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Home means everything. It is a safe haven that has come to mean so much more to us during the pandemic where it has doubled up as an office for all the work-from-home folk. So with no job projects, evicted from their rented places and lockdown hitting them hard, can you blame the migrant labourers for undertaking long journeys from the cities to walk back to their homes in their villages the place that they call home? But that they will come out in such large numbers was the shocker, numbers that are hard to keep track off. So the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), whose mission is to bridge the digital divide, decided to conduct an Ethnography Study. The by-product of it was The Migrants, short films and documentaries.

Abner Manzar was volunteering with DEF and helping with relief work at Nuh and Sohna, two towns near Delhi, in May. And as he was a part of the communications team, he started talking to migrants and taking their interview. "They were all extremely agitated, hungry, tired and emotional. So I reasoned that this might not be the best time for a recorded interview," says the 22-year-old. So he and Ravi Guria, Head, Media and Communication, DEF, decided to set out on a journey of discovering the true stories of the migrants. "Beyond the city, no one was following them. It was assumed that if they reached their homes, the crisis was solved. But that's when the crisis actually began," he points out. So over 16 days in June, armed with an iPhone 11, the two travelled across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand and in each state, they visited four to five villages to document the plight of migrants.

Let the journey beginThe duo interviewed 60 migrants and it was a mixed bag when it comes to the latter opening up and really talking. With the help of DEF coordinators in every village, they connected to various labourers who had come back home. While some were downright reticent, others were vague and yet others, like Arbaz Khan, a 20-year-old from Bhitiharwa, Bihar, really had a lot to say. When he heard about them, he came to meet them on a bike, almost bursting on the seams to share his story. "Since elections were coming up in Bihar, there were people who were reluctant as well. All we told them that your story needs to reach the world," explains Abner, who is an author as well.

We wonder what the migrants had to say about going back to the cities after the unlock, were they willing or reluctant? "They were people who refused to go back until a vaccine was in place, others wanted to go back to earn. But frankly, their answers were emotional. Out of desperation, most of them must have already gone back," reasons Abner who shuttles between Delhi and Puducherry. And what about the anger? Who was it directed towards? The government, surely. "Surprisingly, no. They were angrier with their employees. They felt betrayed by them. And yet, they had somehow resigned to their faith in some way," shares the travel enthusiast.

The shame of coming backAnother aspect that Abner introduces us to is the ridicule labourers faced after coming back to villages. Since having a job in the city is considered to be the ultimate achievement, when they came back, they were mocked by the rest of the villagers. "I think the solution to this would be more rural employment opportunities," mulls the youngster. However, the romantic idea that one holds of an Indian village was completely shattered as the duo went from one village to another. "As a youngster, it was eye-opening for me to travel to the heartland of India and see the abject poverty that some people live in. Also, the rampant discrimination, it's always in the air," he says with a tinge of sadness in his voice. And then adds, "But I feel that we have all seen migrant labourers as victims, but they are such inspirational figures. Would someone like you or I be able to sustain all that they have had to bear? I don't think so," shares the alumni of Sri Aurobindo International Centre Of Education, Puducherry.

The team is planning for a virtual screening on December 15. The idea is that there will be one 30-minute-long documentary, which is the main offering and then there would be 30 short films of the interviews that they conducted, highlighting different themes.

For more on them, check out themigrants.in

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How this 22-year-old helped shoot the definitive documentary on India's migrant crisis during the pandemic - EdexLive

The Greek government recently finalized plans for the construction of a wall, along the northeast border shared with Turkey. The twenty-six kilometre wall will be added to the ten kilometres of the fence dividing the nations. The $74 million project is expected to be completed by the end of April.

The five-meter wall is to be constructed using galvanized square steel tubes and concrete foundations. Currently, four million refugees and migrants, including approximately three million Syrians, are located in Turkey. The border wall is representative of an ongoing, concerted effort to disrupt migration.

In September, Associated Press journalists witnessed the rescue operations of Afghan migrants, forced onto life rafts, and abandoned at sea shortly after reaching the Greek island of Lesbos. Authorities have accused Greece of large-scale pushbacks between March and July, as migrants were deported without access to asylum procedures, in violation of international law.

