FIRE-EARTH Alert: Migrant Crisis

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FIRE-EARTH Alert: Hundreds of Migrants Drown in Shipwrecks off Libya

• UNHCR says 239 migrants, mostly from W. Africa, have drowned in shipwrecks off Libya – 4220 lives have been lost in Mediterranean so far in 2016.
• Additional details and analysis are available from FIRE-EARTH PULSARS.

One in Every 113 Humans Displaced [and Rapidly Counting]

Forced displacement hits record high: UNHCR

Global forced displacement escalate sharply in 2015 due to ongoing conflict and persecution, “reaching the highest level ever recorded and representing immense human suffering, according to a report released today by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.”

UNHCR’s annual Global Trends report, which tracks forced displacement worldwide based on data from governments, partners including the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, and the organization’s own reporting, said 65.3 million people were displaced as of the end of 2015, compared to 59.5 million just 12 months earlier. This is the first time that the threshold of 60 million has been crossed.

Of the 65.3 million total, about comprises 3.2 million are in industrialized countries awaiting decisions (as of end 2015) on asylum (the largest total UNHCR has recorded), 21.3 million refugees worldwide (1.8 million more than in 2014 and the highest refugee total since the early 1990s), and 40.8 million were IDPs, people who forced to flee their homes but remained within the confines of their own countries (an increase of 2.6 million from 2014 and the highest number on record).

Based on Earth’s 7.349 billion population, these numbers show that 1 in every 113 people globally is currently either an asylum-seeker, internally displaced or a refugee. The numbers are comparable to the 2015 populations of UK (64.7 million), France (64.4 million) and Italy (59.8 million).

Forced displacement has been on the rise since at least the mid-1990s in most regions, but over the past five years the rate of climb has increased. The reasons are threefold: Situations that cause large refugee outflows are lasting longer (for example, conflicts in Somalia or Afghanistan are now into their third and fourth decades, respectively), dramatic new or reignited situations are occurring frequently (today’s largest being Syria, but also in the space of the past five years South Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Ukraine, Central African Republic, etc.), and the rate at which solutions are being found for refugees and internally displaced people has been on a falling trend since the end of the Cold War. As recently as 10 years ago, at the end of 2005, UNHCR recorded an average of six people displaced every minute. Today that number is 24 per minute – almost double the typical frequency at which adults breathe.

“More people are being displaced by war and persecution and that’s worrying in itself, but the factors that endanger refugees are multiplying too,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. “At sea, a frightening number of refugees and migrants are dying each year; on land, people fleeing war are finding their way blocked by closed borders. Politics is gravitating against asylum in some countries. The willingness of nations to work together not just for refugees but for the collective human interest is what’s being tested today, and it’s this spirit of unity that badly needs to prevail.”

Three countries produce half the world’s refugees…

Among countries covered by the Global Trends report several stand out: Syria at 4.9 million, Afghanistan at 2.7 million and Somalia at 1.1 million together accounted for more than half the refugees under UNHCR’s mandate worldwide. Colombia at 6.9 million, Syria at 6.6 million, and Iraq at 4.4 million meanwhile had the largest numbers of internally displaced people. Yemen was the biggest producer of new internal displacement in 2015 – 2.5 million people, or 9 per cent of its population.

Half the world’s refugees are children

Children constituted 51 per cent of the world’s refugees in 2015 according to the data UNHCR was able to gather (complete demographic data was not available to the report authors). Worryingly, many were separated from their parents or travelling alone. In all there were 98,400 asylum requests from children who were unaccompanied or separated from their families. This is the highest total UNHCR has seen – and a tragic reflection of how global forced displacement is disproportionately affecting young lives.

Additional Information

UNHCR’s Global Trends Report is being released on World Refugee Day, 20 June, in conjunction with our #WithRefugees petition campaign. A full multimedia package is available in connection with the Global Trends report, including infographics, photos, video materials and other products.

 

900 People May Have Drowned in Mediterranean Last Week

550 people including 40 children drown in one shipwreck alone: Report

Up to 900 refugees and migrants are feared drowned in several shipwrecks off the coast of Libya in the past few days, MSF Sea Group says.

“Around 900 people may have died in the Central Mediterranean in the last week alone. Europe, this is unbearable,” MSF said.

Meanwhile, the Italian officials reported they had rescued about 600 others off Libya on Saturday, making a weekly total of about 13,000.

An estimated 190,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year. About 156,000 entered Greece and 34,000 went to Italy. About 1,375 people are missing, presumed dead, reported the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).

8.2 Million Children Affected by Syrian War across the Region

Only on Planet Earth!

The Cost of Five Years of War for Syrians 

The following information is base on a new report ‘The Cost of Conflict for Children – Five years of the Syria crisis, March 2016‘ released by the World Vision.

