No Migrant Deaths at Sea in Last 20 Days as Mediterranean Arrivals Reach 121,517 for 2017

Since 9 August, IOM, the UN Migration Agency, has not received any reports of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean. The total count for Mediterranean Sea fatalities has remained at 2,410 for 20 days. Just 19 deaths have been recorded in the region so far in all of August by IOM, a sharp drop from the 689 recorded in August 2015 and 62 last year. 

Time for Bolder Steps

AFTER 90 days, our military forces have finally taken over the grand mosque in Marawi City and are now clearing all the adjacent buildings that the Maute extremists and their Islamic State-related confederates had occupied since May 23rd. The extremists did not make a last stand, but simply pulled out before our troops arrived. This was the good news. The not so good news is that a number of hostages, including a Catholic priest, remain unaccounted for. This could mean that the extremists may have simply relocated to another base, from where to strike again as soon as they have regained their strength.

Myanmar Must Change Tack on Rohingyas

The very fact that Myanmar has termed the recent militant attack on its security forces as being the work of “extremist Bengali insurgents” underlines the very crux of the problem. It restates their position on the Rohingyas, their unwillingness to accept the ethnic minority for what they are. Rohingyas, who happen to be Muslims, are as Bengali as Americans are English. And this attitude of rejecting one of its own has underpinned Myanmar's policy regarding the Rohingyas. 

Planet’s warning

QUESTION: what’s the best way to ensure that an issue gets state attention? Answer: make it a matter of national security. So here goes.

Union Conflict Rages on in South Africa

It was two thirty at night. Inside his home, the telephone rang. Sibongile Nota’s brother’s life drew nearer its end. A few minutes passed, the telephone rang again. His brother was now dead.

I Will Never Forget Her Face

On a hot, flat, stony plateau outside Kismaayo, Somalia, hundreds of people pack into a settlement for displaced people. Bashir Mukhtar stands at a water point, helping weary women lift jerry cans of water. Over the last five years, he has witnessed a wave of humanitarian crises, affecting many communities in south Somalia’s Jubbaland. Mukhtar could have easily opted for another profession but decided that humanitarian work in one of the harshest environments was his calling.

Over 38,000 Migrants Assisted with Voluntary Return by UN Migration Agency in First Half of 2017

Some 19,088 migrants have returned home voluntarily with assistance from IOM, the UN Migration Agency, from 1 April to 30 June 2017, according to the IOM AVRR quarterly bulletin published today (18/08). These migrants have returned from 81 host and transit countries to 136 countries and territories of origin.

From the Penthouse to the Dog House

All that goes up must come down was considered a truism from the days of yore. The apple that descended on the Newtonian dome-probably a fable anyway- had obviously got Sir Isaac thinking. So was born what is called the law of gravity.

Value Nature

WE take our natural environment too much for granted. Look how we treat trees in urban area; we marginalize them by crowding them with structures, damaging their roots, cutting off branches disrespectfully, cluttering their surroundings with concrete, fire, trash. Notice how signs for plumber and electrician services or advertisements are thoughtlessly nailed to their trunks. Sometimes we even fell them and one mindless excuse is that their leaves require much effort to sweep away. Yet trees are necessary for shade, temperature control, aesthetics.

UAE bears treatment expenses of 90 injured Yemenis in Indian hospitals

Ninety Yemenis who were injured in the war launched by the Houthi militias against the Yemeni people left the interim capital Aden for India on Thursday to receive medical care at the expense of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Courting disaster

SIXTEEN million people in Pakistan lack access to safe water. Scarcity of clean water and poor sanitation claim 19,000 children under five years of age in Pakistan annually, according to WaterAid. Per FAO/World Bank data, Pakistan’s internal renewable freshwater per capita is less than that in Syria, whose civil war has in part been attributed to water scarcity.

Ratcheting up tension in Korean Peninsula

A lot has been reported over the past couple of weeks about the escalating tension in the Korean Peninsula. As the western media demonises North Korea, one gets the impression that it is led by a “crazy fat kid” (Kim Jong-Un, 33), who is ready to go to war with America.

The Perils of Irregular Migration: From Migrant to Migrants

Migrants are increasingly becoming communication agents, revealing their own stories, fears, hopes and dreams. The testimonies below are part of the Aware Migrants information campaign, implemented by IOM, the UN Migration Agency and funded by the Italian Ministry of Interior with the aim of helping potential migrants in making informed decisions by warning them about the real dangers of the journey along the main routes from East and West Africa across the desert and the Mediterranean. 

IOM Responds as Rainy Season Threatens Further Spread of Cholera in South Sudan

As the rainy season progresses in South Sudan, rapid responses are critical to stemming the cholera outbreak that has affected the country for over a year. The outbreak has compounded already dire humanitarian needs. Approximately four million people have been displaced by the conflict that erupted in December 2013.

Diving for a Living

Would you believe that some people still make a living out of diving in ponds and water bodies to recover jewellery or precious possessions lost by bathers?