Clashes in El Geneina, in Sudan’s West Darfur State, have forced more than 11,000 people to flee as refugees into neighbouring Chad since last month. Four thousand of them have fled during last week alone and it is estimated that the clashes have displaced some 46,000 inside the country.
Most of them were already internally displaced people and when attacks happened in West Darfur in late December 2019, including on displacement camps, people fled and found temporary refuge in schools, mosques and other buildings in El Geneina.
With El Geneina only 20 kilometers from the border, thousands of refugees crossed into Chad, a number UNHCR anticipates could reach 30,000 in the coming weeks as tensions persist. UNHCR teams on the ground are hearing accounts of people fleeing after their villages, houses and properties were attacked, many burnt to the ground.
In Chad, the refugees are currently scattered in several villages along a line that spans nearly 100 kilometers near the border, around the town of Adré, in the province of Ouaddaï which already hosts 128,000 Sudanese refugees. The conditions are dire. Most are staying in the open or under makeshift shelters, with little protection from the elements. Food and water are urgently needed, while health conditions are a concern.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, its Government counterpart and humanitarian partners are on the ground and coordinating the response to this emergency, registering refugees and providing lifesaving aid including food, water, relief items. Refugees needing special care, including unaccompanied children, are being identified and assisted.
However, the rate of refugee arrivals risks outpacing our capacity. More resources and support will be required to bolster the response.
Together with the Chadian government, UNHCR is in the process of identifying a new site further from the border, where the refugees can be relocated and receive the security and assistance they desperately need.
Meanwhile in West Darfur, UNHCR and other humanitarian actors are also rushing relief items such as blankets, sleeping mats and jerry cans to assist displaced men, women and children at over three dozen gathering points. In the past week, trucks with additional relief items arrived from UNHCR’s warehouses in other Darfur states, with more aid on the way.
UNHCR continues to seek international community’s support for the transitional government of Sudan in addressing the root causes of the conflict in Darfur. Restoring security will be key for peacebuilding. This will also allow much needed development assistance to support sustainable solutions, including the return of Sudanese displaced inside the country and living as refugees, once conditions are conducive.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes this week’s ruling of the UN Human Rights Committee in the case of Teitiota v. New Zealand.
While the claim to protection by Mr. Teitiota was denied on grounds that he was not at imminent risk, the committee nonetheless determined that people who flee the effects of climate change and natural disasters should not be returned to their country of origin if essential human rights would be at risk on return.
This is a landmark decision with potentially far-reaching implications for the international protection of displaced people in the context of climate change and disasters. It also underscores the importance of countries taking action to prevent or mitigate against harms associated with climate change, which in future could otherwise force people to leave, triggering international obligations.
The following is a more detailed UNHCR assessment of this ruling:
UNHCR has consistently stressed that people fleeing adverse effects of climate change and the impact of sudden and slow-onset disasters may have valid claims for refugee status under the 1951 Refugee Convention or regional refugee frameworks. This includes but is not limited to situations where climate change and disasters are intertwined with conflict and violence. The Committee’s decision supports this interpretation of existing protection frameworks. It recognises that international refugee law is applicable in the context of climate change and disaster displacement.
Climate change and the impact of disasters resulting from natural hazards can have multiple effects on countries, communities, the well-being of individuals and their ability to enjoy and exercise their rights. This has consequences for the application of the 1951 Convention and regional refugee frameworks such as the OAU Convention and the Cartagena Declaration.
The Committee’s decision elaborates on the specific human rights which may be violated in the context of the adverse effects of climate change and the impact of disasters, including the right to life. The ruling notes that sudden-onset events and slow-onset processes can propel cross-border movement of individuals seeking protection from life-threatening risks.
UNHCR highlights the Committee’s finding that where such risks are imminent, it may be unlawful under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) for governments to send people back to countries where the effect of climate change exposes them to life-threatening risks (article 6) or where they are at real risk of facing cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (article 7 of ICCPR). The Covenant covers a broad range of civil and political rights that also apply to asylum-seekers and refugees. These include among others the right to life (article 6) and the right not be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (article 7).
