Humanitarian Crisis

Rebuilding Gaza was seen as a ‘Herculean’ task before Oct. 7; six months of bombing has led to crises that will long outlive the war

Palestinians look for survivors after a Israeli strike in Gaza on Oct. 31, 2023. AP Photo/Doaa AlBaz Dima Nazzal, Georgia Institute of Technology Over a decade ago, a United Nations report described the Gaza Strip as virtually unlivable, adding that it would require “Herculean efforts” to change that. Today, after six months of bombardment, mass displacement and siege by Israel, the task of rebuilding Gaza seems practically unimaginable. I’m a […]

9 April, 2024

World

Seven aid workers killed in Gaza

The charity World Central Kitchen says seven of its aid workers have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza after dropping off food at a warehouse. The group includes citizens from the UK, U.S., Australia and Poland and the charity says the vehicle they were travelling in was clearly marked.

2 April, 2024

World

Starvation is a weapon of war: Gazans are paying the price

By Ateqah Khaki, The Conversation; Husein Haveliwala, The Conversation, and Vinita Srivastava, The Conversation On Monday, the European Union’s foreign policy chief accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war and provoking famine in Gaza. Israel denies the allegations, which are some of the strongest words we have heard from a western power about the situation in Gaza since October. The EU statement comes on the heels […]

2 April, 2024

Africa

Violence displaces 5.7 million in the DRC

Clashes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have now uprooted 5.7 million people across north Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri province. In an alert, the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR said that the violence has reached a devastating new level. UNHCR and partners have provided emergency shelters as part of the humanitarian response, said UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh. The United Nations Refugee Agency has meanwhile sounded the alarm on the […]

27 March, 2024

World

Gangs, kidnappings, murders: why thousands of Rohingya are desperately trying to escape refugee camps by boats

By Ruth Wells, UNSW Sydney and Max William Loomes, UNSW Sydney Late last week, a boat crammed with Rohingya refugees fleeing a squalid camp in Bangladesh capsized off the coast of Indonesia. Around 75 people were rescued, including nine children, but more than 70 are missing and presumed dead. This tragedy isn’t an isolated incident. The number of Rohingya people trying to escape refugee camps by boat has […]

27 March, 2024

Africa

Can the UN Security Council Finally Wrap Its Mind Around Haiti? It’s Trying

More than 362,000 Haitians are displaced in their country as violence by armed gangs convulses the Caribbean island nation amid a government collapse, lack of a strong police force and an intervention force being long delayed to the country. A new transitional council, proposed by the Caribbean intergovernmental bloc, could stem the chaos. UNOCHA/HAITI By Damilola Banjo The United Nations Security Council endorsed an international police mission last fall to try […]

20 March, 2024

Africa

Cameroon’s rebels may not achieve their goal of creating the Ambazonian state – but they’re still a threat to stability

By Manu Lekunze, University of Aberdeen Cameroon’s separatist insurgency is an armed conflict in the country’s North West (NW) and South West (SW) regions that began in 2017. It pits government forces against several non-state armed groups, locally known as “Amba rebels”. The rebels seek to create a state called Ambazonia out of Cameroon’s English-speaking regions. The conflict has killed over 6,000 people and displaced 765,000. Over […]

18 March, 2024

World

Gaza’s child casualties surpass global war toll

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini said Tuesday that the number of children reported killed in just over 4 months in Gaza is higher than the number of children killed in 4 years of wars around the world combined.

14 March, 2024

World

How Haiti became a failed state

By Nicolas Forsans, University of Essex The US military started airlifting embassy staff out of Haiti overnight as the Caribbean island descends further into chaos. Rival gangs have joined forces to overrun the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince, in an attempt to force the resignation of the acting president, Ariel Henry. The gang leader behind the violence, Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, has warned there will be a “civil war that […]

11 March, 2024