Despite displacement, Gaza families strive to create joy this Ramadan, navigating grief, scarcity, and fragile peace.

At the Bureij refugee area in central Gaza, Maisoon al-Barbarawi welcomes the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in her tent.

Simple decorations hang from its worn ceiling, alongside colourful drawings on the fabric walls, prepared by camp residents to mark the arrival of the blessed month.

“We brought you decorations and a small lantern,” Maisoon tells her nine-year-old son, Hasan, smiling with an exhaustion tinged with joy at her ability to buy him a Ramadan lantern.

“My means are limited, but what matters is that the children feel happy,” Maisoon tells Al Jazeera, expressing cautious optimism about the month’s arrival.

“I wanted these decorations to be a way out of the atmosphere of grief and sadness that has accompanied us over the past two years during the war.”

Maisoon, known to everyone as Umm Mohammed, is 52 years old and a mother of two children.

“My older son is 15, and the younger is nine years. They are the most precious things I have.”

“Every day they are safe is a day worth gratitude and joy,” she says with pride mixed with fear, referring to the terror that has accompanied her throughout the war at the thought of losing them.

Like other Palestinians in Gaza, what distinguishes this Ramadan is the relative calm that has come with the current ceasefire, compared with the previous two years, when Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, was at its peak.

“The situation is not completely calm,” Maisoon explains. Everyone knows the war hasn’t truly stopped; shelling still happens from time to time. But compared to the height of the war, things are less intense.”

Maisoon participates in camp administration activities, helping prepare bread and arrange dates and water for distribution, minutes before the call to prayer on the first day of Ramadan.

“This is the third Ramadan we’ve spent in displacement. We lost our homes, our families, and many loved ones.”

“But here in the camp, we have neighbours and friends who share the same pain and suffering, and we all want to support one another socially.”

Maisoon lost her home in southeastern Gaza at the beginning of the war and was forced to flee with her husband, Hassouna, and their children, moving between camps before eventually settling in Bureij under what she describes as “very bad conditions”.

“We are trying to create life and joy out of nothing. Ramadan and Eid come and go, but our situation remains the same,” she says after a brief pause.

‘Wounded from within’

Maisoon’s words fluctuate between optimism and fear, but she insists that Ramadan is “a blessing”, despite everything around her.

On the first day of Ramadan, she had not yet decided what she would cook for her family, as her limited means would only allow for a modest meal.

But she had already prepared her prayers and wishes before breaking her fast.

“I will pray that the war never returns. That is my daily prayer: that things calm down completely and that the army withdraw from our land,” she says, pointing to bullet holes in her tent caused by gunfire from an Israeli quadcopter drone days earlier.

Fear of the war’s return during Ramadan is not unique to Maisoon, but is shared by many across the Gaza Strip, who worry about a renewed escalation, similar to last year when fighting resumed on March 19, 2025, coinciding with the second week of Ramadan.

That renewed war was accompanied by the closure of crossings and a ban on food aid entering the enclave, triggering a severe food crisis and humanitarian famine that lasted until last September.

“People these days keep talking about stocking up. They tell us: store flour, store food… the war is coming back,” Maisoun says anxiously.

“Last Ramadan was famine and war at the same time. I spent all my money during the previous famine.”

“My little son used to pray for death because he craved food. Can you imagine?”

Bitter memories

Gaza enters this year’s Ramadan under a “ceasefire” that began on October 10, 2025.

That truce remains fragile, but reports from the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) indicate a relative improvement in the availability of certain food items, compared with periods of severe escalation and closures.

Commercial activity has partially resumed, and aid has entered at a steadier pace, though the flow remains inconsistent and subject to restrictions and logistical obstacles.

Despite a broader range of goods appearing in markets, prices remain high, and purchasing power is severely weakened, with large segments of the population still reliant on humanitarian assistance to meet basic needs.

Many Palestinians in Gaza continue to rely on aid organisations to eat.

Hanan al-Attar is one of them. She received a food parcel from a relief organisation on the first day of Ramadan.

Opening the package with a broad smile, she celebrates its contents while her grandchildren gather around her.

“This is fava beans, halva, dates, tahini, oil, lentils, beans, spreadable cheese, mortadella, mashallah, an excellent parcel,” Hanan tells her daughter standing nearby.

“This will be perfect for tomorrow’s suhoor,” she says, referring to the predawn meal before Muslims begin fasting for the day.

Hanan, 55, is a mother of eight who fled to Deir el-Balah a year ago from Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, one of the hardest-hit places by Israel during the war.

She tells Al Jazeera that she will have to depend on whatever aid arrives to sustain her during Ramadan, due to her difficult economic situation.

“Today, thank God, we received assistance. This will ease my worry about what we will break our fast with,” says Hanan, who shares a tent with 15 family members, including children and grandchildren.