Twenty-nine international organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, addressed an open letter to the Greek Parliament, advocating for an investigation into abuses at the border. The letter outlines allegations against Greek border forces, having used violence against and in the unlawful return of displaced people, including in the form of collective expulsions and pushbacks. collective expulsions Turkish authorities additionally accuse the European Union of purposefully overlooking the abuse of migrants. The lives and rights of refugees and migrants have effectively been weaponized by Greek and Turkish politicians.

The migrant crisis is ongoing. Greece became the primary entry point to the EU, as a million people crossed through the nation in 2015 alone. Individuals fleeing war and poverty throughout the Middle East, Asia and Africa arrive in Europe through the Greek islands via Turkey. Approximately one million reached Greece and Italy in 2015.

Thousands of migrants died attempting to reach the continent. The 2016 EU-Turkey Statement and Action Plan aimed to halt migration via Turkey to Europe. Under the agreement, all new asylum seekers from Turkey arriving on the Greek islands and those whose applications for asylum were deemed inadmissible would be returned to Turkey. However, following the Turkish governments February 27th announcement that it would no longer prevent migrants from trying to reach Europe, tens of thousands of refugees attempted to enter Greece, and the European Union by extension.

The large-scale attempt to cross the Greek border appeared to be backed by the Turkish government, an organized campaign. It is worth noting that Turkeys shared border with Bulgaria, also an EU member, remained unaffected. The resulting standoff at the Greco-Turkish border was violent. Greek border guards reportedly utilized force, firing rubber bullets at migrants. A surveillance camera network is planned, spanning the entire 192 kilometre border.

A UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants claimed those who managed to cross the border were allegedly intercepted by Greek border guards, detained, stripped, confiscated of belongings and pushed back to Turkey. This alleged excessive use of force seems to have led to the deaths and injuries.

However, the EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen demonstrated support for Greek actions, specifically the deterrence of migration. According to von der Leyen, the border is not only a Greek border, but it is also a European borderI thank Greece for being our European aspida in these times. The term aspida translates to shield. As noted by Amnesty International, Europe does not need to be shielded against vulnerable peoples. Video evidence of a Frontex ship, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, creating waves near a crowded dinghy full of people, effectively driving the vessel back.

Although conflicts between Greece and Turkey are longstanding, the recent announcement of a border wall was preceded by strife in the Aegean Sea. Hostility between the nations is ongoing specifically regarding control of the Mediterranean and the Cyprus dispute. Recently, offshore gas and oil exploration rights have been contested, as Turkish research and naval ships sailed into waters contested with Greece. Further, the Turkish decision to break with the 2016 agreement was seemingly an attempt to garner western support for the Turkish military campaign in the Syrian Idlib province.

According to Greek Shipping Minister Giannis Plakiotakis, authorities have already stopped more than 10,000 people trying to enter the nation by sea, this year alone. Plakiotakis, whose ministry is in charge of the coast guard, declined to elaborate on how the boats were stopped from entering Greek waters.

However, the Shipping Minister readily denied the accusations of breaches to international law against the coast guard. In fact, the UN Refugee Agency is deeply concerned by an increasing number of credible reports indicating that men, women, and children may have been informally returned to Turkey immediately after reaching Greek soil or territorial waters in recent months. The Greek government was further criticized for suspending asylum applications for thirty days as of March 1st.

The 2016 EU-Turkey statement, which aimed to keep migrants from crossing into Greece, is clearly flawed and requires significant reform. The director of the Migration Policy Institute think tank, Hanne Beirens, claims that the agreement was once characterized by EU members as a temporary measure.

However, the persistence of the 2016 deal into 2020 is ultimately reflective of increasingly xenophobic attitudes across the European continent. In July of 2020, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Polish denial of access to asylum procedures violated multiple articles of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The UNHCR called on Poland, as a signatory of the 1951 Refugee Convention, to grant refugees access to territory and asylum. Further, for over five years, the borders of Hungary have been sealed. Approximately 300 were stuck in migrant transit zones, several hundred square metres between the borders of Hungary and Serbia, until the European Court of Justice ruled the practice illegal in May of 2020.

The ECJ ruled in April, that both nations and the Czech Republic violated their obligations, effectively refusing to participate in the relocation of asylum seekers. The Eastern European nations failed to uphold an EU agreement to distribute 160,000 migrants housed in Greece and Italy in 2015. The relocation plan represented an attempt to mitigate the pressures of large scale migration placed on Mediterranean nations.

