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humanitarian emergency

EU: Yemen humanitarian situation crisis can be solved through political settlement

BreakingNews @en di

Flollowing a meeting by the EU Foreign Ministers on Tuesday, in a statement the EU expressed its concern about the worsening humanitarian situation in Yemen and reaffirmed that a solution can be founf in political settlement. The data emerging from the statement underlined a catastrophic situation, with 17 million Yemenis who are suffering from food insecurity and lacking from foreign aid and 7.3 million people who are at serious risk. Concerning the situation among the children, more than 2.2 million children are suffering from acute malnutrition. Due to this situation the EU stressed the importance of secure access to all ports and condemned the attacks against civilians. In fine the EU called fro reopening Sana’a airport for commercial flights.

Yemeni Foreign Minister Sharaf discusses with UN Coordinator worsening humanitarian situation in Yemen

BreakingNews @en di

During a meeting between the Yemeni Foreign Minister Sharaf and the UN Resident Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen McGoldrick, they discussed the worsening humanitaria situation in the country and the targeting of the port of Hodeida. The discussion led to the need of intervention of the United Nations and international actors to end the suffering of Yemeni employees, subjected to the policy of starvation by the aggression and the mercenaries. Concerning the port of Hodeida, the Foreign Minister underlined the importance of its safety due to its key role in accepting humanitarian needs for Yemeni people, as McGoldrick also did. The Minister also underlined the efforts made by the National Salvation Government to achieve peace and end the suffering of the Yemeni citizens.

Refugee crisis: Msf activity in Greece

Europe di

Greece has become the main European route for migrants, especially for Syrian and Iraqi refugees. In the last two months, they has taken advantage of Turkish borders pass. Aegean Islands is the first step to reach Eu, passing along Balkan route: 244 855 people have transited from Turkey to Greece since January. To speak about this humanitarian emergency, European Affairs has interviewed Constance Theisen, Msf Humanitarian Affairs Officer in Greece, who has talked about Ngo’s activity there, like medical care and basic needs to migrants.

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What’s Msf activity in Greece?

“Our aim in Greece and along the Balkan route (we also work in Serbia) is to try and cover the immediate needs of the migrants and refugees arriving, where needed:

  • Lesvos Island: Water and sanitation in Kara Tepe camp and Moria informal camp. Two medical teams for mobile clinics in the camps and in Mytilene town and harbor, where people are sleeping outside. Mental health support with one psychologist. Bus service from the North of the island to the south so that people don’t have to walk the 65km in the sun;
  • Kos Island: Shelter, water and sanitation in Captain Elias camp. one medical team for mobile clinics in Captain Elias camp and anywhere in Kos town where people sleep outside. Mental health support with one psychologist. Distribution of non-food-items: kit with blanket, torch, toothbrush, toothpaste, energy bars;
  • Dodecanese Islands: one medical team based on a boat for mobile clinics in the islands of Simi, Leros, Tilos, Kalymnos. Distribution of non-food-items: kit with blanket, torch, toothbrush, toothpaste, energy bars. Support in all islands of local activists and municipalities with shelter (tents of shadow nets) to create space where people can sleep;
  • Athens: we have a project to help people who have suffered ill treatment (torture…) with medical and psychological support and a social worker;
  • At the Northern border between Greece and Macedonia: we work at the crossing point of Idomeni, where people will travel to their final destination through the Balkan cross into Macedonia. one medical team for consultations, one psychologist and we installed toilets and showers. Our team also distributes non-food-items: kit with blanket, torch, toothbrush, toothpaste, energy bars. “

 

Is Greece a real point of passage towards especially Germany, Sweden and Norway?

“Greece has now become the main point of entry to Europe: 244 855 people have arrived there so far (crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey) versus 119 500 arrivals in Italy (UNHCR numbers 08/09/2015). “

 

What’s Greece government’s behaviour towards refugees?

“The Greek government has shown no leadership to respond to the crisis in a constructive manner. The only way to fix the problem of so many people arriving in the islands, forced to sleep outside for days before the local police can register them and give them the paper needed to leave the island, is to have more police sent to the islands to register the people arriving and reception/transit camps in all islands where people arrive. Instead, the Greek authorities have sent more riot police to the islands (not meant to register people) and have not shown any initiative to identify spaces (fields, stadiums…) where long-term reception can be organized for the people arriving. They have disregarded its responsibilities: no distribution of food organized in most islands (Kos, Leros, Simi, Kalymnos) or insufficient in all others (Lesvos for instance). And they have abused migrants with excessive use of police force (in 2 days in Lesvos last week, our medical team treated more than 10 people who reported being beaten by the police). “

 

In yours point of view, what’s differences with Italian government?

“I can not speak for the Italian system as I do not know it very well, but I believe that Italy has put in place a national system of reception, in accordance with EU standards, providing 2 things: upon arrival a medical screening and vulnerability screening to all people arriving ; shelter (centers) all over the country, providing also food.

Instead, in Greece:

  • No systematic medical screening (not a single island provides it);
  • No systematic screening for vulnerabilities (not a single island provides it);
  • No shelter (except in some places on Lesvos and Chios islands);
  • No systematic provision of food;
    No access to hygiene facilities (except in some places on Lesvos and Chios islands). “

 

How are land routes prefer more than sea routes?

“The route for Syrians to reach the EU has changed. Why: current situation in Lybia; visa restrictions to Syrians traveling to Egypt; more and more difficult stay in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey (see UNHCR reports on access to protection, services and to the local job market there). Once in Greece, since controls in the airports have increased, more and more people chose the land route through the Balkan to reach their final destination. “

 

What are yours statistics of 2015?

Consultations until July 31st:

  • 3236 in Kos;
  • 437 in the neighbouring Dodecanese Islands;
  • 3000 in Idomeni.

Kits distributed until July 31st: more than 20 000 all over the country. “

 

Giacomo Pratali

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Southern Asian countries will help Rohingya

Asia @en/BreakingNews @en di

Southern Asian countries will donate a fund for the several Rohingya arrived in Indonesia, Malesia and Thailand in the recent months. So they receive Un’s requests. More than 4600 boats have tried to reach these countries since May: at least double than 2014.

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ALast May, Indonesia and Malesia announced to give a temporary asylum to about 7000 migrants who arrived to their coasts. But the emergency has not stopped yet. And this is an humanitarian emergency which concerns thousand of women and children.

As reported by United Nations, the elements about this geopolitical context are awful, even if the International Press is focusing only about immigration in Mediterranean Sea: “Such perilous journeys, whether by land, sea, or air, have become a global phenomenon”, said António Guterres, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, Peter Sutherland and William Lacy Swing, Un Higher Commissioner for Refugee said.

Again: “88,000 migrants had tried to migrate by boat in Southeast Asia since 2014. “Nearly 1,000 are believed to have perished at sea due to the precarious conditions of the voyage, and an equal number because of mistreatment and privation at the hands of traffickers and abusive smugglers”, they underlined.

Rohingya are detached in two parts. Majority, the Muslim faction, who is persecuted by the Buddist Myanmar. The other part are Bangladeshi who run away from poverty. Now more of them live in refugee camps in Indonesia, Malesia and Thailand, after a long journey from Rakhine (North Myanmar) to the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.

Through a creation of a humanitarian fund, United Nations hope to decrease all crime against Rohingyas: “Women are raped. Children are separated from their families and abused. Men are beaten and thrown overboard, We are deeply concerned at reports that boats full of vulnerable women, men and children are unable to land and are stranded at sea without access to urgently needed food, water, and medical assistance”, Un statement reported.
Giacomo Pratali

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Giacomo Pratali
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