From Syria to Sudan, refugee agencies need money, access and an end to fighting, UNHCR official tells Arab News

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Updated 22 September 2023
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From Syria to Sudan, refugee agencies need money, access and an end to fighting, UNHCR official tells Arab News

  • UN refugee agency’s assistant high commissioner for operations made the comments on the sidelines of UN General Assembly session
  • Raouf Mazou said refugees not dependent on humanitarian assistance are more capable of going back to their place of origin

NEW YORK: With every passing year, the global displacement crisis becomes more and more severe. The number of people forced to flee their homes crossed the 110 million mark in May this year, yet there seems to be no end in sight to the phenomenon.

From the Mediterranean and the Andaman seas to the English Channel and the US-Mexico border, refugees and migrants have been dying in their thousands every year attempting dangerous sea crossings and land routes.

Just last fortnight, more than 120 small boats arrived in Lampedusa in the span of roughly 24 hours, bringing the number of people at the local reception center alone to more than the Mediterranean island’s full-time population.

According to Italy’s Interior Ministry, more than 127,000 migrants have reached the country by sea so far this year, nearly double the number for the same period last year.

While conflict and violence are traditionally the main drivers of displacement, climate change and economic instability are also to blame, Raouf Mazou, assistant high commissioner for operations at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, told Arab News on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly here.




Syrian children gather at a refugee camp in Saadnayel in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. (AFP)

“We see an acceleration in this number over the past 10 years. We’ve seen a constantly increasing number of people displaced, internally displaced refugees,” he said.

Citing the example of five years of failed rains in Somalia leading to drought, which subsequently led to clashes over access to water and eventually waves of displacement, Mazou said: “In the past, we tended to look at displacement simply as a group of people fighting and crossing the border. Now, more and more, we’re thinking, why? Why are they fighting and what are the reasons? And what we’re seeing is droughts.”

As the number of refugees and displaced persons continues to grow worldwide, so too does anti-migrant rhetoric. Various European leaders and officials, from Hungary’s Viktor Orban and France’s Marie Le Pen to former British PM David Cameron and former Polish PM Jaroslaw Kaczynski, have made strong anti-migrant statements.

Despite Europe’s stricter migration policies and investments in surveillance technology, people-smuggling networks across the Mediterranean Sea have demonstrated they can quickly adapt to the situation. “All indicators in Tunisia and the broader region were showing increased arrivals were going to continue,” Tasnim Abderrahim a Tunisian researcher at The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, told the Associated Press news agency recently.

Though panic over the waves of refugees reaching Europe’s shores may be on the rise, Mazou’s comments suggest that the brunt of the displacement crisis is being borne by countries with far less resources at their disposal.




Raouf Mazou is assistant high commissioner for operations at UNHCR. (Supplied)

“Most of the 110 million that I’m talking about are people who are internally displaced,” he said. “Some 75 percent of the refugees are in low- and middle-income countries. So, people are not fleeing toward the so-called wealthier countries.”

According to UNHCR statistics, the 46 least developed countries account for less than 1.3 percent of global GDP, and yet are home to more than 20 percent of all refugees.

The influx of people to primarily low- and middle-income nations, Mazou said, is an issue both for those fleeing their homes and the countries to which they flee.

“Because they are low- and middle-income countries, they already have issues and challenges,” he said.

According to Mazou, since the eruption of the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on April 15, more than 1 million people have fled Sudan into neighboring countries, primarily Chad, South Sudan and Egypt.

INNUMBERS

• 108.4m People worldwide who are forcibly displaced.

• 76 percent Share of refugees hosted by low- and middle-income countries.

Most of Sudan’s neighbors are already suffering from their own internal crises, with many of them already hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees.

“We believe that we now have about 400,000 refugees who have arrived into Chad, and that is added to about 600,000. So, we’re getting close to 1 million refugees in a country that is quite fragile. And they are also coming to a place that has experienced droughts on a number of occasions,” he said.

South Sudan has also faced an influx of people from Sudan, many of them South Sudanese who had been displaced by conflicts in their own country. Mazou said about 50,000 people have crossed into South Sudan since the start of the current Sudan conflict — “they have gone back to a country which has huge problems: security problems, political problems, governance problems, and infrastructure problems.”

For now, Sudan remains one of the countries most in need of assistance. Mazou said that of the $1 billion in funding needed to serve the needs of Sudanese refugees and internally displaced persons, UNHCR has received just over $200 million thus far.




