BAMAKO, Mali: Countries are only “slowly” making headway in meeting promises to relocate stranded refugees and asylum-seekers in Libya and Niger, a senior UN official says.
Nearly 48,000 people are in Libya, some of whom are being held in detention camps, according to UN figures, while thousands of others have been evacuated to neighboring Niger, where they are waiting in transit camps.
So far, 6,606 of them have received a promise of permanent relocation in a third country.
Pledges have been made by Belgium, Britain, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
But in an interview with AFP, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ special envoy for the central Mediterranean, Vincent Cochetel, said only “close to half of these pledges have been met.”
Cochetel was speaking this week on the sidelines of a meeting in the Malian capital Bamako which gathered international experts and African ministers on forced displacement in the Sahel.
“It’s going slowly for several reasons,” he said.
“Countries are not speeding up their processing or may have the impression that when people (leave Libya) and arrive in Niger, that the emergency is over.”
Cochetel acknowledged also that the UNHCR also faced the time-consuming task of verifying that applicants were suitable for relocation.
“Some of those people who have turned back from Libya believe that they have an automatic right to being relocated. From our point of view, it (relocation) is a solution for many of them, not all of them.”
“There is no priority ticket for relocation for those who go to Libya,” he added.
“Many Eritrean refugees who are waiting in camps in Ethiopia, Sudan, have in our opinion just as much right to relocation.”
Cochetel also paid tribute to two African countries — Rwanda and Niger — which have offered to be a transit site for refugees from Libya.
Rwanda on Tuesday agreed to take in an initial batch of 500 — a figure that could potentially rise to thousands. The first group will mainly comprise people originating from the Horn of Africa.
“Many countries tell us that they already have refugees, and ask us why should they take more, even those in transit,” Cochetel said.
“But Niger, and now Rwanda, have said that they cannot be indifferent to the suffering that Africans have endured in Libya.
“And instead of doing like all the other states which say ‘Something must be done,’ Rwanda and Niger have said, “We are going to try to do something, modestly, to the extent that we can, to show an example and save some lives.”
“We are inviting other countries to join them, to join Romania, Rwanda, Niger, but it’s hard to negotiate.
“It takes time and it costs a lot. Above all, it must not happen to the detriment of other refugees who are in those countries.”
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Refugee crisis in Libya and Niger making slow headway, says UN
Refugee crisis in Libya and Niger making slow headway, says UN
- Nearly 48,000 people are in Libya, while thousands of others have been evacuated to neighboring Niger
- So far, 6,606 refugees have received a promise of permanent relocation in a third country
Backlash as Australia kills dingoes after backpacker death
- The euthanization program has stirred debate about how to manage the local population of dingoes
- Wildlife experts said killing the animals was the wrong response and may threaten the island’s dingo population
SYDNEY: Australian authorities have sparked a backlash by killing a group of dingoes linked to the death of a young Canadian woman on an island in the country’s east.
The Queensland government said six animals were put down after 19-year-old backpacker Piper James’s body was found on January 19 at a beach on the World Heritage-listed island of K’gari.
The euthanization program has stirred debate about how to manage the local population of dingoes, a sandy-colored canine believed to have first arrived in Australia 4,000 to 5,000 years ago.
An autopsy conducted on James’ body found evidence “consistent with drowning” but also detected injuries corresponding to dingo bites.
“Pre-mortem dingo bite marks are not likely to have caused immediate death,” said a spokesperson for the Coroners Court of Queensland.
The coroner’s investigation into the cause of death was expected to take several weeks.
In response, the Queensland government said a pack of 10 dingoes involved would be euthanized after rangers had observed some “aggressive behavior.”
Six of the dingoes had already been euthanized, the state’s environment minister, Andrew Powell, told reporters Sunday.
“Obviously, the operation will continue,” he said.
The traditional owners of K’gari, the Butchulla people, said the state’s failure to consult with them before euthanizing the dingoes — or wongari in their language — was “unexpected and disappointing.”
“Once again, it feels as though economic priorities are being placed above the voices of the people and traditional owners, which is frustrating and difficult to accept,” the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation said in a statement to Australian media this week.
