Refugiados (Continuación)

EuropaUnión EuropeaPolítica Inmigración

Il y a quatre ans, les peuples de plusieurs pays arabes se soulevaient contre leurs tyrans. Certains ont réussi à les chasser du pouvoir, et des processus démocratiques se sont plus ou moins mis en place. Mais, dans des pays comme la Syrie ou la Libye, les conflits perdurent et entraînent les déplacements de centaines de milliers de personnes vers les pays voisins, qui rencontrent souvent d’énormes difficultés en termes d’accueil des réfugiés.

C’est le cas pour la majorité des réfugiés syriens qui se trouvent en Jordanie (620 000), en Turquie (1,7 million) et au Liban (1,15 million). Ce dernier pays héberge plus d’un million de Syriens et compte la plus forte concentration de réfugiés (près du quart de la population libanaise) dans le monde par habitant.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfricaEuropaUnión EuropeaPolítica Inmigración,

The crisis in the Mediterranean, which has led to more than 1,700 deaths already this year, has evoked an immediate response from European political leaders. Yet the EU response fundamentally and wilfully misunderstands the underlying causes. It has focused increasingly on tackling smuggling networks, reinforcing border control and deportation. Somehow European politicians have managed to turn a human tragedy into an opportunity to further reinforce migration control policies, rather than engage in meaningful international cooperation to address the real causes of the problem.

The deaths in the Mediterranean have two main causes. First, the abolition in November 2014 of the successful Mare Nostrum search-and-rescue programme, which saved more than 100,000 lives last year, immediately led to a reduction in the number of rescues and an increase in the number of deaths.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

Thousands of Syrian and Palestinian refugees trapped in the Yarmouk refugee camp have suffered what can only be described as untold indignities. But while the story is in itself tragic, it is the individual lives at the heart of the camp that make the imperative for humanitarian action so compelling.

I encountered two such individuals on my mission to Damascus -- Jihad and Mohammad -- tiny, vulnerable infants who were taken from Yarmouk in recent days, a place that was described last week by the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as "the deepest circle of hell." The fact that they are alive truly make them miracle children.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente PróximoInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional, ,

For weeks, Islamic State militants, aided by Al Nusra Front, waged a street war in Syria’s Yarmouk refugee camp against Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis, an anti-governmental battalion. But snipers targeted anything that moved. The Syrian government also launched aerial attacks targeting civilian areas, including dropping about 50 barrel bombs, two of them on Palestinian Hospital this month. Reports that Islamic State has left Yarmouk are inaccurate; it has merely redistributed its forces in the camp and Al Nusra also remains. The residents’ situation is still dire.

Although the Islamic State attacks started April 1, the Assad regime first sealed off Yarmouk from the outside world in 2013.…  Seguir leyendo »

Internally displaced people wait to collect food during a distribution event run by the American University of Nigeria through the Adamawa Peace Initiative in Yola, Nigeria, on March 1. (Skyler Reid/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

MundoÁfrica, ,

“Raise your hands if you spent the night here,” Bishop Stephen Dami Mamza said to the thousands of Ni­ger­ian women packed into St. Theresa’s Cathedral waiting for food to be distributed. All but a few raised their hands. Neither the women nor the thousands of listless children in their arms had eaten in more than 24 hours. Their faces were etched with hunger and despair.

These women and children are internally displaced people (IDP), refugees from elsewhere in northeastern Nigeria. Close to 400,000 of them have come to our city of Yola, doubling the population in six months. Each woman likely represents a household of 20 to 30 people, so together with Bishop Mamza and the diocese, we had purchased food for 120,000.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial,

Hace 70 años se celebró una reunión de líderes para analizar las consecuencias de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y prevenir futuros conflictos, recogiendo su determinación en un documento cuyo objetivo esencial era “preservar a las generaciones venideras del flagelo de la guerra”. Este año celebramos el 70 aniversario de ese documento, Carta de las Naciones Unidas, que ha cumplido, sin duda, un papel muy positivo en muchos aspectos pero no ha logrado cambiar básicamente un panorama desolador.

El horror de los conflictos y la persecución ha seguido azotando países y poblaciones, y en la actualidad el mundo afronta la mayor cifra de personas desplazadas forzosamente de sus hogares de la historia reciente, superando por primera vez desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial los 50 millones de personas desplazadas, y todo parece apuntar a que este año batiremos de nuevo este deplorable récord.…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesSocial

En estos momentos en el mundo hay más de 51 millones de personas refugiadas y desplazadas. Es una cifra histórica que supera la de la II Guerra Mundial, la mayor desde que se registran estos datos. La principal causa de este incremento es la intensificación de los conflictos, especialmente en Siria, Sudán del Sur y la República Centroafricana.

