Citizens for Justice and Peace
UN Secretary General calls on nations to take positive approach to migration
13-Jan-2018
The Guardian reported that United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres is calling on member nations to create more avenues for migration, and promote and protect foreign workers. According to the Guardian, Guterres is “calling for a collective shift to celebrate the international benefits of migration as part of an ambitious plan to create a more humane global…
US judge blocks Trump administration’s move to end ‘Dreamers’ program
11-Jan-2018
The Guardian reported that a judge barred United States President Donald Trump to from ending a programme authorised by former President Barack Obama that protected from deportation those who were brought to the country illegally as children. US district judge William Alsup ruled that the Trump administration must “maintain the Daca program on a nationwide basis” while…
60,000 children stranded, forgotten in camps in Rakhine, Myanmar
10-Jan-2018
UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado addressed the press at a briefing in Geneva after spending nearly a month in Myanmar, particularly its Rakhine state that is home the Rohingya minority, hundreds of thousands of whom have fled to Bangladesh following a military crackdown in late August 2017. Mercado said she travelled to central Rakhine, “where over 120,000 Rohngya…
UNHCR appeals to Israel to stop forced relocations
10-Jan-2018
At a Geneva press briefing, William Spindler, spokesperson for the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) expressed concern over Israel’s recently announced plan “to forcibly relocate Eritreans and Sudanese to countries in Africa or have them face indefinite detention,” and said that UNHCR was “again appealing to Israel to halt its policy of relocating Eritreans and Sudanese to…
Trump administration to end protection for more than 200,000 Salvadorans in US
09-Jan-2018
The Los Angeles Times reported that United States President Donald Trump’s administration has announced that it will end “temporary protected status” for around 262,000 Salvadorans living in the country; they will have until September 9, 2019 to leave the US, “or, in some cases, to apply for alternative legal means of staying,” the LA Times said. In 2001, President…
No option but to fight following attack on Myanmar army: Rohingya Rebels
09-Jan-2018
Reuters and Agence France-Presse, in a report published in the Guardian, said that the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (Arsa) claimed responsibility in a Twitter post for an attack on a Myanmar army vehicle that took place in Rakhine sate on Friday, January 5, 2018, and left three wounded. According to the report the group said in a…
Plight of the Stateless Rohingya People A Timeline of their history and exodus
30-Dec-2017
The Rohingya people have been living a ‘stateless’ existence for several years now. Originally residents of the Arakan region in Rakhine province of Myanmar, many have been forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh and even India due to persecution at the hands of the Buddhist majority government. Many Rohingya have…
Myanmar, Bangladesh establish joint working group for Rohingya repatriation
19-Dec-2017
Following a meeting held in Dhaka, Bangladesh and Myanmar have established a joint working group to begin the repatriation of the Rohingya refugees that have taken shelter in Bangladesh, the Dhaka Tribune reported. The group will be comprised of 15 members from each country. Previously, Bangladesh had informed the United Nations that a joint working…
UN refugee chief lauds Djibouti’s new refugee rules
19-Dec-2017
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, during his recent visit to Djibouti, lauded the country’s acceptance of more than 27,000 refugees from four neighbouring nations, UNHCR reported. He also a commended the Djibouti government’s move to consider all refugee camps as villages. “This is extremely important as it means that refugees will…
Livin’ on a Prayer A look at the migrant crisis on International Migrants Day
18-Dec-2017
Today, on International Migrants Day (December 18), CJP believes that it is vital to recognise the plight of both refugees and migrants, who often face similar struggles, though their legal definitions differ. According to the United Nations (UN), “Refugees are persons who are outside their country of origin for reasons of feared persecution, conflict, generalized…
40 Rohingya villages burned since October: HRW
18-Dec-2017
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said that analysis of satellite images has found that Rohingya villages have been further destroyed in Myanmar’s Rakhine state during October and November. HRW said it has pinpointed 40 villages “with building destruction,” making the number of villages “that have been partially or completely destroyed” 354 since August 25, 2017.…
UN official says 8.4 million in Yemen “a step away from famine”
13-Dec-2017
Jamie McGoldrick, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, recently issued a statement calling for “sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access” to the country, saying that “the lives of millions of people, including 8.4 million Yemenis who are a step away from famine, hinge on our ability to continue our operations and to provide health, safe…
UN migration body urges Facebook to curb People Smugglers
13-Dec-2017
The United Nations’ migration agency, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), has urged social media firms, including Facebook, to up their efforts in curbing people smugglers using their platforms, The Independent reported. IOM spokesman Leonard Doyle has said people smugglers frequently use Facebook for unlawful deals to take migrants to Libya, where they could potentially…
High Commissioner’s 10th Dialogue on Protection Challenges
13-Dec-2017
The High Commissioner’s 10th Dialogue on Protection Challenges, which is aimed at discussing the proposed Global Compact on Refugees is taking place on December 12-13 in Geneva, Switzerland. In his speech opening the dialogue, Filippo Grandi, the United nations High Commissioner for Refugees cautioned that forced displacement has deepened a year after the New York…
Humanitarian groups warn of dire conditions at Greek asylum centres
06-Dec-2017
Greek officials have indicated that the number have asylum seekers coming from Turkey to the Greek islands of Chios, Kos, Leros, Lesbos and Samos has quadrupled, and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has said that the situation in the camps is “beyond desperate,” The Guardian reported. MSF’s project coordinator on Lesbos, Aria Danika, said “entire families…are…