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Executive Summary for December 6th

We review the latest issues related to refugees, including Kofi Annan’s visit to Rakhine state in Myanmar, Amnesty’s report on the forced displacement of Kurds in Turkey and a warning from the U.N. refugee chief on E.U. aid deals to curb migration.

Published on Dec. 6, 2016 Read time Approx. 2 minutes

U.N. Refugee Chief Warns E.U. Over Linking Aid to Migration

The U.N. high commissioner for refugees warned that European Union efforts to make migration-linked aid deals with countries in the Middle East and Africa could backfire.

Filippo Grandi said an E.U. deal giving Turkey aid and political incentives to curb migration, reached in March, had encouraged other nations to pursue similar deals.

Despite repeated threats from Turkey to cancel the arrangement, the E.U. has touted it as a success and sought to replicate the deal with several African countries.

“Caution should be exercised in linking financial aid to other benefits and migration controls,” Grandi warned in Brussels. “This sets precedents, raises expectations that may not always be met, and can ultimately even allow host governments to use population movements as a pressure point, or even a threat.”

“Support to host and transit countries should be driven by solidarity, not strict conditionality,” he said.

Human rights groups warn that linking aid to migration could enable repressive regimes to stop people fleeing. Economic experts have also questioned whether development aid reduces migration.

Amnesty: Hundreds of Thousands of Kurds Displaced in Turkey

Amid Turkey’s post-coup crackdown, hundreds of thousands of people in the country’s predominantly Kurdish southeast have been unable to return to their homes, Amnesty International says in a new report.

The human rights group estimates that half a million people have been forcibly displaced since renewed fighting between the Turkish state and Kurdish militants last summer.

In Sur, a UNESCO world heritage site, 24,000 people remain displaced a year after Turkish authorities imposed a 24-hour curfew. Those who have returned found almost all properties expropriated by authorities and many destroyed, Amnesty said.

While fighting moved out of urban areas earlier this year, many people have been unable to go home due to ongoing curfews and large-scale damage and home demolitions.

Their situation has been exacerbated by Turkey’s clampdown on opposition politicians, media and civil society in the wake of a failed coup in July, leaving displaced Kurds with few alternative means of support.

Former U.N. Chief Visits Myanmar Amid Crackdown

Former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan visited Myanmar’s Rakhine state and urged the protection of civilians amid reports of widespread abuses against Rohingya Muslims.

“We are deeply concerned by the reports of alleged human rights abuses,” Annan, who heads a commission investigating the situation in Rakhine state, said following the visit. “We also stressed that security operations must not impede humanitarian access to the population.”

The area has been largely off limits to journalists and aid groups since Myanmar’s military launched a major crackdown after a militant attack in October.

Displaced Rohingya have recounted stories of rape, mass killings and the torching of villages by Myanmar forces.

The U.N. reports that some 30,000 Rohingya have fled their homes during the violence; around half of them are believed to have crossed into neighboring Bangladesh.

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