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Posts Tagged ‘internally displaced’
Pope urges respect for rights of child migrants, refugees and asylum seekers
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009“Underage migrants and refugees” is the theme chosen by the Holy Father for the ninety-sixth World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which is due to be celebrated on January 17, 2010.
“The celebration of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees once again gives me the opportunity to express the Church’s constant concern for those who, in different ways, experience emigration. This is a phenomenon which, as I wrote in the Encyclical ‘Caritas in Veritate,’ upsets us due to the number of people involved and the social, economic, political, cultural and religious problems it raises on account of the dramatic challenges it poses to both national and international communities. The migrant is a human being who possesses fundamental, inalienable rights that must be respected by everyone and in every circumstance.”
“While the Convention on the Rights of the Child clearly states that the best interests of minors must always be safeguarded, recognizing their fundamental human rights as equal to the rights of adults, unfortunately this does not always happen in practice. Although there is an increasing public awareness of the need for immediate and incisive action to protect minors, nevertheless, many are left to themselves and, in various ways, face the risk of exploitation.”
“It is my heartfelt hope that proper attention will be given to underage migrants, who need a social environment that enables and fosters their physical, cultural, spiritual and moral development. Living in a foreign land without effective points of reference generates countless and sometimes serious hardships and difficulties for them, especially those deprived of the support of their family.
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UN urges more support for Sri Lanka’s displaced
Friday, November 20th, 2009The top United Nations humanitarian official has welcomed the recent releases of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from camps in northern Sri Lanka, and underscored the need to ensure full freedom of movement for those remaining.
John Holmes
John Holmes noted in particular that the Menik Farm camp contains only half the number of displaced now than it did at the end of May, when the Government declared an end to its military operations against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
During a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama in the capital, Colombo, Mr. Holmes said he hoped to see continued progress in allowing people to leave the camps and restore their lives.
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U.S. urges Sri Lanka do more for displaced people held in camps
Friday, November 6th, 2009Agence France Press reports that on Wednesday the U.S. House of Representatives voted, 421 – 1, to approve a non-binding resolution that calls on the government of Sri Lanka to help the populations of widely condemned, tightly guarded camps return to their homes. Currently, there are about 300,000 displaced people held in camps.
House resolution 711 calls
on the Government of Sri Lanka to address the human rights and humanitarian needs of its civilian internally displaced Tamil population currently living in government-run camps by working with the United Nations and the international community to implement a process of release and resettlement of such internally displaced persons (IDPs), and allowing foreign aid groups to provide relief and resources throughout the process.
Serious violations of international law committed in Sri Lanka conflict says UN human rights chief
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009The following statement comes from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees:
GENEVA (OHCHR) — The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed her growing alarm March 13, at the increasing number of civilians reported killed and injured in the conflict in northern Sri Lanka, and at the apparent ruthless disregard being shown for their safety.
“Certain actions being undertaken by the Sri Lankan military and by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam may constitute violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.” Pillay said. “We need to know more about what is going on, but we know enough to be sure that the situation is absolutely desperate. The world today is ever sensitive about such acts that could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
U.S. voices ‘deep concern’ about Sri Lanka
Friday, March 13th, 2009The United States Department of State released the following today:
On March 13, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa to express the United States’ deep concern over the deteriorating conditions and increasing loss of life occurring in the Government of Sri Lanka-designated “safe zone” in northern Sri Lanka.
The Secretary stated that the Sri Lankan Army should not fire into the civilian areas of the conflict zone.
The Secretary offered immediate and post-conflict reconstruction assistance and she extended condolences to the victims of the March 10 bombing outside a mosque in southern Sri Lanka. (more…)
No place to hide in Sri Lanka
Monday, March 2nd, 2009The United Nations Secretary–General stated that the U.N. deplores the increasing casualties among civilians trapped in the intense fighting between the Sri Lanka government and LTTE Tamil insurgents… and would strongly support a suspension in fighting for the purpose of allowing safe passage of the civilian population trying to flee the conflict.
According to aid agencies and church members on the ground, ongoing warfare is putting civilians, particularly women and children, at grave risk. Of the 32,000 displaced persons who reached the northern Vavuniya district in February, an estimated 700–800 are women at different stages of pregnancy.
Persecuted at home, harassed seeking asylum
Friday, February 6th, 2009Members of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, a civil society network committed to advancing the rights of refugees in the Asia Pacific Region, urge better treatment for ‘Boat People’ in Asia
Over the past two years, the number of people leaving Bangladesh and Burma by boat for Southeast Asia has grown. They have fled in search of protection, safety and/or work. Most are Rohingyas, a Muslim minority from western Burma.
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DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO CIVILIANS IN PERIL
Friday, February 6th, 2009(Goma, February 6, 2009) – A coalition of 100 humanitarian and human rights organizations, including Jesuit Refugee Service, today called on John Holmes, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, to insist that protecting civilians be a top priority of the joint Congolese and Rwandan military operation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Holmes is due to arrive in Goma, the North Kivu capital, on February 7, 2009.
In a public letter to Holmes, the Congo Advocacy Coalition expressed alarm that the joint military operation has to date contributed to the flight of thousands of people from their homes in anticipation of violence, adding to the 1.2 million already displaced in earlier waves of fighting. The coalition further raised concerns about reprisal killings and the use of civilians as human shields by the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), as well as reports of rape and looting by all sides.