The European Commission, the executive branch of the EU, released a New Pact on Migration and Asylum in September of 2020. Although the policy is intended to be mandatory, yet flexible, it fails to truly address the member states unwilling to accept asylum-seekers, and the imbalance that is created in migration as a result. Nations that have refused to accept migrants will assume the obligation to organize and carry out returns. The EU failed to provide clear incentives to accept migrants.

International monetary support for migrants is necessary. Greece has been under a significant economic strain for years, exacerbated by the migrant crisis. Asylum seekers in Greece continue to be housed in overcrowded, poor conditions. On September 8th, 2020, a fire broke out on the Greek island of Lesvos.

Even more, fires were reported in the following days, destroying almost all of the Moria Reception and Identification Centre. The asylum centre housed 11,500. As of October 8th, approximately 7,800 of the refugees are living in an emergency site in Kara Tepe. Oncoming colder weather will make life even more difficult, as many people are sheltering in tents. The UNHCR is currently calling for donations to support the refugees impacted by the fires. However, life is difficult for migrants living in Turkey. According to Amnesty International, only 1.5% of Syrians of working-age have work permits in Turkey. Further, many Syrian peoples are unable to access basic services.

Community Sponsorship is a program in the UK, promoting resettlement. A refugee family is offered the opportunity to immigrate legally and safely, welcomed, and supported by a local community. Introduced in 2016, 450 families have benefitted from the program. Similar initiatives are also in place in Canada, Spain, Ireland, etc.

The program was recently promoted by the UNHCR. Amnesty International similarly encourages the relocation of asylum-seekers through humanitarian and family visas. However, in order to promote the settlement of displaced peoples, it is necessary to address harmful attitudes that underly the reluctance to accept immigration. Politicians frequently utilize Islamaphobic and xenophobic rhetoric, fear-mongering in order to effectively galvanize voters.

Calls to construct a border wall to prevent immigration in Greece are clearly prevalent internationally. As Amnesty International notes, however, walls wont stop people from moving; they just increase the human cost. Further, negative conceptions surrounding migration, often promoted by the far-right, are quite damaging. Economists suggest that the common assumption that immigration negatively impacts the economy is a myth. In fact, immigration is characterized as a means of creating a more dynamic economy.

Read the rest here:
Large-Scale Pushbacks Of Asylum Seekers At The Greco-Turkish Border - The Organization for World Peace

Photo Credit: UNHCR/Siegfried Modola

The writing is on the wall, xenophobia against Venezuelan immigrants is reaching dangerous levels as public officials use immigrants as scapegoats for growing insecurity. COVID-19 has affected Colombias public budgets as well as the generosity of foreign authorities to care for the millions of Venezuelans who continue to cross the border seeking a better life. Risks for violence against migrants are growing and should concern us all.

Venezuela and Colombia have a long-shared history of migration. Trends in binational migration have reversed from Venezuela receiving millions of Colombians who were fleeing economic hardship and conflict in the 1990s, to Colombia becoming the principal passage point and destination for the 4.8 million Venezuelans, who according to UN data, have fled their country since 2015. As Colombians, we are still grateful to Venezuela for receiving so many people back in the day. But alarmingly, the hospitality with which Venezuelans have been welcomed in Colombia is showing signs of strain .

Venezuelan migratory waves to Colombia can be traced back to 2002 when massive layoffs at PDVSA, the government s oil company, signaled an influx of Venezuelan businesspeople, engineers, and oil executives who contributed technical knowledge and expertise to Colombias extractive sector. That can be considered to be the first wave of immigrants. As the government of Hugo Chvez became increasingly antagonistic towards the United States and started flirting with 21st century socialism, a second wave of Venezuelan migrants materialized. Although Colombia was not the first-choice for many of these wealthy migrants who also settled in the U.S., Europe, and Mexicowhile on occasion travelling to Venezuela, where they still had significant business interestsColombia was still a center of political coordination for the Venezuelan diaspora. For example, the country granted asylum to Pedro Carmona who successfully (albeit briefly) deposed Chavez through a coup attempt. Many of the Venezuelans who migrated to Colombia during the first and second waves were skilled and rich, which made it easier for them to draw sympathy from their Colombian hosts compared to the third wave.

The thirdand currentwave of Venezuelan migration to Colombia is related to the deterioration of economic conditions in Venezuela since 2014. This includes chronic unemployment, growing poverty, and shortages of food and medicine, provoked by the countrys staggering official corruption, economic mismanagement, and internal political conflict. Nicols Maduros economic ineptitude proved to be disastrous for the country following the global drop in oil prices. Contrary to the first two waves, the Venezuelans coming to Colombia were now increasingly poor and middle-class people who crossed the border by car, bus, and foot.