Syrian refugees walk on their way back to the Syrian city of Jarabulus. (AFP)

“The problem of not having the resources that we need is that we are not in a position of making sure that health care is available and accessible to this mass of people who are leaving. Support from the international community would help us to make sure that the health care that is required is provided. We need to make sure that water is available. We need to make sure that education is available,” he said.

UNHCR teams have been active on the ground in the region, setting up reception centers at border points to register and identify vulnerable people and provide basic aid such as food and water. That said, the traditional approach of the UNHCR is no longer appropriate in the face of modern conflicts, according to Mazou.

“For many years, the way we were supporting these countries was to establish camps — refugee camps — and then provide support and assistance in these camps, expecting that people would not stay long and they would go back to their place of origin,” he said.

“What we’ve seen, unfortunately, is that people stay 10 years, 15 years, 20 years. What we’re trying to push for now — and we see a number of countries are welcoming that — is inclusion and integration. So, basically saying, ‘you’re a refugee, you’ve crossed into our country, but you’re going to be supported as part of the community that has welcomed you. You will be allowed to work and contribute to the economy of the country where you are, and then later on you will go back.’”

Mazou said that a number of countries have adopted this approach in whole or in part, citing the examples of Syrian refugees who are able to work in Jordan, refugees in Kenya who are able to find employment, and Venezuelan nationals in Colombia who are able to obtain documents that allow them to work and become part of society.




According to Mazou, more than 1 million people have fled Sudan as a result of the conflict. (AFP)

International financial institutions and regional financial institutions, including the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Interamerican Development Bank, World Bank and International Finance Corporation, have all worked with the UNHCR and national governments in order to allow refugees to become self-sufficient.

While UNHCR has pushed for a self-reliance-centered approach, according to Mazou the funding needs for such projects are massive.

“You need development resources, long-term resources, multi-year resources, to be able to put in place situations where the refugees, even if they are in exile, are in a position to live normal lives until they can go back to their place of origin,” he said.

“What we’ve also seen is that when refugees are not dependent on humanitarian assistance when they’re in exile, they’re in a better position to go back to their place of origin and rebuild their communities.”


Truce in Gaza extended another day but talks over remaining hostages held by Hamas could get tougher

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Truce in Gaza extended another day but talks over remaining hostages held by Hamas could get tougher

