Dhaka, Bangladesh | AFP | Bangladesh said Monday there were 70,000 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers among the wave of Rohingya refugees who have entered the country after fleeing violence from Myanmar in the past three weeks. The UN says 415,000 civilians from the Rohingya Muslim minority have arrived in Bangladesh since …
Read More »ANALYSIS: Unwelcome in Israel, African refugees dream of home
Tel Aviv, Israel | AFP | Tens of thousands of Africans who fled misery at home for safety in Israel are living in limbo, fearing deportation though some have lived in the country for more than a decade. Recognising a rising tide of discontent among Israelis over the migrants’ presence …
Read More »Troops kill 36 Burundian refugees in DR Congo
Bukavu, DR Congo | AFP | Soldiers shot dead 36 Burundian refugees in clashes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said Saturday, prompting shock, outrage and a demand for answers from the United Nations. A Burundian refugee said that more than 30 had been killed and at least 100 …
Read More »Empty villages, Rohingya on the run: Who is left in Myanmar’s Rakhine?
Yangon, Myanmar | AFP | A military campaign to wipe out Rohingya insurgents has rained violence down on Myanmar’s Rakhine state, sending nearly 390,000 Muslim Rohingya refugees fleeing for sanctuary in Bangladesh. Around 30,000 Rakhine Buddhists and Hindus have also been displaced, as ethnic and religious hatreds carve through the state. …
Read More »Myanmar’s Suu Kyi to address nation next week on Rohingya crisis
Yangon, Myanmar | AFP | Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi will address the crisis engulfing Rakhine state next week, in her first speech since scores were killed in violence that has sent nearly 380,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh and sullied her reputation as a defender of the oppressed. A …
Read More »UN says 270,000 refugees enter Bangladesh
Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh | AFP | Some 270,000 refugees have fled Myanmar’s violence-wracked Rakhine state and entered Bangladesh in the last fortnight, most from the Muslim Rohingya minority, the United Nations said Friday. “An estimated 270,000 refugees arrived in Bangladesh in the last two weeks,” said Vivian Tan, a spokeswoman for …
Read More »America asks reluctant donors to respond to Uganda’s refugee crisis
Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Deborah Malac, the US Ambassador to Uganda has called upon more donors, especially countries and organizations that historically do not respond to refugee crises to step up and share the burden of caring for refugees in Uganda. There are over 1.3 million refugees living in …
Read More »More than one million South Sudan refugees in Uganda
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | South Sudan’s brutal civil war has forced more than one million people to flee to neighbouring Uganda alone, with another million seeking refuge elsewhere in the region, the UN’s refugee agency said Thursday. The UNHCR said additional funds were desperately needed to help the refugees …
Read More »Somali refugees regret returning home from Kenya
Baidoa, Somalia | AFP | As a teenager, Aden Hussein chose to become a refugee to get an education. With Somalia in collapse, he left his family for neighbouring Kenya where Dadaab, one of the largest and oldest refugee camps in the world, offered a de-facto city served by the …
Read More »Uganda refugee crisis fundraising raises $358 million
Kampala, Uganda | Michael O’HAGAN | AFP | The international community pledged $358 million at a fundraising summit Friday to help Uganda tackle the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis, falling well short of expectations. Organisers had hoped the meeting in the central city of Entebbe would raise at least $2 billion …
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