At the end of 2019, Venezuelan migrants comprised the largest economic migration in the world (4.4 million), surpassed only by Syria. Colombia welcomed 1.8 million Venezuelan immigrantsmore than any other country. The Venezuelan exodus, the greatest human mobilization in Latin Americas recent history, has generated important sociodemographic, security, political, economic, and a cultural repercussions in its main host country. Although Venezuelans speak the same language as Colombians and have very similar religious and cultural traits, the differences are starting to shine through.

Signs of unease became commonplace in border zones such as Norte de Santander and La Guajira, where fulfilling the needs of the burgeoning population has posed budgetary and social challenges to local governments in terms of guaranteeing health, education, and well-being for the migrant population. This has put strain on local populations whose demand for city services had to accommodate unprecedented levels of immigrants.

A recent Gallup poll shows that 69 percent of Colombians have an unfavorable perception of Venezuelans living in the country. Likewise, the study showed that 80 percent of those surveyed said they disagreed with the governments management of the immigration crisis, which as a result of COVID-19, has meant complete closure of formal border crossings. This makes it more difficult and dangerous for Venezuelansparticularly womento cross over to Colombia. As reported by several outlets, close to 100,000 Venezuelans returned to their country when Colombias COVID-19 lockdowns hurt the informal economy, which is the principal source of employment for many Venezuelans. It is expected that many will try to return as the country looks to reopen its economy. However, returning migrants may find that they are returning to a more hostile environment.

There are growing perceptions among Colombians that Venezuelans are to blame for the increase in crime. Giving greater headwinds to this unfair perception, Claudia Lopez, the mayor of Bogot, said on Friday I do not want to stigmatize the Venezuelans, but there are some immigrants involved in criminality who are making our lives difficult. We welcome whoever comes to earn a decent living, but, whoever comes to commit a crime should be deported without contemplation. This comment is an untimely gesture towards Venezuelans, whose permanence in Bogot does not suggest a spike in crime. Quite the opposite, research suggests that Venezuelan immigrants are more likely to be victims of crime than perpetrators.

Although the situation is urgent, it does not seem that the international community is contributing generously enough to address the crisis. According to a report in the New Humanitarian, international funding for the crisis is scantjust over half of the USD $738 million requested by the UN in 2019 materialized. The UN has called for USD $750 million to help half of the seven million people it estimates need assistance inside Venezuela in 2020, and a further USD $1.35 billion to help four million Venezuelans across 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

According to the Brookings Institution, the Venezuelan crisis has been significantly underfunded compared to others similar in size and scope, such as Syria and Sudan. While donors have contributed an average of USD $1,500 in assistance per Syrian refugee, the amount earmarked for each Venezuelan refugee is a meager USD $125. And these were pre-COVID-19 calculations. The pandemic has not only strained Colombias public finances by reducing the subsidies it can provide to immigrants, but donor governments are also likely to cut back on foreign aid at a time when it is needed the most. Colombia committed almost half a percentage point of GDP to finance the Venezuelan migration crisis during 2020, 2021, and 2022, but the pandemic is likely to affect this commitment as well.

This lack of funding, coupled with a certain increase in Venezuelan migrants as well as a tight economic situation at home, is a recipe for disaster. This spells a bad omen for Venezuelans as it is likely that populist politicians will continue to use immigrants as scapegoats and easy targets during the next elections. So far there are no Colombian equivalents of nationalist and anti-immigrant parties that are shaping populist policies in the U.S. and Europe,and elections will not take place until a few years from now . Perhaps in the run-up to the 2022 elections we will get a better sense of how attitudes towards Venezuelan immigrants will shape the political rhetoric used by candidates looking to score cheap points. This issue was exploited by certain political groups contending the 2019 local elections in crucial areas like Ccuta and Bucaramanga, but it did not become a national phenomenon.

This does not mean that we should let our guard down or look the other way when Venezuelans are discriminated against by politicians or pundits. However, the lack of attention and funding seems to suggest that xenophobia may be on the rise, and violence against Venezuelan migrants is expected to increase. What will it take for governments to stop this ticking time bomb?

