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04 March 2016


Cyclone Winston destroyed whole Fijian villages. Photo: NZ Defence Airforce.

Aid Airlift to Cyclone Winston-shattered Fiji Begins

Posted on Fri. Mar-4-2016

Fiji - IOM is transporting a planeload of aid from its Global Administrative Centre in the Philippines to ease suffering for tens of thousands of Fijians displaced by the Pacific’s largest-ever storm, Cyclone Winston, which devastated the island nation late last month.

Some 75,000 people will receive shelter kits, tools, fixings, and solar lights in the first consignment, made possible by the UN Central Emergency Response Fund.

A flash appeal, launched by the Government of Fiji and UN this morning, is seeking a total of USD 38.6 million, with USD 4.1 million of that for IOM’s Emergency Shelter and Displacement Tracking response. Forty percent of the country has been affected by this tragedy.

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Mediterranean Migrant Arrivals in 2016 Near 135,000; Deaths Reach 418

Posted on Fri. Mar-4-2016

Greece - IOM estimates that 134,905 migrants already have crossed the Mediterranean this year. Of these, 125,819 have reached the Greek islands. The remainder landed in Italy. Media reports indicate that arrivals to Spain in 2016 are fewer than 100.

Monthly arrivals in Greece have dipped slightly from the 67,415 recorded in January to 55,633 in February. Thus far in March, arrivals total just 2,771. IOM Athens reports that in the past 14 months since the start of 2015 the total number of sea-borne arrivals in Greece has reached 970,911. This suggests that the threshold of one million arrivals of migrants and refugees in Greece will be reached within the next two weeks.

IOM Athens reports that the Greek Asylum Service has announced that they received 1,171 asylum applications in January – 227 from Syrians, 66 from Iraqis, 52 from Yemenis and 43 from Eritreans – all nationalities fleeing places in the throes of violence and civil strife. Another 221 asylum applications were registered from Pakistan, 78 from Albania, 73 from Bangladesh and 55 from Georgia. 

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Quote of the day

"If one [country] closes its borders, another one has to suffer – this is not my Europe." – German Chancellor Angela Merkel. More here

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IOM Guinea Hands Over Renovated Border Health Posts in Ebola-affected Areas

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IOM Facilitates Return of Ghanaian Trafficking Victim from Iraq

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Malagasy Officials Visit Mauritius to Study Labor Migration

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Ghanaian Immigration Officers Undertake Study Tour to Tunisia and Italy

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IOM Portugal Launches Beyond Not Just Numbers

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Belizean Women Get Small Business Seed Capital to Combat Gender Violence

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Paraguay Launches Project to Prevent Reintroduction of Malaria

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Françoise: "I thought it was a paradise but it was none of that. I lost everything. I will have to start from scratch."
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For the latest Mediterranean Update data on arrivals and fatalities please visit: http://migration.iom.int/europe #MigrationEurope

 


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Migration in the News

  • AFP reported that European Council President Donald Tusk was due to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for key talks on the migrant crisis today.
     
  • Euro news interviewed International Maritime Rescue Federation CEO Bruce Reid on the challenges facing search and rescue teams in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean.
     
  • BBC reported that a European Commission report published in February admitted that full implementation of promised EU measures to tackle the migrant crisis has been lacking.
     
  • AFP reported data on the migrant crisis in Europe since the beginning of the year.
     
  • Daily Mail reported that Finnish sculptor Pekka Jylhä has recreated the haunting image of Aylan Kurdi's body lying face down on a Turkish beach in a sculpture entitled: 'Until the Sea Shall Him Free.'
     
  • Daily Beast interviewed Mostafa Dawa, an Egyptian graduate of Islamic studies living on the Greek island of Lesbos, who gives dead migrants and refugees a proper Islamic burial.
     
  • BBC and Time reported that European Council President Donald Tusk has warned undocumented economic migrants against coming to Europe in a new push to solve the EU migrant crisis.
     
  • Nepali Times reported that millions of labourers from Nepal and other Asian countries construct and maintain  wealthy Dubai. But their living and working conditions are often dire.

Trending on the Internet

  • CNBC reported that slavery today is generating $150 billion in illegal profits each year, according to the ILO. But last week President Obama signed legislation that will stop goods produced by slaves from entering the U.S.

  • Foreign Policy claimed that building walls and deportations won't stop irregular migration to the U.S. from Central America. It argues that the U.S. has to help Central American states to fight corruption.

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