The Committee importantly refers to the need for robust national and international efforts to avoid exposure of individuals to violations of their rights due to the effects of climate change. It warns that the risk of an entire country becoming submerged by rising sea levels is such an extreme risk, that before it is realized, conditions of life in such a country may become incompatible with the right to life with dignity. These references are also important alerts to States and the international community as a whole. They underscore the urgency of supporting prevention, risk mitigation, and adaptability measures in countries affected by climate change and of further enhancing cooperation of all to address what represents the most pressing challenge of our times. These actions are critical to avoid the need for individuals to feel forced to leave to avoid imminent harm, which could, as the Committee notes, trigger international obligations to protect.
Since 2015, people continue to leave Venezuela to escape violence, insecurity and threats as well as due to a lack of food, medicine and essential services. The outflow accelerated with an average of 5,000 people leaving Venezuela every day in search of protection or a better life. This is the largest exodus in Latin America and the Caribbean’s recent history, second to the world’s largest refugee crisis in Syria. This population is consequently in dire need of assistance.
“Venezuela Film Night – Tribute to UNHCR for Refugee and Migrant Crisis” was jointly initiated by Praya Lundberg, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and UNHCR media partners; 3 Miti News, Mangata Productions, THE STANDARD and The Reporters to showcase documentaries and news episodes produced during their recent visit with UNHCR to Colombia, the country hosting the largest number of Venezuelan refugees in the world. The screenings will be completed by a special talk on the Venezuela refugee and migrant crisis.
“Over 4.5 million Venezuelans have left their country to date, according to data from governments receiving them, making this among the world’s biggest recent displacement crises,” said Mr. Giuseppe de Vincentiis, UNHCR’s Representative in Thailand. “UNHCR is on the ground to address the protection needs of Venezuelan refugees and deliver essential humanitarian assistance. We continue to appreciate the generous solidarity and contributions of everyone, including Thai partners and the general public, in support of our efforts.”
During the past three years in her capacity as UNHCR’s Goodwill Ambassador, Praya Lundberg has visited refugees in six temporary shelters in Thailand and three refugee camps abroad in Bangladesh, Jordan and Colombia.
“Venezuela is very far away from Thailand, yet the story can be so close.” said Praya Lundberg, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. “This documentary gives voice to the countless refugees suffering in the shadows of this crisis and highlights the urgency of providing support to UNHCR.”
“Sin Fronteras: Venezuela at the Crossroads” is a short documentary produced through a collaboration between Praya Lundberg and Mangata Productions to give broader global attention and support to Venezuelan refugees and migrants.
At the Venezuela Film Night there is also a screening of “HUMANS OF NOWHERE,” the first documentary of THE STANDARD that tells the real life stories of Venezuelan refugees and migrants forced to flee their country, as well as special exclusive news episodes by 3 Miti News and the Reporters.
UNHCR offers its special thanks to SF Corporation Public Co.,Ltd in supporting the venue for the Venezuela Film Night.
More than 4.5 million Venezuelans have left their homes to date and UNHCR is working to ensure the most vulnerable are protected by providing access to shelter, health care and documentation, so they are not forced to live in precarious situations where they are exposed and at risk. But we cannot do this alone. You can help by donating today at http://unh.cr/5e29bede1a7d.
Venezuela Film Night - Tribute to UNHCR for Refugee and Migrant Crisis a documentary premiere and special talk by Praya Lundberg, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and our media partners
Currently, over 4.5 million refugees and migrants continue to leave Venezuela to escape violence, insecurity and threats as well as lack of food, medicine and essential services. The vast majority seek asylum in countries within Latin America and the Caribbean making it the largest exodus in the region’s recent history.
In September 2019, UNHCR invited Praya Lundberg, our Goodwill Ambassador, and media partners to undertake visit Colombia, the country hosting the largest number of Venezuelan refugees in the world. As a result, Praya, 3 Miti News, Mangata Productions, THE STANDARD and The Reporters produced several documentaries and news episodes to raise awareness of the crisis. The documentaries will be showcased for the first time in Bangkok complemented by a special talk on the Venezuela refugee and migrant crisis.
Date: Friday 24 January 2020 from
Time: 18.00 – 21.00 hrs.
Venue: MasterCard Cinema, SF World Cinema CentralWorld
Support today, to provide shelters and humanitarian assistance to Venezuelan refugees and migrants http://unh.cr/5e2179fc87
Rarely seen without his toy camera and mic – tools of the trade he hopes to enter – 10-year-old Moisés interviews his fellow Venezuelans about their journeys to Brazil.
