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The total of 1.5 million refugees represent a 14% increase from January 2021. Chad hosts the largest number or refugees with 67% from Sudan. Cameroon hosts the second largest number of refugees mainly from the Central African Republic (73%) and Nigeria (26%).

The number of internally displaced persons reported by 7 UNHCR operations rose to an estimated 7.5 million, up from 6.4 million at the end of January 2021 (17%). Nigeria hosts 42% of the IDP population in the region.

Central Sahel countries host 28% of PoC in the West & Central Africa with most of the forced displacements (87%) taking place within individual countries, rather than across national borders.

Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

GENEVA— A full 99 percent of people on Earth breathe air containing too many pollutants, the World Health Organization said, blaming poor air quality for millions of deaths each year.

Fresh data from the UN health agency showed that every corner of the globe is dealing with air pollution, although the problem is much worse in poorer countries.

“Almost 100 percent of the global population is still breathing air that exceeds the standards recommended by the World Health Organization,” the agency’s environment, climate change and health director Maria Neira told reporters.

“This is a major public health issue.”

In its previous report four years ago, WHO had already found that over 90 percent of the global population was affected, but it has since tightened its limits, it said.

“The evidence base for the harm caused by air pollution has been growing rapidly and points to significant harm caused by even low levels of many air pollutants,” WHO said.

While UN data last year indicated that pandemic lockdowns and travel restrictions caused short-lived improvements in air quality, WHO said air pollution remains a towering problem.

“After surviving a pandemic, it is unacceptable to still have seven million preventable deaths and countless preventable lost years of good health due to air pollution,” Neira said.

WHO’s study provides air quality data from more than 6,000 cities and other settlements across 117 countries — representing around 80 percent of urban settings.

In addition, Neira said WHO used satellite data and mathematical models to determine that air quality is falling short basically everywhere.

The poorest air quality was found in the eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia regions, and Africa, she said.

The findings were alarming, the organisation said, and highlighted the importance of rapidly curbing fossil fuel use.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed that worries over soaring energy prices, due in part to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, should help propel change.

“Current energy concerns highlight the importance of speeding up the transition to cleaner, healthier energy systems,” he said in a statement.

“High fossil fuel prices, energy security, and the urgency of addressing the twin health challenges of air pollution and climate change, underscore the pressing need to move faster towards a world that is much less dependent on fossil fuels.”

The report provides data on concentrations of dangerous particulate matter with a diameter of between 2.5 and 10 micrometres (PM10), and particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5).

PM2.5 includes toxins like sulfate and black carbon, which pose the greatest health risks since they can penetrate deep into the lungs or cardiovascular system.

And for the first time, the report also provides ground measurements of annual mean concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a common urban pollutant, which is associated with respiratory diseases, particularly asthma.

The report found problems related to particulate pollution were far worse in poorer countries, but that most cities had trouble with nitrogen dioxide.

While the air in 17 percent of cities in high-income countries fell below WHO’s air quality guidelines for PM2.5 or PM10, less than one percent of cities in low and middle-income countries complied with the recommended thresholds, the report said.

Out of the around 4,000 cities across 74 countries that collected NO2 data, measurements meanwhile showed only 23 percent of people breathed annual average concentrations of the gas that met levels in WHO’s recently updated guidelines.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

BANGKOK, THAILAND — Hong Kong authorities are warning a British citizen that he faces imprisonment if he ever returns to the city.

Benedict Rogers is a co-founder of Hong Kong Watch, a Britain-based NGO that campaigns for freedom and human rights in Hong Kong.

In a letter sent to Rogers on Thursday, Hong Kong authorities stated that his charity organization had committed a foreign collusion offense under the city’s much-feared national security law and jeopardized China’s national security.

"A person who commits the offense shall be sentenced to imprisonment of not less than 3 years to life,” part of the letter read.

The activist later said the letter came as a surprise.

“In theory, I knew this could happen, but I never expected for it to go this far,” Rogers told VOA by phone.

Rogers had contacted the Hong Kong government over fears that the Hong Kong Watch website had been blocked in the city following reports the site hasn’t been accessible since early February.

“I contacted the Hong Kong government to ask for an explanation and the letter I then received from the police and an email from the national Security Bureau was their response to my inquiry,” he told VOA.

The reply to Rogers all but confirmed that authorities are using the powers of the national security law to prohibit users in Hong Kong from accessing the organizations website.