Smiling, she admits she secretly set aside a small amount of money to prepare a tray of potatoes with minced meat and rice for the first iftar.

“I saved a small amount to buy a kilo of meat tomorrow. Fasting requires protein,” she says in a low voice, noting that preparing a meal now depends entirely on what is available that same day, as storage conditions are nearly nonexistent.

“As you can see, there is no electricity, no infrastructure, no refrigerators to store vegetables or meat if we buy them.”

“We purchase what we need day by day so the food does not spoil.”

Yet the other side of Ramadan for Hanan is measured not by preparation but by those absent from the table.

Tears fill her eyes as she mentions her two sons in their late twenties who were killed in a strike last year, one leaving behind a daughter not yet two years old.

“This is the first Ramadan after the martyrdom of my sons Abdullah and Mohammed,” she says through tears.

“You feel the emptiness. It’s hard. When the family gathers and members are missing, you feel deep pain.”

Cooking in the tent: Fire, wind, and plastic

Still, Hanan’s sorrow is briefly interrupted by the practicalities of preparing the cooking space.

“Unfortunately, Ramadan hasn’t changed our reality. We’ve been cooking over open fire for two years. The wind blows out the flame, and my son tries to shield it with plastic.”

She relies on firewood due to prolonged shortages of cooking gas.

“I managed to fill an eight-kilo gas cylinder two months ago and refused to use it until Ramadan,” she says, pulling out the hidden cylinder.

“Gas is like treasure for us. I planned to save it for suhoor or something quick. It would be difficult to light a fire at dawn.”

“In the end, everything passes. What matters is that we remain together in health and safety, and that we do not live through famine or war again,” she adds, her voice shifting to prayers for peace.

The memory of famine further deepens her anxiety.

She repeats the word “difficult” as she recalls the months when prices soared and food disappeared after last Ramadan.

She describes grinding lentils to replace flour and mixing them with pasta or rice to feed as many family members as possible.

To make the bread stretch, she cut it into smaller portions.

“I make it smaller, so it’s enough for everyone.”

And yet, her final wish, repeated like a prayer, echoes what many in Gaza seek this Ramadan: nothing more than “goodness and peace”, and a return home from displacement.

“May this Ramadan be one of goodness and peace for everyone… and may we return to our homes and our land.”

World Opinion + ALjazeera

L’article Gaza welcomes Ramadan amid fragile ‘ceasefire’ and fears of renewed war est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

Syrians poured out into the streets across Syria and around the world, jubilant at the end of Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

A number of European countries, including the UK, have suspended the processing of asylum applications for Syrians, after the downfall of former president Bashar al-Assad.

Austria’s caretaker government has stopped all asylum claims from Syrians and says it is making plans to to repatriate or deport people back to their homeland, arguing that the situation in the country has changed fundamentally.

Germany (home to a million Syrians), the United Kingdom, France, and Greece have all said they will halt asylum decisions for now.

The moves leave many in the Syrian diaspora in limbo, following the collapse of the Assad regime after 50 years of brutal rule.

Since 2011, the UN says more than 14 million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety.

Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer, a conservative who is a hardliner on immigration, said in a post on X that the government would “support all Syrians who have found refuge in Austria and want to return to their home country”.

He added that the “security situation in Syria must also be reassessed in order to make deportations possible again in the future”.

In a statement, Austria’s Interior Ministry said “the political situation in Syria has changed fundamentally and, above all, rapidly in recent days”.

Around 95,000 Syrians live in Austria, many of whom arrived during the migrant crisis of 2015 and 2016. A backlash against them has fuelled support for the far right and conservatives in Austria.

We will not dispense with the old regime, says al-Jolanipublished at 20:1120:11

The leader of the main Islamist rebel group in Syria has met the former prime minister to co-ordinate the transfer of power.

Footage released by the rebel’s military operations command shows Abu Mohammed al-Jolani saying the transition would benefit from the experience of the old government.

“The young men have gained a lot of experience,” al-Jolani says. “They started working from nothing.

“Idlib is small and has no resources, but thank God, we were able to achieve something big during the past period. You will see experience, it’s not zero. In certain areas, they had varying high levels of success.

“However, we will not dispense the old status, it is essential that we take advantage of its existence.”

Hamas ‘more isolated than ever’ after al-Assad’s fall: Netanyahu

Netanyahu tells reporters that Israel is using “all the tools it has” to ensure its security after the change in leadership in Syria and says the fall of al-Assad is the “direct result of the heavy blows [Israel] landed on Hamas, on Hezbollah and on Iran”.

The Israeli prime minister also said Hamas is “more isolated than ever” after the fall of al-Assad.

“It expected help from Hezbollah – we took that away. It expected help from Iran – we took that as well,” Netanyahu said. “It expected help from the Assad regime – OK, that won’t happen anymore.”