• The cost of five years of war to Syria to date is an estimated US$275 billion.
• Total impacts on education services resulted in the equivalent of 24.5 million years of lost schooling by the end of 2015.
• Between 11,000 and 19,000 children have been killed, mostly by explosive weapons.
• About 86,000 children aged 6 months to 59 months are acutely malnourished.
• Estimated life expectancy at birth has dropped by 15 years during the five-year span of the war.
• The cost of the war is estimated to grow to as much as US$689 billion in terms of lost growth, Even if the war ends this year.
• The official number of refugees seeking protection in neighbouring countries as of
  February 2016 was over 4.7 million people, said UNHCR.

War in Yemen

Some 2,430,178 people have been forcibly displaced in Yemen since the crisis erupted in late March 2015.

Increased levels of displacement have been reported in areas where the war has escalated, especially  in the five governorates of Taizz, Hajjah, Sana’a, Amran, and Sa’ada, which together account for 68 percent of all internally displaced people (IDPs) in Yemen.

Central African Republic: Children Victims of Relentless Violence in a Climate of Total Impunity

The UN says it has documented the killing of 333 children and maiming of 589 others in brutal attacks targeting communities for reprisals or other motives. It has also documented more than 500 cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence since 2011. https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/press-release/central-african-republic-report/

Genocide in Syria: 11.5% of the Population Killed or Injured, 45% Displaced

More than one in 9 Syrians killed or injured, nearly one in two displaced: Report

“The fragmentation in Syria has become a black hole that turns local and international human and material resources to sabotage and chaos engines,” says a new report published by the Syrian Center for Policy Research (SCPR).

“Fragmentation, as the process of drastic shattering in the social, economic, political, and cultural structures within the society, is being ingrained by various internal and external subjugating powers disintegrating of country sovereignty and pushing the majority of people to act against their own good and against their future,” according to the report, titled “Confronting Fragmentation!”

“The loss of lives due to the conflict remains the most catastrophic visible and direct impact of the ongoing crisis in Syria, that 11.5 per cent of the population inside Syria were killed or injured due to the armed-conflict.”

The conflict has forced 3.11 million people to flee the country as war refugees, while 1.17 million others have left Syria as economic migrants.

“The country faces human catastrophe reflected in the dramatic drop in life expectancy at birth from 70.5 years in 2010 to an estimated 55.4 years in 2015.”

The overall poverty rate was forecast to reach 85.2 per cent by the end of 2015. “Moreover, 69.3 per cent are living in extreme poverty. About 35 per cent of the population fell into abject poverty being unable to meet the basic food needs of their households.”

The unemployment rate climbed to 52.9 per cent by the end of 2015, with the most dramatic rises occurring in conflict zones and besieged areas, said the report. “An estimated 2.91 million unemployed persons; among which 2.7 million lost their jobs during the conflict, with the loss of income further impacting the welfare of 13.8 million dependents.”

The accumulated economic loss trough end of 2015 is estimated at USD 254.7 billion, or 468% of the GDP in 2010.

SCPR  independent, non-governmental non-profit think tank with a mission to engage in “open, respectful, and informed dialogue” on key public policy issues.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research (SCPR) describes itself as an as “an independent, non-governmental, and non-profit think tank … [aiming] to promote sustainable inclusive development.” It has published its latest report “Confronting Fragmentation!” in cooperation with Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy, at the American University of Beirut.

http://scpr-syria.org/publications/policy-reports/confronting-fragmentation/

email: info@scpr-syria.org

Download report: In English: http://scpr-syria.org/?p=1191

NOTHING SHORT OF GENOCIDE: 10,000 Migrant Kids Missing in EU

Fate of the migrant kids who don’t drown at sea…

At least 10,000 migrant children may have disappeared in Europe over  the past 24 months, said the EU’s police intelligence unit (Europol).

“We estimate that at least 26,000 unaccompanied children entered Europe last year – children who have risked everything to flee war, persecution and extreme poverty alone. They come from Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea, Somalia and Iraq, among other places, seeking sanctuary,” said Save the Children’s CEO, earlier this month.

On Friday, IOM said an estimated that 55,528 migrants and refugees had crossed the Mediterranean to enter Europe during the first 28 days of 2016 – a rate of nearly 2,000 per day. The daily average is nearly equivalent to the total numbers for the month of January as recently as two years ago.

During the same period IOM has recorded some 244 deaths at sea [global total of 361 fatalities,] as well as at least a dozen more deaths of migrants and refugees who died either after reaching Europe or traveling to a launch point in Turkey. By comparison, total deaths on Mediterranean Sea routes were 12 in 2014 and 82 last year.

Just hours after IOM released its latest statement, 39 more migrants and refugees including 10 children drowned on Saturday trying to cross the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece.

In May 2015, Italian authorities warned that about 5,000 children had disappeared from asylum reception centers since the previous summer.

