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Russia, China oppose UN visit to Syrian refugee camps

Agence France-PresseMay 3, 2013 02:30
A majority of UN Security Council members support a trip to inspect Syrian refugee camps inside Jordan but Russia and China remain opposed to a visit, diplomats said Thursday. Jordan this week warned that the growing exodus of Syrian refugees who had flooded over its border to escape civil war -- already over 500,000 -- was placing a "crushing weight" on the country. Jordanian Ambassador Prince Zeid al-Hussein met UN Security Council envoys on Tuesday and later said the refugee crisis represented a threat to the country's future stability.

Italian coast guards rescue Syrian refugees

Agence France-PresseMay 1, 2013 16:15
Italian coast guards on Wednesday rescued dozens of Syrian refugees including a child apparently injured in war in a group of 70 migrants found on a broken-down fishing boat off the tip of southern Italy. The boy, who was travelling with his mother, had a scar on his neck, the ANSA news agency reported, citing officials in the southern Calabria region. The report did not say where the boat had set off from.

45,865 Syrians return home from Jordan since July

Agence France-PresseApril 29, 2013 11:16
More than 45,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their war-torn country from a northern Jordanian refugee camp over the past nine months, a Jordanian official said on Monday. Colonel Zaher Abu Shehab, who runs the Zaatari refugee camp, said a total of 45,865 Syrian refugees "have agreed to voluntarily leave the camp and return home" since July 2012, Petra news agency reported. "Every day between 300 and 400 refugees express the desire to go back to Syria," he added.

Syrian refugees denied health care due cash crunch - UNHCR

April 26, 2013 11:31
By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Doctors at Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan are having to decide between treating acute cancer patients and helping deliver babies due to severe shortages of cash, the United Nations said on Friday. More than 1.4 million Syrian refugees have now fled their shattered homeland for neighbouring countries whose health care systems are straining to meet the needs of their populations, in some cases suddenly swollen by 20 percent, it said.

78,000 Bhutan refugees move to West

Agence France-PresseApril 26, 2013 09:46
Some 78,000 Bhutanese refugees have moved to the West from camps in Nepal where they have been living for two decades after being forced out of their homeland, the United Nations said Friday. The refugees have been offered new lives in the United States and other countries following the failure of years of negotiations to secure their return to Bhutan, which says they were illegal immigrants.

78,000 Bhutan refugees move to West

Agence France-PresseApril 26, 2013 05:15
A total of 78,000 Bhutanese refugees have moved to the West from camps in Nepal where they have been living for two decades after being forced out of their homeland, the UN said Friday. The refugees have been offered new lives in the United States and other nations following the failure of years of negotiations to secure their return to Bhutan, which says they were illegal immigrants.

Canada tried to deport train plot suspect

Agence France-PresseApril 25, 2013 18:15
Canada once tried to deport one of two men arrested this week on suspicion of what police say was an Al-Qaeda-backed plot to derail a Canadian passenger train, public broadcaster CBC said Thursday. Raed Jaser, 35, and an alleged co-conspirator were arrested on Monday and charged with conspiring to carry out an attack as well as conspiring with a terror group to murder persons.

Indonesian president urges Myanmar to address Muslim violence

April 23, 2013 02:15
By Jason Szep and John O'Callaghan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The president of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, said on Tuesday he would urge Myanmar's leaders to address Buddhist-led violence against Muslims that he said could cause problems for Muslims elsewhere in the region.

Jordan arrests eight Syrians over camp violence

Agence France-PresseApril 21, 2013 07:45
Jordanian authorities arrested on Sunday eight Syrian refugees accused of rioting at the northern Zaatari camp that left 10 policemen injured, a security official said. "The security services have arrested eight Syrians over the rioting that took place on Friday. They will be referred to the (military) state security court soon," he told AFP without elaborating. The group faces up to three years in prison each if the court convicts them of rioting.

Russia, China aid to U.N. for Syria falls short of Assad's foes

April 19, 2013 14:45
By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - Most of the contributions to the U.N.-led aid effort in Syria's two-year-long civil war have come from critics and enemies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while his supporters Russia and China have given little, aid sources say. The United Nations has been working off an estimate of $1.5 billion (984.2 million pounds) for its Syria funding needs, but that figure is already looking much too low, with refugee numbers far ahead of forecasts and no end in sight to the fighting.
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