Archive for the ‘Migration’ Category
UNICEF: Migrant children making the perilous journey to Europe face possible drowning, beatings, rape and forced labor.
Wednesday, June 15th, 2016“…..Of the roughly 206,200 people who arrived in Europe by sea this year to June 4, one in three was a child….”
UNICEF’s seven point plan for refugee and migrant children
1. Children must be protected against trafficking and exploitation.
2. Under no circumstances should children be locked up just because they are refugees or migrants.
3. Children must not be sent back to their home countries if they face harm or death.
4. Children must be given access to services such as health and education.
5. Unaccompanied or separated children must be kept safe. Family reunification is often the best way to do this.
6. The best interests of the child should be a primary consideration in any decision concerning that child.
7. Safe and sustainable legal global pathways for migration must be established.
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, says over 700 migrants are feared dead in 3 Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks south of Italy in the last few days .
Sunday, May 29th, 2016
Idomeni refugee camp: The evacuation will last several days and will move refugees and migrants to camps farther south that are designed to hold thousands of people.
Wednesday, May 25th, 2016“….Idomeni is an informal camp, with individuals pitching tents and some humanitarian groups providing assistance…..
Conditions in the crowded camp were often grim, with frigid nights in the winter, flimsy tents doused by rain, and the ground churned up into mud….”
More than a million migrants have arrived in Germany, but only 660,000 have permission to remain
Thursday, April 28th, 2016
Individual asylum hearings mandated by law and international agreement:
“….Even a straightforward case, of a Syrian man interviewed this month near Nuremberg, consumed well over an hour, with translation for each question and answer. The interviewing official then had to do the same for the man’s wife. At this pace, officials are lucky to handle four cases in a day, even working the 50-hour weeks…..”
Papua New Guinea to close an Australian immigration center after its Supreme Court ruled it unlawful, but Australia ruled out accepting more than 800 asylum seekers detained there.
Wednesday, April 27th, 2016
“….Under Australian law, anyone intercepted trying to reach the country by boat is sent for processing to camps on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru or to Manus Island off Papua New Guinea. They are never eligible to be resettled in Australia…..The detainees on Manus and Nauru are mostly refugees fleeing violence in the Middle East, Afghanistan and South Asia……”
A sinking, in which 500 migrants may have died, making it the 2nd deadliest episode for asylum seekers trying to reach Europe
Friday, April 22nd, 2016
About IOM
Saturday, April 9th, 2016
Established in 1951, IOM is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners.
With 162 member states, a further 9 states holding observer status and offices in over 100 countries, IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It does so by providing services and advice to governments and migrants.
IOM works to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration, to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems and to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced people.
The IOM Constitution recognizes the link between migration and economic, social and cultural development, as well as to the right of freedom of movement.
IOM works in the four broad areas of migration management:
- Migration and development
- Facilitating migration
- Regulating migration
- Forced migration.
IOM activities that cut across these areas include the promotion of international migration law, policy debate and guidance, protection of migrants’ rights, migration health and the gender dimension of migration.
IOM continues to facilitate the resettlement of refugees from Turkey to third countries, including EU member states.
Saturday, April 9th, 2016IOM Resettles Syrian Refugees from Turkey to Europe Following “Swap” Deal
Turkey – Over the past week IOM Turkey has facilitated the resettlement of 109 Syrians to European Union (EU) countries, following Monday’s launch of the 18 March agreement between EU heads of state and Turkey, under which one condition is the “1-to-1 swap.” Some 72 percent of them were women and children.
IOM is not involved in the return of migrants and refugees from Greece to Turkey under the agreement. It will, however, continue to facilitate the resettlement of refugees from Turkey to third countries, including EU member states.
“We are observing the situation in Turkey under the EU-Turkey deal,” said Lado Gvilava, IOM Turkey Chief of Mission. “The most important thing is to address the reasons behind why these people decided to make the dangerous journey to Europe in the first place – mainly to escape violence and conflict.”
“The entire international community now needs to act quickly to find more legal pathways, including resettlement and relocation, to offer these desperate people. If we fail, they will return to the dangerous, irregular migration options offered by the smugglers,” he added.
The ongoing resettlements to Europe are part of commitments made by EU member states at the 22 July 2015 European Council, which created a joint EU resettlement scheme, of which 18,000 resettlement remain unfilled.
So far this year, IOM Turkey has facilitated the resettlement of over 1,000 refugees to Europe and over 3,800 to other countries worldwide.