Netanyahu added that Hamas’s growing isolation would potentially “open doors” for a captive release deal although he added that it is “too early” to say whether a deal will succeed.

Netanyahu reiterated that he will not stop the war now.

World Opinions + Agencies

L’article Joyous celebrations across Syria after al-Assad’s fallJoyous celebrations in Syria.. Video est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

The conflict in Sudan has displaced more than two million people, triggering one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. The international community has a responsibility to do more.

At Renk in South Sudan, 40km (25 miles) south of the border with Sudan, I met a young boy – Miyok, orphaned by the brutality of the Sudan conflict. Miyok is one of at least 600,000 refugees who have fled to South Sudan since the start of the conflict a year ago. He now lives with his aunt in one of the two transit centres.

Despite facing myriad challenges, Miyok’s wish is simple yet profound – to be educated and have the opportunity to fulfil his dream of becoming a doctor.

As international donors met earlier this week in Paris, Miyok’s story resonated deeply. His dream represents not only his personal aspirations but also embodies the collective hope of a nation striving for a better future.

A future that continues to remain uncertain, however. In Paris, donors pledged $2bn to support millions of people in Sudan and in host countries. Although this is most welcome, it is only half of the $4.1bn needed to give people their next meal and what they need to survive and rebuild their lives.

To date, the conflict in Sudan has displaced at least two million people, triggering one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. Neighbouring countries – South Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Libya – are feeling the impact whether through strained resources, economic disruptions or risk of the conflict spilling over.

We have seen up to 1,500 people arriving every day in Renk, some on donkey carts, others crammed into overcrowded minivans, and those who can’t afford transport walk for miles under the scorching sun to reach the border.

Many of those who have fled are women carrying nothing but a small bundle of clothes on their backs and their children. Their eyes are filled with exhaustion, fear, and uncertainty about what the future holds.

Time and time again, when I met with officials and Oxfam’s partners in South Sudan, the phrase “perfect storm” was mentioned, summarising the prevailing challenges which have plunged the nation further into destitution.

Even before the war in Sudan erupted, South Sudan was already suffering from intercommunal conflict over resources and a climate crisis, which have created a dire humanitarian crisis. Two-thirds of the population urgently needs food, including 35,000 people facing starvation. Nearly nine million people currently depend on aid for survival.

Despite contributing little to global carbon emissions, South Sudan has been hit hard in recent years by climate change-induced erratic weather patterns – harsh droughts and boiling temperatures followed by heavy rains leading to severe flooding which have continued to wreck property, infrastructure and crops. This situation, compounded by an economic crisis, has had devastating effects on an already vulnerable population.

To make matters worse, the country’s key oil pipeline, which passes through neighbouring Sudan, was damaged in February. With oil responsible for 90 percent of South Sudan’s revenue and the pipeline accounting for two-thirds of oil revenues, the loss of the pipeline puts the already fragile economy on the brink.

Despite South Sudan’s humanitarian and economic crisis, and the increasing influx of refugees from neighbouring Sudan, aid has dwindled to an extreme low. In 2023, the United Nations appeal for South Sudan was slashed by half to $1.79bn, but less than four percent of the target was met.

The resilience of the South Sudanese people has been repeatedly tested, yet the difficulty in fully implementing the 2020 peace agreement risks jeopardising the legitimacy of the government. This situation, coupled with an economic crisis, could intensify further the ongoing violence.

To overcome this deep crisis, South Sudan needs three key things. First, an immediate injection of aid funding that not only focuses on short-term emergency support but also prioritises development that empowers South Sudanese people to break free from the vicious cycle of shocks and be able to rebuild their lives.

Second, while external support is crucial, the South Sudan government should intensify efforts to lead, build basic infrastructure and provide essential public services so the economy works for the South Sudanese people.

Third, and most importantly, as the country heads towards elections later this year, many in South Sudan see this as a crucial step in addressing the governance, economic and humanitarian challenges. A lasting peace will help avert the perfect storm and ensure a stronger South Sudan.

Amid the chaos, those who love this country, from government officials to grassroots activists and partners, share a determination to rebuild a nation torn apart by conflict and climatic shocks.

Despite the numerous crises the world is currently experiencing, we should not turn our backs on the South Sudanese people and the refugees fleeing the conflict in Sudan. We urge donors who met in Paris this week to keep the momentum and immediately scale up the humanitarian response and renew their call for an immediate ceasefire and an inclusive peace process.

I left South Sudan with my heart aching for Miyok and countless others, whose futures hang in the balance. But I refuse to lose hope.  We should all rally together as partners in progress, empowering South Sudanese communities to chart their path towards a brighter future.