In Sweden, about 1,000 unaccompanied refugee children and teens had gone missing by October last year, within a month of arriving in the southern town of Trelleborg, officials have admitted.

In 2015, a total of 1,047,844 refugees and migrants arrived in Europe [Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Malta, as well as Cyprus] including 1,011,712 by sea, with at least 5,394 fatalities recorded globally, said IOM’s Missing Migrants Project.

NOTHING SHORT OF GENOCIDE !

Submitted by a reader

Genocide is being committed against people of Syria by all those who destabilized the country

In 2010, there were no Syrian refugees drowning in the Mediterranean while escaping the Wahhabi block terrorists. Even polio had long been eradicated across the country…

When President Barack Obama secretly authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to begin arming Syria’s embattled rebels in 2013, the spy agency knew it would have a willing partner to help pay for the covert operation. It was the same partner the CIA has relied on for decades for money and discretion in far-off conflicts: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. —Mark Mazzetti and Matt Apuzzo

U.S. officials have not disclosed the amount of the Saudi contribution, which is by far the largest from another nation to the program to arm the rebels against President Bashar Assad’s military. But estimates have put the total cost of the arming and training effort at several billion dollars.

Statement to the Security Council on Syria, New York, 27 January 2016

Since 2011, more than 250,000 people have been killed, well over a million injured, and 6.5 million internally displaced within Syria. About 4.6 million refugees, and most of the remaining population – some 13.5 million people – are in dire need of humanitarian assistance, said the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien.

At least 24 migrants including 10 children drowned in the Mediterranean on Wednesday, after their boat capsized near Greece.

In 2015, some 3,811 people were reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean, most all were migrants trying to escape war zones, poverty or persecution in their homelands, reported the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

At least 224 similar deaths have occurred so far this year, said IOM.

Highlights of a U.N. Report Last Week

• ISIL launches an offensive on GoS controlled areas of Deir-Ez-Zor city causing the displacement of 3,200 families;
• Unconfirmed reports of 300 civilians killed by ISIL and 400 civilians abducted
• Already limited supplies of foods and other commodities are likely to diminish soon putting 200,000 individuals at risk of increased malnutrition
• Those living in GoS controlled areas also face serious protection risks should ISIL take full control of the area
• On 19 January, the Government of Russia announced that they dropped 40 MT of relief supplies from the air.

Meanwhile, several European countries, which feel threatened by the influx of refugees, threaten to deport tens of thousands of asylum-seekers:

• Sweden to deport up to 80,000 asylum-seekers
• Denmark passes controversial bill to take migrants’ valuables
• Germany confiscates more from refugees than Denmark
• Migrants: Norway ‘sending us to death’ in Russia

One Million

1,000,000+ migrants and refugees cross into Europe

The number of migrants and refugees crossing into Europe by land and sea this year has passed one million, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

Myanmar: Precursors to genocide
Violence since 2012 has killed scores and left 140,000 trapped in displacement camps that have been described as open air prisons. More than 1 million face persecution in Myanmar and nowhere in the world are there more known precursors to genocide.

Boko Haram violence forces one million children out of school – U.N.
Violence targeted by the terrorist group Boko Haram has shut down than 2,000 schools in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, forcing more than one million children out of school, “leaving them prey to abuse, abduction and recruitment by armed groups,” said the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF on Tuesday.

Extreme Weather Events and Storms

Extreme weather events and storms on the lower end of intensity scales regularly affect at least a million or people across African, Asian, Pacific and South American countries.

Air Pollution
Smog caused by coal consumption is expected to kill an estimated one million people in China in 2015.

Flooding
“From the onset of the rains in mid-December 2014 through mid-January 2015, the country received continuous rainfall that led to the worst flooding in many years,” said Malawian President Peter Mutharika. “The floods affected about 1.1 million people. It damaged people’s property and public infrastructure and at least 64,000 hectares of crop fields throughout the country. 101 people were killed and 172 people were reported missing.”

Mortality 2015 and Crude Death Rate
Total number of deaths in 2015 is estimated at 57.6 million. The estimate is based on the 2014 crude death rate of 7.89 deaths per 1,000 and global population of 7.3 billion.

In 2015, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) will be responsible for about two-thirds of all deaths globally.

In 2012, more than half (514) of each 1,000 deaths were caused by the following 10 conditions:

Source: WHO, 2012. [Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive lung disease that makes it hard to breathe.]

More than One Million

Cancer
The most common cancers in 2015 are projected to be breast cancer, lung and bronchus cancer, prostate cancer, colon and rectum cancer, bladder cancer, melanoma of the skin, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, thyroid cancer, kidney and renal pelvis cancer, endometrial cancer, leukemia, and pancreatic cancer.

In 2015, an estimated 1,658,370 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the United States and 589,430 people will die from the disease.