As far as TV equipment is concerned, Moisés’ homemade video camera, which he patched together out of cardboard and tape, leaves quite a bit to be desired. Although the 10-year-old is loath to acknowledge it, the fact is that the camera very clearly does not record anything at all. But for Moisés, that is utterly beside the point.
For him, the point is to get the story – no matter whether or not it ends up being preserved for posterity. As he plies the pathways between the rows of tents in the temporary shelter in the northern Brazilian state of Roraima where he and his family have spent the past year, Moisés is always on the lookout for a good story.
“I ask people about what their journeys from Venezuela to Brazil were like,” explains the cub reporter. “The responsibilities of a journalist are to tell the news, to speak with people, and to report well.”
“His first words were at five years old. He called out the name of his sister, Valentina.”
Poised and articulate beyond his years, Moisés appears well on his way to a successful career in journalism. Holding his plastic microphone aloft, he scans the spaces between the tent rows for potential interview subjects, making a beeline to those who catch his fancy. More often than not, they accept his interview requests and end up sharing their whole, often heartbreaking stories to Moisés.
An estimated 4.6 million refugees and migrants from Venezuela are outside their country. The vast majority have made their way to other South American nations, including Portuguese-speaking Brazil, which has received an estimated 224,000 Venezuelans. They fled food and medicine shortages, galloping hyper-inflation, widespread insecurity, persecution, and the breakdown of public services. Most arrive overland, crossing the border into the remote Amazonian state of Roraima.
Moisés and his family made the trip over a year ago, making their way by bus due southward from their hometown, the northern city of El Tigre, to Pacaraima, a remote border town on the Brazilian side of the nearly 2,200-kilometer-long land border between the two countries which has become the main point of entry for Venezuelan refugees and migrants seeking safety in Brazil.
The family managed to make their way from Pacaraima to the state capital, Boa Vista, where they secured a place in the Rondon 3 temporary shelter, which receives support from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and partners. Moisés, his mother, grandmother, 13-year-old sister, and godmother share a small shelter, sleeping cheek-by-jowl on foam mattresses.
Since he arrived, Moisés and his omnipresent microphone have become fixtures in the shelter. By now, he knows the stories of many of his neighbours. But because, like any good journalist, Moisés asks more questions than he answers, he tends to keep his own story mostly to himself.
His grandmother, Nelly, offers some insights into the child’s past.
“Moisés is a very sensitive boy,” she explains, adding that he suffers from a form of autism that may have resulted from the malaria his mother contracted while pregnant with him, which left her hospitalized for the first four months of Moisés’ life. “His first words were at five years old. He called out the name of his sister, Valentina.”
“He has a great imagination and a vivid internal life.”
Following his mother’s illness, Moisés went to live with his father, staying there until he was removed from the home at age three as a result of malnourishment and mistreatment. His father now lives in Italy, and with his mother now battling cancer, Grandma Nelly is now the legal guardian for Moisés and his sister.
She works hard to ensure the children’s lives are as peaceful – and joyful – as they can be, considering the circumstances.
“If he has a hard day at school, Moisés will come home and tell me that he needs time for the smoke to clear from his head,” Nelly smiles. “He has a great imagination and a vivid internal life.”
With so much going on inside him, Moisés processes his experiences – and a world of thoughts – through interactions that are mediated through a toy microphone and the lens of an imaginary camera.
“I wanted to become a journalist because of what’s happening in Venezuela,” Moisés says. “There’s a lot of hunger. There’s no light.”
But there is light, love, and wisdom inside of Moisés. For his family. For his friends. For the other Venezuelan refugees all around him.
Gripping on tightly to his plastic microphone, Moisés announces he has a message for other children around the world.
“Children should be good to each other. Friends are really important and family is really important,” he says. “Don’t treat me badly, and I won’t treat you badly and we can treat each other well.”
In a development welcomed by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the Thai Cabinet approved on 24 December 2019 the establishment of a screening mechanism to distinguish people who need international protection from economic migrants. This follows the Cabinet’s January 2017 approval of a proposal to finalise and implement such a mechanism.
Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and does not have specific asylum legislation. Consequently, refugees and asylum-seekers who do not otherwise have a legal right to stay in Thailand are treated as illegal migrants.
