At least 170,000 children are currently displaced, double the number from last year, amid a surge in gang-led murders, kidnappings, sexual violence and severe food insecurity.
“Children and families in Haiti are enduring an unrelenting wave of brutal violence, with each day bringing new horrors, the loss of loved ones, the burning of homes and the ever-present shadow of fear.” said Bruno Maes, UNICEF representative. A fellow countryman visited three evacuation centers in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
clash in the capital
The latest data from UNICEF shows that around 314,000 people, half of them children, have been forced to flee their homes across Haiti, mainly in the capital and Artibonite department.
Clashes in the capital's Solino and Gabeliste districts have displaced nearly 2,500 people in less than two weeks, most of them women and children.
UNICEF estimates that three million children across Haiti will need humanitarian assistance this year.
The agency is seeking $221.7 million to meet needs.
Torture used to obtain evidence in Hong Kong trial: UN expert
An independent human rights expert appointed by the United Nations has called on China to address allegations of torture related to the trial of Hong Kong's pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai.
Special Rapporteur Alice Edwards warned on Wednesday that evidence obtained through torture must not be admissible and called on authorities to investigate allegations that evidence from key prosecution witnesses was obtained through torture.
“The absolute prohibition in any legal proceeding from relying on evidence obtained as a result of torture or other ill-treatment is a fundamental protection,” she said.
Lai was arrested in August 2020 and charged with sedition and foreign collusion under the new security law following tweets, interviews, and articles published in his newspaper Apple Daily.
He was convicted of unauthorized assembly in 2021 and sentenced to 17 months in prison for his participation in previous protests. He was sentenced to a further five years and nine months in prison for fraud in October 2022.
In a statement last week calling for his immediate release, Edwards and other human rights experts expressed alarm at “multiple serious violations” of Lai's rights to freedom of assembly and a fair trial.
They also highlighted with concern Mr. Rai's “denial of access to lawyers” and “selective selection of judges by authorities.”
Human rights experts also said the national security law used to convict Yori and 47 other democracy activists last year violates international legal obligations and should be repealed. reiterated his concerns.
Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to monitor and report on the situation in specific countries and on thematic issues. They are not UN employees and are not paid for their work.
Toliza, a 32-year-old Sudanese refugee, sits in a shelter at Kurmuk Transit Center in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of northwestern Ethiopia.
UN refugee chief helps millions flee war-torn Sudan
Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has concluded a three-day visit to Ethiopia, calling for more support for the approximately 8 million people who have fled war in Sudan.
More than 100,000 people have entered the country in Ethiopia alone since conflict erupted between Sudanese forces and a powerful rival, the RSF, in April last year, according to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR.
This includes the 50,000 Sudanese refugees already in the country, as well as nearly 47,000 people who are already refugees or asylum seekers.
“A heartbreaking story”
Mr Grandi visited the town of Asosa and met with some of the more than 20,000 refugees and asylum seekers from Sudan currently being hosted at the Kurmuk Transit Center.
“We heard heartbreaking stories of people losing family, friends, homes and livelihoods, but we also saw the determination of refugees to move forward if given support and opportunity in the midst of this despair.” he said.
He praised the government and local communities for allocating land and welcoming arrivals despite challenges such as hosting large numbers of refugees.
Ethiopia is one of six countries neighboring Sudan that continues to host thousands of people fleeing conflict.
It is also one of the world's largest host countries for refugees and internally displaced persons, and the third largest refugee host country in Africa.
Approximately 1 million refugees, mainly from South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan, have taken refuge in Ethiopia, and an estimated 3.5 million Ethiopians are internally displaced.
UNHCR's programs in Ethiopia were less than half funded last year, receiving only 36% of the $431 million requested. The agency is seeking $426 million in operational support this year.