Over 660,000 Displaced During Pandemic

FILE PHOTO: A general view of trucks carrying belongings of displaced Syrians, is pictured in the town of Sarmada in Idlib province, Syria, January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A general view of trucks carrying belongings of displaced Syrians, is pictured in the town of Sarmada in Idlib province, Syria, January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo
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Over 660,000 Displaced During Pandemic

FILE PHOTO: A general view of trucks carrying belongings of displaced Syrians, is pictured in the town of Sarmada in Idlib province, Syria, January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A general view of trucks carrying belongings of displaced Syrians, is pictured in the town of Sarmada in Idlib province, Syria, January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo

More than 660,000 people have been displaced from their homes in conflict zones around the world since March, despite a UN call for a global ceasefire during the coronavirus pandemic, a top international aid group said Friday.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said its figures showed that armed conflict around the world had continued during the pandemic, even as much of globe went into lockdown.

This was despite a call on March 23 by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a global ceasefire for the pandemic.

The NRC said a total of 661,000 people have been displaced in 19 countries since then, with the highest number by far in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"At a time when health experts tell us to stay at home, men with guns are forcing hundreds of thousands out of their homes and into extreme vulnerability," said the NRC's Secretary-General Jan Egeland.
"This not only hurts those who are forced to flee, it seriously undermines our joint efforts to combat the virus."

According to Agence France Presse, the NRC accused the UN Security Council of failing to show leadership to encourage peace talks.

"While people are being displaced and killed, powerful members of the UN Security Council squabble like children in a sandbox," Egeland said.

He called on world leaders to "rise to the occasion" and jointly push parties to put down their weapons and unite in protecting all communities from COVID-19.

"Now is not the time for kindergarten politics," he added.

The NRC said it was appealing to UN Security Council members to issue a "clear call" to warring parties to halt the conduct of hostilities and to "settle their conflicts through talks and allow for a systematic response to the pandemic."

In DR Congo alone, clashes between armed groups and the country's military forced 482,000 people to flee their homes, it said.

Meanwhile fighting in Yemen resulted in the displacement of 24,000 people since March 23.

Africa's Lake Chad region has also experienced a surge of displacement, the NRC said, with Chad and Niger worst affected.

Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Syria, Somalia and Myanmar all saw more than 10,000 people displaced in the same period, the group added.



UN Seeks $275 Million in Aid for Myanmar Quake Survivors

Credit: Sai Aung MAIN / AFP
Credit: Sai Aung MAIN / AFP
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UN Seeks $275 Million in Aid for Myanmar Quake Survivors

Credit: Sai Aung MAIN / AFP
Credit: Sai Aung MAIN / AFP

The United Nations launched an appeal on Friday for $275 million in donations urgently needed to aid more than one million people affected by the recent magnitude 7.7 earthquake that devastated Myanmar.
The new appeal report warns that only around five percent has been funded of an estimated $1.1 billion needed for the previous humanitarian aid plan for 5.5 million people, AFP said.
"With new and increasing needs, additional resources are urgently required," the report said.
The new appeal would target the most vulnerable 1.1 million people, with an emphasis on women and girls "who face higher risks of gender-based violence, food insecurity and lack of access to reproductive health," it added.
According to the UN, more than 6.3 million people are in urgent need of assistance in the areas hardest hit by the magnitude 7.7 earthquake on March 28, which killed more than 3,600 people.