Rogers is the first person living outside Hong Kong whom authorities have targeted with the national security law since it came into force nearly two years ago.

British government reaction

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss released a statement via Twitter on Monday, calling for the Chinese government and Hong Kong authorities to respect the universal right to freedom of speech.

“The unjustifiable action taken against the UK-Based NGO Hong Kong Watch is clearly an attempt to silence those who stand up for human rights in Hong Kong,” Truss’s statement read in part. “Attempting to silence voices globally that speak up for freedom and democracy is unacceptable and will never succeed.”

The letter also asked Rogers to close down the Hong Kong Watch website. A statement released via Hong Kong Watch said the organization will continue “to be a voice for the people of Hong Kong."

Rogers later brushed off any concerns that this organization would shut down.

“No, we certainly won’t close down the organization or the website, and I think our role and our work is needed now more than ever. We are a British-based organization, we’re registered in the United Kingdom, our advocacy is around the world, but we don’t have any operations in Hong Kong itself or personnel or presence in Hong Kong at all,” he told VOA.

Rogers, 47, lived in Hong Kong between 1997 and 2002 and has long advocated for further democracy in the city.

His activism, however, has caught the attention of Hong Kong authorities before.

Rogers was denied entry into Hong King when he attempted to visit friends in 2017. Immigration officials at the Hong Kong International Airport refused to let Rogers into the territory, giving no explanation. The rejection prompted Rogers and others to form Hong Kong Watch in December of that year.

Following pro-democracy protests in 2019, Beijing implemented the national security law for Hong Kong in 2020, prohibiting acts deemed as supporting secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces.

The legislation has since been vigorously enforced, with authorities clamping down on at least 150 dissidents in the city, including dozens of Democratic lawmakers and political figures while at least 50 Hong Kong-based civil society groups have disbanded.

According to the security measure, anyone who violates the law worldwide can still face criminal prosecution.

Eric Yan-ho Lai, an analyst and fellow at Georgetown University Law School in Washington, said the far-reaching effects of the measure enforced by extradition agreements could see Rogers at risk if he travels overseas.

“Practically speaking, Mr. Rogers and/or his colleagues related to Hong Kong Watch could be arrested by National Security Police in Hong Kong, and it is possible that countries with extradition agreements with Hong Kong and/or China would be requested for extradition through the Interpol Red Notice or any direct request,” he told VOA.

Several countries including the United States and Britain have cancelled their extradition agreements with China since Hong Kong’s national security law came into effect. Countries in Europe, Africa and Asia all continue to hold extradition arrangements with the territory.

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong found himself denied entry into Malaysia in 2015 and Thailand in 2016 and was both times deported to Hong Kong. Wong is currently serving time in prison for his role in the Hong Kong protests in 2019 and still faces charges under the national security law.

“In general, those countries that made extradition agreements with Hong Kong and/or China could be risky for him. Thailand would be a possible example given its track record of handling Joshua's entry.

“This is also a proper time for governments with extradition agreements with Hong Kong and/or China to review their agreements,” Yan-ho Lai added.

Source: Voice of America

UNITED NATIONS— The UN General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution that “demands” Russia “immediately” withdraw from Ukraine, in a powerful rebuke of Moscow’s

invasion by a vast majority of the world’s nations.

After more than two days of extraordinary debate, which saw the Ukrainian ambassador accuse Russia of genocide, 141 out of 193 United Nations member states voted for the non-binding resolution.

“The world is rejecting Russia’s lies,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement later Wednesday. “Russia is responsible for the devastating abuses of human rights and the international humanitarian crisis that we are

watching unfold in Ukraine in real time.”

China was among the 35 countries which abstained, while just five — Eritrea, North Korea, Syria, Belarus and of course Russia — voted against it.

The resolution “deplores” the invasion of Ukraine “in the strongest terms” and condemns President Vladimir Putin’s decision to put his nuclear forces on alert.

The vote had been touted by diplomats as a bellwether of democracy in a world where autocracy is on the rise, and came as Putin’s forces bear down on Kyiv while terrified Ukrainians flee.

“They have come to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist,” Ukraine’s ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the Assembly ahead of the vote.

“It’s already clear that the goal of Russia is not an occupation only. It is genocide.”

Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Moscow has pleaded “self-defense” under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

But that has been roundly rejected by Western countries who accuse Moscow of violating Article 2 of the Charter, requiring UN members to refrain from the threat or use of force to resolve a crisis.

The European Union’s ambassador to the UN Olof Skoog said the vote was “not just about Ukraine.”

“It is about defending an international order based on rules we all have signed up to,” he said in a statement.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the General Assembly’s message was “loud and clear.”

“End hostilities in Ukraine — now. Silence the guns — now,” he said in a statement.

“As bad as the situation is for the people in Ukraine right now, it threatens to get much, much worse. The ticking clock is a time bomb.”

Some delegations chose to place stuffed animals on their tables during the session — a stark visual reminder of the conflict’s devastating impact on children.

The text of the resolution — led by European countries in coordination with Ukraine — has undergone numerous changes in recent days.

It no longer “condemns” the invasion as initially expected, but instead “deplores in the strongest terms the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine.”

Nearly every General Assembly speaker unreservedly condemned the war.

“If the United Nations has any purpose, it is to prevent war,” the US ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said during her speech on Wednesday.

She accused Russia of “preparing to increase the brutality of its campaign.”

“We’ve seen videos of Russian forces moving exceptionally lethal weaponry into Ukraine, which has no place on the battlefield. That includes cluster munitions and vacuum bombs, which are banned under the Geneva Convention,”

Thomas-Greenfield said.

Russia’s ally Belarus offered a staunch defense of the invasion, however.

Ambassador Valentin Rybakov blasted sanctions imposed by the West on Russia as “the worst example of economic and financial terrorism.”

And he followed other Russian allies such as Syria in condemning the “double standards” of Western nations who have invaded countries including Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan in recent decades.

Other speakers cited fears of a domino effect should Ukraine fall to Russia. Colombia railed against any return to “empire,” while Albania wondered: “Who will be next?”

From the Arab world it was Kuwait, itself the victim of an invasion by Iraq in 1990, whose denunciation of Moscow was the most explicit.

Japan and New Zealand led condemnation from Asia, but the continent’s giants — China, India and Pakistan — all abstained. During the debate Beijing had stressed the world had “nothing to gain” from a new Cold War.

On the meeting’s sidelines, Washington has taken aim at Russians working at the United Nations, leveling accusations of espionage and demanding expulsions.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Russia has drawn the world’s attention with its aggressive stance toward Ukraine. The former Soviet power has been rebuilding ties with Africa more quietly, strengthening economic and military cooperation, but also raising Western concerns about its tactics and goals there.

Russian flags waved in Burkina Faso’s capital following January’s military coup in the West African nation. A statue unveiled in the Central African Republic last fall shows local soldiers, backed by Russian fighters, protecting civilians.

Those are the more obvious symbols of Russia’s resurgent presence on the continent. Africa is a foreign policy priority, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the first Russia-Africa summit of political and business leaders in 2019.

“We are not going to participate in a new ‘repartition’ of the continent’s wealth,” he said. “Rather, we are ready to engage in competition for cooperation with Africa.”

A second summit is planned for St. Petersburg in October. The first, at the Black Sea resort town of Sochi, generated diplomatic agreements and billions of dollars in deals involving arms, energy, agriculture, banking and more, said the organizer, the Roscongress Foundation.

Moscow has been building new ties and refreshing alliances forged during the Cold War, when the former Soviet Union supported socialist movements across Africa. After the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, it largely withdrew from the continent.

Since at least 2007, especially in the last few years, Russia has been increasing military and other economic involvement in Africa. The 2019 summit produced contracts with more than 30 African countries to supply military armaments and equipment. Businesses, including state-backed commercial interests, have invested heavily in security sectors, technology and industries that extract natural resources such as oil, gas, gold and other minerals.

Rusal is a company that excavates minerals for aluminum in Guinea and nuclear group Rosatom seeks uranium in Namibia. Alrosa, the world’s largest diamond mining company, has pushed to expand operations in Angola and Zimbabwe, according to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“Russia is clearly interested, in search of new economic markets and geopolitical influence in Africa,” said Tatiana Smirnova, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Quebec’s Centre FrancoPaix and an associate with the University of Florida’s Sahel Research Group. “It’s important for Russia.”