JERUSALEM: Israel and Hamas agreed at the last minute Thursday to extend their cease-fire in Gaza by another day. But any further renewal of the deal that has seen dozens of hostages and prisoners released could prove more challenging since Hamas is expected to demand greater concessions for many of the remaining captives.
As word of the extension came, gunmen opened fire on people waiting for buses along a main highway entering Jerusalem, killing at least three people and wounding several others, according to police.
The two attackers, brothers from a Palestinian neighborhood in annexed east Jerusalem, were killed. Hamas said they were members of its armed wing and celebrated the assault, but called it “a natural response” to Israel’s actions in Gaza and elsewhere. It was unclear if the attack had been ordered by Hamas’ leaders or if it would have an impact on the truce.
International pressure has mounted for the cease-fire to continue as long as possible after nearly eight weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground campaign in Gaza that have killed thousands of Palestinians, uprooted more than three-quarters of the population of 2.3 million and led to a humanitarian crisis.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on his third visit to the region since the start of the war, said “my heart goes out” to the victims of the Jerusalem attack. Blinken is expected to press for further extensions of the truce and the release of more hostages.
“This process is producing results. It’s important, and we hope that it can continue,” he said.
The talks appear to be growing tougher, however, with Hamas having already freed most of the women and children kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war. The militants are expected to make greater demands in return for freeing men and soldiers.
Qatar, which has played a key role in mediating with Hamas, announced that the truce was being extended Thursday. In the past, Hamas has released at least 10 Israeli hostages per day in exchange for Israel’s release of at least 30 Palestinian prisoners.
The announcement followed a last-minute standoff, with Hamas saying Israel had rejected a proposed list that included seven living captives and the remains of three who the group said were killed in Israeli airstrikes. Israel later said Hamas submitted an improved list, but gave no details.
Israel says it will maintain the truce until Hamas stops releasing captives, at which point it will resume military operations aimed at eliminating the group. The Biden administration has told Israel that it must operate with far greater precision if it expands the ground offensive to the south, where many Palestinians have sought refuge.
INCREASINGLY TENSE HOSTAGE TALKS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under intense pressure from families of the hostages to bring them home. But his far-right governing partners are also pushing him to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed, and could bolt his coalition if he is seen as making too many concessions.
The initial truce — which began Friday and has now been extended twice — called for the release of women and children. Israeli officials say Gaza militants still hold around 30 women and children, who would all be released in a few days if the swaps continue at the current rate.
It’s not clear how many of the women might be soldiers. For soldiers and the men still in captivity, Hamas is expected to push for comparable releases of Palestinian men or prominent detainees, a deal Israel may resist.
Israel says around 125 men are still held hostage, including several dozen soldiers. Thus far, Hamas has released some men — mostly Thai laborers.
An Israeli official involved in hostage negotiations said talks on a further extension for the release of civilian men and soldiers were still preliminary, and that a deal would not be considered until all the women and children are out. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because talks were ongoing.
So far, most Palestinians released have been teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces. Several were women convicted by Israeli military courts of attempting to attack soldiers. Palestinians have celebrated the release of people they see as having resisted Israel’s decadeslong military occupation of lands they want for a future state.
With Wednesday’s releases, a total of 73 Israelis, including dual nationals, have been freed during the six-day truce, most of whom appear physically well but shaken. Another 24 hostages — 23 Thais and one Filipino — have also been released.
Before the cease-fire, Hamas released four hostages, and the Israeli army rescued one. Two others were found dead in Gaza. On Thursday, the military confirmed the death of Ofir Tzarfati, who was believed to be among the hostages, without providing any further details. Israeli media say the 27-year-old attended a music festival where at least 360 people were killed and several others were kidnapped on Oct. 7.
Hamas and other Palestinian militants killed over 1,200 people — mostly civilians — in their wide-ranging attack across southern Israel that day and captured around 240. Authorities have only ever provided approximate figures.
Israel’s bombardment and ground invasion in Gaza have killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The toll is likely much higher, as officials have only sporadically updated the count since Nov. 11. The ministry says thousands more people are feared dead under the rubble.
Israel says 77 of its soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive. It claims to have killed thousands of militants, without providing evidence.
IN GAZA, AN ANXIOUS RESPITE
During the pause in fighting, Palestinians in Gaza have been consumed by the search for aid and horror at the extent of destruction.
Residents described entire residential blocks as leveled in Gaza City and surrounding areas in the north. The smell of decomposing bodies trapped under collapsed buildings fills the air, said Mohmmed Mattar, a 29-year-old resident of the city who along with other volunteers searched for the dead.
In the south, the truce has allowed more aid to be delivered from Egypt, up to 200 trucks a day. But humanitarian officials say it is not enough, given that most now depend on outside aid. Over 1 million displaced people have sought refuge in UN-run shelters, with many forced to sleep outside in cold, rainy weather because of overcrowding.
At a distribution center in Rafah, large crowds line up daily for bags of flour but supplies run out quickly.
“Every day, we come here,” said one woman in line, Nawal Abu Namous. “We spend money on transportation to get here, just to go home with nothing.”

Displaced Syrians face another harsh winter as fuel costs soar

Updated 30 November 2023
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Displaced Syrians face another harsh winter as fuel costs soar

  • Families burning garbage to stay warm as prices become ‘unbearable’
  • Humanitarian aid to Syria has been falling steadily since 2021

DAMASCUS: Syrians displaced by war and living in camps in the northwest of the country are preparing for another difficult winter amid soaring fuel prices, dwindling humanitarian aid and a scarcity of jobs.

Abdul Salam Al-Youssef, 53, who had to leave his home in Al-Tah, south of Idlib, told Arab News: “We have been in random camps for three years, lacking the minimum necessities of life, and our suffering increases at the beginning of each winter.

“We, the heads of families, are responsible for large expenses because the price of all heating methods exceeds $150, and even the prices of heaters are high, and these are all costs that we are unable to bear.”

He added that the tents in which people had been living for the past three years were becoming worn and letting in water.

Khaled Abdel Rahman, also from Al-Tah, tells a similar story.

“I have been displaced for five years … and every year when winter comes, it brings with it worries for us,” he said.

“We used to receive support for heating materials at the beginning of every winter, but every year this support decreases. Until, in the last two years, we started burning nylon garbage or plastic containers. These materials are harmful to health, especially children, and we use these because we do not have the ability to buy heating materials because their price is very expensive for us.”

The average price of a ton of firewood was now about $150, he said.

“We do not have the ability to buy a single kilo of firewood in these bad conditions. Our tents are in very poor condition. We patch and sew them every winter, and with every strong wind we repair them again.”

