Press Review December 2019
NATIONAL COVERAGE
Home Affairs: Tshwane UNHCR Protesters Can Live Legally in SA
ew.co.za December 5, 2019
Protesters who had camped outside the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Pretoria last month are legally entitled to be in South Africa.
The Department of Home Affairs on Thursday said it checked their status and was trying to get them to return to their homes in the country.
South Africa fails in duty to offer refuge
dailymaverick.co.za December 10, 2019
Over the past four days, South Africa has watched Lindela Detention Centre being sold off to the highest bidder. And in this chaos and crisis, the Department of Home Affairs has been silent. This is consistent with the crisis in the asylum system and the related crisis of detention of the most vulnerable in our country.
Anti-foreigner sentiment appears increasingly institutionalised, having taken firm root in South African’s procedures, reflected in statements by its politicians and echoed in the conditions of detention experienced by asylum-seekers denied refuge in the country.
Full report: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2019-12-10-south-africa-fails-in-duty-to-offer-refuge/
Foreign Nationals Demand Action From UNHCR to Help Them Leave SA
ew.co.za December 18, 2019
Hundreds of refugees protested in Cape Town today, on International Migrants’ Day, to raise a number of concerns including safety, infringement of their rights and to also show support for those who had been illegally arrested and were in prison.
They call for more action from the UNHCR to help them leave South Africa, as the Global Refugee Forum is underway, taking place in Geneva, Switzerland.
Full report: https://ewn.co.za/2019/12/18/foreign-nationals-demand-action-from-unhrc-to-help-them-leave-sa
Explainer: Why Foreign Nationals Can’t Just Leave SA
ew.co.za December 18, 2019
The world marks International Migrants Day on 18 December. Eyewitness News unpacks the reason why a group of foreign nationals urgently want to leave the country and the challenges thereof.
The chant “no more South Africa” could be heard from Tshwane to Cape Town in recent months as foreign nationals took to the streets following xenophobic violence that rocked the country.
Full report: https://ewn.co.za/2019/12/18/explainer-international-migrants-day-why-foreign-nationals-can-t-just-leave-sa
REGIONAL COVERAGE
Sudan: Lives of traumatized, displaced women in West Darfur under threat
un.org 15 January 2020
Since 28 December, intercommunal disputes in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) have left more than 40,000 civilians displaced, of whom an estimated 10,800, are women of reproductive age. More than 50 were killed and 60 others injured, the UN has reported, and thousands of civilians in recent weeks crossed the border into Chad, seeking refuge. Citing two flash reports this year, the UN agency shone a light on a serious lack of adequate reproductive health services and protection.
“Following the recent attack on the camps in West Darfur, women had to flee leaving behind their burnt houses and all of their personal belongings”, explained Massimo Diana, UNFPA Representative in Sudan. “The attack has left them traumatized and in need of psychological support”.
Full report: https://www.un.org/africarenewal/news/sudan-lives-traumatized-displaced-women-west-darfur-under-threat
WFP calls for increased support as eight million in Zimbabwe face hunger
news.un.org 30 December 2019
Nearly eight million people, or roughly half the population of Zimbabwe, are not getting enough to eat, the UN agency said on Monday. WFP plans to double the number of Zimbabweans that it assists, up to 4.1 million, but will require over $200 million to meet needs in the first half of 2020 alone.
“As things stand, we will run out of food by end of February, coinciding with the peak of the hunger season – when needs are at their highest,” said Niels Balzer, WFP’s Deputy Country Director in Zimbabwe.
Full report: https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1054491?fbclid=IwAR0GEySSahKQ8tlhqxJu0uQgQ2t-Fmqo5HHCAA-Q3CH54petx24GW3uxFLM
Gambia: Aung San Suu Kyi Defends Myanmar From Accusations of Genocide
allafrica.com 11 December 2019
Myanmar will have “no tolerance” for human rights abuses committed in Rakhine state and will prosecute the military, if war crimes have been committed there, Aung San Suu Kyi told the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s main judicial body.
Ms. Suu Kyi was testifying in defense of her country, which is facing charges of genocide committed against the mainly-Muslim Rohingya minority group, brought by The Gambia, on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Full report: https://allafrica.com/stories/201912120005.html
Angola: Floods Leave Trail of Fatal Destruction in Angola
allafrica.com 13 January 2020
More than 40 people have been killed after the worst floods to hit Angola in over a decade, which started in December 2019. Some 12 provinces, out of a total of 18, are affected by the severe storms with 11 190 people impacted. More than 2 400 houses have been damaged or destroyed, 12 churches destroyed and 4 bridges damaged in the provinces of Benguela, Bié, Cuanza Norte, Cuanza Sul, Huambo, Luanda, Luanda Norte, Luanda Sul, Malanje, Namibe, Uíge and Zaire. The death of the 41 people represents the most tragic floods to pummel Angola since the disaster in 2009.
Full report: https://allafrica.com/stories/202001130545.html
INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE
Global Refugee Forum ends with hundreds of pledges
news.un.org 18 December 2019
Development banks, as well as states and other stakeholders, also made financial commitments totaling more than $10 billion, according to an initial analysis from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). For the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the Forum revealed a “decisive shift” towards long-term action to assist the more than 25.9 million people worldwide who have fled their homelands due to conflict, persecution or violence.
Full report: https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1053881
Misery for Venezuelans continues ahead of 2020 elections: UN rights chief Bachelet
news.un.org 18 December 2019
Speaking at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Michelle Bachelet described ongoing misery for the country’s poorest citizens, as they live with hyperinflation. Today, their minimum wage “only covers 3.5 percent of the basic food basket”, she added, amid “failures in public service” including life-saving healthcare for children.
Alleged extrajudicial killings have also taken place since August, Ms. Bachelet insisted, a feature of previous warnings by her Office, that have also highlighted the excessive use of force against demonstrators, arbitrary detentions, ill-treatment and torture.
Full report:
Photo by Filip Mishevski on Unsplash
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