By Amitabh Behar – Interim Executive Director of Oxfam international – Al Jazeera

L’article The world cannot turn its back on Sudan and its neighbours any longer est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

In a recent article, the Turkish pro-government media outlet Daily Sabah introduced the concept of the “Aleppo model” — a scheme to make areas in northern Syria safe, secure and livable in order to encourage the repatriation of Syrian refugees. This follows a survey by the UN refugee agency UNHCR that showed 70 percent of those displaced are unwilling to return for at least five years despite the difficult conditions and discrimination they face in host countries. Refugees cited security concerns, as well as lack of basic services and work opportunities. What does the Aleppo model mean for Syrian President Bashar Assad?

The refugee question was a main point of contention in the recent Turkish elections. The opposition focused on the issue, accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of maintaining an open-door policy, and proposed normalizing relations with Assad as a solution to the problem. However, Erdogan’s efforts in this regard have yielded little, mainly due to the rigidity of the Syrian regime, which has based talks with Turkiye on the withdrawal of Turkish forces from the northwest of the country, a totally unrealistic demand since it would leave opponents to the regime at the mercy of Assad.

Turkiye also cannot leave its borders unprotected and vulnerable to terrorist attacks and drug trafficking. Here, Erdogan faces a dilemma. He wants to ensure the return of refugees, one of his main campaign promises. However, returning them is almost impossible while Assad is in power. Ahmet Uysal, head of ORSAM, a Turkish research center focusing on Arab countries, recently published an article in which he said that Assad is unwilling and incapable of securing the refugees’ return, adding that those who have returned have been subject to arbitrary arrest, torture and rape. Assad does not want to see the people who opposed him come back home.

Even areas loyal to Assad are witnessing protests demanding his departure due to the dire state of the economy

Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib

Assad is also incapable of providing them with their basic needs. Even areas loyal to Assad are witnessing protests demanding his departure due to the dire state of the country’s economy. Hence, the most logical step to take is to bypass Assad and negotiate with his patrons. Daily Sabah mentioned that Turkiye is in discussions with Syria and Russia. With talks between Turkiye and Syria at a standstill, Erdogan is probably banking on Russia to make the “Aleppo model” a reality. It is inconceivable that Assad will willingly cede territory to Turkiye, having asked the latter to withdraw before starting any discussion.

Any joint administration or the presence of Assad forces will also deter refugees from going back. As Uysal detailed, experience has shown that despite an amnesty and promises of safety, opponents of the regime who returned were subject to arrest and punishment. Also, Assad has not acted in line with Russian interests, which are to end the war and begin reconstruction. On the contrary, he has refused to make any concessions to the opposition. In this respect, he has skillfully played the Russians against the Iranians, positioning himself as the reference between the two.

Despite promises of safety, opponents of the regime who returned have been subject to arrest and punishment

Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib

However, due to the Ukraine war, Turkiye is proving to be of more importance to Russia. Meanwhile, all Turkish incursions have been approved either by Russia or the US. If Turkiye acts to put Aleppo under its control, it will be a fatal blow to Assad. Aleppo is the commercial heart of Syria. Losing the city will strengthen the protest movement across the country and, ultimately, force Iran and Assad to compromise. Hence, in addition to creating a suitable environment for a safe, voluntary and dignified return for refugees in accordance with UN resolution 2254, the Aleppo model can help break the status quo and force a solution on Syria.

If the Aleppo model succeeds — with Russia and Turkiye bringing stability, Qatar financing reconstruction, and refugees returning in large numbers — it will be a game changer. It could set an example for other arrangements. Why not have a Daraa model, whereby Russia enters into a similar agreement with Jordan? Despite normalization with Assad, Jordan has not seen any real improvement in the regime’s behavior, and is still vulnerable to illegal drug and weapons smuggling.

The Aleppo model is likely to garner Arab acquiescence, if not endorsement, since normalization with Assad led to nowhere. At the Arab League Summit in May, the Syrian leader was supposed to show some goodwill, but instead displayed only defiance. In a nutshell, the success of the Aleppo model will show that Assad is a burden for Arab countries as well as for his allies, and is very much dispensable.

Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is president of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.

L’article What does the ‘Aleppo model’ mean for Assad? est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

As they mark six years of exodus in Bangladesh, young refugees demand the tools that would allow them to take charge of their lives and futures.

Six years have now elapsed since the world watched 700,000 Rohingya flee from Myanmar to Bangladesh in search of safety. About half of them were children and young people. What was expected to be a short-term refuge has become another protracted crisis. Those who fled as children have now reached the age of adolescence; those who were teenagers are now adults.

Like most children, they aspire to become doctors, engineers, teachers, sports stars, and artists – a stark contrast to their reality. Living in the world’s biggest refugee camp, surrounded by barbed-wire fences, Rohingya refugees are blocked from accessing formal education, earning an income, and moving freely through or beyond the camp.

In such conditions, what hope they can have to build the kind of future they dream of? There should be scope for them to improve their lives, be it through education or paid work.