Trade between Russia and African countries has doubled since 2015, to about $20 billion a year, African Export-Import Bank President Benedict Oramah said in an interview last fall with Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency, cited by the Russia Briefing investment news site. He said Russia exported $14 billion worth of goods and services and imported roughly $5 billion in African products.

However, Africa does more business with other countries, notably China, its biggest trading partner in recent years.

Russia’s overtures in recent years offer cooperation without the “political or other conditions” imposed by Western countries, Putin has said.

“Russia provides, as did the Soviet Union before, an alternative vision for African nations” based on “this common anti-Western critique,” said Maxim Matusevich, a history professor who directs Russian studies at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

However, while the Soviets tried to sell socialist ideas of modernization in Africa, Russians today “are not offering any ideological vision,” he said. “What they’re essentially doing is they’re contracting with African elites on a one-on-one basis. … They insist on the importance of sovereignty and contrast that with the West, which is trying to impose its values, such as transparency, honest governance, anti-corruption legislation. Again, I’m not saying the West is always sincere doing that, but that’s the official message – and they [Russians] are not doing any of that.”

Shifting dynamics

The spread of militant Islamist extremism and other violence in Africa has created more openings for Russian military involvement. For instance, five nations in the volatile Sahel region – Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger – solicited Moscow’s military support in 2018. Russian fighters also have been engaged in Mozambique and Angola.

France’s planned drawdown of troops from Mali, its former colony and partner in the fight against jihadists since 2013, leaves still more room.

Last Thursday, France and its security partners announced they would exit Mali, citing “multiple obstructions” by the military junta that took power in 2020. France will redeploy its 2,400 troops elsewhere in the Sahel.

Private military contractors also are helping advance Moscow’s agendas in Africa, Western observers say. These include fighters in the shadowy Wagner Group, allegedly controlled by Putin associate Yevgeny Prigozhin. Putin has denied any connection with the group.

"It’s not the state,” Putin said. “… It’s private business with private interests tied to extracting energy resources, including various resources like gold or precious stones."

Those private fighters operate in parallel with the Kremlin, said Joseph Siegle, who directs research for the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, part of the U.S. Defense Department. He said they are part of Moscow’s tool kit to prop up weak African leaders in exchange for economic or other advantages.

“Every place we’ve seen Wagner deployed around the world and in Africa – be it Libya, Sudan, Mozambique, Central African Republic – it has been a destabilizing force,” Siegle said. “What Russia has been doing has been deploying mercenaries, disinformation, election interference, arms-for-resources deals, opaque contracts … aimed at capturing wider influence.”

That influence can protect Russia’s interests in international circles, Matusevich said, citing Russia’s 2014 seizure of the Crimean Peninsula.

“We know that in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine, when Russia was sanctioned in the United Nations, a lot of African nations abstained from the vote,” he said. “So, they are gaining diplomatic support and alternative diplomatic blocs that they can count on.”

The United Nations is investigating reports of “grave” human rights abuses in the Central African Republic, allegedly committed by private military personnel. Meanwhile, Russian mercenaries are glorified as public protectors amid a coup attempt in the 2021 Russian film The Tourist. The movie, set in the Central African Republic, reportedly was funded by Putin ally Pregizhin.

Security concerns

In Mali, the leaders of a 2020 military coup brought in Russian military trainers – and what U.S. and French authorities say are Wagner mercenaries.

Some in Mali welcomed them by waving Russian flags, reflecting not only the country’s historic ties with the former USSR but also public impatience over continued insecurity, said Niagalé Bagayoko, a Paris-based political scientist who chairs the African Security Sector Network. The organization seeks security and justice reforms, and is among advocates for more protections for civilians in the Sahel and more transparency and accountability for military operations there.

“In 2013, the whole Malian population [was] enthusiastic when the French arrived … today they are rejecting their presence,” Bagayoko said.

“To be honest, I would not be very surprised if, in two years or so, the same could happen with the Russian presence,” she said.

African countries are showing a willingness to look beyond a single foreign partner in their efforts to find stability and security, she said. “There is the realization … that being only engaged with single actors …. is restricting the possibility for diplomacy, but also for military apparatus.”

Russia is not the only foreign government trying to broaden influence in Africa, home to vast resources including a surging youth population.

The White House plans a second U.S.-Africa leadership summit later this year, following up on an initial Washington gathering in 2014 and the European Union has announced a new $172 million investment in infrastructure, countering China’s Belt and Road initiative.

Source: Voice of America