedly violated.

"I further call on the council to do everything within its power to help restrain the use of force by all parties and to urge all sides to abide by the basic principles of international humanitarian law," Zeid said.

The United Nations says the conflict has killed nearly 6,000 people, almost half of them civilians. Zeid said more than 600 children had been killed and some 900 injured – a five-fold increase compared to 2014.

A first round of peace talks adjourned on Sunday and the U.N.'s envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said the two sides would meet again on Jan. 14. [L8N1490PH]

Ahmed told the council there were still deep divisions and "trust between the parties remains weak."

The United Nations has designated Yemen as one of its highest-level humanitarian crises, alongside emergencies in South Sudan, Syria and Iraq. It says more than 21 million people in Yemen need help, or about 80 percent of the population.

"The potential ramifications of a failed state in Yemen would almost inevitably create safe havens for radical and confessional groups such as the so-called (Islamic State)," Zeid told the 15-member council.

Rights groups have criticized the United States, Britain and other Western countries for supplying arms to the Saudis that have been used in the war, and they have also accused the Arab forces of using cluster bombs, which are banned by most states.

"Hostilities in and around civilian areas, including the use of heavy weapons and cluster munitions, as well as air strikes and anti-aircraft fire, have inflicted an unacceptably high toll on the civilian population," New Zealand U.N. Ambassador Gerard van Bohemen told the council.

The Saudi U.N. mission was not immediately available for comment on Zeid's remarks and accusations about the use of cluster bombs.

(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Louis Charbonneau and Paul Simao)