Sudán del Sur se ha visto afectado por continuas crisis que han provocado enormes necesidades humanas. El país más joven del mundo está inmerso en un conflicto armado desde diciembre de 2013 que ha dejado miles de muertos y ha obligado a más de dos millones de personas a abandonar sus medios de vida, provocándoles una situación de extrema vulnerabilidad.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa, , , ,

Selon les derniers chiffres du Haut-Commissariat des Nations unies pour les réfugiés (HCR), les combats dans l’est de l’Ukraine ont déjà forcé plus d’un demi-million de personnes à fuir leur maison et à trouver refuge ailleurs dans le pays, tandis que des centaines de milliers d’autres ont fui à l’étranger, principalement vers la Russie.

Personne ne connaît le nombre exact de ces déplacés, car il n’y a pas de statistiques fiables. De surcroît, de nombreuses personnes déplacées ne se présentent pas auprès des autorités ou des ONG, souvent par crainte de représailles contre leur famille, où que leur propriété, soit confisquée ou parce qu’elles arrivent à se débrouiller.…  Seguir leyendo »

A dispossessed Palestinian advises a refugee from Syria

MundoOriente Próximo,

Whenever the word “refugee” is uttered, I think of my mother. When Zionist militias began their systematic onslaught and “cleansing” of the Palestinian Arab population from historic Palestine in 1948, she, along with her family, ran away from the once peaceful village of Beit Daras.

Back then, Zarefah was 6. Her father died in a refugee camp in a tent provided by the Quakers soon after he had been separated from his land. She collected scrap metal to survive.

My grandmother, Mariam, would venture out to the “death zone” that bordered the separated and newly established state of Israel from Gaza’s refugee camps to collect figs and oranges.…  Seguir leyendo »

Men on camels cross the water as a woman washes clothes in Lake Chad in Ngouboua, January 19, 2015. Refugees fleeing attacks by Islamist militant group Boko Haram continued to cross the border into neighbouring Chad on Monday. (Stringer/Reuters)

MundoÁfricaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional, ,

Boko Haram, the terrorist organization that controls vast swaths of territory in northeastern Nigeria and has expressed support for the Islamic State, has grabbed headlines around the world for recent outrages, including what may have been one of the worst terror attacks of the modern era and attacks using bombs strapped to girls, one perhaps as young as 10.

Little attention, however, is being paid to another humanitarian crisis spawned by Boko Haram that, if left unattended, has the potential to destabilize the region and bolster the group for years to come.

As Boko Haram has advanced, tens of thousands of people have fled into fragile neighboring countries that are ill equipped to provide shelter.…  Seguir leyendo »

Angelina Jolie at a refugee camp in Iraq's Dohuk province on Jan. 25. Credit Safin Hamed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

MundoOriente Próximo,

I have visited Iraq five times since 2007, and I have seen nothing like the suffering I’m witnessing now.

I came to visit the camps and informal settlements where displaced Iraqis and Syrian refugees are desperately seeking shelter from the fighting that has convulsed their region.

In almost four years of war, nearly half of Syria’s population of 23 million people has been uprooted. Within Iraq itself, more than two million people have fled conflict and the terror unleashed by extremist groups. These refugees and displaced people have witnessed unspeakable brutality. Their children are out of school, they are struggling to survive, and they are surrounded on all sides by violence.…  Seguir leyendo »

A Syrian-Kurdish refugee carries water containers at a camp in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. Photograph: Safin Hamed/AFP/Getty Images

MundoOriente Próximo, ,

We Kurds are a nation of refugees who have often been forced to flee our homes. I have taken refuge as a child in an empty school, a flimsy summer shelter, the Kurdish mountains and, eventually, in exile in Britain. As a people, we have endured chemical bombardment, acts of genocide, massacres and oppression. Almost every Kurd I know has been a refugee at least once.

That’s why we are hardwired to help others in the same position. But we are overwhelmed by the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe that has befallen Kurdistan and Iraq. We need urgent help.

About a million Christians, Yazidis, Shias and Sunnis sought sanctuary in Kurdistan in just a few months this summer, joining half a million or so who had come over the past decade to flee violence in the rest of Iraq and Syria.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente PróximoInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional, , , ,

The offensive by ISIS militants against civilians and religious minorities in the northern Iraqi governorate of Nineveh has created a catastrophe.

At least 300,000 Yazidis and 100,000 Christians were displaced literally overnight, according to figures provided by the Kurdistan regional government. Many of the Yazidis fled to the mountains on August 3 after Kurdish fighting forces known as Peshmerga, who were protecting them, precipitously withdrew. For the Christians in villages north of Irbil, the moment came in the wee hours of August 7, when the Peshmerga silently pulled out.

The thousands of Yazidis who had remained stranded on a mountain seem to be getting out for now after U.S.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

The Mar Yousef church in Erbil, northern Iraq, is packed with people lying on thin mats and blankets or straight on the hardwood floor.