Cancers figure among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with approximately 14.1 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer related deaths in 2012 [latest data available -WHO.]

• Tobacco use was the most important risk factor for cancer causing around 20% of global cancer deaths and around 70% of global lung cancer deaths.
• Cancer causing viral infections such as HBV/HCV and HPV are responsible for up to 20% of cancer deaths in low- and middle-income countries (2).
• More than 60% of world’s total new annual cases occur in Africa, Asia and Central and South America. These regions account for 70% of the world’s cancer deaths

The Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic: 78 Million people infected
Since the beginning of the epidemic, almost 78 million people have been infected with the HIV virus and about 39 million people have died of HIV. Globally, 35.0 million [33.2–37.2 million] people were living with HIV at the end of 2013. An estimated 0.8% of adults aged 15–49 years worldwide are living with HIV, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

• The 39 million people have died from AIDS-related causes so far, including 1.2 million in 2014.
• An estimated 2.0 million individuals worldwide became newly infected with HIV in 2014. This includes over 220,000 children
• About 17.1 million people are unaware they have the virus and an estimated 22 million do not have access to HIV treatment, including 1.8 million children.
• The vast majority of people living with HIV are in low- and middle-income countries, with sub-Saharan Africa being the most affected region, with 25.8 million people living with HIV in 2014.
• Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for almost 70 percent of the global total of new HIV infections.
  According to WHO, Exit Disclaimer an estimated 34 million people have died from AIDS-related causes so far, including 1.2 million in 2014.

Background: On June 5, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publish a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), describing cases of a rare lung infection, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), in five young, previously healthy, gay men in Los Angeles. All the men have other unusual infections as well, indicating that their immune systems are not working; two have already died by the time the report is published. This edition of the MMWR marks the first official reporting of what will become known as the AIDS epidemic.

Parkinson’s disease
As many as one million Americans live with Parkinson’s disease, with 60,000 diagnosed with the disease each year. Worldwide, an estimated 10 million people are living with Parkinson’s.

 

Terrorists Killing Off Farms in Nigeria

Impact of terrorism on agriculture and food security

More than 17,000 farmers, fearing Boko Haram terrorists, have fled from northeastern Nigeria to the south since 2012, according to Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency, Irin reported. 

The terrorists attack villages, slaughtering farmers, their families and farm animals, and leaving farms abandoned and disused.

“Ongoing attacks have destroyed land and killed thousands of young men since 2009, and, in some cases, wiped out or displaced entire generations of farmers and herders. The future of many rural communities in northeastern Nigeria is, at best, uncertain, at worst, unsustainable.”

“In the rural north, the youth are the pillars of agriculture, tending to farms and cattle,” said a farmer from Askira. “Now, six years of Boko Haram violence has left farms idle and animals dead or stolen.”

Villager have lost everything, including their sons, to Boko Haram terrorists.

Many farmers have restricted their movements to “safe areas” and work limited hours in the fields to minimize the risk. But they fear the impact this would have on food supplies. Further terrorist attacks could mean food shortages this year.

Bulama Modu, a rice farmer from Gwoza who has since taken refuge at a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Malkohi, told IRIN: “Boko Haram has prevented farmers from tilling their fields. They have been attacking us and many farmers were killed, mostly youth. We had to run without tilling our rice.”

The terrorists first  imposed levies and taxes on the farmers in exchange for not burning their crops, ranging from about one to three million naira ($6,000–$18,000), depending on the size of the village.

“But later, they started slaughtering people and this situation forced us all to flee,” a farmer said.

More than 17,000 farmers, fearing for their lives, have fled from northeastern Nigeria to the south since 2012, according to Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency.

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) says food production throughout the region will be below average this year, and that areas of western Yobe State, northern Adamawa State and most of Borno State, along with areas in and around Maiduguri, where many IDPs have taken refuge, are expected to remain “in crisis” until at least March 2016.

Food prices have been affected severely. Since Boko Haram began attacking farmers the prices of beans and onions have risen by up to 70 percent., said the report.

“Most of our traders are now afraid to go to the food markets up north,” Daudu told IRIN. “Transporters see it as [a] high risk going to such places as Maiduguri to carry farm produce.”

After a popular Baga fish market in Borno State was attacked one morning by Boko Haram, gunmen, many food stores locked their door and let the food inside to perish,” said a victim. “It is not only the farmers that are running away, [but] the food sellers and transporters too.”

Landmine risk

Many farmers have tried to return to their land but are unable to replant their fields due to landmines. They are forced to do other work  until their land has been cleared.

Mine explosions in farm fields have killed, maimed or injured many farmers, as they return to their land.

 

680,000+ Refugees & Migrants Cross the Mediterranean

Greece records highest migration inflows so far this year: IOM

Between January 1 and October 21, 2015 some 680,928 refugees and migrants crossed the the Mediterranean Sea, arriving in Greece (537,460), Italy (139,518), Malta (105)   and Spain (3,845). Some 3,175 people perished in the Mediterranean (estimated global toll stood at 4,480 dead).

