Bangladesh begins moving Rohingya refugees to remote island. Reuters reports that more than 1,600 Rohingya refugees sailed from Bangladesh’s southern port of Chittagong for Bhasan Char, an island in the Bay of Bengal on Friday, amid concerns about its safety and a lack of consent from the refugees. Humanitarian and human rights groups had urged a halt to the relocation process, noting that the island is flood-prone and that UN officials had yet to be allowed to carry out safety and protection assessments. Bangladesh’s foreign minister said no one would be forcibly taken to the island, but two of the refugees being relocated told Reuters their names had appeared on lists compiled by government-appointed local leaders without their consent. A UN statement on Wednesday said it had “limited information” about the relocations and had not been involved in preparations or the identification of refugees, who it said “must be able to make a free and informed decision based upon consultations and full information regarding the conditions of life on the island and the rights and services that refugees will be able to access”. More than 300 refugees were brought to Bhasan Char earlier this year after being rescued at sea. They have complained of human rights violations and being held there against their will.
Aid deliveries poised to resume in Ethiopia’s Tigray. Aid agencies in Ethiopia are preparing to begin delivering aid to the northern Tigray region following an agreement between the Ethiopian government and the UN to allow aid workers “unimpeded” access to government-controlled areas. A month of fighting has sent some 47,000 refugees into neighbouring Sudan and uprooted many more within Tigray. The deal will allow the first aid to reach the region of six million people amid reports of food, medicines and other supplies running out. UNHCR said it was discussing logistical arrangements, and the need to assess the security situation with the federal government’s refugee agency. UNHCR staff in the town of Shire have already distributed aid to an estimated 5,000 internally displaced people, but the agency said it still lacked information about some 96,000 Eritrean refugees, the majority of whom live in four camps in the Tigray region. Spokesperson Babar Baloch said that a small number of Eritrean refugees had arrived in Sudan in recent days and there were reports that many others had fled the camps seeking safety.
COVID crisis offers lessons on climate response for refugees. In a week in which the World Meteorological Organization said 2020 was on course to be one of the three warmest on record, UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Gillian Triggs urged the world to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic and act with urgency to fight climate change. In a virtual meeting hosted by UNHCR on Wednesday, participants discussed the effects of climate change on the world’s most vulnerable people, including those forced to flee their homes, and called for them to be involved in finding solutions. The agency is increasing its focus on the links between climate change, vulnerability, and displacement with the aim of identifying at-risk populations before a displacement crisis occurs. In an address to mark the beginning of a month of UN-led climate action, Secretary-General António Guterres said climate action must be the “top priority” of the 21st century. He added that recovery from the coronavirus pandemic offered the opportunity for a reset to save the planet.
SOURCE UNHCR
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