After entering into force, it is hoped that the screening mechanism will regularise the stay of persons in need of international protection in Thailand and lend predictability to the asylum space.
“Today’s approval represents the commitment of the Royal Thai Government (RTG) to take concrete steps towards ensuring the protection space for refugees and asylum-seekers on its territory,” said Mr. Giuseppe De Vincentiis, UNHCR’s Representative in Thailand.
“It will be important that the screening mechanism is implemented in line with international standards and general asylum principles and UNHCR stands ready to support the RTG in this regard.”
The approval by the Cabinet follows a pledge made by the RTG to strengthen the capacity and skills of its officers in order to effectively implement the screening mechanism, during the first-ever Global Refugee Forum convened by UNHCR in Geneva earlier this month.
The Global Refugee Forum was held one year following affirmation of the Global Compact on Refugees, a framework for more predictable and equitable responsibility-sharing, recognizing that a sustainable solution to refugee situations cannot be achieved without international cooperation.
The approval is also a concrete outcome of the pledge made by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha at the September 2016 Leaders’ Summit on Refugees at the United Nations in New York to establish such a mechanism.
A high-level meeting in Geneva of governments, international financial organizations, business leaders, humanitarian and development actors, refugees, and civil society representatives has secured wide-ranging and substantial commitments of support for refugees and the communities they live in, notably with important pledges of new long-term support for inclusion.
In all, over 770 pledges had been made from across the spectrum as of mid-Wednesday afternoon at the Global Refugee Forum, attended by some 3,000 participants, including refugees, and 750 delegations. These were in areas from employment, to places in schools for refugee children, new government policies, solutions like resettlement, clean energy, infrastructure and better support for host communities and countries.
Substantial support came from governments, civil society, refugee groups, sports associations, faith groups and the private sector, partnerships being key to successful outcomes for refugees and often under-resourced host countries.
For a complete list of pledges, see the dashboard here. Further pledges are expected in the near future and indicators to assess success, for example in jobs created, school places and reduction of poverty levels, have been established to track progress. A stock-taking meeting will occur in two years.
“Public support for asylum has wavered in recent years. And in many cases communities that host refugees have felt overwhelmed or forgotten,” said UN High Commissioner Filippo Grandi. “But refugee situations are ‘crises’ only when we let them become so, by thinking short term, by failing to plan or work together across sectors, and by neglecting the communities they arrive in. At this Forum, we have seen a decisive shift towards the longer-term view.”
An initial analysis indicates that there were also major financial pledges. Over US$ 4.7 billion was pledged by the World Bank Group, through a dedicated funding window for refugees and host communities, as well as a separate funding window to boost the private sector and create jobs, with refugees and host communities also considered in the latter. There was a similar announcement from the Inter-American Development Bank of US$ 1 billion. In addition, a broad range of states and other stakeholders pledged financial support for refugees and their host communities of over USD 2 billion. These aim at substantially strengthening support for inclusion and long-term development needs in host communities – recognition that for the majority of the 25.9 million refugees worldwide, exile lasts years or even decades.
The private sector made the widest range of commitments ever for the forcibly displaced. Providing employment opportunities for refugees has also seen strong support - crucial for allowing refugees to be regain dignity and give back to the communities they live in. In addition to humanitarian and development pledges, more than US$ 250 million was pledged by business groups. At least 15,000 jobs will be available to refugees through these initiatives. There will also be some 125,000 hours per year of pro bono legal counselling.
The Forum has had six main areas of focus: Education, work, energy and infrastructure, shared responsibility, protection, and solutions like resettlement. Most pledges have been made in the areas of protection and education, the former involving in many cases changes to legal and policy environments to promote inclusion, and the latter creating places potentially for many more refugee children to go to school and improve their life prospects.
The question of how best to create conditions for safe and voluntary return of refugees has also been a major theme. There have been commitments from a number of countries-of-origin relating to voluntary return and reintegration of refugees and other displaced communities.
The Forum is a key element of the new Global Compact on Refugees that was affirmed by UN member states in New York in December 2018. Under the Compact, Global Refugee Forums take place every four years, meaning the next is scheduled for late 2023.
On 17 and 18 December 2019, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and the Government of Switzerland will jointly host in Geneva a world meeting on refugees, the first-ever Global Refugee Forum (GRF). The two-day global conference is the first gathering at the Ministerial level to follow up on the practical implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees, affirmed at the UN in New York in December 2018.
