Returning Syrian refugees face abduction, sexual abuse: UN
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters Syrian refugees who fled the war are facing gross human rights violations such as torture and abduction on their return home while women are subject to sexual harassment and violence, the UN human rights office said in a report on Tuesday. More than 12 years after Syria’s conflict began there are still […]
Around 40,000 Syrians return from Turkey after quake; WHO’s Tedros pledges support after Turkey visit
Cilvegozu, TurkeyReuters Around 40,000 Syrians who had fled areas affected by the deadly 6th February earthquake have returned from Turkey to rebel-held north-western Syria in the two weeks since Turkey eased restrictions on their movements, a Turkish official and a Syrian rebel official said. The immigration was recorded at four border crossings held by Syrian armed groups opposed to Syrian […]
EU wants to send more people back to Africa, Middle East, Asia
Stockholm, SwedenReuters European Union migration ministers meet on Thursday to discuss visa restrictions and better coordination inside the bloc to be able to send more people with no right to asylum in Europe back to their home countries including Iraq. Three years after the 27-nation EU agreed to restrict visas for countries deemed failing to […]
Ukrainians brave return to former frontline village after Russian retreat
Posad-Pokrovske, Ukraine Reuters When Russian forces advanced in the middle of last winter, the villagers of Posad-Pokrovske began to flee, joining compatriots from across the southern Ukrainian province of Kherson in a mass westward exodus. Over the past month, since Ukraine’s army recaptured the provincial capital and surrounding territory, they have been slowly returning to […]
Future unclear for Syrian refugees as Lebanese repatriations begin
Arsal, Lebanon Reuters Hundreds of Syrian refugees returned home from Lebanon on Wednesday, the first day of repatriations organised by Beirut, their mood more subdued than celebratory amid concerns over a scheme that rights groups say may involve elements of coercion. Lugging suitcases, power generators, fridges and even chickens and mostly skirting around watching media, […]
Lebanon to resume sending refugees back to war-damaged Syria
Beirut, LebanonReuters Lebanon will start sending Syrian refugees back home at the end of next week, President Michel Aoun said on Wednesday, in a process a security official described as voluntary, despite rights groups’ fears for their safety. Lebanon hosts the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. The government estimates that the […]
Six months into the war, Ukrainian refugee agonises about returning
Poznan, PolandReuters Tatiana Afanasieva dreams of returning to Ukraine from her life of exile in Poland, but even though her neighbours back home in Kryvyi Rih tell her Russian shelling there has stopped, she is too afraid. “People tell me that it looks normal, life goes on, people go to work,” Afanasieva, 34, told Reuters […]
India backtracks on support for Rohingya refugees, will deport them
New Delhi, India Reuters India’s home ministry said on Wednesday that Rohingya refugees in the capital New Delhi would be held at a detention centre and then deported, contradicting a minister’s earlier statement promising flats and security to members of the Muslim minority. Hardeep Singh Puri, federal minister for housing and urban affairs, had earlier […]
Some Ukrainian refugees return home despite the dangers
Przemysl, PolandThomson Reuters Foundation As Russian bombs rained down on the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv in early March, Zoya Mamatkulova and her mother packed up their bags, put their cat in a pet carrier and headed for Poland. But after travelling across three countries, shuttling between refugee shelters and a relative’s house, the pair decided to […]
Ukrainians return home from Poland for special Easter
Reuters Maria Verbyana, 19, moved to Warsaw to escape Lviv, Ukraine, a month ago amid the threat of Russian bombings. But, as Orthodox Easter approaches on Sunday, she could not imagine being away from her priest and family. Late on Thursday night, she boarded a bus back home, determined to spend her Easter volunteering to […]