Citizens for Justice and Peace
1,400 migrants saved from boats: Italian Coastguard
20-Jan-2018
Reuters reported that around 1,400 migrants were saved from “overcrowded boats” near the coast of Libya, according to the Italian coastguard, which said that two bodies were also recovered. A statement said that Italy’s coastguard and finance police, the European Union’s anti-smuggling scheme Operation Sophia, and humanitarian bodies participated in 11 rescue operations, Reuters said. Thus far…
Immigration authorities reportedly planning massive raid in Northern California
20-Jan-2018
SFGate, citing an unnamed source, reported that immigration authorities in the United States have started readying for a large-scale sweep in San Francisco and other cities in Northern California, with the aim to arrest more than 1,500 undocumented immigrants. The source indicated that this is anticipated to be the largest move of its kind under…
Taiwan considering offering third gender option on IDs, passports
19-Jan-2018
The Thomson Reuters Foundation reported that Taiwan is considering if it should offer a third gender option for its national identity cards and passports, noting that a government spokeswoman said via email that “the government is actively assessing this proposal but has yet to make a final decision”. She told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the “proposed…
Workers building iPhones in China exposed to toxic chemicals: China Labour Watch
19-Jan-2018
The Guardian reported that a report alleges that 90 workers were taken to the hospital in May 2017, following a chemicals leak at a Catcher Technology factory in China where items including metal frames for the iPhone 8, Mac keyboards and parts for other technology companies such as Dell and Sony. The report is from rights group…
UN expert says Latin America violating indigenous peoples’ rights
19-Jan-2018
The Thomson Reuters Foundation reported that, according to a United Nations expert, Latin American countries are violating indigenous peoples’ rights and increasingly imprisoning activists in order to reduce opposition to corporations “taking over ancestral lands”. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview that activists working…
Bangladesh agrees to complete Rohingya repatriation in two years
19-Jan-2018
Reuters reported that after meeting with Myanmar, Bangladesh said that it would complete the repatriation of Rohingya refugees in two years. Bangladesh’s foreign ministry released a statement indicating that Myanmar would house those returning in temporary shelters before constructing homes for them. “Myanmar has reiterated its commitment to stop (the) outflow of Myanmar residents to Bangladesh,” it said,…
Uganda blood shortage nearing “crisis level”
19-Jan-2018
The Guardian reported that there is a “critical shortage of blood” in Uganda, a situation that is impacting healthcare services and threatening patients’ lives. The health ministry’s blood bank in Kampala, “which stores and distributes supplies to hospitals, is practically empty.” The blood bank only has 150 units of blood left, which is not sufficient to fulfil…
4,000 internally displaced people homeless after forces destroy camps in Somalia
16-Jan-2018
The Guardian reported that Somali security forces “destroyed” 23 camps that were home to more than 4,000 internally displaced Somalis in late December 2017, according to the United Nations. Two weeks following this, these families “are still living rough in the outskirts of Mogadishu,” the Guardian said. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA)…
UNICEF: Cyclone, monsoon threaten half a million Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh
16-Jan-2018
A UNICEF press release said the agency has cautioned that more than 520,000 Rohingya refugee children housed in “overcrowded camps” in Bangladesh are at risk as the cyclone and monsoon seasons approach. Hundreds of thousands of children are already living in horrific conditions, and they will face an even greater risk of disease, flooding, landslides and further…
Florida inmates plan strike to coincide with Martin Luther King Day
16-Jan-2018
The Guardian reported on January 15, that Florida’s prisoners were planning to initiate a statewide strike to protest conditions “they say amount to modern-day slavery,” saying that the protest was called by prisoners prisoners who were angry for being made to work as “unpaid clean-up crews” in high temperatures in September 2017, after Hurricane Irma hit the…