The refugee crisis: reverse path

AFGHANISTAN Afghanistan is one of the most insecure countries in the world, if not the most. That is why millions of its inhabitants decide to embark on a dangerous journey to Europe, the United States or other countries. There are many problems affecting Afghanistan: the economic crisis, terrorism, illiteracy, persecution of minorities, among others. HISTORICAL APPROACH:

• Afghanistan in the 20th century:

Life in Afghanistan in the 1970s was totally different from what we know today: in the 20th century, during the reign of King Amanullah, there was a development in the status of women in which women's freedom was promoted, female education, forced and child marriage were abolished and restrictions on polygamy were imposed. However, Afghan society was not ready for these changes - there was a very strong division between the followers of Islam and the pro-communists - and various protests brought the monarchy to an end. Modernization was being carried out from above, from the highest levels of society in the country, without taking into account conservative and rural Afghanistan. As a result, in 1973, the monarchy was overthrown by Mohammed Daud Khan. In 1978 the Saur Revolution (a communist revolt led by the People's Democratic Party) took place, which established the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. It was then that the Soviet Union intervened - the 1979 invasion - to support the communist government and started the Afghan War against the mujahideen1, which lasted 10 years and was won by the Soviet side. The local guerrillas resisted this invasion for years because they had the support of the United States, the greatest enemy of the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), which supported the jihad2 in order to defeat the enemy. The post-war context, together with the struggles between the various factions and the mujahideen, gave rise to the emergence of radical Islamism and Islamist terrorism. In fact, the Soviets completed their withdrawal in 1989 and, three years later, the mujahideen managed to establish themselves in the government: in 1992 the Islamic State of Afghanistan was created.

• Reign of terror (1996-2001):

In 1996, the Taliban3,aided by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Osama Bin Laden- founder of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda4-,came to power. From 1996 to 2001 were years known as the "reign of terror" during which Sharia law5 was imposed. The human rights of Afghan citizens were violated, but especially those of women and girls. The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) listed some of the prohibitions that the Taliban carried out:

1. Ban on working outside the home, except for some female doctors and nurses.
2. Prohibition to leave the house alone, unless accompanied by a male (father, brother or husband).
3. Women could not be attended by male doctors in hospitals, so care for them was more precarious.
4. Limited access to education.
5. Compulsory covering of the whole body in public with a burqa6.
6. Prohibition to laugh in public.
7. Sports were forbidden for them.
8. Women could not be seen by anyone, so they could not look out on the balcony, the windows of the house had to be opaque and, in addition, they could not wash their clothes in rivers or public squares.
9. Segregation in public transport: men and women in separate vehicles.

[...]

• American invasion:

September 11th, 2001 Al-Qaeda, backed by the Taliban, attacked New York and Washington. For this reason, the president of the United States at the time, George W. Bush, decided to invade and attack Afghanistan, thus initiating a war to dismantle Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. This is how a new government was formed but the Taliban did not disappear: they moved to other parts of the country and continued to control some parts. During this invasion, women regained some rights.

• Withdrawal of U.S. troops:

