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3m Ukrainians Already In Need Of Humanitarian Assistance – UN

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2 years ago

February 27, 2022

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UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said an eight-year-long conflict in Eastern Ukraine had already made three million people to be in need of humanitarian assistance “on both sides of the contact line”.

Griffiths, who also serves as the humanitarian affairs chief, told journalists that the UN and its partners had been responding to that need for many years.

Griffith spoke to journalists on Saturday at the UN headquarters in New York about the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.

“This year alone, for example, UN coordinated humanitarian convoys delivered over 150 tonnes of assistance to the most vulnerable people in the non-government controlled areas in the Donbas,” he said.

Women, children, the elderly, people with disabilities, those living close to the contact line and those living in the non-government areas are currently the most in need.

“They continue to require food, shelter, health care, water and sanitation and protection,” the senior UN official said.

He painted a grim picture of shelling of urban centres across Ukraine and unconfirmed reports of human casualties and damage to residential infrastructure, expressing extreme concern over the impact of the ongoing escalation.

“We are concerned about reports of population movement…fleeing in search of safety and protection,” Griffiths said.

He said that hundreds of thousands of people were “on the move in Ukraine and out of Ukraine, as we speak.”

The UN emergency coordinator echoed the Secretary-General’s position in stressing that UN humanitarians were committed to expanding their presence.

“We have not left. We are not leaving Ukraine,” he said.

As people there are “bunkered down,” Griffiths said that the UN was scaling up its efforts to help meet the needs of those effected, “and we have been doing this for some weeks.”

At this alarming phase of escalation, he flagged that the safety and security of all UN staff and their dependents was a top priority.

“We are currently facilitating the temporary relocation of non-essential UN staff and eligible family member within Ukraine,” said the Emergency Coordinator.

In the meantime, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCHA) has set up an inter-agency operation centre in Geneva and will be launching an appeal.

It will bring together the needs of the region outside Ukraine, under the leadership of the High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, as well as for those within the country.

Turning to the UN chief’s announcement on Thursday that 20 million dollars would be released from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to increase an immediate response, Griffiths said that it was imperative for the scale of needs in these “very, very extraordinary circumstances.”

“In the coming days, we will launch two coordinated emergency appeals in response to Ukraine’s escalating humanitarian needs, including rising internal displacement, and the needs of people seeking refuge in countries neighbouring Ukraine.”

He explained that donors were needed to mobilise financial resources, which will be outlined in a few days.

The most important point Griffiths said was the safety of UN humanitarian workers and their humanitarian partners, saying that our humanitarian response is guided by humanity, neutrality, operational independence and impartiality.

The senior UN official reminded that 50 per cent of the wheat used by the World Food Programme’s (WFP) comes from Ukraine, which illustrates that the effects of the crisis are “spooling out before us, and we have yet to see where it will lead”.

(NAN/VANGUARD)

Related Topics:3m Ukrainian Russian-Ukraine crisis UN

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Netherlands Leads Air Defence Missiles Supply Effort To Ukraine

Published

12 hours ago

May 28, 2024

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The Dutch Government, has said it would lead an initiative among some European countries to supply a Patriot air defence missile system to Ukraine.

“Ukraine, of course, is still under attack. Airstrikes continue,’’ said Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren in Brussels on Tuesday.

“Patriot systems are scarce in Europe and NATO, but we are now taking a step forward, so we will supply components of Patriot systems,’’ she said.

A statement released from the Dutch Ministry of Defence said the Netherlands has identified which countries could offer additional Patriot parts and munitions.

This is in order to deliver a complete system to Ukraine.

It did not mention which countries were involved.

Jens Stoltenberg, secretary-general of the NATO military alliance, said air defence is the “most urgent need’’.

He said EU countries are “stepping up the delivery of ammunition, air defence systems, and in particular, the most advanced ones, the Patriot systems.’’

NAN

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Canada Pledges Temporary Visas For 5,000 Palestinians In war-torn Gaza

Published

13 hours ago

May 28, 2024

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Canada has announced to grant temporary visas to 5,000 Palestinian residents living in the war-torn Gaza under a special programme.

The Canadian Immigration Minister, Marc Miller made the announcement on Monday stressing that the special visa scheme is for Palestinians who have relatives in Canada.

According to The Times of Israel, the programme is a preparatory move in case they are able to leave in the future.

That figure is an increase from the 1,000 temporary resident visas allotted under a special programme for Gaza announced in December, the Canadian immigration ministry said in a statement, adding that many people had expressed interest.

“While movement out of Gaza is not currently possible, the situation may change at any time. With this cap increase, we will be ready to help more people as the situation evolves,” Miller said.

