April 30, 2013

Regular Press Briefing by the Information Service in Geneva

http://www.unog.ch/unog/website/news_media.nsf/(httpNewsByYear_en)/FFB13BBE33E0A08EC1257B5D0034013E?OpenDocument

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Here's just some of what the UN reported in Geneva on Tuesday: "Around 4.25 million people were now displaced inside Syria, and over 1.4 million Syrians had fled into neighboring Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt. Nearly half of the displaced and refugee populations were children." And also: "Some 25,000 Chadian migrants were currently stranded...on Chad's eastern border with Sudan, after fleeing inter-communal fighting between two Arab tribes...In Chad's southern border with the Central African Republic, UNHCR has reported that more than 5,000 refugees had entered...Many of the migrants who arrived at Chad's border entry points were in a wretched condition, suffering from health problems including respiratory infections, severe dehydration and wound infections." But there is one UN refugee agency for Palestinians - people kept as "refugees" for three or more generations, and refused citizenship, permanent status, equal benefits and integration in every Arab state. And there is one refugee agency for all other human beings in the rest of the world - people who are suffering right now from the worst forms of deprivation and abuse. Refugee politics, not human rights.