On 10 December 2018, which marks seventy years since the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the same day in 1948, Amnesty International issued its annual review of the state of the world’s human rights. One area on which it focused was refugee rights in 2018 and… Read more
Last month, UNICEF issued a statement calling for children stranded in Moria on the island of Lesbos to be transferred to accommodation on mainland Greece. Many of the children are traumatised and vulnerable; they are in need of psychosocial support and at risk of violence in the camp. Conditions have… Read more
On 3 September 2018, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) released a new report showing that migrants making the journey across the Mediterranean are encountering a more perilous crossing than ever before. Thus far in 2018, more than 1,600 individuals forced to flee their homes have lost their lives in transit. … Read more
As at 1 August 2018, close to one million Rohingyas have fled from Myanmar to Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, seeking refuge from a military campaign described as “ethnic cleansing” by the UN. 52% among this number are women and girls; 55% are under the age of 18. Alongside Action Against… Read more
The European Commission has approved a new assistance package of €400 million for the education of Syrian refugees in Turkey. The action to approve the aid is the first following the decision by EU Member States on how to finance the second trance of €3 billion for the EU Facility… Read more
In 2011, 769 indigenous families were accused of occupying land belonging to Chabil Utzaj (a sugar mill) and evicted by force from Polochic Valley in Guatemala. Years went by and nothing came of the commitment made by Otto Perez Molina, President of Guatemala at that time, to restore the land… Read more
In late 2015, Spain, along with other European countries, agreed to accept more asylum seekers in order to reduce the strain on Greece and Italy. It made a commitment to accept at least 16,000 asylum seekers within the next two years. Since that time, the crisis has increased in scale… Read more
Oxfam has written a report exposing the exploitation of banana farmers in the Philippines: “Land But No Freedom: Debt, Poverty and Human Suffering in the Philippine Banana Trade”. Bananas can be harvested at all times and are consequently of very significant economic value. In fact, they are among the most… Read more
In June 2018, Oxfam issued a report documenting the failure of France and Italy to assist refugees stranded at the border in the small town of Ventimiglia. An estimated 16,500 refugees and other migrants are staying in and around the town located 7km from the French border. One in four… Read more
Oxfam has emphasised the need for urgent action to assist refugees as monsoon rains strike Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. As of 15 June the rains have caused 130 landslides, destroyed 3,300 houses and affected 28,000 refugees. A survey carried out among the refugees found that more than… Read more
