Refugee & migration news digest- 24.05.2013

Crises

Democratic Republic of Congo

DRC rebels announce 'temporary' ceasefire (Aljazeera, 24 May 2013)

UNHCR urges protection for civilians amid fresh fighting in DR Congo (UNHCR, 22 May 2013)

Syria

Russia: Syria agrees to take part in talks (Aljazeera, 24 May 2013)Read more

ICMC treasurer and Secretary General interviewed by EWTN

EWTN Global Catholic Network recently met with ICMC Secretary General Johan Ketelers and Treasurer Cardinal George Pell in Rome just after the organization’s annual Governing Committee meeting.

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Joint NGO/UN briefing of the current shortfalls in aid and ability to meet humanitarian needs of refugees from Syria in Jordan

The scale of the humanitarian crisis
 Around the region there are more than 1 million refugees, and the shortfall in support for all countries cannot be ignored. The number of internally displaced Syrians, as well as Iraqis and Palestinians trapped in Syria, demostrates the huge potential for the refugee crisis to escalate.

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Germany offers to take in 5,000 Syrians, setting example for its European partners

GENEVA, 26 March 2013 (ICMC) – In an unprecedented move by a non-neighbouring nation since the beginning of the uprising more than two years ago, Germany last week agreed to take in some 5,000 refugees fleeing ongoing violence in Syria.

Germany hopes its European Union partners will soon join it in sharing the responsibility for the humanitarian crisis that is severely affecting Syria’s neighbouring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey and that has already cost over 70,000 lives.Read more

EU-funded ICMC keeps helping Iraqi refugees in Syria as aid may dwindle

More than 2 million Iraqis fled their violent, divided homeland for fear of persecution after the 2003 Iraq war. The almost 65,000 registered Iraqi refugees in Syria now find themselves trapped in a new conflict. Those who, like Hayfa, cannot go back home, have a daunting choice between running away yet again and enduring life in war-torn Syria.

While the international community focuses its attention on relieving the humanitarian emergency triggered by the influx of more than 1 million Syrian refugees into neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt and North Africa, the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) has not forgotten the Iraqis who stayed behind in Syria.Read more

Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban is awarded UN prize for his peace-building efforts in Sudan

GENEVA, 4 March 2013 (ICMC) – Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban from South Sudan was named winner of a United Nations peace prize this year in recognition of his efforts to build trust among warring communities in the conflict-torn region.

Bishop Emeritus Taban last week received the 2013 prize from UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon for his work at the Holy Trinity Peace Village in Kuron, in the east of South Sudan. Created in 2005, the village brings together people from different tribes and faiths who have been in conflict for years.Read more