‘You are food’
Wildlife experts said killing the animals was the wrong response and may threaten the island’s dingo population, estimated at just 70-200 animals.
Given their small numbers, killing a pack of 10 animals would harm the population’s genetic diversity, said Mathew Crowther, professor of quantitative conservation biology at the University of Sydney.
“There’s no moral from the dingoes’ point of view. They’re just being wild animals, doing wild things,” Crowther said.
Dingoes tend to lose their fear of people as they interact with tourists, some of whom defy advice against feeding the animals.
“That’s the worst thing you can do to a wild animal,” Crowther said.
“They just relate humans to food, and if you don’t give them food, well, you are food — that’s basically how it is.”
Dingoes are wild, predatory animals and need to be treated with respect, said Bill Bateman, associate professor in the school of molecular and life sciences at Curtin University.
The canines are more likely to attack children or people who are alone, and may be triggered when people turn their backs or run, he said.
“These are important animals, and therefore we need to change the way we deal with them, otherwise we’re just going to keep reacting to these attacks and driving the population of dingoes down,” Bateman said.
Wildlife managers, rangers, Indigenous people and tourism operators need to work together so that humans and dingoes can coexist on the island, he said.
Todd James, the father of Piper, has described on social media how his family’s hearts were “shattered” by her death.
News of the dingoes’ euthanization was “heart-wrenching,” he told Australian media, adding however that he recognized it may be necessary for safety because of the pack’s behavior.
The Queensland government said six animals were put down after 19-year-old backpacker Piper James’s body was found on January 19 at a beach on the World Heritage-listed island of K’gari.
The euthanization program has stirred debate about how to manage the local population of dingoes, a sandy-colored canine believed to have first arrived in Australia 4,000 to 5,000 years ago.
An autopsy conducted on James’ body found evidence “consistent with drowning” but also detected injuries corresponding to dingo bites.
“Pre-mortem dingo bite marks are not likely to have caused immediate death,” said a spokesperson for the Coroners Court of Queensland.
The coroner’s investigation into the cause of death was expected to take several weeks.
In response, the Queensland government said a pack of 10 dingoes involved would be euthanized after rangers had observed some “aggressive behavior.”
Six of the dingoes had already been euthanized, the state’s environment minister, Andrew Powell, told reporters Sunday.
“Obviously, the operation will continue,” he said.
The traditional owners of K’gari, the Butchulla people, said the state’s failure to consult with them before euthanizing the dingoes — or wongari in their language — was “unexpected and disappointing.”
“Once again, it feels as though economic priorities are being placed above the voices of the people and traditional owners, which is frustrating and difficult to accept,” the Butchulla Aboriginal Corporation said in a statement to Australian media this week.
‘You are food’
Wildlife experts said killing the animals was the wrong response and may threaten the island’s dingo population, estimated at just 70-200 animals.
Given their small numbers, killing a pack of 10 animals would harm the population’s genetic diversity, said Mathew Crowther, professor of quantitative conservation biology at the University of Sydney.
“There’s no moral from the dingoes’ point of view. They’re just being wild animals, doing wild things,” Crowther said.
Dingoes tend to lose their fear of people as they interact with tourists, some of whom defy advice against feeding the animals.
“That’s the worst thing you can do to a wild animal,” Crowther said.
“They just relate humans to food, and if you don’t give them food, well, you are food — that’s basically how it is.”
Dingoes are wild, predatory animals and need to be treated with respect, said Bill Bateman, associate professor in the school of molecular and life sciences at Curtin University.
The canines are more likely to attack children or people who are alone, and may be triggered when people turn their backs or run, he said.
“These are important animals, and therefore we need to change the way we deal with them, otherwise we’re just going to keep reacting to these attacks and driving the population of dingoes down,” Bateman said.
Wildlife managers, rangers, Indigenous people and tourism operators need to work together so that humans and dingoes can coexist on the island, he said.
Todd James, the father of Piper, has described on social media how his family’s hearts were “shattered” by her death.
News of the dingoes’ euthanization was “heart-wrenching,” he told Australian media, adding however that he recognized it may be necessary for safety because of the pack’s behavior.
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