Many of the young Rohingya I have met as part of my work at these camps tell me they feel forgotten by the world. They tell me the barriers between them and the life they want for themselves engulf them with a sense of despair. They say their voices go unheard and that they have lost the right to dream. This sense of helplessness has a visceral impact on their mental health.

A 2022 survey of 317 refugee youth and adolescents across 11 camps conducted by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) found that 96 percent of the respondents were unemployed and that they constantly feel anxious and stressed.

Amin is a young Rohingya I know well. Six years ago, he was a high-school student in his home country. He planned to go to university and become a lawyer. Then one day, his village was burned down, and his relatives were killed before his eyes. Scared for their lives, he and his family walked for 10 days before crossing the border to reach safety in Bangladesh.

Like many others, Amin assumed he would only be in Bangladesh for a short time. But the vastly different reality has struck him hard. Now, with every passing year, little by little, his aspiration to become a lawyer is drifting away and he feels ever more helpless. He does not even know if he will ever be able to resume his education.

Life for girls and young Rohingya women is even more challenging. They spend most of their time within the four walls of congested bamboo homes. Learning centres, providing limited non-formal education, work as a safe space for women and girls. There they can learn to read and build friendships and bonds with other young people. However, many girls are not allowed by their families to attend. Instead, it’s very common for girls to get married before they turn 18 due to social pressure and safety concerns.

Fifteen-year-old Ayesha told me she misses her life before she fled. Back then, she had the freedom to spend time with her friends in the garden outside their home. Now she says her home is too crowded and she barely has any privacy. She has to spend the entire day at home. It feels like a prison to her.

Sadly, there are thousands of stories like those of Amin and Ayesha. At the age of energy and enthusiasm, young Rohingya spend their days by roadside shops or inside their shelters. With nowhere to channel their energy, they are growing weary and restless.

The recent cuts that reduced food rations to just 27 cents a day have become a bitter cherry on top of their situation. The community, especially the young generation, is even more desperate for employment than before.

“How long are we going to be aid-dependent like this?” one young refugee asked me. “We do not enjoy being totally aid dependent. This is our age of working and earning. This latest ration cut is an indication that it is high time we start earning our own money.”

It is critical that donors and decision-makers listen to these young people. They have the right to determine their own future, and to influence how aid dollars are invested in programmes to support them.

A recent assessment conducted by NRC found that Rohingya youth and adolescents are eager to receive vocational training and build technical knowledge, which will help them earn money to support themselves and their families. Some of this training is available, but much more must be provided, and existing initiatives expanded.

For example, some Rohingya youth are being trained on how to repair solar panels while others are trained in tailoring. Alongside this training, the youth now need opportunities to use their newfound skills to earn a living for themselves. And to do that donors, governments and private institutions must put their hands in their pockets and invest further in these initiatives.

Given the opportunity, these young people will be a huge asset to their community and Bangladesh. But the government and donor community must work to provide the tools. Only that way, can young Rohingya have a real chance to take charge of their own futures.

By Sadia Rahman Communications Officer for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Bangladesh/ ALjazeera

L’article Analysis. Rohingya youth long for a future beyond the barbed wire est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

Oscar-winning US actress Angelina Jolie says she is stepping down from her role as an ambassador for the UN refugee agency UNHCR after more than 20 years.

“I believe in many things the UN does, particularly the lives it saves through emergency relief,” Jolie, 47, said.

And she added: “I will be working now with organisations led by people most directly affected by conflict, that give the greatest voice to them.”

The UNHCR said she was one of the most influential refugee rights advocates.

In a post on her Instagram page, the Hollywood star wrote: “After over 20 years, I am stepping down today from my work with the UN refugee agency.

“Refugees are the people I admire most in the world and I am dedicated to working with them for the rest of my life.”

Jolie provided no details about the organisations she was planning to work with.

Meanwhile, the UNHCR said in a statement that Angelina Jolie would “engage on a broader set of humanitarian and human rights issues”.

In a statement, the refugee agency said “Jolie has worked tirelessly, carrying out more than 60 field missions to bear witness to stories of suffering as well as hope and resilience”.

Jolie – who starred in a number of blockbusters including Mr and Mrs Smith and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – has worked with the UNHCR since 2001, becoming the agency’s special envoy in 2012.

In recent months, she has met displaced people in the war-torn Ukraine, Yemen and also Burkina Faso.

World Opinions – BBC News

L’article Angelina Jolie steps down as UN refugee envoy est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

For decades, Kenya’s restrictive refugee policies have denied refugees freedom of movement and the right to work. But there’s change in the air – and it’s exciting.

The Refugee Act, a new law passed late last year, could in fact position the country as a global leader on refugees. Now Kenya needs support to make sure that happens. Doing so not only benefits refugees in the country but the Kenyan economy as a whole – and could signal to the world how refugees’ inclusion can yield positive results for all.