More than 70 million people today are forcibly displaced by violence and persecution around the world. The aim of the Global Refugee Forum is to accelerate actions by governments, the private sector, international institutions and organisations, the non-governmental sector, and civil society in implementing the new Global Compact on Refugees. The Global Refugee Forum is meant to generate impactful commitments and other pledges from these actors, geared towards making tangible, long-term policy and practice shifts to improve the lives of refugees and host communities worldwide.
The contributions that will be made at the Forum are expected to take numerous forms including, for example, financial, material, and technical assistance; resettlement places and complementary safe and legal pathways for admission of refugees; and other actions, such as legal and policy changes to enable greater refugee inclusion in national systems through a whole of society approach.
The Forum will bring together leaders and influential figures from all of these areas. In addition to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres is expected to attend. The participation of Heads of State/Government for co-convening countries will be confirmed closer to the event.
The Global Refugee Forum will also be an occasion for the international community to showcase and exchange good practices at national, regional or global levels.
The first Global Refugee Forum will focus on six thematic areas: arrangements for burden and responsibility-sharing, education, jobs and livelihoods, energy and infrastructure, solutions, and protection capacity.
More than 12,000 Syrian refugees have sought shelter in neighbouring Iraq since the latest influx began a fortnight ago, according to teams from UNHCR, the UN refugee agency. The refugee population at recently opened Bardarash camp has exceeded 11,000 people and more than 800 are now sheltered at Gawilan transit site. Both sites are approximately 150 kilometres east of Syria-Iraq border. UNHCR and the authorities are working on reuniting refugees from the camp with their family members residing in the Kurdistan region of Iraq (KRI).
UNHCR is supporting the response led by the KRI authorities and it is working closely with them to ready other locations, in the event that both sites reach their capacity.
Refugee families at both locations are receiving the same services and humanitarian assistance. These include hot meals, transportation, registration, shelter and protection services. UNHCR teams also conduct protection monitoring, child protection and identification of unaccompanied children and persons with specific needs, starting already at border reception centres. We are maintaining this support and relief for all the newly arrived refugees.
We are grateful to all those involved in this ongoing humanitarian response, including the KRI authorities and all of our partners, who are working 24/7 to accommodate refugees and provide them with safe shelter, basic services and protection. We have also deployed additional UNHCR staff from our Baghdad office to support our teams in Erbil and Dohuk to respond to the needs of the newly arrived refugees.
UNHCR Thailand in partnership with LIFEiS Group, led by CEO and Thai singer Nop Ponchamni is pleased to invite you to a charity lifestyle event “LIFEiS BEAUTiFUL - No Boundaries for Sharing” to raise funds supporting those affected by the global refugee crisis.
LIFEiS BEAUTiFUL - No Boundaries for Sharing is a free-admission event to be held during 9-10 November 2019 at Lido Connect. Participants can enjoy a range of creative and social activities, delicious food, a flea market, street art, a visual art performance (Kor Bor Vor and NEV3R), DJ sets from DJ Pichy, DJ Ben and DJ Maft Sai (Zudrangma Records), a charity concert (Sunday, 10 Nov) by Nop Ponchamni and friends (Triump Kingdom, P.O.P, Two Days Ago Kids, Yokee Playboy). They will also have the opportunity to explore an actual refugee housing unit (RHU).
Special edition tote bags designed by renowned Thai illustrators; An Officer Dies (Golf-Thitipoom Phetsangkhat), Benzilla (Benz-Parinya Sirisinsuk), Happy Pomme Studio (Pomme-Tachamapan Chanchamrassang), Phannapast Taychamaythakool (Yoon) and Rukkit (Rukkit Kuanhawate) are available to purchase at the event or pre-ordered from Lazada.
*For every purchase of a LIFEiS BEAUTiFUL tote bag, a stationary set will be distributed to refugee children in Thailand.
There will also be series of movies, short films and documentaries (once per week) such as, Life is Beautiful, Capernaum, Lost and Found and Midnight Traveler showcased every Sunday (17 Nov - 8 Dec 2019) by Documentary Club.
** Net proceeds from the event will be donated to UNHCR to support refugee and displaced people fleeing war, persecution and conflict around the world.**
