Hundreds Hospitalized After Food Poisoning in Iraqi IDP camp
Some 800 people at a camp for internally displaced persons east of Mosul, Iraq, suffered food poisoning after eating iftar, the daily fast-breaking meal during Ramadan.
People complained of stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhea, and some began fainting after a meal on Monday, which consisted of rice, yogurt, chicken and beans.
More than 200 people had to be treated at three nearby hospitals, the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said in a statement.
A Qatari NGO delivered about 2,000 iftar meals to UNHCR’s Hasansham U2 camp that had been prepared by a restaurant in nearby Erbil, Kurdish news agency Rudaw reported.
The restaurant owner was arrested after the outbreak, Erbil mayor Nabaz Abdulhamid told Rudaw. Police authorities have launched an investigation into what caused the food poisoning, UNHCR said.
Turkish Official: 200 Syrian Refugees Returning to Jarabulus Daily
More than 42,000 refugees in Turkey have gone back to their homes in the northern Syrian town of Jarabulus since last August, a Turkish official told Anadolu Agency.
The official said around 200 people have been returning to the town daily since the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Turkish military captured Jarabulus from the so-called Islamic State in August 2016.
All Syrians, including women and children, have to pass security checks at the Karkamis customs gate in the southern Turkish town of Gaziantep before crossing the border. FSA fighters stationed at the border have been escorting people back to Jarabulus, Anadolu Agency reported.
Australia to Pay Manus Island Detainees $53 million in Compensation
The Australian government will pay asylum seekers A$70 million (U.S. $53 million) in compensation for “degrading and cruel” treatment at Australia’s offshore detention center on Manus Island between 2012 and 2016.
Some 1,905 asylum seekers who have been held on the island since 2012 sued the Australian government and its security contractors for inhumane conditions and false imprisonment at the detention center.
“While no amount of money could fully recognize the terrible conditions the detainees endured, we hope today’s settlement can … help put this dark chapter of their lives behind them,” the plaintiffs’ lawyer Andrew Baker told reporters. The settlement revealed the “unquestionable importance of access to justice,” he said.
The case was set to go to trial on Wednesday before the Victoria Supreme Court, but the government settled out of court at the last minute.
The deal absolves the government of any responsibility for abuse on Manus Island, with immigration minister Peter Dutton “strongly denying the claims made in these proceedings.”
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