Mothers cradle crying babies, children look forlornly across the sweltering room to the world outside, knowing too well that this isn’t a summer holiday, while their parents try desperately to work out their next move.

Most here are seeking whatever help they can get, having fled the fighting further west as it was upon them, fortunate to escape with their lives – let alone any supplies or possessions.

But these are the lucky ones. They fled towns like Qaraqosh – the scene of bloody violence, now under the control of armed groups – in cars, driving to the Kurdish capital.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo, ,

« Est-ce que vous êtes chiite ou sunnite ? » Voilà une question que les journalistes et mes amis en France ne cessent de me poser depuis 2003. Comment répondre que je ne suis ni l’un ni l’autre ? Je suis irakienne, un point c’est tout. Je suis née et j’ai vécu trente ans en Irak sans que cette question se pose à moi. Etre chrétienne était un fait personnel et intime, et je n’ai pas compris comment des journalistes français et laïques osaient m’interroger sur ma foi. Je vis en France depuis de longues années et je n’ai jamais entendu un journaliste demander à un écrivain s’il était catholique, orthodoxe, juif ou musulman.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo, ,

Avec la crise syrienne, le droit international est durablement bafoué. Les populations civiles ne sont pas protégées, pire encore, elles sont systématiquement prises pour cible. Après trois ans, cette guerre civile affiche un bilan effarant : 170 000 morts, près de 3 millions de réfugiés, 6 millions de déplacés internes (1). Dès janvier 2013, le Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM) et les acteurs de terrain constatent que l’aide humanitaire arrive essentiellement dans les zones contrôlées par l’Etat. L’ensemble des organismes internationaux continuent de respecter assez scrupuleusement les accords qui les lient à l’Etat syrien. Un certain nombre de gouvernements occidentaux continuent de refuser de financer des activités dites de cross-border (transfrontalières), là encore en prétextant le respect de la souveraineté syrienne.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOceanía, ,

Tony Abbott has declared victory. The three-word slogan “Stop the boats” has become a five-word boast, “We have stopped the boats”. In Jakarta, the prime minister was even bold enough to assert that “the people smuggling issue … will not substantially further trouble” our bilateral relations with Indonesia.

The truth of that claim remains to be tested – particularly once Indonesia has a new president. But for now, at least, Abbott appears to be right. There have been no maritime arrivals for six months. The question is whether this opportunity can be grasped to create a durable, long-term arrangement that provides assistance to refugees and other vulnerable people around the region.…  Seguir leyendo »

EspañaPolítica Inmigración,

El mes de mayo terminó con 4.572.385 personas en la lista del paro y se calcula que 30.000 subsaharianos esperan en Marruecos su oportunidad para entrar en El Dorado europeo. Con esas cifras, y otras igual de preocupantes, inundando las estadísticas desde hace ya más de cinco años ¿tenemos sitio para atender a 30 saharauis refugiados en las Canarias? No, desde luego, respondió el 14 de enero de 2011 el ministro del Interior (entonces del PSOE) al primero de ellos que se le ocurrió presentar una petición de asilo. Y el mismo destino siguieron todos los demás, hasta completar la treintena el 3 de septiembre de 2012, sin que el cambio de Gobierno se notara en este punto, más allá de la preocupación que el PSOE muestra ahora por la política inmigratoria del Gobierno del PP.…  Seguir leyendo »

La dignidad del refugiado

ReflexionesSocial,

Para sensibilizarse y comprender la importancia de este tema basta con describir la situación de Siria. Tres años después del comienzo del conflicto, Siria lidera la lista mundial de desplazados, con 2,7 millones de refugiados en países vecinos y más de 6,5 millones de desplazados dentro del propio país. A medida que la situación sigue empeorando, las cifras de personas en necesidad de protección continúan aumentando. Solo el Líbano acoge ya en 2014 a más de un millón de sirios, lo que está suponiendo una gran presión sobre los recursos e infraestructuras del país. El Líbano se ha convertido en el país con la mayor concentración de refugiados per cápita en todo el mundo, con más de 220 refugiados sirios por cada mil ciudadanos libaneses.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo, ,

Something about the boy was not right. He seemed disoriented, detached from his surroundings. He barely spoke, and when he did, it was in flat monosyllables, his eyes unfocused and downcast, as if too heavy to roll up from the weight of all they had seen. He was the picture of quiet devastation, of a childhood forever splintered.

He was 14 years old, a Syrian refugee, sitting with his family in a small room in the registration building of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Erbil, northern Iraq. In the crowded, noisy offices downstairs, scores of newly arrived refugees queued to register, including an exhausted-looking, dust-sheathed family of Dom Gypsies and a Syrian woman with a club foot, who limped about the hallways and pleaded with every passer-by to give her asylum in Germany.…  Seguir leyendo »