About 50,000 refugees and migrants crossed from Turkey to the Greek islands in the past five days alone, reported IOM International.

During the same period, “18 migrants are believed to have lost their lives in two incidents – one on October 19th off the coast of Megisti, the other on October 21st off the coast of Samos.”

“In the shipwreck off Samos, the Hellenic Coast Guard rescued a 32-year-old Syrian, but 14 others, including his wife, two children and other relatives are missing, believed drowned.

“Meanwhile in Italy, so far in the month of October a total of 7,447 migrants have been rescued at sea in the Channel of Sicily. No deaths have been recorded since eight bodies (seven women; one man) were shipped on Monday into Taranto, brought by the Spanish ship Rio Segura, which carried another 633 survivors. Authorities discovered the eight victims in a rubber dinghy carrying 113 migrants. Their cause of death remains unknown,” said the report.

http://missingmigrants.iom.int/en/mediterranean-update-23-october-2015

Refugee, Migrant Arrivals by Sea Surpass a Record 430,000: IOM

Updated

More than 432,000 refugees, migrants arrive in Europe by sea since January, with 2,748 recorded fatalities

An estimated 432,761 asylum-seeking refugees and migrants have reached Europe by sea in 2015 so far this year (as of September 10, 2015), reported the International Organization for Migration (IOM). “This figure is double the amount of arrivals in the Mediterranean for the entire 2014, emphasizing the scale of the current migration emergency.”

About 70% of the arrivals were registered in Greece (309,356 people), and 28% in Italy (121,139 people). At least 2,748 migrants have lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea (year to September 10), while 2,223  migrant deaths were recorded in 2014, according to Missing Migrants*.

Greece, the largest arrival portal, registered about 246,000 people: over 70% came from Syria alone (175,375), while the other main countries of origin were Afghanistan (50,177), Pakistan (11,289), and Iraq (9,059) between January 1 and August 31. (Additionally, more than 50,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Greece since the beginning of September, IOM estimates).

Italy recorded 116,149 arrivals during the same period—a 3% increase compared with last year—with the bulk of refugees and migrants coming from Eritrea (30,708), Nigeria (15,113), Somalia (8,790), Sudan (7,126), Syria (6,710), and Gambia (5,514), said the report.

At various border crossings between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) IOM staff recorded that more than 3,000 migrants were in the area passing the borders in groups of 50 every 20 minutes in recent days. Fewer than 50% of the migrants and refugees were nationals from Iraq and Syria, most of them families with little children. The rest were mainly nationals from Afghanistan and Pakistan along with some from Sub-Saharan Africa. Many were also speaking Greek, confirming the fact that along with recent arrivals, there were also those who have lived for years in Greece, wanting now to head to Northern and Western Europe.

More than 450,000 migrants have entered Germany so far this year, with a total of at least 800,000  expected for all of 2015.

*[Some 39 migrants, including 4 infants and 11 older children, drowned on their way to Greece in two separate incidents last weekend, reported AP. ]

Related Links

• ISIL Terraforming Syria for Israeli Expansion September 11, 2015
• Half of Syria’s Prewar Population Have Fled Their Homes August 31, 2015

Terrorists Massacre 400, Mostly Women & Kids, in Palmyra, Syria

Global Disasters/ Significant Events

Islamic State Terrorists massacre 400 people in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra (modern city of Tadmur, Homs Governorate), mostly women and children, said Syrian state television Sunday, media reported.

About a third of Palmyra’s population of 200,000 have fled the city since earlier this week, when the ISIS terrorists overrun the historic city, said the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

The city was reportedly captured from the Syrian army on Wednesday.

Gaza Economy on the Verge of Collapse

Blockades, war and poor governance have strangled Gaza’s economy and the unemployment rate is now the highest in the world according to the latest World Bank economic update.

The youth unemployment is highest in the region at more than 60 percent.

Mass graves of suspected migrants found in Malaysia near Thai border

Police have discovered at least 30 mass graves containing the remains of hundreds of people in two location in the northern state of Perlis, near the Thai border, reported the Utusan Malaysia newspaper .

About 100 bodies were found in one grave alone, said another report.

“I reckon it was a preliminary finding and eventually I think the number would be more than that,” said the Malaysian Home Minister when asked about the number of mass graves discovered.

Global Disasters/ Significant Events – May 19, 2015

Egyptian authorities behaving like animals

Egyptian security forces are using sexual violence against detainees on a massive scale, according to the International Federation for Human Rights.

Men, women and children are being raped “to eliminate public protest,” said a report. Detainees are routinely subject to virginity tests, rape and gang rape after arrest.

“The study notes a surge in sexual violence after the Egyptian military takeover in July 2013.”