Sergio Guzmn is the Director of Colombia Risk Analysis, a political risk consulting firm based in Bogot. Follow him on Twitter @SergioGuzmanE and @ColombiaRisk

Juan Camilo Ponce is a Communications Intern at Colombia Risk Analysis and he is currently an undergraduate student at Universidad Javeriana. Follow him on Twitter @juanponceg

All opinions and content are solely the opinion of the authors and do not represent the viewpoints of Global Americans.

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Hate against Venezuelans in Colombia is a ticking time bomb - Global Americans

Members of a caravan of migrants from Honduras to the United States were arrested in Guatemala and deported before they could reach Mexico. Although their journey was shortened, the formation of a new caravan shows that as in 2018 and 2019 Central Americans are still fleeing violence, hunger and climate change en masse.

The crisis on the border between the USA and Mexico is also continuing. As a scholar of Mexican migration, I have witnessed how the pandemic has brought new hardships for immigrants, while at the same time leaving the Trump administration room for further restrictions on the rights of migrants and asylum seekers.

The result is a continuation of the dehumanizing and dangerous conditions at the border, with less public control than ever before.

Crisis at the border

During my research for a 2019 documentary film, Waylaid in Tijuana, I observed first-hand the difficult conditions faced by thousands of migrants and asylum seekers who were stranded on the US-Mexico border long before the pandemic.

Under international and domestic law, the United States must offer asylum to people who have a well-founded fear of being persecuted because of their political beliefs, racial or ethnic background, religion, or other particular characteristics that make them targets of violence.

But in April 2018, the Trump administration began measuring asylum seekers by requiring them to be placed on a waiting list for their first appointment with U.S. officials. By August 2019, 25,000 people were on the list, most of them in Tijuana. In February 2020, just before the global pandemic was declared, 15,000 people were still waiting.

Nine months after the measurement began, the Trump administration introduced Migration Protection Protocols that require asylum-seekers who have passed their first hearing to return to Mexico to await any further court hearings. By March 2020, over 65,000 asylum-seekers had been returned to Mexico, mostly through ports of entry in Texas.

Under pressure from the Trump administration, the Mexican government endorsed this policy and gave asylum seekers the right to wait for their hearing in Mexico. Migrants in the caravans arriving in late 2018 and early 2019 also received special work permits.

Since then, however, the Mexican government has drastically reduced these permits, and todays migrants receive almost no government assistance. The lucky ones find room and board in a church-run migrant shelter, an informal job as a waiter or in construction, and access to health care and legal advice from local or U.S. nonprofit organizations.

Most migrants are not so lucky. Housing cannot keep up with demand, leaving thousands on the streets or in tent camps without sanitation or electricity, especially along the Texas border. Asylum-seekers outside the shelters rarely have access to social welfare or legal counsel.

Asylum seekers are also targeted by criminals and local police for extortion, robbery, kidnapping and assault adding another layer of trauma to the violence they suffer at home and on their journey. During the interviews with asylum seekers conducted for Waylaid in Tijuana, my colleagues and I were able to recognize the fear and anxiety in their body language.

Prevented by the pandemic

These two policies-the measurement system and migration protection protocols-had already significantly reduced the chances of Central American migrants receiving asylum in the United States before the pandemic. In August 2020, only 570 of the 44,000 asylum-seekers returned to Mexico whose cases had been decided were given refuge in the United States. This represents an approval rate of 1.3 percent, compared to 21 percent in 2018 for asylum seekers from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

The pandemic has now enabled the Trump administration to effectively end asylum as a way for Central Americans to legally enter the United States.

In March 2020, the Department of Homeland Security closed the waiting lists for asylum hearings and suspended asylum hearings. The Trump administration also invoked Title 42, a little-used rule of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that aims to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, in order to immediately deport all migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border without the hearing to which many of them would normally be entitled.

Under this rule, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol

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Migrant caravans are starting again as the pandemic exacerbates the crisis on the border between the United States and Mexico. - The Washington...

Our editors weekly take on humanitarian news, trends, and developments from around the globe.