The amount of humanitarian aid being provided to camps in northwest Syria has been falling steadily since 2021.

Displaced people accounted for almost half of the more than 6 million now living in northwest Syria. (Supplied)

Samir Al-Ahmad, who sells firewood at a local market, told Arab News: “Firewood in previous years was much cheaper than now, but the prices of all heating materials are very expensive.

“I wanted to install a diesel greenhouse, but I did not have the ability to do so, so I installed a wood-burning greenhouse because I can pay for firewood from my work in this market. Firewood is very expensive, with prices ranging from $140 to $210, depending on its type and quality.”

He added that these days, people bought only small amounts of firewood when they could afford it.

The Syria Response Coordinators team said that displaced people accounted for almost half of the more than 6 million now living in northwest Syria. Of those, more than 2 million — including 600,000 women, 888,000 children and 84,000 people with special needs — live in the region’s camps.


Israel-Hamas truce extended for a day

Updated 30 November 2023
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Israel-Hamas truce extended for a day

  • Israel’s military said the “operational pause” would be extended, without specifying for how long
  • Hamas said there was an agreement to “extend the truce for a seventh day,” without giving further details

GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: A truce between Israel and Hamas will continue, both sides said Thursday, moments before the deal was due to expire, though details of any official agreement remained unclear.

Minutes before the halt in fighting was due to expire at 0500GMT, Israel’s military said the “operational pause” would be extended, without specifying for how long.

“In light of the mediators’ efforts to continue the process of releasing the hostages and subject to the terms of the framework, the operational pause will continue,” it said.

Hamas meanwhile said there was an agreement to “extend the truce for a seventh day,” without further details.

Qatar, which has led the truce negotiations, confirmed the pause had been extended until Friday.

There had been pressure to extend the pause to allow more hostage releases and additional aid into devastated Gaza, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arriving in Israel for talks Wednesday night.

The truce has brought a temporary halt to fighting that began on October 7 when Hamas militants poured over the border into Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 240, according to Israeli authorities.

Israel’s subsequent air and ground campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 15,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to Hamas officials, and reduced large parts of the north of the territory to rubble.

The truce agreement allows for extensions if Hamas can release another 10 hostages a day, and a source close to the group said Wednesday that it was willing to prolong the pause by four days.

But with just an hour to go before the truce was due to expire, Hamas said its offer to free another seven hostages, and hand over the bodies of another three it said were killed in Israeli bombardment, had been refused.

Both sides had earlier said they were ready to return to fighting, with Hamas’s armed wing warning its fighters to “maintain high military readiness... in anticipation of a resumption of combat if it is not renewed,” according to a message posted on its Telegram channel.

IDF spokesman Doron Spielman said troops would “move into operational mode very quickly and continue with our targets in Gaza,” if the truce expired.

Overnight, 10 more Israeli hostages were freed under the terms of the deal, with another four Thai hostages and two Israeli-Russian women released outside the framework of the arrangement.

Video released by Hamas showed masked gunmen handing hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Among those freed was Liat Beinin, who also holds American citizenship, and works as a guide at Israel’s Holocaust museum Yad Vashem.

US President Joe Biden said he was “deeply gratified” by the release.

“This deal has delivered meaningful results,” he said of the truce.

Shortly after the hostages arrived in Israel, the country’s prison service said 30 Palestinian prisoners had been released, including well-known activist Ahed Tamimi.

Since the truce began on November 24, 70 Israeli hostages have been freed in return for 210 Palestinian prisoners.

Around 30 foreigners, most of them Thais living in Israel, have been freed outside the terms of the deal.

Israel has made clear it sees the truce as a temporary halt intended to free hostages, but there are growing calls for a more sustained pause in fighting.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded a “true humanitarian cease-fire,” warning Gazans are “in the midst of an epic humanitarian catastrophe.”

And China, whose top diplomat Wang Yi was in New York for Security Council talks on the violence, urged an immediate “sustained humanitarian truce,” in a position paper released Thursday.

The hostage releases have brought joy tinged with agony, with families anxiously waiting each night to learn if their loved ones will be freed, and learning harrowing details from those who return.

Four-year-old Abigail was captured after crawling out from under the body of her father, killed by militants, covered in his blood, her great aunt Liz Hirsh Naftali said.

“It’s a miracle,” she said of the little girl’s survival and release.