The minister had previously said that leaving Gaza is extremely difficult and dependent on approval from Israel.

Miller also disclosed that Canada has been sharing the names of Gaza residents who have passed preliminary screening to local authorities to secure their exit, adding that Israel and Egypt are important to the program’s efforts toward reuniting families in Canada.

There was no immediate comment from Israel or Egypt regarding Canada’s announcement.

A spokesperson for Miller said 448 Gazans had been issued a temporary visa, including 254 under a public policy, and that 41 have arrived in Canada so far.

The temporary visas are valid for three years after entering the country, according to the Canadian government website.

The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 252 hostages, mostly civilians, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

Vowing to destroy Hamas’s military and governance capabilities in Gaza and bring the hostages home, Israel launched a wide-scale operation in the Strip which is ongoing, including a full scale offensive in Rafah which world leaders have condemned.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said more than 35,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though only some 24,000 fatalities have been identified at hospitals.

The tolls, which cannot be verified, include some 15,000 terror operatives Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

An estimated 1.7 million people, more than 75% of Gaza’s population, have been displaced, according to the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, The Times of Israel reports.

A total of 288 IDF soldiers have been killed during the ground offensive against Hamas and during operations along the Gaza border, as well as a civilian Defense Ministry contractor.

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Man Dies After Deportation From UK, Family Blames Home Office

Published

16 hours ago

May 28, 2024

Editor

The UK Home Office has been faulted for the death of a Sri Lankan man identified as Sudharsan Ithayachandran after he was deported to his home country.

The 41-year-old, who admitted to the use of false documents and working illegally at a British multinational retailer -Tesco, was sent packing from the UK on December 24, 2019, leaving behind his deaf wife, Subatra; and his two children, aged eight and nine.

According to the UK Guardian on Monday, all three are British citizens. The said date of deportation, however, marked his wedding anniversary.

Ithayachandran was a member of the Tamil heritage in Sri Lanka.

The report noted that during an immigration tribunal ruling in November 2023, Judge Bonavero had accepted Ithayachandran’s appeal, noting that he was allowed by right to live with his family in the UK.

However, the Home Office was accused of delaying the process of issuing a return visa to the deceased for several months, causing him to live in perilous conditions, according to a report by the International Justice and Truth project, titled, “Disappearance, torture and sexual violence of Tamils 2015 – 2022.”

Before his death, a legal counsel from MTC Solicitors, Naga Kandiah began judicial review proceedings against the Home Office about the delay in return visa issuance.

However, on May 19, 2024, Ithayachandran was found collapsed at his accommodation in Sri Lanka and died after being taken to the hospital. His cause of death is thought to be sepsis, although no medical record of such was sighted by PUNCH Online in this report.

The family blamed the Home Office, saying Ithayachandran was left in deep depression at home, owing to his separation from his children, adding that he was not eating or looking after himself properly.

His mother-in-law, Yasadora Nagendra, 60, described him as “the pillar of the family.”

She said, “I don’t know how the family is ever going to get over this. When he was here, he looked after everybody. He was such a kind and supportive man. Nobody can replace him. I believe that if the Home Office had not deported him he would still be alive today. We blame them for his death.

“He was treated in a very unfair way by the Home Office. He was so depressed that even after he won his case last November, the Home Office delayed making arrangements for his return to the UK. He couldn’t understand why he still had to wait to come back to his family. “

Kandiah stated that “the tribunal accepted our client had a genuine and subsisting relationship with his children and to live without them would be ‘unduly harsh’. He had spent years battling with the Home Office to simply rejoin his family. He finally won his case but died before he could do this.”

On his part, Lou Calvey, the director of a charity organisation, Asylum Matters, noted, “Serious questions must be answered about this heartbreaking case. Why was Sudharsan deported when he had such clear rights to remain here? Why did the Home Office delay implementing the court ruling reversing the deportation, and why did he have to die alone without his family?”

An unnamed spokesperson from the Home Office said that “all deportation orders are considered on a case-by-case basis, based on the evidence provided.

“Once an appeal has been allowed against the refusal to revoke a deportation order, the responsibility of applying for entry clearance to the UK lies with the individual and their representatives.”

On May 21, 2024, a disabled Nigerian man, Anthony Olubunmi George, who had resided in the UK for 38 years, faced the prospect of being forcibly removed from the country by the Home Office.

In 2019, he experienced two strokes that had a significant impact on his ability to speak and move.

On May 21, 2024, a disabled Nigerian man, Anthony Olubunmi George, who had resided in the UK for 38 years, faced the prospect of being forcibly removed from the country by the Home Office.

In 2019, he experienced two strokes that had a significant impact on his ability to speak and move.