Kenya currently hosts more than half a million registered refugees and asylum seekers. Most have been required to remain in camps for years, have been unable to obtain work permits and other documentation, and have faced limited access to education, vocational training and financial services. For decades, they have relied on humanitarian assistance.

In recent years, many governments around the world – including Kenya – have recognised that refugees can benefit their economies. A study by the World Bank in 2015 and 2016 concluded that Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp has led to an increase in overall average local income and employment in Turkana, the county where the camp is based. Other research has corroborated those economic gains for the local population when refugees are integrated with the host communities.

That’s what the Refugee Act could facilitate. It promises to improve refugee access to a range of rights, including freedom of movement, the right to work, better access to financial services, better access to documentation and education, and the ability to start a business. Recent indications from Kenya indicate that its leadership is ready to work with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to move away from a closed camp model to help refugees become self-reliant.

That is welcome. Until recently, Kenya – like a majority of the world’s refugee-hosting states – limited refugees’ freedom of movement and their right to work. Indeed, with the exception of Uganda, most of Kenya’s neighbours require refugees to live in camps or settlements, which tend to be in remote and economically-challenged areas where host communities are also struggling. These all-too-common models of refugee response perpetuate cycles of poverty and forced reliance on aid that can last for years, even decades. They can also build tensions between refugee and host populations, and leave displaced people in precarity for years on end.

However, as Kenya welcomes large numbers of new Somali refugees fleeing instability and the effects of a changing climate, as well as an ongoing influx of South Sudanese refugees, it needs support from donors and the international community to respond to these challenges.

Kenya already has gains to point to. In 2016, it opened the Kalobeyei settlement, which is administered by the country’s government, the UNHCR, the local Turkana county administration and other partners.

Just 3.5km (2.2 miles) from Kakuma – where refugees cannot formally work and move freely – Kalobeyei encourages self-reliance and integration with the local community. The settlement seeks to help refugees transition away from ongoing humanitarian aid by using cash-based programmes, greater vocational training, and entrepreneurial and agricultural opportunities.

In addition to greater freedom of movement, programmes like the Kakuma Kalobeyei Challenge Fund aim to encourage private-sector investment in areas hosting refugees.

Although research indicates that refugees in all settlements and camps still struggle, refugees in Kalobeyei were found to have better diets and food security, as well as higher levels of interaction with members of the local community. These are notable successes.

Kenya’s policy evolution also comes at a critical time for change in the region, in the form of an expanding East African Community (EAC) that could also be a game changer for refugees.

Refugees from EAC countries – including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (and perhaps even Somalia someday), can claim the rights of citizens in any other nation within the bloc. That includes the freedom of movement and the right to work.

Granted, refugees from these countries will need to choose to give up their refugee status and the protections and assistance that go with it – which is not a small decision – should they choose to take up the citizenship. However, if some of the refugees in Kenya chose this path instead of the current encampment policy, it could free up resources to respond to other refugee populations more in need of protection and assistance.

Yet the pressure to respond to fast-paced influxes on multiple borders and a long tradition of treating refugees as security threats and scapegoats for political gain means that rights advocates cannot rest easy. The risk that Kenya could backslide to its restrictive policies of limiting refugee rights remains.

This would be to the detriment of Kenya and the broader region and could also wipe out the gains and investments the country’s government and its international partners have made in recent years. East Africa needs Kenya’s economic and political leadership, its diplomatic clout and its humanitarian and development capabilities now more than ever.

The international community should work with Kenyan authorities – at the national and county levels – to ensure successful implementation of the new law. Humanitarian and development actors must continue to support the Kalobeyei model, drawing on lessons learned and replicating it elsewhere. Donors must pressure Kenya to adopt these types of approaches in line with the new Refugee Law and match that pressure with funding and long-term programmes of support.

We must seize this critical moment in Kenya. It holds the potential for a new direction on refugee rights and solutions – one that could change the way hundreds of thousands of people live and that could affect how the region and the world think about refugees.

By Abdullahi Boru HalakheAbdullahi Boru Halakhe is an expert on governance, security and peace in Africa.Abdullahi Boru Halakhe is an expert on governance, security and peace in Africa.

By Sarah Deardorff MillerSenior Fellow at Refugees InternationalSarah Deardorff Miller is a Senior Fellow at Refugees International, where she focuses on refugee access to the labor market. She has a Doctorate from Oxford University and teaches at Georgetown University.

Aljazeera

L’article Can Kenya emerge as a role model on refugees? est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

A last-minute legal battle is under way over the UK government’s first flight transporting asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) says it has blocked the removal of one of seven passengers due to depart on Tuesday night.

An out-of-hours judge is currently examining the remaining half dozen cases and it is not clear whether the court will block the entire flight.

The UK usually follows emergency court rulings not to remove people.

In a statement hours before the flight’s planned departure, the ECtHR said it had granted an “urgent interim measure” in the case of an Iraqi man, known only as “KN”.