However Israel’s army also said Wednesday it was investigating a claim by Hamas’s armed wing that a 10-month-old baby hostage, his four-year-old brother and their mother had all been killed in an Israeli bombing in Gaza.

Israel pounded the Gaza Strip relentlessly before the truce, forcing an estimated 1.7 million people to leave their homes and limiting the entry of food, water, medicine and fuel.

Conditions in the territory remain “catastrophic,” according to the World Food Programme, and the population faces a “high risk of famine.

Israeli forces targeted several hospitals in northern Gaza during the fighting, accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes.

The spokesman for the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, Ashraf Al-Qudra, told AFP Wednesday that doctors found five premature babies dead in Gaza City’s Al-Nasr hospital, which medical staff had been forced to abandon.

The truce has allowed those displaced to return to their homes, but for many there is little left.

“I discovered that my house had been completely destroyed — 27 years of my life to build it and everything is gone,” said Taghrid Al-Najjar, 46, after returning to her home in southeastern Gaza.

The violence in Gaza has also raised tensions in the West Bank, where nearly 240 Palestinians have been killed by either Israeli soldiers or settlers since October 7, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

An eight-year-old boy and a teenager were the latest deaths in the occupied territory, with Israel saying it “responded with live fire... and hits were identified” after suspects hurled explosive devices toward troops.


One killed, 8 wounded in Jerusalem shooting attack

Updated 30 November 2023
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One killed, 8 wounded in Jerusalem shooting attack

  • US ambassador to Israel condemned the shooting
  • Two attackers were killed

JERUSALEM: Two Palestinian attackers opened fire at a bus stop during morning rush hour at the entrance to Jerusalem on Thursday, killing at least two people and wounding eight others, Israeli police said.
“Two terrorists arrived at the scene in a vehicle armed with firearms, these terrorists opened fire toward civilians at the bus station and were subsequently neutralized by security forces and a nearby civilian,” Israeli police said.
The attackers came from East Jerusalem, Jerusalem Police District Commander Doron Turgeman told reporters at the scene.
A large number of ambulances and police converged on the street that was crowded with morning commuters, and police said they were searching the area to make sure there were no other attackers.
The US ambassador to Israel condemned the shooting.
“Abhorrent terrorist attack in Jerusalem this morning. We unequivocally condemn such brutal violence,” said Ambassador Jack Lew.
The violence came as Israel and Hamas struck a last-minute agreement on Thursday to extend their six-day cease-fire in Gaza by one more day to allow negotiators to keep working on deals to swap hostages held in the coastal enclave for Palestinian prisoners.


Jordan says it will host conference to coordinate aid to Gaza

Updated 30 November 2023
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Jordan says it will host conference to coordinate aid to Gaza

  • Officials say the king will call on participants to push Israel to end its siege of the enclave and allow unimpeded flow of goods by opening additional border crossings

AMMAN: Jordan on Thursday will host an international conference attended by the main UN bodies and regional and international relief agencies to coordinate humanitarian aid to war-devastated Gaza, official media said.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths and key UN bodies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in ramping up aid to Gaza will be present at the conference, along with representatives of Western and Arab countries involved in the aid effort, they said.
The conference, to be held behind closed doors, will be addressed by King Abdullah who has been lobbying Western leaders to back a UN resolution that calls for an immediate cease-fire.
A four-day truce that was extended two days has brought the first respite in the bombardment of Gaza, with much of the northern part of the coastal territory of 2.3 million inhabitants having been reduced to rubble.
The monarch has accused Israel of committing war crimes with a relentless bombing campaign that has killed at least 15,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities, and a siege of the enclave that prevented for weeks the entry of medicine, food and fuel and cut electricity supplies.
The Israeli actions were in response to an Oct. 7 rampage into southern Israel by Hamas militants, who killed some 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages back to Gaza.
Officials say the king will call on participants to push Israel to end its siege of the enclave and allow unimpeded flow of goods by opening additional border crossings.
UN officials said they were already urging Israel to reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing that had been used to carry more than 60 percent of truckloads going into Gaza before the current conflict.
Currently, most trucks carrying aid through Rafah — the only open entry point into Gaza — has to first go through Israeli inspections at the Nitzana crossing, to ensure that neither fuel nor dual usage goods are allowed.
The inspection system has delayed desperately needed aid, aid workers say.
Jordan Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, in an address to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, urged the world body to adopt a resolution to end to the war, saying the Security Council’s “silence was giving Israel a cover for its crimes.”
“The only path to security and peace was the end of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land,” he said.