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29 July 2013
The UN Refugee Agency expressed concerns over Australia’s Regional Resettlement Agreement (RRA) with Papua New Guinea in a written statement citing the absence of adequate protection standards for asylum seekers and refugees in Papua New Guinea.
According to UNHCR, Australia maintains a shared responsibility with its developing neighbour to ensure appropriate legal standards for asylum seekers, which includes access to sustainable solutions within Australia. The agency said the RRA raises serious protection questions as there are significant shortcomings in the legal framework in Papua New Guinea for receiving and processing asylum seekers. These include lacking national capacity and poor physical conditions within open-ended and arbitrary detention settings.
Source: UNHCR News & Media | UNHCR: Australia-Papua New Guinea asylum agreement presents protection challenges
29 July 2013
The UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Robert Serry warned the UN Security Council that the Syrian conflict is turning global.
Serry stated that Syria is increasingly turning into a regional, if not a global, battleground citing a surge in sectarian violence in Syria and the broader region. According to Serry, the use of military might against civilian areas by the government forces attracts increasing numbers of foreign fighters.
The statement comes after the UN special envoy to Iraq warned the Security Council two weeks ago that the battlefields in Iraq and Syria are merging.
Source: The Washington Post | UN envoy warns that Syrian conflict is increasingly regional, if not global
26 July 2013
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres addressed gaps in the protection of Syrian refugees who are fleeing to Europe, and urged European states to burden-share and maintain a more generous and consistent approach.
Mr. Guterres said it should be a priority for every EU member state to ensure adequate standards of treatment for Syrian refugees who seek safety in Europe. He observed that only two European states, Sweden and Germany, have received almost two-thirds of the Syrians who are seeking protection in the entire European Union, and highlighted Turkey, which has received more than ten times as many Syrians as have claimed asylum in other countries in Europe.
In order to ‘demonstrate concretely the European commitment to responsibility-sharing with Turkey and other host countries’, it is crucial to find means to ensure that those who seek protection at the borders of the EU have access to procedures, safety and territory, according to Guterres.
He urged that the ‘EU must engage in more burden-sharing initiatives so as to help mitigate the crushing impact which the refugee crisis is having on Syria’s immediate neighbours’.
Source: UN News Centre | As Syrian exodus continues, UN official urges Europe to help shoulder refugee burden
Source: UNHCR News | UN's High Commissioner for Refugees urges Europe to do more for Syrian asylum-seekers
22 July 2013
Two US fighter jets dropped four unarmed bombs in the Australian Great Barrier Reef Marine Park during a training exercise when civilian boats entered the drop zone, according to a US Navy statement. The Marine Park is a World Heritage Site containing the world’s largest coral reef ecosystem.
US authorities stated that the Navy was reviewing the possibility of retrieving the ordnances in consultation with Australia, but stated that the bombs only posed a low risk to the marine environment. Australians and environmentalists were reported as describing the dumping of bombs in an environmentally sensitive area as an outrageous act that should not be allowed.
Source: Al Jazeera | Outrage over US bomb drop on Barrier Reef
Source: Sky News | Barrier Reef: US Navy May Retrieve Bombs
22 July 2013
A boat carrying 89, mainly Iranian, asylum-seekers was intercepted off the coast of northern Australia. This occurred a day after the country announced that asylum seekers arriving by boat can no longer be resettled in Australia as refugees. The Australian Immigration Minister Tony Burke stated that the group can either press an asylum claim in Papua New Guinea, or be transferred to a third state.
The announcement of the new immigration policy was reportedly followed by violent riots in an Australian-run immigration detention camp in Nauru over the weekend where hundreds of asylum seekers escaped detention.
Source: Al Jazeera | Australia intercepts boat with asylum-seekers