The man, who is in his fifties, left Iraq earlier this year and crossed the English Channel to reach the UK, rather than claiming asylum in another European country. Doctors have since said he may have been a victim of torture.

KN’s lawyers petitioned the ECtHR on Monday after a judge in London refused to stop his inclusion on the flight.

The European court has indicated KN should not be removed to Rwanda until three weeks after the final decision over the policy is made in the UK courts.

The ECtHR said that requests such as these were only granted on an “exceptional basis, when the applicants would otherwise face a real risk of irreversible harm”.

That decision contradicts a ruling by judges in London, who had found no immediate risk to anyone sent to Rwanda.

A High Court judge ruled last Friday that there should be a full review of the Rwanda removals policy – but that the Home Secretary Priti Patel would be acting lawfully if in the meantime she sent some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Should the policy be found to be unlawful some people could be returned to the UK from Rwanda.

The ECtHR, based in Strasbourg, said that its decision had been influenced by concerns raised by the UN’s refugee agency that asylum seekers sent to Rwanda may not be able to get a fair hearing or would be left in unsafe conditions.

On Monday the UK highest court, the Court of Appeal, ruled that the first flight taking asylum seekers to Rwanda could go ahead, backing the decision of the High Court that it was in the “public interest” for the government to carry out its policies.

Earlier on Tuesday, four of the men due to be on the flight saw individual appeals to the High Court rejected.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss insisted the flight would take off on Tuesday, but later a Downing Street spokesman said given the legal challenges he could not be definitive of whether the flight would take place that day.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson also defended the scheme and said the government may “very well” need to change the law to help.

The policy has been criticised by human rights organisations, charities and the Church of England, with concerns being raised about Rwanda’s human rights record.

But ahead of the first plane’s arrival, Rwanda’s government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said the plan was neither immoral nor a punishment and needed to be given a chance as Africa was not just a place of problems but also “a place of solutions”.

World Opinions – BBC News

L’article Rwanda asylum plan: Last-minute legal battle over flight est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

By air, land, and sea, Russia has launched a devastating attack on Ukraine, a European democracy of 44 million people. Its forces are bombing city centres and closing in on the capital, Kyiv, prompting a mass exodus of refugees.

For months, President Vladimir Putin denied he would invade his neighbour, but then he tore up a peace deal and unleashed what Germany calls “Putin’s war”, pouring forces into Ukraine’s north, east and south.

As the number of dead climbs, Russia’s leader stands accused of shattering peace in Europe. What happens next could jeopardise the continent’s entire security structure.

Why have Russian troops attacked?

In a pre-dawn TV address on 24 February, President Putin declared Russia could not feel “safe, develop and exist” because of what he claimed was a constant threat from modern Ukraine.

Immediately, airports and military headquarters were attacked, then tanks and troops rolled in from Russia, Russian-annexed Crimea and its ally Belarus. Now, warplanes have bombed major cities.

Russia refuses to use the terms war or even invasion; many of its leader’s justifications for it were false or irrational.

He claimed his goal was to protect people subjected to bullying and genocide and aim for the “demilitarisation and de-Nazification” of Ukraine. There has been no genocide in Ukraine: it is a vibrant democracy, led by a president who is Jewish.

“How could I be a Nazi?” said Volodymyr Zelensky, who likened Russia’s onslaught to Nazi Germany’s invasion in World War Two. Ukraine’s chief rabbi and the Auschwitz Memorial have also rejected Russia’s slur.

President Putin has frequently accused Ukraine of being taken over by extremists, ever since its pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, was ousted in 2014 after months of protests against his rule.

Russia then retaliated by seizing the southern region of Crimea and triggering a rebellion in the east, backing separatists who have fought Ukrainian forces in a war that has claimed 14,000 lives.

Late in 2021, Russia began deploying big numbers of troops close to Ukraine’s borders, while repeatedly denying it was going to attack. Then Mr Putin scrapped a 2015 peace deal for the east and recognised areas under rebel control as independent.

Russia has long resisted Ukraine’s move towards the European Union and the West’s defensive military alliance, Nato. Announcing Russia’s invasion, he accused Nato of threatening “our historic future as a nation”.

How far will Russia go?

It is now clear Russia is seeking to seize the big cities and overthrow Ukraine’s democratically elected government. President Zelensky said he had been warned “the enemy has designated me as target number one; my family is target number two”.

Russia’s stated aim is that Ukraine be freed from oppression and “cleansed of the Nazis”. Under this false narrative of a Ukraine run by fascists since 2014, Mr Putin has spoken of bringing to court “those who committed numerous bloody crimes against civilians”.

His long-term ambitions for Ukraine are unknown. He denies seeking to occupy Ukraine and rejected a UK accusation in January that he was plotting to install a pro-Kremlin puppet. One unconfirmed intelligence report says he aims to split the country in two.

