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A migrant being assisted by an IOM staff member in Seguedine. Photo: IOM 2017
52 Dead in Niger as UN Migration Agency Search and Rescue Operation Saves 600 Stranded Migrants in Sahara Desert
Posted on Tue. June 27, 2017
Niger – Sunday morning (25/06), 24 migrants alerted authorities in Niger that they had been stranded in the desert. It is not clear for how long they had been walking in the deserts of central Niger, near Seguedine. The 24 were taken to Seguedine, where one died on arrival, making the total number of survivors, 23. Among the survivors, there are migrants from Gambia, Nigeria, Senegal and Cote d'Ivoire.
They had been in a group of 75 migrants in three different cars, eventually abandoned by smugglers during the journey north. The authorities went back to where they had found the survivors to look for the other 51 who had been in the group, but they could not be found due to a sand storm. The migrants were presumed dead and search missions resumed once the sand storm ended – the bodies have yet to be found. IOM teams on the ground in Dirkou went this morning to pick up the 23 survivors and take them to IOM's transit centre in Dirkou.
At IOM's transit centres across Niger migrants receive direct assistance including water, food, shelter, and medical and psychological assistance. They are also assisted with voluntary return and reintegration upon their return.
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Ivan Roberts, Head of Canadian Cooperation in Haiti; Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, Roosevelt Bellevue; and Fabien Sambussy, IOM Head of Mission in Haiti.
UN Migration Agency Opens Haiti's First Border Resource Centre to Help Returning Haitians
Posted on Tue. June 27, 2017
Haiti – On 20 June, the UN Migration Agency (IOM) opened Haiti's first Border Resource Centre (BRC), incoordination with the Mayor of Anse-à-Pîtres and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour. The BRC is the first State institution tasked with ensuring the safe and respectable return of Haitian migrants to their country of origin. Three additional BRCs are in the process of being built at the remaining three official border sites: Malpasse, Belladère, and Ouanaminthe.
These centres will allow local protection agencies to better identify, orient, and assist vulnerable migrants – all while creating a space where the agencies can collaborate with each other and provide psycho-social counselling. The project also seeks to put in place referral mechanisms in order to facilitate greater access to basic services and support the sustainable reintegration of vulnerable migrants in Haiti.
“Migrants are human beings beyond all else. Opening a centre where we can welcome migrants and provide them with psychological counseling to heal their wounds is a strong symbolic and humane gesture. This important initiative is supported and encouraged by the Haitian government,” said Roosevelt Bellevue, Minister of Social Affairs and Labour, during the opening of the BRC.
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‘Migration is an Urban Affair,’ IOM Director General Tells Global Mayoral Forum on Human Mobility, Migration and Development
Posted on Tue. June 27, 2017
Germany – Meeting in Berlin this week (26-27 June) for the 4th Global Mayoral Forum on Human Mobility, Migration and Development, William Lacy Swing, IOM Director General, will urge delegates to “stay connected with each other and with us as you continue to embrace migrants and their communities as key players in your efforts to build cohesive and prosperous societies.”
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“i am a migrant” is part of the UN TOGETHER initiative that promotes respect, safety and dignity for those who have left home in search of a better life. More here
Lovísa: "Being a migrant means being able to move freely around the world, to work, to meet people, to open my heart and my mind."
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“…We focus a lot on avoiding people losing lives in the hands of smugglers and traffickers – and this is a humanitarian priority – but I think we also have the responsibility to open regular channels for people to come to Europe in a sustainable, human and regulated way.” – High Representative/Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini. Read more here.
Migration in the News
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AFP and Kuwait News Agency reported that Spanish coast guards rescued more than 200 migrants on Saturday as they attempted to make the perilous sea crossing from North Africa to Europe.
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Al Jazeera and Prensa Latina reported that an Irish naval ship has rescued 712 people, including pregnant women and infants, off the coast of the Libyan capital of Tripoli as part of an international migrant rescue effort, Ireland’s Defence Forces say.
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EuroNews reported that over 2,100 men, women and children have died in the Mediterranean sea while trying to reach Europe in the early part of 2017.
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Sputnik reported on comments by French President Emmanuel Macron that Europe should welcome refugees because it is a European tradition and honor.
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Sputnik reported that the number of cases of human trafficking has increased in recent years in Libya, according to the head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights.
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AFP reported on the dangers faced by West African migrants taking the route through Agadez, Niger on their way to Europe.
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PRI reported about tracing conflict gold in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. InStore Magazine reported that a jeweler has completed the first export of responsible and conflict-free artisanal gold from Eastern Congo to Canada.
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IRIN News reported that the Government of Nigeria is ready to convert its recent military momentum against Boko Haram into a revitalization of the state’s agricultural sector, which could be life-saving for the 5.2 million people suffering from acute food security across the region.
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Financial Tribune reported that Teymour Qaderi, a young Kurdish filmmaker, has been selected as Intercultural Leader by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations for his short film Big Fish which deals with the global issue of migration and focuses on the drowning of Syrian child Alan Kurdi.
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Jakarta Globe reported on the plight of asylum seekers stranded on Jakarta’s sidewalks.
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Humanosphere reported that a factory fire in Lima, Peru, that killed four young people has drawn official and international attention to the sometimes deadly risk posed by the country’s use of forced labor.
Trending on the Internet
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EuroNews showed a 360 video on the children living in refugee camps who are now attending formal education classes in Greek schools.
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Huffington Post reported on practical ways to help refugees, telling readers to start by understanding the multi-organizational refugee process.
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