Showing posts tagged refugees
doctorswithoutborders: Six months after the birth of South Sudan—the world’s newest independent country—a series of emergencies are unfolding that require urgent humanitarian responses. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has scaled up into full emergency mode in Upper Nile State to respond to the sudden influx of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict in neighboring Sudan; while around the town of Agok in Northern Bahr al Ghazal State, where displaced and resident populations are facing the specter of a food shortage, MSF has launched a preventive supplementary feeding program for children at risk of becoming malnourished in the months ahead. The 22-year war that ended in 2005 left South Sudan’s healthcare provision in a perilous state that could be described as an emergency in its own right. Now, in the contested area of Abyei between the two Sudans, fresh conflict has pushed the local population to escape southwards, resulting in an estimated 100,000 displaced people. Other conflicts across the border in Sudan—particularly in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states—have forced tens of thousands of refugees to flee across the border over the past month, and they are still coming. The burden of these multiple situations is heavy, and aid organizations need to move onto an emergency-response footing. Read more Photo: South Sudan 2011 © Avril Benoit/MSF View high resolution

doctorswithoutborders:

Six months after the birth of South Sudan—the world’s newest independent country—a series of emergencies are unfolding that require urgent humanitarian responses. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has scaled up into full emergency mode in Upper Nile State to respond to the sudden influx of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict in neighboring Sudan; while around the town of Agok in Northern Bahr al Ghazal State, where displaced and resident populations are facing the specter of a food shortage, MSF has launched a preventive supplementary feeding program for children at risk of becoming malnourished in the months ahead.

The 22-year war that ended in 2005 left South Sudan’s healthcare provision in a perilous state that could be described as an emergency in its own right. Now, in the contested area of Abyei between the two Sudans, fresh conflict has pushed the local population to escape southwards, resulting in an estimated 100,000 displaced people. Other conflicts across the border in Sudan—particularly in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states—have forced tens of thousands of refugees to flee across the border over the past month, and they are still coming. The burden of these multiple situations is heavy, and aid organizations need to move onto an emergency-response footing. Read more

Photo: South Sudan 2011 © Avril Benoit/MSF

(Reblogged from doctorswithoutborders)
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Copenhagen police have managed to stop a desperate man from setting himself alight at the offices of the Refugee Appeals Board.

According to police, the man entered the office shortly after noon and complained that his application had been denied.

He then poured petrol over himself and threatened to light himself with a lighter he was carrying.

Man doused himself with petrol - Politiken.dk

In The Netherlands, not long ago (in April this year), Kambiz Roustayi, an Iranian asylum seeker set himself on fire in front of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. As a result of his wounds, he died a day later. He had already been talking about committing suicide while he was in detention at the asylum seekers center, but there was no mental health care available to him. He had grown despondent about his rejected application and saw no way out except from self immolation.

This, sadly, is all too common a reality for many refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants trying to acquire a documented status in Europe.

(via redlightpolitics)

(Reblogged from jonathan-cunningham)
csmonitor: Horn of Africa Crisis: By the Numbers Graphic by Rich Clabaugh/Monitor staff View high resolution

csmonitor:

Horn of Africa Crisis: By the Numbers

Graphic by Rich Clabaugh/Monitor staff

(Source: csmonitor.com)

(Reblogged from scottnolansmith)
theatlantic: Famine in East Africa With East Africa facing its worst drought in 60 years, affecting more than 11 million people, the United Nations has declared a famine in the region for the first time in a generation. Overcrowded refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia are receiving some 3,000 new refugees every day, as families flee from famine-stricken and war-torn areas. The meager food and water that used to support millions in the Horn of Africa is disappearing rapidly, and families strong enough to flee for survival must travel up to a hundred miles, often on foot, hoping to make it to a refugee center, seeking food and aid. Many do not survive the trip. Officials warn that 800,000 children could die of malnutrition across the East African nations of Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Kenya. Aid agencies are frustrated by many crippling situations: the slow response of Western governments, local governments and terrorist groups blocking access, terrorist and bandit attacks, and anti-terrorism laws that restrict who the aid groups can deal with — not to mention the massive scale of the current crisis. Above: Somali refugees who recently crossed the border from Somalia into southern Ethiopia cluster between two food tents as they wait to be called to collect food aid at the Kobe refugee camp, on July 19, 2011. Ethiopian authorities and non-governmental organizations have accommodated almost 25,000 refugees at the camp since it was set up less then three weeks ago. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images) See more heartbreaking photos at In Focus. One immediate way to help is to text “FOOD” to UNICEF (864233) to donate $10, enough to feed a child for 10 days, more ways to help listed here. View high resolution

theatlantic:

Famine in East Africa

With East Africa facing its worst drought in 60 years, affecting more than 11 million people, the United Nations has declared a famine in the region for the first time in a generation. Overcrowded refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia are receiving some 3,000 new refugees every day, as families flee from famine-stricken and war-torn areas. The meager food and water that used to support millions in the Horn of Africa is disappearing rapidly, and families strong enough to flee for survival must travel up to a hundred miles, often on foot, hoping to make it to a refugee center, seeking food and aid. Many do not survive the trip. Officials warn that 800,000 children could die of malnutrition across the East African nations of Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Kenya. Aid agencies are frustrated by many crippling situations: the slow response of Western governments, local governments and terrorist groups blocking access, terrorist and bandit attacks, and anti-terrorism laws that restrict who the aid groups can deal with — not to mention the massive scale of the current crisis.

Above: Somali refugees who recently crossed the border from Somalia into southern Ethiopia cluster between two food tents as they wait to be called to collect food aid at the Kobe refugee camp, on July 19, 2011. Ethiopian authorities and non-governmental organizations have accommodated almost 25,000 refugees at the camp since it was set up less then three weeks ago. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)

See more heartbreaking photos at In Focus. One immediate way to help is to text “FOOD” to UNICEF (864233) to donate $10, enough to feed a child for 10 days, more ways to help listed here.

(Reblogged from crookedindifference)

mohandasgandhi:

AJE: Africa drought refugees are desperate for water

Around three thousand refugees are arriving in the Dadaab complex every day, to flee the worsening drought in neighbouring Somalia.

There are already 440,000 people at the site.

Al Jazeera’s Peter Greste reports from Garissa in northeast Kenya.

More from Al-Jazeera:

Somalia crisis one of ‘largest in decades’

Note: If depictions of dead or dying animals are disturbing to you, please do not watch this video. The video isn’t graphic but I’m just putting that out there.

If you can, please, donate here.

(Reblogged from mohandasgandhi)
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People fled suddenly and arrived with nothing but their clothes. Initially they set up makeshift shelters made out of their clothes and grass, to help protect them from the cold nights. MSF is providing plastic sheeting, blankets, mats, soap, and jerry cans that will help people cope with their most basic needs. Now that all the attention is focused on southern Sudan’s referendum, we shouldn’t forget that there are pressing medical needs in Darfur.
Cristina Falconi, MSF head of mission in Sudan, in the MSF press release Sudan: Clashes Displace Thousands in Darfur (via doctorswithoutborders)
(Reblogged from doctorswithoutborders)
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Asked by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to highlight the plight of people displaced into camps by the floods, she met with women who lost children to the surging water and gave impromptu press conferences in sweaty rooms, loud with angry-seeming men. Back in Los Angeles, she tells me the country with the highest number of refugees in the world is Pakistan. Jolie was appointed UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador in 2001: She does an impressive job for them. She talks about the issues like this is her day job. I tell her Pakistan is a hard country to raise money for: Zardari’s government seems pretty unlovable. She becomes slightly heated: “The president is not the people!” And says, “If you are concerned about security in the world, the last thing you want to do is not give your support to Pakistan and Afghanistan, because that’s the most dangerous thing. That’s the least intelligent thing, as far as I’m concerned, to do.
“The Other Angelina”, Angelina Jolie interviewed for Vogue Magazine (via caraobrien)
(Reblogged from caraobrien)

Vulnerable Refugees, Losing a Lifeline

abbyjean:

In less than two months, unless Congress acts quickly, thousands of refugees who fled for their lives from places like Iran, Cuba, Russia, Somalia and Vietnam — and who are now elderly, disabled and poor — are about to learn the cold limits of compassion. As part of its welfare overhaul in 1996, Congress placed a five-year limit on the time that refugees could receive benefits that vulnerable citizens receive, like Supplemental Security Income, cash assistance to the elderly and the severely disabled. This was supposed to be ample time for people to become citizens, to continue their eligibility for aid, but it quickly became clear that that was a mistake. For a host of reasons — old age, infirmity, poverty, the difficulty of learning English, on top of backlogs, crushing paperwork and high administrative fees — thousands of people would be unable to meet the deadline. The deadline was lengthened in 1997 to seven years. In 2008, at the urging of President George W. Bush and with bipartisan support, Congress provided another two-year respite. But nobody in the current Congress has stepped up to fix the problem again, and on Oct. 1, about 3,800 refugees will reach the end of their lifeline. The letters are already going out.

As advocates for refugees explain, those affected by the looming deadline are not like other immigrants, and are unusually vulnerable. They did not come here for jobs. They are all by definition survivors of persecution, torture or warfare. Some were targets of Saddam Hussein, others victims of sex trafficking. Many have no relatives here. Some are homebound, and were already past 70 when they arrived, too late to learn English, highly unlikely to complete the years-long path to gaining citizenship. They are all old, ill or disabled, and the country that welcomed them is the only benefactor they have. The amounts that these refugees receive are not large — no more than $674 a month for an individual and $1,011 a month for a couple. If any shreds of bipartisanship still exist in Washington, along with the belief that the United States should remain a true haven for those fleeing persecution, then Congress and President Obama will renew their support for a bill to extend benefits to elderly and disabled refugees. In time, they should adopt the permanent solution: finally delinking naturalization and artificial time limits from the granting of lifesaving assistance to these refugees.

(Reblogged from abbyjean)
caraobrien: mustamuseme: On June 11, ethnic violence broke out in Kyrgyzstan, resulting in a severe refugee crisis. Nearly 300,000 people have been displaced within Kyrgyzstan, and another 100,000 have fled their homes for neighboring Uzbekistan. Most of the displaced are women and children, men having stayed behind to protect their neighborhoods and quell the violence, but all are in dire need of assistance. Humanitarian aid to the region has been slow, but the International Rescue Committee is there, providing emergency shelter, water, sanitation, relief supplies, and food. Support those in need in the Kyrgyzstan region, and donate to the I.R.C. today. [International Rescue Committee]Read More http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/06/do-gooder-tip-of-the-day-help-the-refugees-in-kyrgyzstan.html#ixzz0rcsptk7h I know a lot of organizations are always asking for donations and some people are wary of giving money without knowing just how much of that cash will be going to help people. But the IRC is an A+ rated charity by the American Institute of Philanthropy, and 90% of all funding goes directly towards their programs and services. So if you’re going to donate money, the IRC is one of the best organizations you could possibly choose. 

caraobrien:

mustamuseme:

On June 11, ethnic violence broke out in Kyrgyzstan, resulting in a severe refugee crisis. Nearly 300,000 people have been displaced within Kyrgyzstan, and another 100,000 have fled their homes for neighboring Uzbekistan. Most of the displaced are women and children, men having stayed behind to protect their neighborhoods and quell the violence, but all are in dire need of assistance. Humanitarian aid to the region has been slow, but the International Rescue Committee is there, providing emergency shelter, water, sanitation, relief supplies, and food. Support those in need in the Kyrgyzstan region, and donate to the I.R.C. today. [International Rescue Committee]

Read More http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/06/do-gooder-tip-of-the-day-help-the-refugees-in-kyrgyzstan.html#ixzz0rcsptk7h

I know a lot of organizations are always asking for donations and some people are wary of giving money without knowing just how much of that cash will be going to help people. But the IRC is an A+ rated charity by the American Institute of Philanthropy, and 90% of all funding goes directly towards their programs and services. So if you’re going to donate money, the IRC is one of the best organizations you could possibly choose. 

(Reblogged from caraobrien)

World Refugee Day