Ethiopias Tigray conflict is little more than a week old, but the number of people killed and displaced is rising fast. On 12 November, Amnesty International said scores and likely hundreds of day labourers were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra, a town in Tigray. TNH could not independently verify the killings, but witnesses who spoke to the rights group blamed militia aligned to the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, an ethnic Tigrayan party fighting against the government. One witness who inspected ID cards of victims said the dead were mostly ethnic Amharas, from a region that is supporting Addis Ababas offensive. Hundreds of combatants from both sides are also thought to have died in air raids and clashes in the region, while banking, transport, trade, and telecommunications services remain cut off. Some 11,000 people half of them children have fled to neighbouring Sudan, where local authorities told TNH they are struggling to cope. The capability of Sudan is very limited and the number of refugees is very big, said one Sudanese official. Read our latest on the conflict for more.

They faced the worlds second deadliest COVID-19 outbreak per capita and one of the tightest lockdowns, leaving 40 percent of the population jobless and many scrambling to return to their home communities from coastal cities. On 9 November, Peruvians added politics to their list of woes. After impeaching President Martn Vizcarra whose approval ratings were amongst the highest in the region Congress, opposed to Vizcarras anti-corruption reforms, quickly swore in the head of the chamber, Manuel Merino, as the new president. The controversial removal of Vizcarra on moral incapacity and graft charges which he denies and the quick power switch set off street protests throughout the country. The UNs human rights office says it has received worrying reports of arbitrary detentions and the excess use of force by state forces during the protests, and called on the police to respect international norms. Few countries have recognised the transition.

Drug-maker Pfizer this week announced its candidate for a COVID-19 vaccine may be 90 percent effective a welcome boost during a chaotic year. The early results may be promising, but they also raise other questions: Will vaccines reach vulnerable communities? Is there infrastructure in place think cold freezers, transport networks to handle shipments? And what about conflict zones especially areas controlled by armed groups? An analysis by the International Committee of the Red Cross tries to tackle the issue of vaccine access in conflict. It emphasises that states (and armed groups) are obliged to ensure vaccines are distributed without discrimination under international humanitarian law. In practice, of course, that doesnt always happen. Civilians in conflict zones, or areas controlled by armed groups, have struggled to access treatment or healthcare throughout the pandemic. In Taliban-controlled parts of Afghanistan, for example, aid access comes down to ground-level negotiations (and access denials frequently derail polio vaccinations). In Myanmar, some armed groups have had to source their own protective gear and COVID-19 tests. The World Health Organization (WHO) and others are trying to ensure equal access to whatever vaccine emerges. But in crisis hotspots, global agreements may still find roadblocks at the last mile. We have seen greedy scrambles for access to therapies before, from HIV to H5NI influenza, bumping the most vulnerable countries those in the grips of armed conflict to the back of the queue, the ICRC notes.

Russia pledged $1 billion in reconstruction and humanitarian funds at a widely boycotted online conference about the return of Syrian refugees. In a speech, Syrian President al-Assad said the refugees fled not because of the actions of his government, but due to the largest barbaric Western aggression which the world has ever known in modern history. Only about 27 countries took part, emphasising international divisions: Turkey was not invited and Jordan did not take part. Together, they host three quarters of the 5.6 million Syrian refugees in the region. The UN says the situation is not good enough for it to recommend returns, but about 115,000 refugees chose to go home to Syria in 2019 and 2020 anyway. The UNs refugee agency, the United States, and the EU all skipped the conference, but the UN sent an observer. Few Syria conferences get all the players: In June, the EU hosted a fourth event about aid to Syria without the Syrian government.

New estimates from World Bank economists say at least 125 million people worldwide will fall this year below the extreme poverty line ($1.90 per day), and as many as 257 million will fall into poverty, with the line set higher, at $3.20. Calling them the COVID-19-induced new poor, a recent blog warns that in a truly uncertain environment one critical factor can push even more into poverty. If the pandemic widens inequality within countries, for example between those who can work remotely and those who cant, tens of millions more would become the new poor. Despite these threats posed to low-income and emerging economies, there is no big new aid funding on the horizon. A high-level 9-10 November meeting of donor countries declared financing for sustainable development risks collapsing, but came up with no specific promises of new cash. Oxfam said they had missed a wake-up call.

In January, 90,000 people were displaced by conflict in Mozambiques northernmost Cabo Delgado region. As the year draws to a close, that number has passed more than 400,000. Attacks by Islamist miliants are behind the surge: This week, local media reported the beheading of 50 men and boys by jihadists on a soccer pitch in the town of Muatide. UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres called the killings wanton brutality. From a small group of disaffected youth, the militants now number several thousand, have seized various towns including the key port of Mocmboa da Praia and are launching attacks on Tanzania, which borders gas-rich Cabo Delgado. With Mozambiques army struggling to contain the violence, local communities are forming self-defence militias. But the groups are reportedly committing their own abuses, the jihadists are only growing stronger, and the number of displaced people keeps on rising. Read our reporting for more.

