08/28/2017. “UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes commitments made today at the Paris meeting on migration and asylum. I am encouraged by the announcement of a comprehensive plan of action that will support long-term solutions to the complex issue of mixed migration and help address its root causes, in close cooperation with countries of origin and transit and in line with international law. In UNHCR’s experience, measures that simply aim at curbing the number of arrivals do not solve the problem of forced migration. Any meaningful approach must include a set of strong and determined actions to ensure a lasting peace in conflict-ridden countries as well as social and economic development in places of origin.

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09/20/2017. The Vatican has told a United Nations meeting in New York that the fight against forced labour, slavery and human trafficking is one of the defining priorities of Pope Francis’ papacy. Speaking at a high level leaders event on Tuesday, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, said the Church has been speaking out against these abuses since the Second Vatican Council in the mid-1960s. He outlined ways in which the Holy See and the local Church are working closely with the British government, in particular through the successful Santa Marta partnership with law enforcement authorities.
The Vatican foreign minister said that religious sisters, working in coordinated networks, have proved particularly effective in helping victims of trafficking and exploitation, providing them with safe havens and other forms of practical and spiritual assistance.

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08/03/2017 by Kate McGrane. Communities in some of the most dangerous corners of the world will be left without lifesaving aid because of countering violent extremism agendas. Millions of people living in countries facing famine may be hardest hit. “Countering violent extremism” is a popular concept doing the rounds in today’s humanitarian circles. It is a strategy that states are increasingly using to combat terrorism. Approaches include domestic surveillance, policing, counter-extremist messaging, and education. In more repressive countries, extreme methods include mass arrests, detention without trial, torture, disappearances, and executions. These actions target people who are considered at risk of joining extremist groups.

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11/30/2016 by Antonio Donini. Long before the November 2016 US elections, there were clear signals that multilateralism was in crisis. In fact, Donald Trump’s election is just the continuation of a downward spiral that has been under way for some time. The most obvious symptom of this trend is the inability of the so-called international community to address armed conflict in any meaningful way. From Afghanistan to Ukraine, from Libya to Yemen, from South Sudan to Syria: the UN Security Council is blocked, and there is no respite in sight for civilians. Many conflicts are now “IHL-free war zones”: international humanitarian law is marginalised and humanitarian principles are jettisoned – whether by state or non-state armed groups. Slaughter, torture, and “surrender or starve” strategies thrive, despite much hand-wringing. Those who do manage to flee war zones do not fare much better.

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09/11/2017 by Charlotte Bailey. There’s no shortage of news on Libya’s migration crisis, but there is a serious dearth of policy solutions. Late last month, the International Organization for Migration announced what passes for good news at the moment: no deaths on the Mediterranean for 20 days. This followed reports, later denied, that Italy had been paying militias to prevent people from leaving Libya’s shores. But the risk of drowning is far from the only danger facing migrants attempting the central Mediterranean route into Europe. Migrants are subject to arbitrary detention, arrest, harassment, bonded labour, slavery, and sexual exploitation.

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09/15/2017. Three in four (75%) in 25 countries around the world believe that immigration has increased in their country over the last five years, according to new data from the Ipsos Global @dvisor survey. The survey, conducted among online adults aged under 65 in 25 countries world-wide, finds that at least half of respondents in each country believe that the number of immigrants coming into their country has increased in the last five years. While overall perceptions are somewhat similar to last year (it was 78% in July 2016) there have been significant shifts in perceptions in several countries when considering the overall trend since 2011. For example, Germany and Sweden have seen the largest increase in the number of people thinking immigration has increased (up 22 and 24 percentage points from 2011 to 85% and 90% respectively).

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09/06/2017. Highlighting increased atrocity crimes – genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity – in many parts of the world, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today called for concrete action to protect the vulnerable and to reverse such negative trends. “All of us are well aware of the grim human reality that lies behind the words, ‘war crimes’, ‘crimes against humanity’, ‘ethnic cleansing’, and ‘genocide’,” Mr. Guterres said at a dialogue held at UN Headquarters on the responsibility to protect, commonly referred to as ‘R2P’. “It is time to move beyond the conceptual debate towards improved protection of people from atrocity crimes.”

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07/14/2017. “Let me begin by thanking you for coming together in this deeply meaningful way – and on such a timely initiative. I firmly believe in the power of faith leaders to shape our world for good. As High Commissioner for Refugees, I made a special effort to reach out to faith leaders. I did so out of personal conviction. But I also did so for very practical reasons. After all, to the vast majority of people uprooted from their homes, faith is an anchor in a stormy sea of fear, loss, separation and destitution. We worked together with religious leaders on a project that focused on the roots of modern refugee law and Islamic law. We did it in close cooperation with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and with the support of Nayef University in Riyadh …”

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08/29/2017. The US State of Texas is under water following Hurricane Harvey. Malteser International Americas and the U.S. Associations of the Order of Malta are currently preparing assessments in order to coordinate relief efforts to deliver help for the people affected by the disaster. On Friday evening, Hurricane Harvey made landfall on coastal Texas as a category 4 storm, unleashing 215 km/h gale force winds and knocking down trees, toppling power poles and signs, and washing away homes.

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