He faces stiff resistance from a deeply hostile population, but he has shown he is prepared to bomb civilian areas to fulfil his goals.

There is no immediate threat to Russia’s Baltic neighbours, but Nato has bolstered their defences just in case.

Ahead of the invasion, Russia’s public focus was always on the areas held by Russian-backed rebels in the east. But that changed when President Putin recognised their independence.

Not only did he make clear he saw them as no longer part of Ukraine, he revealed he backed their claims to far more Ukrainian territory. The self-styled people’s republics cover little more than a third of the regions of Donetsk of Luhansk and the rebels covet the rest, too.

World Opinions – BBC News

L’article Why is Russia invading Ukraine and what does Putin want? est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.

Confirmation of closure of Shimelba and Hitsats camps in embattled region comes after state-appointed human rights commission reports both sites were ‘destroyed’.

Slow social service restoration in #Ethiopia's Tigray increased H/R abuses.

– 108 rape cases reported in Mekelle, Adigrat, Ayder hospitals
– Severe food shortage
– Insecurity/lack of health service forcing long-distance travel@EthioHRC's brief report: https://t.co/FH13UQEIPU

— Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (@EthioHRC) February 11, 2021

Two refugee camps caught up in a brutal conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region have been closed and their Eritrean residents relocated, authorities have confirmed, as the country’s state-appointed human rights commission reported that both sites had been “destroyed”.

The United Nations’ refugee agency (UNHCR) has called for protection for the residents of the Shimelba and Hitsats camps, which it says were attacked by armed men who killed and abducted refugees. Last week, it said occupants – who often leave to escape mandatory, indefinite military service and repression or search for better opportunities out of one of the world’s most isolated states – had reported that Eritrean soldiers had forced some refugees back into Eritrea.

The alleged Eritrean military presence is one of the most contentious issues in the border region of Tigray, where Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government has claimed victory over rebellious regional authorities in a conflict that began in early November.

Eritrea and Ethiopia have both denied that Eritrean troops operated on Ethiopian territory. The removed Tigrayan regional authorities and many residents accuse neighbouring Eritrea of intervening on the behalf of the central government in Addis Ababa. Reports from all sides are difficult to verify because communications to the region of some six million people remain patchy and the government tightly controls access.

Tesfahun Gobezay, director general of Ethiopia’s Agency for Refugees and Returnees Affairs, confirmed on Thursday the camp closures, first reported by the state news agency on Wednesday.

Slow social service restoration in #Ethiopia's Tigray increased H/R abuses.

– 108 rape cases reported in Mekelle, Adigrat, Ayder hospitals
– Severe food shortage
– Insecurity/lack of health service forcing long-distance travel@EthioHRC's brief report: https://t.co/FH13UQEIPU

— Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (@EthioHRC) February 11, 2021

n Thursday, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it has learned that Shimelba and Hitsats “had been destroyed and the refugees inside the camps dispersed”. Earlier this week, the Norwegian Refugee Council also said the destruction of its facilities at the camps was confirmed using satellite imagery.

“We condemn the criminal destruction of our buildings and facilities that we set up to serve refugees in great need,” Jan Egeland, NRC’s secretary-general, said in a statement. “This rampage of burning and looting by armed men deepens an already dire crisis for millions of people.”

We condemn the criminal destruction of our buildings and facilities that we set up to serve refugees in Tigray, Ethiopia.

This burning and looting rampage by armed men deepens an already dire crisis for millions of people. #NotATarget https://t.co/SIR2mSu7N8

— Jan Egeland (@NRC_Egeland) February 8, 2021

But Tesfahun told Reuters news agency the description of destruction was an “overstatement”.

“There was a lot of fighting in those areas, not in the camps but in those areas where the camps are located,” he said. “Refugees didn’t get the necessary services quickly and also they panicked due to the firing happening around the camps. So they left the camps, and Ethiopian defence forces sheltered them and escorted them to the nearest towns of Tigray,” he said.

He said 5,300 refugees had gone to two other refugee camps in Tigray. Others were now in Tigray towns or the capital, Addis Ababa.

Chris Melzer, a UNHCR spokesman, said the agency concurred with the conclusion that the camps were now unsafe, “considering the reports of attacks on Hitsats and Shimelba, the reports of abductions, destruction, looting, and killing of humanitarian staff”. Decisions to relocate must be voluntary and movements must be organised in safety and dignity, he said.

Some 96,000 Eritrean refugees were living in four camps in Tigray before the conflict erupted in November. The EHRC said on Thursday there are currently “between 26,000 and 28,000 Eritrean refugees sheltered in Mai Aini and Adi Harush refugee camps”..

AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

L’article Ethiopia shuts two Tigray camps housing Eritrean refugees est apparu en premier sur زوايا ميادين | Mayadin Columns.