Time running out for thousands in distress at sea: UNHCR

Time is running out for thousands of people in distress at sea, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on Tuesday warned, urging governments in the Southeast Asia region to urgently rescue the vulnerable people.

“We estimate that nearly 4,000 people from Myanmar and Bangladesh remain stranded at sea with dwindling supplies on board. This includes some 2,000 men, women and children stranded on at least five boats near the Myanmar-Bangladesh coasts for more than 40 days. Unconfirmed reports suggest the number could be higher,” UNHCR spokesman told journalists in Geneva on Tuesday.

Chadians Fleeing Boko Haram

An estimated 32,000 Chadians and other internally displaced persons (IDPs) have fled Boko Haram attacks and crossed the border from Nigeria into Chad’s Lac Chad region since the beginning of January 2015, said IOM.

Islamic State terrorists take control of Ramadi, Iraq

Islamic State terrorists have taken control of Ramadi. At least 500 have been killed and 42,840 people fled fighting in the city over 16–17 May, adding to the 180,000 already displaced in Anbar since early April. Access to new IDPs in Habbaniyah, Khadiyah district, is limited due to insecurity, and health concerns are growing, reported Acaps.

Sudan: Fighting between Southern Reizeigat and Maaliya tribes in Abu Karinka, East Darfur, has reportedly displaced up to 24,000 households – 168,000 people. Those who remain have been cut off from water, food, and fuel aid. Measles cases have climbed to 4,127 so far this year, with West Darfur the worst-affected state. http://geo.acaps.org

Burundi: Displacement has increased sharply with the worsening political crisis. 105,000 people are seeking asylum in neighbouring countries, including 78,000 in Tanzania, where living conditions are worsening rapidly. Political protests continue in Burundi, despite the President warning that protesters will be considered accomplices of perpetrators of the attempted coup. http://geo.acaps.org

11 Million More People Internally Displaced in 2014

Twice more IDPs than refugees worldwide

More than 38 million people worldwide are currently internally displaced (IDPs) due to conflict and violence, a rise for the third consecutive year, according to a report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC).

Last year alone, 11 million more people were displaced, the equivalent of 21 people every minute. “Never in the last 10 years of IDMC’s global reporting, have we reported such a high estimate for the number of people newly displaced in a year,” said the report.

“As of the end of 2014, 38 million people around the world had been forced to flee their homes by armed conflict and generalized violence, and were living in displacement within the borders of their own country. This represents a 15 per cent increase on 2013, and includes 11 million people who were newly displaced during the year, the equivalent of 30,000 people a day.”

11 Million people were newly displaced in 2014, or the equivalent of 30,000 fleeing each day from conflict and violence. Image source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC).

There are now twice more internally displaced people (IDPs) than refugees worldwide, says the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Refugees are people who have crossed an international border escaping danger and who have international legal status. However, there is no coherent international protection structure for IDPs, says the UN agency.

Prolonged conflict and violence in five countries—Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria—accounted for 60 per cent of new displacements in 2014, including 2.2 million people in Iraq who fled areas that had been captured by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and more than one million South Sudan, Syria, Democratic Republic of Congo each.

About 77% of the world’s IDPs live in just 10 countries: Syria (7.6 million or 19.90%), Colombia (6.04 million), Iraq (3,38 million), Sudan (3.1 million), DR Congo (2.76 million), Pakistan (1.9 million), South Sudan (1.5 million), Somalia (1.11 million), Nigeria (1.08 million) and Turkey (953,700).

IDMC reported two new countries for the first time in 2014: Ukraine, where conflict displaced 646,500, and El Salvador, with 288,900 IDPs.

“Data on IDPs tends to focus on those living in camps, camp-like settings and collective centres, who are acknowledged to make up only a small fraction of the displaced population. Increasing numbers of IDPs also flee to urban areas where they are largely invisible among the urban poor, and these two factors mean that overall this report is likely to understate the true scale of displacement,” says the report.

[Additionally, no data is available on the IDPs in several countries, including Sri Lanka. —Editor]

The reported 38 million total does not reflect the tens of millions of people who have been internally displaced by natural disasters, says the report.

Mediterranean Sea: A ‘Convenient’ Killing Machine

Up to 900 migrants drown, only 28 rescued

Hundreds of migrants are believed to have drowned after their boat sank about 100km off the coast of Libya.

The 20-meter-long boat was carrying up to 950 migrants, and only 28 survivors have been rescued, according to the latest reports.

The sinking is probably the largest loss of life of migrants attempting to cross to Europe, said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), adding that the North Africa-Italy route was the world’s deadliest.

The EU voted last year to heavily downsize search and rescue attempts. The decision was reached after EU members said they couldn’t afford to house the refugees, and feared that it would encourage even more migrants to cross the sea.

