October 22, 2021 No comments
UNICEF sounds alarm over abductions of women and children in Haiti
INTERNATIONAL, 22 October 2021, Human Rights - The number of children and women abducted in Haiti until the end of August, has already surpassed last year’s total, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned this Thursday. According to UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Jean Gough, "nowhere is safe for children in Haiti anymore." “Whether on their way to school, at home or even at church, girls and boys are at risk of being kidnapped anywhere, at any time of the day or night. This is every parent’s worst nightmare", she explained. UNICEF estimates, based on official sources, that 71 women and 30 children were abducted in the first eight months of this year, up from 59 women and 37 children last year. The number represents one third of the 455 kidnappings reported. Most of the kidnappings are taking...
Read more
October 22, 2021 No comments
'Landmark decision’ gives legal teeth to protect environmental defenders
INTERNATIONAL, 22 October 2021, Human Rights - A 46-strong group of countries across the wider European region has agreed to establish a new legally binding mechanism that would protect environmental defenders, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) said on Friday. “I remain deeply concerned by the targeting of environmental activists”, said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, welcoming the rapid response mechanism as “an important contribution to help advance my Call to Action for Human Rights”. The agreement will delegate setting up the new mechanism to the United Nations, or another international body. As the first ever internationally-agreed tool to safeguard environmental defenders, it marks an important step in upholding the universal right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment – as recognized by the Human Rights Council earlier this month. “Twenty years ago, the Aarhus Convention...
Read more
October 22, 2021 No comments
Conditions worsen for stranded migrants along Belarus-EU border
INTERNATIONAL, 22 October 2021, Migrants and Refugees - At least eight people have died along the border between Belarus and the European Union, where multiple groups of asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants have been stranded for weeks in increasingly dire conditions. The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, appealed for urgent action on Friday, to save lives and prevent further suffering at the border with Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The latest casualty was reported within the past few days. UNHCR warned that the situation will further and rapidly deteriorate as winter approaches, putting more lives in danger. For the Agency’s Regional Director for Europe, Pascale Moreau, “when fundamental human rights are not protected, lives are at stake.” “It is unacceptable that people have died, and the lives of others are precariously hanging in the balance. They are held hostage by a political stalemate which needs to be solved now,” he said. According to media reports, the EU regards the increase...
Read more
October 22, 2021 No comments
Libyan Government plan needed to end ‘dire situation’ of asylum seekers, refugees
INTERNATIONAL, 22 October 2021, Migrants and Refugees - The Libyan government must immediately address the dire situation of asylum-seekers and refugees, in a humane manner, consistent with international human rights law, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday. According to UNHCR, authorities carried out raids and arbitrary arrests this month which targeted areas largely populated by refugees and asylum-seekers. This resulted in several deaths, thousands detained, and many homeless and destitute. “We have witnessed a sharp deterioration in the situation facing vulnerable asylum-seekers and refugees in Tripoli”, Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR’s Special Envoy for the Western and Central Mediterranean Situation said. “The Libyan authorities must come up with a proper plan that respects their rights and identifies durable solutions.” Situation ‘precarious’ for many The situation for some 3,000 people currently sheltering outside the Community Day Centre (CDC) in Tripoli, “is very...
Read more
October 22, 2021 No comments
'Big disappointment' over lack of Syria constitution agreement
INTERNATIONAL, 22 October 2021, Peace and Security - The process of drafting a new constitution for Syria has been “a big disappointment” UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen concluded on Friday. Following the end of discussions in Geneva, a consensus on how to move forward was not achieved, he added. The drafting process between Government and opposition Co-Chairs of the Syrian Constitutional Committee (Small Drafting Body) and civil society began on Monday and was led by Mr. Pedersen. The aim was to produce a text that would help support a peaceful future for the country, after more than a decade of war. The development followed close to nine months of negotiations by the Special Envoy to reach a consensus on constitutional reform. In January, he said that insufficient progress had been made at the fifth meeting of the...
Read more