AFGHANISTAN: More than 13 million people a third of Afghanistans population may face crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity through March 2021, according to the latest projections. Conflict, COVID-19 economic impacts, soaring food prices, and climate disasters are pushing more people toward hunger, analysts say.

THE CANARY ISLANDS: Asylum seekers and migrants arriving in the Canary Islands are being held on a pier in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions by Spanish authorities, according to Human Rights Watch. A record 2,200 people arrived in the islands by boat between 7 and 9 November. Located off the coast of West Africa, the Spanish archipelago recorded around 2,500 arrivals all of last year compared to more than 14,500 already this year.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Ex-president Franois Boziz submitted papers on 9 November to stand in presidential elections slated for December. Boziz was deposed in a coup in 2013 and spent years in exile before returning to CAR last year. He is currently under UN sanctions for his role in the 2013-2014 crisis.

THE CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN: More than 110 asylum seekers and migrants died in shipwrecks off the coast of Libya between 10 and 12 November, including one that claimed the lives of at least 70 people. At least 522 people are known to have died in the Central Mediterranean in 2020, while European countries have obstructed the work of search and rescue NGOs and ignored or responded slowly to reports of boats in distress.

CTE DIVOIRE: More than 8,000 Ivoiriens have fled to neighbouring countries, according to the UNs refugee agency, UNHCR, as fresh clashes broke out this week following disputed elections that saw Alassane Ouattara win a controversial third term in a landslide. UNHCR said the refugees requested to remain close to the Cte DIvoire border so they can return home should the situation stabilise.

ITALY-TUNISIA: Italy is considering deploying ships and planes to monitor Tunisian territorial waters in an effort to reduce the number of migrant boats leaving the north African country. More than 12,300 Tunisians have arrived by boat in Italy so far this year, compared to just over 2,600 in all of 2019.

MEASLES: Cases of vaccine-preventable measles soared in 2019 to the highest global level in 23 years, research by the WHO and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. Experts fear disruptions to vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic could make matters worse.

SOUTHEAST ASIA STORMS: Typhoon Vamco brought extreme rains and roof-high floods to parts of the Philippine main island of Luzon the countrys fifth big storm since October. Vamco continues westward and is projected to threaten central Vietnam around 14 November. Vamco is the latest in a barrage of storms that have churned across Southeast Asia, worsening seasonal floods. The UN says at least 2.7 million people need urgent aid in the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.

Indigenous leadership and experience during disasters is often overlooked or misunderstood. And yet, as the coronavirus pandemic has overwhelmed healthcare systems and crippled economies worldwide, Indigenous communities have often had to fend for themselves, turning to traditional medicine in some cases, and peaceful protests in others. Indigenous communities in rural areas of Guatemala have now been dealt yet another challenge: Hurricane Eta. After making landfall on Nicaraguas Caribbean coast on 3 November, Eta caused widespread destruction across Central America. In Honduras, nearly 1.8 million people have been directly affected, while more than 200 people have been killed mostly by flooding and landslides across the region. For Indigenous communities in Guatemala, the slow official response to Eta is seen as just another example of long-standing neglect by the central government. Find out how theyre organising their own responses, and about the combined threat ahead of COVID-19, drought, and hunger.

The United States may face an electoral mess on home soil, but you wouldnt be able to tell from reading State Department press releases. The US continues to weigh in on other countries votes, offering stern scoldings, or avuncular kudos, with no apparent appreciation for irony. The latest missive this week professes concern for the mass disenfranchisement of the Rohingya population and voting cancellations in Myanmars elections which granted de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi another term yet likely added to grievances among ethnic minority communities. Others question Tanzanias commitment to democratic values, or pledge to keep a watchful eye on upcoming elections in Africa (yes, all of it). A tweet from the US embassy in Abidjan urges commitment to the democratic process in Cte dIvoire. Its not all dour warnings, however. An October statement greeted elections in the Seychelles with a hearty congratulations, and hopes for a peaceful transfer of power.

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Ethiopia's worsening conflict, Peru's political crisis, and ironic US election advice: The Cheat Sheet - The New Humanitarian