Some 13,500 people arrived in the Italian waters over the past week (April 10 – 17), said UNHCR. “Their arrival exacerbates a growing crisis which has seen some 31,500 people cross Mediterranean waters to Italy and Greece so far this year, as war and violence intensify in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.”

As many as 1,700 migrants are now feared to have drowned so far this year.

An estimated 218,000 migrants crossed the Mediterranean in 2014, while 3,500 others drowned, said UNHCR.

Hundreds of Migrants Drown in Mediterranean Sea

300 Migrants and Refugees Missing in Mediterranean

The missing, presumed drowned, were among migrants and refugees, mainly from Sub-Saharan Africa, who had left the coast of Libya in four dinghies.

Some 29 refugees and migrants died on Sunday from one dinghy, but 110 survivors landed in Lampedusa, after being rescued by Italian coastguard and a merchant vessel, said reports.

The survivors confirmed to UNHCR that they had left on Saturday, February 7, from Libya on four rubber dinghies without food and water. Only nine out of 216 passengers survived on two other dinghies, with the fourth one still missing.

“This is a tragedy on an enormous scale and a stark reminder that more lives could be lost if those seeking safety are left at the mercy of the sea. Saving lives should be our top priority. Europe cannot afford to do too little too late,” said Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR Europe Bureau Director.

At least 218,000 people, including both migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean in 2014 and the trend is expected to continue in 2015, said UNHCR.

Related Links

• State of Emergency Declared in Sicily October 15, 2013
• Dozens Killed as Yet Another Migrant Boat Sinks October 12, 2013
• Hundreds Killed in Another Migrants Boat Disaster October 3, 2013

500 Killed, 20,000 Displaced in South Sudan Conflict

More than 20,000 people take refuge in U.N. compound in Juba

Since its independence in 2011, ethnic fighting has plagued the landlocked South Sudan, one of the poorest and least developed countries in Africa.

Thousands of civilians continue to pour into a shelter at the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) compound on the outskirts of the capital Juba, December 17, 2013.  Source: UN News Center

The United Nations says it has received reports from South Sudan that up to 500 people had been killed and about 800 others wounded in the latest round of violence, and the government said it had arrested 10 politicians in connection with a “foiled coup.”

“Two hospitals have recorded between 400 and 500 dead and [up to] 800 wounded,” a diplomat in New York said on condition of anonymity, citing an estimate United Nations peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous gave during a closed-door briefing for the 15-member body, said a report.

Dozens Killed as Yet Another Migrant Boat Sinks

Global Disasters/ Significant Events – October 12, 2013

Yet another migrant boat sinks off Italy in last week’s Déjà vu

At least 36 people were killed when a boat carrying more than 200 migrants capsized and sank in the Mediterranean sea, said reports.

The boat capsized about 120km off the Italian island of Lampedusa, where at least 339 people drowned on October 3, when their boat capsized and sank less than 600 meters from the island.

Last week’s disaster occurred when a boat similar to the one above caught fire as it headed toward Lampedusa Island, south of Sicily. Source: UNHCR

Today’s incident was the third migrants boat disaster in the Mediterranean in two weeks. Thirteen people drowned off the southern coast of Italy on Monday September 30 after they attempted to swim ashore from a foundering vessel, said UNHCR.

In August, six migrants drowned after they jumped out of a boat off the coast of Sicily and attempted to swim ashore.

In July seven immigrants drowned as they held on to a fishing cage that was being towed to shore.

13 immigrants drowned off the coast of Sicily on Monday after they attempted to swim ashore from a foundering vessel. Photo credit: Reuters.

Sicily and the surrounding islands are ideal portals for desperate refugees and illegal immigrants from Libya, Tunisia, sub-Saharan Africa in search of employment and a better quality of life, said UNHCR.

Related Links

• Dozens Killed in Yet Another Migrants Boat Disaster October 3, 2013

Dozens Killed in Yet Another Migrants Boat Disaster

Migrants Boat Capsizes Near Lampedusa, Italy, Killing Dozens

A boat carrying hundreds of immigrants capsized near the Italian island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily, killing at least 96 people.

There were at least 450 people on board when the boat capsized, Ansa news agency reported. Italy’s Coast Guard has reportedly rescued about 147 people so far.

“Of the estimated 500 passengers on the boat, believed to be Eritreans, only 147 have been rescued so far. The boat, which originated from Libya, caught fire half a mile from the coast.” UNHCR  reported.

Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta has described the incident as an “enormous tragedy.”

Thursday’s disaster occurred when a boat similar to the one above caught fire as it headed toward Lampedusa Island, south of Sicily. Source: UNHCR

Today’s incident was the second migrants boat disaster this week off Italy’s coast. Thirteen people drowned off the southern coast of Italy on Monday after they attempted to swim ashore from a foundering vessel, said UNHCR.