On September 11, 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden announced the withdrawal of the U.S. military from Afghanistan, making it easier for the Taliban to take control of the country again and impose severe restrictions on the rights of women and girls, and to restrict all kinds of freedoms. Since then they have reneged on multiple promises to respect human rights, worsening the situation in the country. With this withdrawal, in which the Afghans were abandoned, the real geopolitical and economic interests of the United States and its allies became clear; Afghanistan plays an important role in the Asian region because it is the gateway to the world's main gas reserves; because of the cultivation of opium and the production of heroin; and because of the amount of weapons circulating in the territory, among other things. CURRENT SITUATION: Taliban and terrorism: The Taliban regained control of the city in 2021, after the American withdrawal, and since then they have imposed numerous restrictions on the rights of girls and women, eliminated the media, tortured critics of the regime.... However, during the US occupation, neither was it possible to weaken transnational terrorism nor to establish a liberal and democratic state that could bring peace to the country. Since the Taliban seizure of power, the situation of women's and girls' rights is deteriorating again, with the fear of a return to the "Reing of terror". Economic crisis: The economy has collapsed because they have stopped receiving most of the foreign aid they were counting on. In addition, there is a significant lack of foreign currency and also sanctions, making it very difficult to send money to Afghanistan. The lack of resources forces families to send their children to work and, also, child marriage rates have increased in recent years. Malnutrition: More than one million children under the age of 5 suffer from acute malnutrition and nine out of 10 Afghans suffer from food shortages. More than half of the Afghan population (22.8 million people) lives in hunger due to unemployment and high food costs (UNICEF). Ethnic minorities: Afghanistan is a country of minorities, with the largest being the Pashtuns, Tajiks and Hazaras. The latter, who represent 15% of the population, are the most discriminated against and the ones against whom the Taliban and the Islamic State (IS)7 commit the most attacks because they consider them apostates. Schools, mosques and neighborhoods where Hazara people live are very high risk places. Lack of jobs: Millions of Afghans are unemployed and child labor has increased. In 2019, women's labor force participation was 21.76% (The Global Economy), above countries such as India, Egypt, Iran or Yemen. With the arrival of the Taliban, these levels have dropped and women are confined to the private sphere, basically staying at home. Access to education: More than half of Afghanistan's adult population can neither read nor write. Girls account for 60% of the country's 3.7 million out-of-school children. Access to education is difficult in the country for several reasons: the distance between municipalities is very large; traveling to school can be dangerous for both students and teachers; and, as usual, parents are afraid to send their children to school. With the Taliban in power, access to education is much more difficult and, in fact, girls have been banned from secondary school. DISPLACED PEOPLE: Nearby countries: Pakistan is home to the majority of Afghan refugees, who have been living there for many years already. Since the U.S. left the country, many Afghans have tried to flee to Pakistan, but it seems that the neighboring country has imposed tighter restrictions and only allows traders to pass through. Iran hosts some 780,000 refugees from the same country and it appears that workers have been ordered to turn away all arriving Afghans. For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, promised to build a border wall with Iran, with the help of the European Union, to prevent the entry of Afghans from Iran. Europe and the United States: In 2021, the countries with the most economic resources in the EU received the most asylum seekers: Germany and France. As far as the United States is concerned, it must be said that it took care of the evacuation of many Afghans who worked with the Americans when they were there. ASYLUM SEEKERS: With the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, asylum applications have increased and so have the positive responses. From October 2021 to March 2022 more than 80% of the applications were accepted. Here is a graph showing the number of applications submitted in yellow and those accepted in green. FOR MORE INFORMATION:Books:

• The kite runner by Khaled Hosseini.
• A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini.
• Kabul disco by Nicolas wild.
• The lightless Sky by Gulwali Passarlay.
• Buskashi: journey into a war by Gino Strada (not available in English).

Webpages:

• https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/south-asia/afghanistan/report-afghanistan/

Movies:

• Flee (2021).
• The breadwinner (2017).

Documentaries:

• Three Songs for Benazir (2021).
• The dancing Boys of Afghanistan (2010).

Podcast:

• https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/32-whats-happening-in-afghanistan-everything-you-need/id1468264562?i=1000532969101
• https://desvelandooriente.com/2021/11/02/programas-y-podcasts-sobre-afganistan-2021/ (only available in Spanish)

Article:

• Letters Against the War by Tiziano Terzani.

GLOSSARY:

1. Mujahideen: this word means struggle in Arabic and, in the context of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, were those warriors who defended the country, thus waging a war that lasted a decade.
2. Jihad: effort that a Muslim must make so that the divine law reigns on Earth, and that in many cases implies violent struggle.
3. Taliban: a Sunni nationalist, pro-Pashtun Islamist movement founded in the early 1990s that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 to October 2001. Initially, the movement was composed of peasants and young men who studied Islam in Afghan and Pakistani madrassas, or religious schools. The Taliban established and consolidated their forces in southern Afghanistan. Their first action was to institute a strict interpretation of the Koran's instructions. In practice, this has translated into often ruthless policies against women, political opponents and religious minorities.
4. Al-Qaeda: is an Islamist organization created by Osama bin Laden in 1988 with the aim of creating an Islamic caliphate throughout the Muslim world. This group has committed terrorist attacks in many parts of the world: the best known was that of September 11 in the United States. The roots of this Islamic militant network go back to the 1970s, with the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union.
5. Sharia: is the legal system of Islam. It is based on the Koran, the holy book of Islam. Sharia is a code of ethical conduct intended to help Muslims in their daily decisions, which should be guided by God. It also deals with worship and charity. But also deals with crime. For example, presents theft as a serious crime that, according to the strictest interpretations, can be punished by the amputation of the offender's hand.
6. Burqa: a garment that covers a woman's entire body, leaving only a small opening at eye level.
7. IS: the acronym stands for Islamic State and is a fundamentalist jihadist terrorist group that follows a radical doctrine of Sunni Islam. It emerged in Iraq as a response to the invasion of this country and people belonging to this group have an extremist interpretation of Islam; moreover, they believe they are the true believers. In order to carry out the sharia -Islamic law based on the fundamental norms of the Koran- and fulfill their objective -to establish a global caliphate, government in which the leader is a caliph, successor of the prophet Mohammed- they violate human rights, executing people, carrying out ethnic cleansing and banning some clothing, among others.

PAKISTAN : According to UNHCR data, 24,824 people from Pakistan fled in 2021 and applied for asylum in other countries. Pakistan faces many challenges that create a climate of insecurity, instability and human rights violations. The conflict with the Indian giant, the rise of the Talibans, the religious radicalization and the increase of communal violence is leading to numerous human rights violations. In addition, there is the environmental crisis and an economic situation that does not allow everyone to have access to a job that would allow them to live decently. As a result, many migrants are trying to flee to other countries, not only to improve their standard of living, but simply to survive. Conflict with India: The conflict began in 1947, the two powers disputing the region of Kashmir. In 1949, the region was divided in two: 37% of the territory went to Pakistan, 63% to India. Nevertheless, the claims have not ceased since. Kashmir has become an instrument of the India/Pakistan rivalry. This area remains tense. Thus, Pakistan has built itself around this rivalry, which greatly influences its policy and its choices. This conflict is therefore largely responsible for Pakistan's position about the Talibans. Indeed, Pakistan does not want to be surrounded by two enemy countries. Thus, the government wants to ensure that Afghanistan is not governed by a political group favorable to India. It wishes to keep its neighboring country under its influence. The solution encountered is to maintain an unstable environment by supporting the Islamist group of the Talibans, giving them access to training, providing them with weapons, helping them directly during interventions, … Pakistan is thus supporting in the shadows the jihadists active in Afghanistan and also those active in Indian Kashmir in order to increase its power, its control over these areas. Who are the Talibans ? The Talibans form a nationalist, pro-Pashtun Sunni Islamist movement founded in the early 1990s that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 to October 2001. The movement was composed, at the beginning, of farmers and young men studying Islam in Afghan and Pakistani madrasas, or religious schools. The Talibans established themselves and consolidated their forces in southern Afghanistan. Their first action was to institute a strict interpretation of the instructions of the Koran. In practice, this has resulted in often ruthless policies against women, political opponents, and religious minorities. Pakistan & Talibans: The return of the Talibans into power in 2021 is therefore initially good news for Pakistan. It allows it to establish its influence, and it becomes the indispensable intermediary in Afghanistan's international relations. Nevertheless, the situation gradually turns against him. He finds himself the main actor of the Taliban's threat for himself. Indeed, we observed a religious radicalization in Pakistan: becoming a support and refuge for the Afghan Taliban has contributed to the banalization of terrorism in Pakistan and to religious radicalization. And the authorities, busy protecting the Afghan Taliban, have allowed the development of these militant Sunni groups. Many Pakistanis are joining the Pakistani's branch of the Talibans: the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP). This movement counts nowadays several thousand members. The TTP is an alliance of militants formed in 2007 that stand against the Pakistani military. One of the TTP's demands is to restore semi-autonomous status to the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), which border Afghanistan. Islamabad merged the FATA region with its northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018 to improve governance there. The Afghanistan-based TTP, backed by the Afghan Taliban, wants to reverse the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the imposition of Sharia law1 in the region and the withdrawal of Pakistani military forces from the border region. To this end, it has been carrying out cross-border terrorist attacks from Afghanistan with increasing frequency since the Taliban came to power. This movement is supported by the Afghan Talibans, thus, ties with Kabul could become strained in the future. In addition, the TTP historically had close connections with the upper echelons of al-Qaeda. The success of the Afghan Taliban could finally bring hope, re-energizing the Pakistani Taliban in their struggle to overthrow their government. This leads to a strong instability in Pakistan, as well as to a kind of schizophrenia: it supports the Afghan Taliban but fights against the Pakistani branch. Violences against minorities : Pakistan has existed since 1947, created following the disappearance of the British colonial empire. Originally, the intention was to make Pakistan a refuge for Muslim communities. In Pakistan, 75% of the population is Sunni*, 18% Shiite2 ,and the last 7% is composed of several other religions (Christian, Hindu…). For a while, that was the case. However, for some it was also an opportunity to establish a theocracy3 ,to implement sharia law. This second position progressed slowly, before it prevailed. Thus, in the early 1970s, religion began to be exploited in the political sphere and public demonstrations of hostility to religious minorities increased. This hostility went to the point of becoming state policy, entering into law, taxation and education. The authorities, in general, do not protect minorities. This is for geostrategic and political reasons: to get a majority of votes in elections, the important thing is to convince the majority, and playing the religion card is an effective way to do this. The policy is therefore largely favorable to the ethnic majority and not to minorities. Terrorism then develops. The idea of Islamization, of imposing Sharia law, including by violence, is spreading in a climate of impunity. The TTP is responsible for inciting or conducting some of the worst sectarian violence. Recently, we can take the example of the bombings of March 4, 2022 against the Shiite mosque in Peshawar, which killed over 60 people. The TTP mobilizes its supporters, fuels this hate for religious minorities and justifies its terrorist actions by using the argument of fighting blasphemy. (blasphemy being punishable by death in Pakistan). Example: lynching of a Sri lankan factory director on Dec 3, 2021, wrongly accused of blasphemy. We find ourselves in a context of human rights violations that are overwhelming according to NGOs (Human Right Watch, Amnesty International). Pakistan presents a climate of permanent institutional and societal violence: violence, discrimination, human rights violations, arbitrary detention, forced disappearances, persecution of minorities in an environment of impunity... Religious minorities are not protected by the authorities, and the law against blasphemy4 is increasingly used against them. Blasphemy is punishable by death. At the end of 2017, hundreds of people were awaiting trial, the majority belonging to religious minorities. Added to this is the threat of terrorism, which has reportedly claimed more than 50,000 Pakistani lives since 2001. PAKISTAN & CHILDREN'S RIGHTS : In Pakistan, there is no effective public protection system for children. As a result, children face numerous violations of their rights under international law. Child abuse According to the SAHIL5 report, in 2021, 3852 cases of child abuse were reported in newspapers. These abuses include reported cases of child sexual abuse, abduction, missing children and child marriages. Thus, according to the SAHIL report, a total of 2275 cases of sexual abuse were reported in 2021, an increase of 25% compared to 2020, 62% of the victims were in the 6-15 age group. According to UNICEF, in 2021, about one-fifth of women aged 20-24 were married while they were still children. These forced marriages can lead to a lifetime of disadvantage and deprivation to a child's developing body and mind. The main victims of these forced marriages are women, indeed, of the 80 cases of child marriages reported in 2021, according to the SAHIL report, 70 were of girls. This also shows that girls are married to older men. It is also alarming that the majority of child marriage cases continue to be reported in the 6-15 age group. The SAHIL report also reports a worrying number of child abductions in 2021 in Pakistan, amounting to 1303 cases, of which 233 (18%) were followed by sexual abuse. Finally, Pakistani children also face the risk of economic exploitation, which deprives them of their childhood, health and education, condemning them to a life of poverty. For example, according to UNICEF, in 2020, 13.4% of children aged 5 to 17 in the Punjab region were working, and 14.4% in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region. The fight against child marriage and child labour is particularly difficult in Pakistan because the vast majority of children are not registered at birth, so there is no accurate registration of their age, which could help prevent child labour and child marriage. The consequences of Covid : In 2021, more than 10 children were abused every day, according to SAHIL data, an increase of 30% compared to 2020. Covid has not improved the situation. On the contrary, restrictions on movement and loss of income make children more likely to be victims of violence and abuse. In addition, as incomes have declined, children are more likely to work or marry before reaching adulthood. Pakistan & Environment : The environment, especially global warming, is a new challenge for Pakistan. According to the latest German watch report, Pakistan is expected to be among the 10 countries hardest hit by rising temperatures in the coming decades. This will lead to high food insecurity, extreme weather events, increasing heat waves and fires. These heat waves will lead to melting of glaciers and thus to high floods, and a lack of drinking water, as glaciers provide fresh water to more than 220 million people. The example of the year 2022 illustrates perfectly the risk faced by Pakistan: A period of extreme heat wave: The example of Jacobabad has been taken up by many media, many studies (In Jacobabad, One of the Hottest Cities on the Planet, a Heat Wave Is Pushing the Limits of Human Livability - Inside Climate News): it is one of the hottest cities in the world and one of the only two to have reached a level of heat and humidity that the human body cannot bear. To protect themselves from this suffocating heat, the inhabitants have tried solutions, solutions which are not satisfactory and durable:

• To lie down with wet clothes to manage to rest.
• Workers take breaks in the afternoon, but this leads to a decrease in salaries, while the smallest penny becomes essential.
• To lie down on the median separating the high-speed roads to take advantage of the air flow produced by the vehicles.
• To jump into dirty water to cool off, even if it means having skin problems.

As a consequence, fainting due to heat was common, as well as skin problems... And women are even more exposed: they cannot undress in public, nor jump into the sewage to cool down, nor sleep outside because of the risk of sexual violence. A heavy monsoon : A new disaster followed: ⅓ of Pakistan ended up under water after a heavy monsoon. More than 1600 people have died due to the monsoon. A lot of homes, shops, roads and bridges have been destroyed. 7.5 million people have been displaced, many of them living in makeshift camps, without protection against mosquitoes, which can carry several serious viruses and diseases (dengue, scabies) and where there is a lack of drinkable water and sanitary facilities. ABOUT REFUGEES According to UNHCR data, 24,824 people from Pakistan fled in 2021 and applied for asylum in other countries. The most common destination countries have been Italy, Greece and France. Overall, 83 % of the Pakistanis' asylum applications have been rejected in the world in 2021. RECENT NEWS FOR EUROPE According to the European agency for asylum, nearly 11,600 Pakistanis applied for asylum in EU countries between June and August 2022, almost twice as much as last year at the same time, 1.7 times more precisely. In August, about 2,100 decisions were made for Pakistani applicants in Europe, but fewer than 150 of those decisions granted protection. This gives a refugee recognition rate of 7%, in line with recent months. Overall, pending applications at first instance continued to rise, exceeding 19,800 at the end of August. Just under half of the pending cases have been pending for more than six months. For more informationsDOCUMENTARY:

• "Pakistan hidden shame : the forgotten street children" : A look at the sexual abuse of children living in the city of Peshawar, northwest Pakistan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l7i0SSo6B

• "Girl Unbound: The War to Be Her" (2016) : In Waziristan, "one of the most dangerous places on earth", Maria Toorpakai defies the Taliban by disguising herself as a boy so she can play sports openly. But when she becomes a rising star, her true identity is revealed, leading to constant death threats against her and her family, forcing Maria to leave her home and country. Undeterred, Maria decides to return home, facing danger, to play the sport she loves.
• "The Accused, Damned or Devoted?", directed by Mohammed Naqvi. In Pakistan, anyone accused of blasphemy faces the death penalty. While civil rights activists have been calling for years for a revision of the 1986 law, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, founder of the fundamentalist Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik, has orchestrated a violent campaign to show his support. The documentary follows the stories of four people accused of blasphemy.

MOVIES

• "Dukhtar" (2014) : In the mountains of Pakistan, villagers chase away a mother, son and 10-year-old daughter after the latter runs away the day before her wedding. She refused to marry the tribal chief.
• "Iqbal, a Tale of a Fearless Child" (2015) : an advocacy campaign against child labour. This animated film is inspired by the true story of Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani child who was enslaved from the age of four to pay off his family's debt. At the age of 9, he runs away from the carpet factory where he works in chains twelve hours a day. Thanks to a lawyer who helped him, Iqbal became one of the world's leading figures in the fight against modern slavery at the age of 10, speaking at international conferences for UNICEF and at the United Nations in New York.

BOOKS

• "I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World" – Malala Yousafzai and Patricia McCormick. It is the moving story of a family exiled because of terrorism; of a father who, against all odds, founded schools; of courageous parents who, in a society where boys are king, showed immense love for their daughter and encouraged her to learn, to write, to denounce the unbearable and to demand access to knowledge for all.
• "A Hard Country" – Anatol Lieven : Anatol Lieven's book is a survey of this highly complex and often misunderstood country: its regions, ethnicities, competing religious traditions, varied social landscapes, deep political tensions and historical patterns of violence, but also its astonishing underlying stability, rooted in kinship, patronage and the power of established local elites.
• "The Pakistani Bride" – Babsi Sidhwa : Following one of the inter-ethnic massacres that accompanied the partition of India and Pakistan, a little orphan girl from the Punjab is adopted by Qasim, a mountain man from Kohistan. Having lost his wife and children, he decided to go to Lahore where he raised the girl. Years after the events, deeply nostalgic for his native mountains, Qasim gives the young girl in marriage to a man of his tribe: father and adopted daughter make their way back to the upper Indus valley. But everything separates the new couple and the wedding turns into a tragedy...From the violent scenes at the beginning of the novel, to the popular life in the districts of Lahore, to the grandiose landscapes of the Himalayas, Bapsi Sidhwa excels in evoking an intimate and authentic territory where, far from any exoticism, endearing characters come to life, torn apart by a dream of impossible cultural reconciliation.

