Syria crisis: Hundreds killed in ongoing violence, hospitals overwhelmed
Violent clashes are ongoing in southern Syria’s Sweida governorate where more details of grave human rights abuses and rising humanitarian needs have emerged, the UN said on Friday.
UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani spoke of the UN rights chief’s deep concerns about the situation. She said that “credible” reports of “widespread violations and abuses” have surfaced.
These include summary executions, kidnappings, destruction of property and looting” in the city of Sweida, Ms. Shamdasani told journalists in Geneva.
“Among the reported perpetrators were members of the security forces and individuals affiliated with the interim authorities, as well as other armed elements from the area, including the Druze and Bedouins… Syria’s interim authorities must ensure independent, prompt and transparent investigations into all violations. All those responsible must be held to account.”
Many hospitals are struggling to cope with the influx of injured, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, amid reports that many people were fleeing ongoing violence.
Aid cuts leave refugee agency unable to shelter six in 10 fleeing war in Sudan
Major cuts to aid budgets have already left people uprooted by wars in Sudan and beyond without the assistance and protection they need, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday.
Globally, $1.4 billion dollars’ worth of programmes are being shut down or put on hold, UNHCR said in a new report.
In an urgent appeal for flexible funding from donors, senior UNHCR official Dominique Hyde said that up to 11.6 million refugees this year risk losing access to direct humanitarian assistance from the agency.
This figure represents about one-third of those reached by the organization last year.
Those fleeing the Sudan war are among those impacted by the cuts, Ms. Hyde said:
“We can’t stop water. You can’t stop sanitation, but we’re having to take decisions when it comes, for example, to shelter. We have people arriving on a daily basis from Sudan, from the Darfur regions where you know what’s happening, arriving in Chad, not able to give any shelter to.”
UNHCR core activities have already been hit hard by funding cuts.
These include refugee registration, child protection, legal counselling and the prevention of and responses to gender-based violence.
For 2025, UNHCR needs $10.6 billion. To date, it has received only 23 per cent of this amount.
Deported Afghans are returning to homeland unable to help them
The surging number of people returning to Afghanistan is creating a looming human rights crisis, UN agencies warned on Friday.
So far this year, more than 1.9 million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan. Many have been deported or pressured to leave “because of threats, harassment and intimidation”, according to the UN human rights office.
International law is clear that it is illegal for Governments to send people back to countries where their safety is in question.
Deep concerns remain for the Afghan returnees who are finding a widespread lack of food, shelter and work. In addition, Taliban decrees prevent women and girls from working or even leaving their homes unaccompanied.
From the UN refugee agency, here’s spokesperson Babar Baloch:
“This is something, we have not seen, at least as far as Afghanistan is concerned, that in such a short time, you get nearly two million people who are returning to the country who’s not able – where there are no mechanisms to support them…We need international support and solidarity to support Afghanistan.”
Tens of thousands of people a day still cross the Afghan border, Mr. Baloch said, with some 50,000 arrivals on the 4 July alone.
Daniel Johnson, UN News.
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