In July seven immigrants drowned as they held on to a fishing cage that was being towed to shore.

13 immigrants drowned off the coast of Sicily on Monday after they attempted to swim ashore from a foundering vessel. Photo credit: Reuters.

Sicily and the surrounding islands are prime targets for desperate refugees and illegal immigrants from Libya, Tunisia, sub-Saharan Africa in search of employment and a better quality of life.

IDP Numbers Continue Rising Globally

Deteriorating Humanitarian Crisis: Millions of Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) Facing Severe Food Shortages

Record numbers of migrants from the Horn of Africa are crossing into Yemen: UN-OCHA

The following are excerpts from various reports published by UN-OCHA, its  and other IDP-related agencies.

Ethiopia: More than 107,000 recorded migrants crossed the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden into Yemen in 2012, of whom 80,000 were from Ethiopia.

“Record numbers of migrants from the Horn of Africa are crossing into Yemen, most of them on their way to find better opportunities in Saudi Arabia and other rich Gulf countries. But many do not make it any further. Seeking a new life, they end up unwitting victims of a smuggling racket designed to exploit the migrants at each juncture of their journey.” UN-OCHA reported.

Pakistan:  Since mid-March, about 48,000 people have been displaced from the Maidan area in the Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) , due to an escalation of hostilities between rival armed groups and the Government’s security operations against armed non-state actors. UN-OCHA reported.

• Officials estimate that up to 60,000 people (10,000 families) may leave the conflict-affected area in the near future and remain in displacement for up to six months due to security concerns.

• As of 10 April, UNHCR had registered 2,364 newly displaced families. The majority were displaced to
  Kurram (1,182 families), while the rest sought refuge in Peshawar (555 families), Nowshera (556 families)
  and Kohat (71 families).

• Some 165,427 displaced families, that is IDPs, are currently registered in Khyber Pakhtunkh (KP) and FATA.

Afghan Refugees

• Some 1.64 million Afghan refugees currently “receiving humanitarian assistance.”

• More than 1.3 million others who have returned to FATA since 2009.

Chad: Influx of refugees and returnees

More than 74,000 people have fled into Chad from Darfur in the past two months, 50,000 of them in the past week alone, causing the largest influx of refugees from Sudan into Chad since 2005, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

Hunger in Mali

Hunger in Mali has reached crisis levels in the northern Kidal Region and has reached critical levels in Gao and Timbuktu regions, according to food security agencies and the government’s early warning body, UN-OCHA reported.

• One in five households in Gao and Timbuktu are facing severe food shortages, while in Kidal one in five households faces severe malnutrition and increasing mortality.

•  Countrywide, the number of Malians at risk of critical hunger this year is estimated to be 2 million, and 660,000 children under age five are at risk of severe malnutrition, though this latter estimate is based on figures from a 2011 survey.

Central African Republic (CAR)

Humanitarian situation in CAR has deteriorated, leaving civilians in the capital, Bangui, in critical need of aid, according to a senior humanitarian official.

• “The main humanitarian needs in Bangui are access to health and nutrition and clean water [and] security and protection of civilians,” Amy Martin, who heads the Bangui branch of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told IRIN.

• Regarding the number of people affected by the crisis, she said: “We are using the population figure of the entire country, 4.5 million people, [as the number of people] affected. The most vulnerable people – women, children, elderly, [people living with HIV/AIDS] – are most at risk.”

Myanmar

“Two weeks after a wave of anti-Muslim violence engulfed Meikhtila, Mandalay Division—leaving at least 40 dead and 61 injured—more than 12,000 mostly Muslim residents of the city shelter in camps for the displaced. Most of the camps are improvised in schools under the control of the Burmese government. In recent days, journalists have been barred from entering the camps. According to a local National League for Democracy politician, aid organizations have been forced to leave deliveries at the camp gates.”  Irrawaddy reported.

Syria

“The humanitarian situation in Syria continues to deteriorate, disrupting livelihoods, leading to over 1.3 million people fleeing the country to seek assistance as refugees in neighboring countries.” UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Malian Refugees stranded in Mauritanian desert

About 70,000 refugees from Mali are living in difficult conditions in the middle of the Mauritanian desert, with ethnic tensions in northern Mali quashing any hopes of a swift return home, Said Reliefweb.

Stateless in Mozambique

“A high number of people in our locality have no form of identification, says Veriato Eduardo, an administrator in Angonia in Northwestern Mozambique near the Malawi border. This prevents them from registering their children in schools and from expanding their small businesses. In this part of the country, a high number of adults are returned refugees, who lost their documentation during the civil war, and have therefore been left stranded.” UN Children’s Fund reported.

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DISASTER CALENDAR – April 14, 2013 — 
SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,063 Days Left 

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,063 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the brief Human  History
• The countdown began on May 15, 2011 …

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID PLANETARY DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs