UNGA: Challenges Transcend Borders and National Sovereignties

Anyone remember Brexit? People across the globe are speaking out and the vote in Britain to get out of a union and regain sovereignty is a message. It is not being heard and such is the case at the United Nations General Assembly.

Borderless….policy by global leaders is promoting this, while citizens are demanding otherwise. Have you taken a moment to look at our domestic universities where classes are filled with foreign students? Have you look at how intertwined governments are with each other’s economies? When one government financially aides another to keep it from a tailspin, major strings are attached and ethical behavior and compliance with law is dismissed.

Have you seen this hashtag? #UN4RefugeesMigrants   It is the newest in vogue talking point and condition globally. To view how borderless the West is becoming, click here to see the topics of discussions planned at the United Nations.

The newest mission is to control the oceans and John Kerry is leading the way. Who owns those oceans and the sea life?

Related reading: John Kerry expresses hope over ‘life and death issue’ of oceans

The Secretary of State sees the future of the seas as a global threat equal to world conflicts.

So, back to the United Nations and how the above and much more are being covered and delivered. Chilling conditions as noted below:

President Obama is hosting the Leaders’ Summit on Refugees, alongside co-hosts Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Jordan, Mexico and Sweden, which will appeal to governments to pledge significant new commitments on refugees. While the Leaders’ Summit will focus on refugees, not migrants, the General Assembly High-Level Summit will address large movements of both. See the full program here.

Then we have Europe:

The European Union at the United Nations

“Stronger partnerships are the building blocks of our foreign policy. All today’s challenges
transcend borders and national sovereignties. None of us, alone, can carry the weight of the
world on its shoulders.”

High Representative/ Vice-President Federica Mogherini at the UN Security Council 6 June 2016

The EU’s commitment to effective multilateralism, with the UN at its core, is a central element of its external action. The Lisbon Treaty provides that “The Union … shall promote multilateral solutions to common problems, in particular in the framework of the United Nations.” (Article 21-1 TEU) and that “The Union …shall work for a high degree of cooperation in all fields of international relations, in order to (…) preserve peace, prevent conflicts and strengthen international security, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter.” (Art. 21-2)

Multilateralism is also one of the core principles and priorities in the new EU Global Strategy for Foreign and Security Policy. To respond successfully to global crises, threats and challenges, the international community needs an efficient multilateral system, founded on universal rules and values. The United Nations is both: a key EU partner and an indispensable global forum for tackling global challenges, within the overall framework of the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The EU thus works closely both with the UN and in the UN.

Without global norms and the means to enforce them, peace and security, prosperity and democracy – our vital interests – are at risk. Guided by the values on which it is founded, the EU is committed to a global order based on international law, including the principles of the UN Charter. The EU will strive for a strong UN as the bedrock of the multilateral rules-based order, and develop globally coordinated responses with international and regional organisations, states and non-state actors.”

– EU Global Strategy for Foreign and Security Policy –

 

Working closely with the UN Secretariat and the various UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes, the EU has established a strong relationship with the UN. Cooperation takes place across a broad range of areas: development, human rights, climate change, peace building, crisis management, disarmament and non-proliferation, humanitarian assistance, fighting corruption and crime, addressing global health concerns, managing migratory flows and labour issues.

The UN General Assembly is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the UN. The added value of the EU is to coordinate among its 28 Member States to present a unified position.

In 2011, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution A/65/276 upgrading the observer status allow the EU to present common positions, make interventions, present proposals and participate in the general debate each September. As an observer with enhanced status, enabling EU representatives to speak on behalf of the EU and its member states in the UN. Since then it is also the President of the European Council who delivers the EU statement in the General debate, and no longer the rotating Presidency, bringing EU representation in New York in line with Lisbon Treaty provisions. The EU has obtained a special “full participant” status in a number of important UN conferences.

The Council of the European Union adopted the EU priorities at the United Nations at the 71st United Nations General Assembly on 18 July 2016. The coming year will be focused on consolidation and implementation of the agreements reached in the past year. These include the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, the Addis Ababa action agenda of the third international conference on financing for development and the Paris climate agreement.

The EU coordinates its voting within the General Assembly’s six main committees and other bodies and agencies such as the Economic and Social Council. To this end, more than 1300 internal EU coordination meetings are held at the UN in New York alone to develop a common EU stance and speak with one voice. Article 34 of the EU Treaty also stipulates that EU members on the Security Council must act in concert and foster the interests of the EU. In 2015, the EU delivered more than 220 statements at the UN in New York, including 31 at the Security Council.

Global Security Provider

The EU has a wide range of tools available to prevent and solve crises in close cooperation with international and regional partners. For this reason, the High Representative provides regular updates to theSecurity Council and the EU is often invited to address issues of common concern, such as the fight against terrorism. Regular UN Security Council meetings on UN-EU cooperation in maintaining international peace and security are testimony to the importance both place on it.

“In our conflictual world, where power is scattered and diffuse, global peace and security only stands a chance if our nations and our regions are united. Our European Union will always come back to the United Nations, to the core of the international multilateral system, to the stubborn idea of a cooperative world order.”

HRVP briefing to UNSC 6 June 2016

The Security Council endorsed the relationship with the EU in 2014 when it adopted a presidential statement on cooperation between the EU and the UN.

Major contributor

Collectively, the EU and its Member States are the single largest financial contributor to the UN system. The sum of the contributions of the 28 EU Member States amounts to 30.38% of the UN regular budget and 33.17% of the UN peacekeeping budgets. In addition, the EU and its Member States also provide about one-half of all the voluntary contributions to UN funds and programmes. The European Commission alone contributed more than $1.5 billion to support UN external assistance programmes and projects in 2014. The European Union and its Member States retained their place as the world’s largest aid donor in 2014, according to OECD figures. In 2014, EuropeAid’s financial contributions to the UN exceeded €983 million, with the most funding going to UNDP (40%), UNICEF (18%), FAO (12%), UNRWA (10%), and WFP (8%). In 2015, ECHO (European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection) provided €514 million (an increase from €452 in 2014) to UN agencies, funds and programmes, including €207 million to WFP, €127 million to UNHCR and €108 million to UNICEF.

UN Reform and Increased Efficiency

Effective multilateralism requires an effective United Nations at its core. The EU supports the reform of the UN system, including its bodies and organs, to ensure it is fit to address the complex, multi-sectoral challenges we face today. This should include comprehensive reform of the UN Security Council as well as revitalisation of the work of the General Assembly. The EU supports the notion that the United Nations must be ‘fit for purpose’ as well as increasingly effective and efficient, including to support successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

In America: What Exactly is a Refugee?

DHS Officials Admit They Have Not Used ‘Deception Detection Technologies’ to Screen Visa Applicants, Refugees

MRCTV: At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing Wednesday titled “Shutting Down Terrorist Pathways into America,” officials at the Department of Homeland Security admitted they have not explored the use of “deception detection technology” for screening refugees and other visa applicants despite a law signed last year directing the agency to do so.

 

Migrant surge poses challenge for U.S.: Who’s a refugee, who isn’t?

WASHINGTON

Ordonez/McClatchy: U.S. Border Patrol agents will apprehend more family members entering the United States along the Southwest border this fiscal year than they did in 2014, when a massive surge of Central Americans found the Obama administration detaining thousands of mothers and their children.

Newly released U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics show that while overall apprehension numbers are down from two years ago, the number of family members being apprehended will almost certainly surpass the total of two years ago.

Both family apprehensions and detentions of unaccompanied children have shown dramatic increases over last year’s totals – with family detentions nearly doubling and the number children traveling without parents increasing 52 percent.

Those increases raise serious questions about the Obama administration’s strategy to curb the flow through a combination of immigration enforcement and humanitarian assistance.

“It has been a failure, because people are still coming,” said Amy Fischer, the policy director for the Texas-based Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services.

Many migrants from Central America cite violence in their homelands as the reason for seeking refuge in the United States. The Obama administration has created a variety of programs, including aid to Central American governments, to try to tamp down that violence. The administration acknowledged over the summer that efforts have been “insufficient to address the number of people who may have legitimate refugee claims.”

A total of 68,445 family members were apprehended in 2014, when a surge of Salvadoran, Honduran and Guatemalan mothers and children fleeing violence and poverty raced into the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

This year, with one month left in the fiscal year, more than 68,080 family members have been apprehended. With apprehensions averaging 6,189 a month, the annual total is certain to be a record. No month this year has seen fewer than 3,000 family members detained. In August, Border Patrol agents apprehended 9,359 family members, the highest yet of the year.

Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are three of the most violent countries in the world.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned last October that women from Central America would continue to flee their countries because of the escalating tide of violence, including domestic violence and rape, fueled by sophisticated transnational gangs.

The number of Central Americans seeking asylum in the United States has grown nearly eightfold in the last six years. Mexico, Canada, Nicaragua and Costa Rica also have seen an increase in Guatemalans, Hondurans and Salvadorans seeking refugee status, according to the United Nations high commissioner for refugees.

Federal officials have an obligation under national and international law to protect the vulnerable. The challenge is determining who qualifies as a bona fide refugee and who has come for family or economic reasons.

The surge has exacerbated an already long backlog of hundreds of thousands who are awaiting cases in immigration court. To receive asylum in the United States, applicants must prove they have well-founded fears of persecution because of “race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.” These cases can take years to resolve.

Homeland Security officials said they continued to monitor migration trends and were working aggressively to “deter unauthorized migration, while ensuring that those with legitimate humanitarian claims are afforded the opportunity to seek protection.”

The White House reached an agreement with Costa Rica in July to host up to 200 Central American refugee applicants while the United States assessed their asylum claims. It was part of a larger package of measures put in place to protect migrants that included expanding the number of people who can apply to the U.S. refugee program for children. The administration also worked with Congress to secure $750 million to help El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras fight poverty and violence as well as reform their governments.

President Barack Obama has authorized spending up to $70 million to meet the “unexpected urgent refugee and migration needs related to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.”

But Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has made it clear that deportations of Central Americans will continue despite recognition of the crisis.

“As long as we have border security and as long as our borders are not open borders,” Johnson told reporters last month. “We have to be consistent with our priorities.” More here.

 

Towns of Refugees in America/Jordan and the Dollars

white-house-refugees

 

 

 

 

This Syrian conflict was in the hands of several governments to solve before this historic humanitarian crisis. Now, the Obama administration has turned the destiny of a country and millions over to Russia and Iran. There is no relief or end in sight. There is a truce/cease fire underway but no combatant from any side is moving while the humanitarian wake of destruction and refugee crisis is global. Not a single solution has been drafted by all world leaders to stop the death and hostilities.

Related reading: The Refugee Haven South of Seattle

Nearly 40% of Tukwila’s population is foreign-born. Go here for a sample U.S. town photo essay.

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John Kerry and USAID to Syria:

U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry announces nearly $439 million in new U.S. Government (USG) humanitarian funding for Syria and neighboring countries.

United Nations (UN) convoys reach all 18 UN-designated besieged areas in Syria with emergency relief assistance.

Syrian Democratic Forces offensive to retake Menbij town in Aleppo Governorate from ISIL displaces an estimated 47,000 people.

On July 12, Secretary Kerry announced nearly $439 million in new humanitarian funding for Syria and neighboring countries, bringing total USG humanitarian assistance to date to nearly $5.6 billion. The announcement included nearly $255.6 million from State/PRM and $77.6 million from USAID/FFP to support humanitarian efforts in Syria and neighboring countries, as well as more than $105.3 million from USAID/OFDA for humanitarian assistance activities inside Syria.

Numbers At A Glance

13.5 million

People in Need of Humanitarian Assistance in Syria

6.5 million

IDPs in Syria

4 million

People Reached per Month by USG Assistance in Syria

4.8 million

Syrian Refugees in Neighboring Countries

2.7 million

Syrian Refugees in Turkey

1 million

Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

657,433

Syrian Refugees in Jordan

249,395

Syrian Refugees in Iraq

Humanitarian Funding

To Syria Humanitarian Response
FY 2012 – FY 2015

USAID/OFDA $976,897,915
USAID/FFP $1,860,224,887
State/PRM $2,731,442,290
TOTAL $5,568,565,092

Advocacy from the International Syria Support Group’s (ISSG) Humanitarian Assistance Task Force has helped the UN and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) access a number of areas unreached by humanitarian agencies in years, including the besieged towns of Darayya and Douma in Rif Damascus Governorate.

As of July 5, UN interagency convoys and humanitarian airdrops had delivered emergency assistance, including emergency food rations and monthly food parcels, nutrition supplements, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) items, health and medical supplies, and other relief commodities, to more than 941,800 people in hard-to-reach, besieged, and other priority cross-line locations throughout Syria.

USAID/FFP partner the UN World Food Program (WFP) conducted 65 high-altitude humanitarian airdrops to the besieged city of Dayr az Zawr between April 10 and July 7, delivering more than 1,157 metric tons (MT) of food assistance and nearly 37 MT of nutrition supplements for approximately 110,000 people. On July 8, WFP initiated airlifts from Damascus to the city of Qamishli in Al Hasakah Governorate, marking the first of 25 planned rotations to deliver emergency food commodities to populations in the city.

Northern Syria

Persistent armed conflict, compounded by Syrian Arab Republic Government (SARG) and Government of the Russian Federation (GoRF) aerial attacks, continues to negatively affect millions of Syrians, particularly in Aleppo Governorate. Despite the SARG announcement of a 72-hour ceasefire on July 6 for the Eid al-Fitr holiday, SARG forces advanced on the strategically located Mallah Farms in Aleppo on July 7. The SARG also increased airstrikes and shelling on Castello road—the primary supply route into opposition-held eastern Aleppo city—and the adjacent Aleppo towns of Anadan, Haritan, Kafr Hamra and Khan al-Assal, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). SARG forces had nearly encircled eastern Aleppo city as of July 8, effectively entrapping more than 300,000 civilians.

Military advances by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and increased aerial bombardment on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)-held town of Menbij in Aleppo had prompted the displacement of at least 47,000 civilians from the city and surrounding villages as of July 8, according to OCHA. An estimated 65,000 others remain in the town, which was nearly encircled by the SDF as of early July. The majority of internally displaced persons (IDPs) have fled toward northern towns in Menbij sub-district, Abu Qalqal sub-district to the south of Menbij, the Jarablous border crossing with Turkey, and to opposition-controlled areas of Aleppo. OCHA estimates that an additional 216,000 people could be at risk of displacement in Menbij District if SDF make additional territorial gains. Relief organizations have expressed concern regarding their ability to provide emergency humanitarian services to the affected population due to the limited reach of the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in ISIL-controlled areas in Menbij and other areas of Aleppo.

On May 27, ISIL initiated a rapid offensive in northern Aleppo’s Azaz corridor, capturing the strategic towns of Jibreen and Kafr Kalbein and causing significant displacement of civilian populations. Although armed opposition groups had recaptured Kafr Kalbein and Jibreen from ISIL forces as of June 8, the violence had prompted approximately 16,150 people to flee within and from Azaz sub-district and 6,000 people to flee to Aleppo’s Afrin District as of early June. The UN estimates that 306,000 people reside in the Azaz corridor, including at least 163,000 IDPs.

While the conflict in Azaz forced humanitarian organizations to limit staff movement and temporarily halt some emergency response activities in the area, WFP successfully distributed pre-positioned food rations for more than 30,000 IDPs, and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) provided health services in IDP transit areas.

On June 12, SARG–GoRF airstrikes hit a local market and the only remaining bakery in the city of Idlib, Idlib Governorate, killing at least 20 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Between May 30 and June 9, an escalation of SARG–GoRF airstrikes in and near the city of Idlib displaced more than 15,000 people to neighboring towns and villages, OCHA reported. The increase in airstrikes around the city of approximately 250,000 civilians resulted in the temporary suspension of education activities and the nationwide routine immunization campaign, as well as the closure of local markets in Idlib. Humanitarian organizations operating in the Idlib sub-districts of Bennish, Idlib, and Maar Tamsrin provided new arrivals with ready-to-eat food rations, safe drinking water, and other emergency relief items, according to OCHA.

As of mid-June, SARG military operations in the southern countryside of Ar Raqqa Governorate had displaced an estimated 9,000 people from several villages south of Ath-Thawrah town to Western Salhabyeih and Kderian towns in the eastern countryside of Ar Raqqa, according to the UN.

Southern and Western Syria

On July 3, a barrage of bombs hit the Khan Eshieh Palestinian refugee camp in Rif Damascus, destroying a childfriendly space that provided education, psychosocial support, recreation, and hygiene awareness activities for up to 1,000 children in the camp, according to the UN. The airstrikes also killed three people and wounded five others in the area, according to international media. USG partners UNICEF and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which provide humanitarian assistance to the camp’s residents, including 9,000 Palestinian refugees, issued a press statement condemning the escalation of violence and called on the parties to the conflict to protect the lives of Palestinian refugees and all civilians. The ongoing insecurity has severely constrained humanitarian access to Khan Eshieh since 2013.

The UN reports that clashes between the ISIL-affiliated Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade and opposition groups had displaced up to 12,000 people in western Dar’a Governorate between February and early June. Ash Shajara District in Yarmouk Valley is the most-affected district in Dar’a, where relief agencies continue to provide humanitarian assistance despite insecurity and related access challenges.

SARG forces have continued to bombard the besieged town of Darayya in Rif Damascus with aerial attacks and ground assaults since the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the town on June 9. From June 8 to 16, SARG forces dropped an estimated 300 barrel bombs on the town, according to local media.

On May 23, ISIL carried out a series of coordinated attacks in Latakia and Tartus governorates, killing between 80 and 150 people and wounding at least 100 others, according to international media reports. The SARG controls the majority of Latakia and Tartus, which host a large Alawite population, as well as Russian military bases. Nearly 378,000 people are in need of humanitarian assistance and approximately 23,700 people live in collective centers in Latakia, according to the UN’s 2016 Syria Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO). In Tartus, the HNO identified more than 258,500 people in need of humanitarian assistance. Relief organizations maintain sufficient resources to respond to these caseloads in both governorates.

The total population living in both UN-designated hard-to-reach and besieged locations in Syria rose to nearly 5.5 million people as of June 23—an increase of approximately 900,000 people since January 2016. The UN added the neighborhood of Al Wa’er in the city of Homs, Homs Governorate, to the list of besieged areas on May 27, increasing the number of people living under siege from 408,200 people to an estimated 592,700 people. In late June, the UN revised the number of people living under siege from 592,700 people in 19 locations to 590,200 people in 18 locations due to a re-evaluation of population estimates in Rif Damascus’ Kafr Batna sub-district and the removal of the Rif Damascus town of Zabadin from the list of besieged areas. The UN also revised the total number of people living in hard-to-reach areas, including besieged locations, from fewer than 4.1 million people to nearly 4.9 million people due to the designation of Aleppo’s Kobane town and new locations in northern Ar Raqqa and northern and central Al Hasakah governorates as hard-to-reach, as well as re-evaluations of population estimates in other locations.

On June 9, the UN and SARC delivered emergency food aid to the besieged town of Darayya for the first time since the town came under SARG siege in 2012. The nine-truck interagency convoy delivered food and wheat flour for approximately 2,400 people, roughly half the estimated population, as well as other emergency relief supplies for 4,000 people, according to the UN.

On June 10, a UN interagency convoy delivered emergency food, wheat flour, and nutrition supplies to approximately 24,000 people in the besieged city of Douma in Rif Damascus’ Eastern Ghouta region for the first time since May 2014. The convoy also delivered health, hygiene, and other emergency relief items for approximately 40,000 people.

On June 23 and 27, the UN completed two convoys to the hard-to-reach town of Sheikh Maqsoud in Aleppo, delivering nutrition, health, and hygiene items, as well as other humanitarian supplies, for approximately 22,500 people. In addition, a 30-truck interagency convoy delivered food and nutrition items for 50,000 people in Afrin District on June 16.

With recent interagency convoys to Darayya and Douma, at least one UN interagency convoy had reached all 18 besieged locations between February and June, with some locations reached multiple times. Yarmouk neighborhood in Damascus is the only besieged location that UN interagency convoys have not reached directly; however, UNRWA has assisted 19,000 people in Yarmouk indirectly through 30 convoys carrying emergency relief items to the nearby neighborhoods of Babilla, Beit Sahm, and Yalda since January 2016; however, the last such convoy occurred on May 25.

Persistent advocacy from the ISSG’s Humanitarian Assistance Task Force since February has enabled the UN, in collaboration with the SARC and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to conduct 94 humanitarian assistance convoys and 65 airdrops in Syria, delivering relief assistance to an estimated 941,825 people as of July 5. Accessed populations include 354,150 people in 18 besieged areas, 537,675 people in more than 14 hard-to-reach locations, and 50,000 people in priority cross-line areas. Although insufficient, the number of people reached in hard- to-reach and besieged locations to date in 2016 represents a significant increase as compared to 2015 when the UN delivered humanitarian aid to only 30,000 people in two besieged areas. The improvement can be attributed to increased cross-line deliveries by both UN agencies and NGOs, including USG partners.

The UN and greater international humanitarian community continue to request immediate access to provide life-saving assistance to approximately 62,000 people besieged in Idlib’s Al Fu’ah and Kafrayya towns and the Rif Damascus towns of Madaya and Al Zabadani to prevent a further deterioration of the food security situation in the four towns.

Across Syria, WFP provides food to more than 4 million people every month through road transport, cross-line convoys, high-altitude airdrops, and cross-border food deliveries. Between April 10 and July 7, WFP conducted 65 high-altitude humanitarian airdrops to the besieged city of Dayr az Zawr, delivering more than 1,157 MT of food assistance, including nearly 37 MT of nutrition supplements, for approximately 110,000 people. To date, the assistance delivered via airdrops has provided every registered household with a complete monthly food parcel, sufficient to support a family of five for one month.

Active fighting in eastern Aleppo and Ar Raqqa and the closure of border crossings between Al Hasakah Governorate and Iraq and Turkey between January and mid-June have disrupted internal supply routes to Al Hasakah, contributing to a deteriorated food security and humanitarian situation in the governorate. On July 8, WFP airlifted 40 MT of emergency food commodities, including bulgur, pulses, salt, sugar, and vegetable oil, to the town of Qamishli in Al Hasakah Governorate. The delivery also included Plumpy’doz, a specialized nutrition product used to treat and prevent child malnutrition. WFP is prioritizing more than 75,000 people to receive food assistance, primarily displaced families living in shelters and unfinished buildings, as well as female-headed households. The UN estimates that 275,000 people in Al Hasakah are in need of humanitarian assistance but have been cut off from food and other basic supplies for more than six months.

On June 1, a seven-truck SARC convoy delivered limited food and nutrition supplements for 2,500 people in Al Wa’er, where vulnerable populations are in urgent need of emergency relief assistance, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Needs and Population Monitoring initiative. Al Wa’er had not received large-scale humanitarian assistance from the UN since March 2016 due to SARG denials of UN requests to deliver aid. The population lacks access to outside markets, and a general absence of basic supplies and food commodities has led to a deteriorated food security situation. Local health facilities lack medical supplies, two area hospitals are operating at limited capacity with intermittent access to electricity, and IOM reported a number of cases of malnutrition among children, as well as a high frequency of respiratory infections. SARG forces have severely restricted civilian movement and humanitarian access to Al Wa’er since 2013.

As of June, the national average price of a standard food basket had increased by 9 percent as compared to April, according to a WFP mobile vulnerability analysis and mapping survey, primarily due to the start of Ramadan and intensified conflict throughout the country. In May, intensified clashes and airstrikes severely disrupted supply routes to Aleppo, Al Hasakah, Hamah, and Idlib governorates, resulting in higher prices and a limited availability of many staple foods. The price of standard food baskets in Aleppo, Al Hasakah, and Idlib had increased by 13.8 percent, 32.6 percent, and 36 percent, respectively. Standard food baskets in Dayr az Zawr Governorate continue to register the highest prices at 112,384 Syrian pounds, or approximately $239.

In the besieged Rif Damascus towns of Arbin, Darayya, Madaya, Saqba, and Al Zabadani, as well as Dayr az Zawr, poor households lack adequate access to safe drinking water, and many local bakeries remain non-operational, according to WFP. At the governorate level, households from Aleppo, Hamah, and Rif Damascus exhibited the highest incidence of inadequate food consumption in March. In addition, the survey results indicate that food consumption frequency and dietary diversity is worse among households displaced within the past year.

Through cross-border activities from Turkey, members of the Food Security and Livelihood (FSL) Cluster—the coordinating body for humanitarian food security and livelihood activities, comprising UN agencies, NGOs, and other stakeholders—reached more than 1 million people in northern Syria with emergency food assistance and 1 million people with bread and flour deliveries in May. Nearly 57,000 people in northern Syria also benefited from food vouchers, cash-for-work programs, and other livelihoods activities implemented by the FSL Cluster.

As of June 2016, Physicians for Human Rights had documented 365 attacks on nearly 260 health facilities in Syria, as well as the deaths of 738 medical workers since the beginning of the conflict in 2011. Of these attacks, SARG forces were responsible for at least 289, resulting in an estimated 667 medical personnel killed.

Since May 1, the UN and its partners have received increasing reports of attacks on health care facilities, including the destruction of a hospital in Tartus on May 23, as well as attacks on three medical facilities in eastern Aleppo city between June 8 and 14; two of the health facilities in eastern Aleppo collectively provide nearly 5,000 consultations per month. In addition, SARG–GoRF airstrikes on a Médecins Sans Frontières-supported hospital killed 15 people and wounded 20 others on June 13.

Members of the Health Cluster provided more than 5,800 people in Syria with medical referrals and more than 46,400 people with outreach consultations in May, according to OCHA. In addition, Health Cluster members supported nearly 26,900 minor and major surgeries and provided medical training to more than 640 doctors, nurses, and midwives in northern Syria.

With the support of local committees, the Health Cluster initiated repair operations in May for health facilities damaged or rendered inoperable during April, according to OCHA. Relief agencies rehabilitated the first floor of Al Quds hospital, allowing for the resumption of emergency healthcare services for civilians in eastern Aleppo city. Two other damaged health facilities in Aleppo also resumed medical activities.

With support from UNICEF, an international NGO completed an underground wastewater network in Jordan’s Za’atri refugee camp in mid-June. The completed project, which began in November 2015, provides all 80,000 camp residents with access to private toilets and septic tanks, reducing health hazards and improving WASH conditions in the camp. In addition, the NGO conducted hygiene promotion and community mobilization activities to raise hygiene awareness among community members.

The Bab Al-Nayrab water station in Aleppo, damaged by airstrikes on April 29, resumed water pumping operations in early May. As of May 22, the station was pumping water to an estimated 20,000 households in the western Aleppo city and some neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo city, according to the UN.

Approximately 3.7 million Syrian children have been born since the conflict began in 2011, including more than 151,000 children born as refugees, according to a UNICEF report. The report estimates that the conflict is affecting 8.4 million children—more than 80 percent of all Syrian children—either within the country or as refugees. In addition to severe protection issues, UNICEF cites education as a primary concern for conflict-affected children, noting that more than 2.8 million Syrian children are not attending school.

Up to 250,000 children residing in besieged areas have inadequate access to education, food, health services, or safe drinking water, according to a recent report from Save the Children. The report notes that conditions have worsened in recent months and that children are dying due to a lack of food and medicine—which, in some cases, is stored in warehouses directly outside the besieged area. According to the report, more than 20 percent of aerial bombardments in 2015 occurred in areas now categorized by the UN as besieged and more barrel bombs are dropped in besieged areas than other locations. Save the Children has urged an immediate end to siege tactics by parties to the conflict and called for sustained humanitarian access, free movement of civilians, and medical evacuations. The NGO also called for the de-linking of access negotiations from cessation of hostilities negotiations.

In January and February, WoS Protection Sector members reached nearly 261,000 people, including nearly 90,000 people via cross-border operations from Turkey, with prevention, mitigation, response, and capacity building programs—such as case management services, frontline responder training, and psychosocial support. Gender-based violence interventions have reached 38,600 people, already exceeding the figure targeted in the 2016 HRP. The WoS Protection Sector aims to provide protection support to 7.2 million people within Syria in 2016.

Iraq

In mid-June, Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government authorities reopened the Fishkhabour border crossing between Iraq and Syria’s Al Hasakah Governorate to cross-border humanitarian and commercial traffic and to individuals in need of medical assistance seeking to enter Iraq, according to USG partners.

Jordan

The number of Syrian refugees stranded on the Jordanian side of the Syria–Jordan border, in an area known as the berm, has tripling in recent months to more than 80,000 people, including an estimated 70,000 people at the Rukban border crossing point and at least 10,000 people at the Hadalat border crossing point, as of late June. The population at the berm includes large numbers of extremely vulnerable people—more than half are children.

Moreover, the security situation at the berm has deteriorated considerably. On June 21, a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated at a Jordanian military outpost near Rukban, resulting in the death of seven Jordanian military personnel. The attack prompted the Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to declare the entire Jordan–Syria border a closed military zone and to close the border temporarily, hindering relief activities.

Lebanon

On June 27, suicide bombers attacked the predominantly Christian village of Al Qaa in Lebanon, near the Lebanon– Syria border, killing five people and wounding more than 12 others, according to international media reports. Al Qaa is also located near the Mashareeh Al-Qaa area, which hosts informal Syrian refugee settlements. Although anti-refugee rhetoric has escalated and local authorities have imposed curfews for refugees, USG sources report that relief agencies have not received any reports of violence against Syrian refugees.

On March 15, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO) announced an additional €445 million—nearly $500 million—in humanitarian assistance for individuals affected by conflict in Syria. The funding will support life-saving projects, including emergency food assistance and health care services, implemented by response organizations in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Syria. Since 2012, ECHO has contributed more than $2 billion toward response activities benefitting individuals affected by the conflict.

Following the commencement of peaceful demonstrations against the SARG in March 2011, President Bashar alAsad pledged legislative reforms. However, reforms failed to materialize, and SARG forces loyal to President alAsad began responding to demonstrations with violence, leading armed opposition groups to retaliate.

At a November 2012 meeting in Doha, Qatar, Syrian opposition factions formed an umbrella organization—the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, also known as the Syrian Coalition (SC). The USG recognized the coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people on December 11, 2012. On March 19, 2013, the SC established the Syrian Interim Government, which opposes the SARG and is based in decentralized locations throughout opposition-held areas of Syria.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted UNSC Resolution (UNSCR) 2139 on February 22, 2014, pressing the SARG and other armed actors to allow unfettered humanitarian access for relief aid workers in Syria. The resolution identified priority areas for emergency relief aid, and the UN is releasing monthly reports tracking progress on implementing the resolution’s objectives and access gains, as well as persistent access impediments.

On July 14, 2014, the UNSC unanimously adopted UNSCR 2165, authorizing UN cross-border and cross-line delivery of humanitarian aid to conflict-affected populations without SARG approval. The resolution permits the UN’s use of four border crossings from Turkey, Jordan, and Iraq—in addition to other crossings already in use by UN agencies—for delivery of humanitarian assistance into Syria. The resolution also establishes a monitoring mechanism under the authority of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and with the consent of the neighboring countries to ensure that deliveries across these border points contain only humanitarian items. In December 2015, the UNSC unanimously adopted UNSCR 2258, which renewed the mandate of UNSCR 2191 and will remain active until January 10, 2017.

UNRWA has registered approximately 560,000 Palestinian refugees in Syria, with more than 80 percent living in and around Damascus. Intense fighting in and around Palestinian camps and neighborhoods has significantly affected Palestinian refugees in Syria. UNRWA estimates that approximately 60 percent of Palestinian refugees are displaced within Syria, with a further 110,000 Palestinian refugees are displaced to neighboring countries. Syria also hosts an estimated 24,000 Iraqi refugees and asylum seekers, primarily in the greater Damascus area, as well as more than 3,200 refugee persons of concern from other countries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ODNI Report on Released Gitmo Detainees

In an attempt to prevent the closure, Congress is now voting on a bill preventing further transfers of inmates until a new defense policy bill is passed.

Currently, 61 detainees still remain at the detention camp, following the release of 15 in August, the largest single transfer under the Obama administration. Additionally, 16 others have been cleared for transfer.

Summary of the Reengagement of Detainees Formerly Held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Summary of the Reengagement of Detainees Formerly Held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

The Director of National Intelligence submits this summary consistent with direction in the Fiscal Year 2012 Intelligence Authorization Act, Section 307, which states:

(a) “The Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, shall make publicly available an unclassified summary of,

(1) intelligence relating to recidivism of detainees currently or formerly held at the Detention Facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by the Department of Defense; and

(2) an assessment of the likelihood that such detainees will engage in terrorism or communicate with persons in terrorist organizations.

(b) Updates – Not less frequently than once every 6 months, the Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Secretary of Defense, shall update and make publicly available an unclassified summary consisting of the information required by subsection (a) and the number of individuals formerly detained at Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, who are confirmed or suspected of returning to terrorist activities after release or transfer from such Naval Station.”

Section 307 (a) (1) Intelligence relating to recidivism of detainees currently or formerly held at the Detention Facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, by the Department of Defense.

**

Reengagement of Former Guantanamo Bay (GTMO) Detainees as of 15 July 2016
Total Pre-22 January 2009a Post-22 January 2009
Detainees Transferred 693* 532 161
Confirmed of Reengaging 122 of 693 (17.6%) 113 of 532 (21.2%) 9 of 161 (5.6%)**
Dead – 30 of 122 29 1
In custody – 25 of 122 25 0
Not in custody – 67 of 122 59 8
Suspected of Reengagingb 86 of 693 (12.4%) 75 of 532 (14.1%)** 11 of 161 (6.8%)**
Dead – 3 of 86c 2 1
In custody – 18 of 86 18 0
Not in custody – 65 of 86 55 10

a Executive Order 13492 was signed on January 22, 2009 to determine the disposition of the 240 detainees then remaining at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

b The Defense Intelligence Agency assesses five additional detainees are suspected of reengagement.

c Due to a coding error this number was previously reported as 4.

*An additional nine detainees died while at GTMO, and one was transferred to New York for trial, was convicted, and is now imprisoned in Colorado.

**Each of these categories includes detainees who were transferred pursuant to a court order.

Section 307 (a) (2) An assessment of the likelihood that such detainees will engage in terrorism.

Based on trends identified during the past eleven years, we assess that some detainees currently at GTMO will seek to reengage in terrorist or insurgent activities after they are transferred. Transfers to countries with ongoing conflicts and internal instability as well as recruitment by insurgent and terrorist organizations could pose problems. While enforcement of transfer conditions may deter reengagement by many former detainees and delay reengagement by others, some detainees who are determined to reengage will do so regardless of any transfer conditions, albeit probably at a lower rate than if they were transferred without conditions.

Section 307 (a) (2) An assessment of the likelihood that such detainees will communicate with persons in terrorist organizations.

Former GTMO detainees routinely communicate with each other, families of other former detainees, and previous associates who are members of terrorist organizations. The reasons for communication span from the mundane (reminiscing about shared experiences) to the nefarious (planning terrorist operations). We assess that some GTMO detainees transferred in the future also will communicate with other former GTMO detainees and persons in terrorist organizations. We do not consider mere communication with individuals or organizations—including other former GTMO detainees—an indicator of reengagement. Rather, the motives, intentions, and purposes of each communication are taken into account when assessing whether the individual has reengaged.

Definition of “Terrorist” or “Insurgent” Activities. Activities such as the following indicate involvement in terrorist or insurgent activities: planning terrorist operations, conducting a terrorist or insurgent attack against Coalition or host-nation forces or civilians, conducting a suicide bombing, financing terrorist operations, recruiting others for terrorist operations, and arranging for movement of individuals involved in terrorist operations. It does not include mere communications with individuals or organizations—including other former GTMO detainees—on issues not related to terrorist operations, such as reminiscing about shared experiences at GTMO, communicating with past terrorist associates about non-nefarious activities, writing anti-US books or articles, or making anti-US propaganda statements.

Definition of “Confirmed” Activities. A preponderance of information which identifies a specific former GTMO detainee as directly involved in terrorist or insurgent activities. For the purposes of this definition, engagement in anti-US statements or propaganda does not qualify as terrorist or insurgent activity.

Definition of “Suspected” Activities. Plausible but unverified or single-source reporting indicating a specific former GTMO detainee is directly involved in terrorist or insurgent activities. For the purposes of this definition, engagement in anti-US statements or propaganda does not qualify as terrorist or insurgent activity.

Who is Stopping the Giveaway of the Internet?

Stop Obama’s Internet giveaway

Ending ICANN could lead to censorship

By Jenny Beth Martin – – Wednesday, September 14, 2016

WashingtonTimes: The development and maintenance of the open Internet has been one of the greatest boons to the enhancement of free speech and free commerce since time began. But if the Obama Administration has its way, both will be threatened in the very near future – unless Congress acts by the end of this month to block the Obama Internet Give-Away. Will it?

Russia, China and Iran don’t have a First Amendment, and their governments regularly clamp down on free speech. So why would we want to end American protection of the open Internet and transfer it to Moscow, Beijing and Tehran instead?

On Oct. 1, the Obama administration plans to end the U.S. Government contract with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN. Doing so would kick off a transition that could irreparably harm the open Internet, leading to censorship abroad that could, quite realistically, lead to censorship right here in the United States. Under this transition of Internet oversight, China, Russia and Iran, which have all demonstrated their contempt for Internet freedom by blocking websites and restricting Internet access to their own citizens, would be newly empowered to block specific websites from users all over the world, including in the United States.

Let’s back up.

The Internet was originally launched as a project of the U.S. Defense Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in the 1960s. Then, in the 1980s, access to ARPANET was expanded courtesy of U.S. taxpayer-funded grants via the National Science Foundation, and, eventually, the Internet as we know it was developed.

So U.S. taxpayers paid for the creation, and development, and maintenance of the Internet. It is, in a very real sense, American property.

Article IV of the U.S. Constitution reads in part: “The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States …”

So under what authority, exactly, does President Obama claim the authority to make a decision on the disposition of a U.S. property – to wit, the Internet – without explicit permission from Congress?

Perhaps as important a question to ask is, where in the world are congressional leaders on this, and why are they not screaming bloody murder about yet another executive overreach by this overreach-hungry president?

Enter Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has introduced S. 3034, the Protecting Internet Freedom Act. Rep. Sean Duffy of Wisconsin has introduced a companion bill, H.R. 5418, in the House. The bills would simply prohibit the Commerce Department from moving forward on its plan unless it first wins congressional approval.

Similar legislation blocking the transfer of domain registration authority has been included in the government’s annual funding bills for the last few years. The current prohibition expires on Sept. 30. If that prohibition – embodied nicely in the Cruz-Duffy legislation – is not enacted again before Oct. 1, the administration believes it can do whatever it wants.

Cruz believes otherwise, and will be chairing a hearing of his Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts on Wednesday morning to examine the subject further. The hearing, entitled “Protecting Internet Freedom: Implications of Ending U.S. Oversight of the Internet,” will begin at 10 AM.

Moreover, Cruz wants to add the provisions of his bill to the upcoming Continuing Resolution, the one piece of legislation Congress must pass and send to the president before September 30. That’s a smart play on his part.

And it would be a smart play on the part of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan to agree to add it. They’re already going to have a tough enough time winning votes for passage from among the more conservative elements of their respective GOP caucuses; adding the Cruz-Duffy provision blocking the proposed Obama Internet Give-Away would add a sweetener that could woo enough conservatives to allow the measures to pass without the leaders’ having to move left in search of Democrat votes.

And would Harry Reid or Barack Obama be so determined to give away U.S. control over the Internet that they’d be willing to shut down the government to get their way? Is that a fight either one of them would want to play out in public just five weeks before a crucial election?

Most importantly, though, Ryan and McConnell should move on the Cruz-Duffy legislation simply because it’s the right thing to do.

 

The Internet was conceived, built, developed, and grown to fruition long before Barack Obama became president. It was done at the hands of U.S. scientists and engineers, working with funds taken from U.S. taxpayers. The Internet is U.S. property. President Obama has no authority to give it away without explicit authority granted him by the U.S. Congress.

Sen. Cruz and Rep. Duffy understand that. Do leader McConnell and Speaker Ryan?