If the United States decides Syria is not worth its attention, civilians will once again pay a high price.
UN Security Council’s Chance to Hold Myanmar Accountable for the Rohingya Crisis
The Security Council delegation’s visit to the destroyed Rohingya villages in Myanmar should be an important first critical step toward accountability for the ethnic cleansing in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, and an important step toward the type of conditions conducive to the voluntary return of Rohingya in safety and dignity to Myanmar. Now the UN and…
As Dust Settles in Syria, Humanitarian Crises Remain
Just back from a field mission in Syria, Hardin Lang writes that last week’s strikes against Syria won’t change the arc of the conflict, nor will they alleviate the suffering of the civilian population: chemical weapons are responsible for but a tiny fraction of that suffering. Their absence will not stop the Assad regime from continuing…
Axios: U.S. pressure needed to prop up imperiled Syrian ceasefire
The Assad regime continues to flout the UN Security Council’s resolution calling for a 30-day ceasefire in Syria. Meanwhile, a Russian plan for a humanitarian corridor into Eastern Ghouta has collapsed amid renewed fighting, a sign that Moscow is not yet serious about reigning in their client in Damascus.
The Global Compact on Refugees – Reasons for Hope
Earlier this month in Geneva, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) held a high-level ‘stocktaking’ meeting on the Global Compact on Refugees. Governments, international organizations, and civil society gathered to provide input before UNHCR releases a draft Compact in late January 2018. Many remain understandably skeptical that the Compact negotiations will ultimately lead to the kind of systemic change demanded by the global refugee crisis. In Geneva, however, there were cautious signs that the process is headed in the right direction.
A Welcome Recommitment to Peacekeeping, But Countries Must Deliver on Pledges
An important renewal of global commitment to peacekeeping took place recently at the United Nations Peacekeeping Defense Ministerial conference in Vancouver. Member countries and international organizations presented their commitments to improve and reinforce peacekeeping efforts. But at this time of funding cuts in many countries, the actual fulfillment of those pledges will be a challenge.
USA Today: Aung San Suu Kyi, Understand This: Ethnic Cleansing is Going on in Your Myanmar
Why are the Rohingya fleeing in such numbers to Bangladesh? Ask any of the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya whose villages have been burned.
UN police presence in Burundi can make dialogue more attractive, violence more costly
But make no mistake: What keeps Burundi “quiet” these days is not peace, but fear. And the need for a robust United Nations mission to protect Burundian civilians is as acute as ever.