WEBPAGES

• Crisis group : https://www.crisisgroup.org/327/asia/south-asia/pakistan/new-era-sectarian-violence-pakistan
• Amnesty international : https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/south-asia/pakistan/

Glossary :

1. SHARIA LAW = Sharia is the legal system of Islam. It is based on the Koran, the holy book of Islam. Sharia is a code of ethical conduct, which is intended to help Muslims in their daily choices, which must be guided by God. It also deals with worship and charity. But Sharia also treats crime. For example, Shariah presents theft as a serious crime, which, according to the strictest interpretations, can be punished by the amputation of the delinquent's hand.
2. Shiites and SunNIS = Sunnism and Shiism are the two main branches of the Muslim religion. The origin of the division into two branches can be traced back to the death of Muhammad and the problem of his succession. The Sunnis recognise the first three successors while the Shiites only recognise as legitimate the fourth successor, a cousin of Prophet Muhammad who married his daughter, and his successors. Sunnis represent 90% of today's Muslims. They are the majority in many countries within the so-called Muslim world. Shiites are in the majority in Iraq and Iran where it is the official religion. A Shiite minority is also present in several Sunni-majority countries such as Syria and Lebanon. The theological differences between Sunni and Shiite religions are used as a tool in many conflicts, although they often hide other motives for confrontation.
3. Theocracy = Society in which government is exercised by religious authority.
4. Blasphemy = Speech that offends the deity, religion or what is considered as holy.
5. SAHIL = Sahil is an organisation which has been working since 1996 on child protection, especially against child sexual abuse.

SYRIA Did you know that more than 90% of Syrian people live in poverty? And more than 11 million of them depend on humanitarian aid. Syria is facing the consequences of an 11-year war: poverty, lack of education, economic crisis, drought, violence, lack of infrastructure and millions of displaced persons. HISTORICAL APPROACH:

• Arab spring:

In 2011, across the Arab world, people decided to come out in protest and demand reforms from oppressive governments. It started in Tunisia and spread to Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya and Syria, although it affected, to a lesser extent, other countries as well. Here is a map, extracted from The economist: press reports, of the entire area that experienced these uprisings. In Syria, the context prior to the Arab Spring was: unemployment, lack of political freedom and repression by President Bashar al-Assad. However, the country had more than two million inhabitants living together in peace despite different religions and ethnicities, such as Kurds, Arabs, Armenians, Christians, Muslims... The level of schooling was almost 100% of children of primary school age and infant mortality figures were similar to those of other middle-income countries. Child marriage existed but in much lower numbers than today. Before the war, Syria, was a prosperous country, with a stable situation and a rich millenary culture.

• Civil war:

In March 2011, a group of teenagers painted some revolutionary slogans on a school wall. For this reason, they were arrested and tortured by the security forces, which triggered a series of pro-democracy demonstrations by the population. The government's repression was very harsh: assassinations and violent repression. To cope with this repression, armed groups were born to confront the government, which would end with a civil war in the country. The group that was known as the opposition (those who wanted the removal of President Asad), was made up of rebel groups that included moderate and secular fighters, and Islamist1 and jihadist groups2.The government accused the opposition of being all terrorists and members of Islamic State (IS)3.Taking advantage of the instability in Syria, the IS took control of huge swaths of territory, as well as creating a war within a war, pitting both the opposition and the government against each other. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States were involved in this war, supporting the opposition groups, and Russia and Iran, on the side of Assad. In 2014, the presence of IS in Iraq and Syria was bigger and that is when the United States intervened: it supported the Kurdish forces4.In theory the two were against IS but they accused each other of killing civilians during their military operations. In 2016 Turkey entered the civil war to fight Kurdish forces (with whom it has a long-standing conflict). DIfferent groups clashed in this war: the Syrian regime, Kurdish forces, opposition to the regime (some jihadists) and IS. One of the most well-known catastrophes of this war was in 2017 when the Syrian government used sarin in the city of Khan Shijun, a chemical weapon that killed thousands of children. This war lasted so long because regional and world powers intervened and the consequences were lethal: almost half a million people died and 12,000 of them children (UNICEF). CURRENT SITUATION: Poverty: The situation now is that 90% of the population lives in extreme poverty and a total of 13.4 million people are in need of humanitarian aid (UN)5.Many children suffer from malnutrition which affects their growth (UNICEF).6 Lack of education: The number of out-of-school children and adolescents is very high: 2.45 million children and adolescents do not go to school. Before the war, the literacy rate in Syria was high: 79.6% of the population was literate (UNICEF). Economic crisis: Prices have risen sharply and there is a lot of corruption in the country. Oil production and tourism have collapsed. People have had to opt for other ways to survive: the black market and smuggling, among others. In addition, the country's GDP (Gross Domestic Product)7 has been shrinking in recent years. Climate change: According to the UN, northwest Syria is suffering the worst drought in 70 years: there is a significant shortage of drinking water. This crisis has two main causes: on the one hand, the Middle East is one of the areas most affected in the world by climate change; on the other hand, not enough water is coming from the Euphrates from Turkey and it is thought that the neighboring country may be withholding water because of political problems with the Syrian Kurdish party (PYD). Violence: No part of Syria is safe to return to after the war: torture, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention are the order of the day in the country, as well as the violation of all kinds of human rights by the government to people who have returned home. Lack of infraestructura: There are many damaged infrastructures, including water networks, more than half of the public hospitals are disabled due to their destruction and one out of three schools has been rendered unusable. Displaced persons: There have been many displaced persons: 6.7 million internally displaced and 5.6 million displaced to other countries. Neighboring countries (Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey) have received the most refugees (93%). Some 10% of Syrians have sought asylum in Europe. DISPLACED PEOPLE: Internally displaced people: The UN says that "Syria is the country with the highest number of internally displaced persons" (6.9 million). The displaced live in camps whose conditions are dire, people live in misery: there is a significant food shortage and there is not enough medical care; in addition, in winter temperatures are low and, in some places, rain is frequent which means that families need to heat, but, unfortunately, they cannot afford fuel. On top of all this, there is insecurity throughout the country. Nearby countries and Europe: More than half of the Syrian refugees stayed in the Middle East. Mainly, in Turkey where there are almost 4 million people. The Turkish government reduced the number of refugees in urban centers and moved many of them to other provinces since most of them were in Istanbul. Lebanon, for its part, hosts the second largest population of Syrian refugees being the country with the highest refugee density in the world. Jordan, Iraq and Egypt are also home to many people fleeing the war, about a million or so. The other part of refugee people are in Europe, especially in: Germany, Greece, Sweden and Austria. Here you can see a map about the distribution and destinations of Syrian people: ASYLUM APPLICATIONS: In 2020, asylum applications fell by 32% compared to the previous year, not because there were fewer people in need of international protection, but because, due to the pandemic, it became more difficult to reach Europe. Even though fewer applications were received, 6 out of 10 were refused. In 2021, 87% of Syrians who submitted asylum applications in Europe received an affirmative response. A total of 109,790 people from Syria fled and applied for asylum in other countries in 2021, according to UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees).8 This corresponds to approximately 0.601% of all inhabitants. The most frequent host countries were Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. In total, about 7 percent of the asylum applications were rejected. FOR MORE INFORMATION:Books:

• The beekeeper of Aleppo by Christi Lefteri
• The map of salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar.

Webpages:

• https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/syria/report-syria/

Movies:

• The other side of hope (2017)

Documentaries:

• For Sama (2019)
• Born in Syria (2016)
• The cave (2019)

Podcast:

• https://www.wvi.org/syria-crisis-response/Syria10/podcast-syrias-lost-generation
• https://player.fm/series/what-happened-to-syria

GLOSSARY:

1. Islamist: person who professes Muslim fundamentalism or is a member of it. Muslim fundamentalism is a political movement that seeks to implant Islam in all Muslim countries rigidly and using force and violence, if necessary.
2. Jihadist groups: group of Muslim fundamentalists who defend armed struggle for religious purposes.
3. IS the acronym stands for Islamic State and it is a terrorist group of a fundamentalist jihadist nature that follows a radical doctrine of Sunni Islam. It emerged in Iraq as a response to the invasion of this country and people belonging to this group have an extremist interpretation of Islam; moreover, they believe that they are the real believers. In order to carry out the Sharia (Islamic law based on the fundamental rules of the Koran) they violate human rights, executing people, carrying out ethnic cleansing and prohibiting clothing, among others.
4. Kurdistan: is a large region belonging to Middle Eastern countries - mainly Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, and also, but with less representation, Armenia - without a state. They speak Kurdish, although with different variations depending on the country of origin, and in some of the countries, as in Turkey, they have suffered harsh repression at some points in history. They claim an autonomous and independent region from the countries in which they reside.
5. UN: the United Nations is the largest international organization in existence whose purpose is to maintain peace and security and to unite efforts through the integration of governments around the world to achieve human rights objectives.
6. UNICEF: the United Nations Children's Fund is a UN agency that works for the world's most disadvantaged children and adolescents, providing them with vaccines, food, clean water and education, among other things.
7. GDP: Gross Domestic Product is the total of goods -food, products, machinery, among others- and services -health and education, for example- produced in a country over a period of time, generally one year.
8. UNHCR: the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugee is an agency of another organization, the UN, whose purpose is to ensure respect for and international protection of refugees and asylum seekers.

SOMALIA : According to UNHCR1 data, 31.227 people from Somalia fled in 2021 and applied for asylum in other countries. Somalia is facing a particularly complex situation: the security environment is deteriorating due to armed conflicts, human rights violations and attacks against civilians. In addition, the population is suffering from a very serious drought, which leads to a high risk of widespread famine. This year, the persistent armed conflict and chronic humanitarian crises were made even worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. HISTORICALLY UNSTABLE POLITICAL CONTEXT Somalia was for a long time divided in two: the south was under Italian rule, the north under the British one. In 1960, the two countries gained independence and were reunited, but two presidential administrations remained. In 1969, Major General Mohamed Siad Barre led a coup d'état, took power and established a communist political regime. However, opposition to Siad Barre's regime grew as the regime gradually deteriorated, as citizens lost confidence in the institutions, especially those for conflict resolution, and as corruption and violence increased in the country. In addition, tensions between clans are increasing. Somalia has six major clan groups: the Darods, the Hawiyees, the Issacks, the Dir, the Rahanwein and the Digils. In 1991, the regime of Siad Barre fell, overthrown by rebels from southern Somalia. Various armed opposition movements overcame the government forces and Mogadishu fell to General Mohammed Farah Aidid, who belonged to the Hawiye clan. The country is about to plunge into a catastrophic situation. Indeed, it is the beginning of a fratricidal rupture of the Hawiye clan: General Mohamed Farah Aidid is not the president who ends up being appointed, it is Mr. Ali Mahdi Mohamed, also Hawiye. This appointment will lead to an extremely destructive war between the Hawiye and their supporters, especially in the capital. Somalia's political landscape is divided between: the big clans, some fifteen more or less powerful armed movements, several warlords and the radical Islamist movement. In addition to the internal rivalries of the Hawiwes and the rivalries between warlords, and the alliances that are made and broken, there are, to a lesser extent, the secessionist demands of Somaliland. In the absence of a political solution, the reign of the warlords emerges. In the early 1990s, the UN attempted to calm the internal conflicts in Somalia. Nevertheless, this mission was a failure. Not only did the UN fail to resolve the crisis, due to its poor knowledge of the functioning of Somali society, but it also exacerbated underlying rivalries and created new tensions. Gradually, the idea of rebuilding Somalia within a federal framework took hold. On August 20, 2012, the Federal Government of Somalia was formed, with Hassan Sheik Mohamud as president. Nevertheless, the country remains fragile. The insecurity and instability that developed during the civil war affects the government's ability to exercise power in the territory. In the absence of a political authority capable of ensuring collective security, citizens sought to protect themselves by their own means. This led to the arming of society and to a strong development of militias, which are now difficult to dismantle. In addition, rivalries between the federal government and the federated states persist over control of territory and armed forces, sharing of resources and delegation of power. Meanwhile, tensions over control of the Sool region between Puntland and Somaliland are rising: deadly clashes broke out in late December 2022 between Somaliland security forces and protesters in an area claimed by Puntland, killing 20 people. SECURITY SITUATION Al shabaab : The security situation in Somalia remains a concern, with frequent deadly attacks on civilians, especially by the Shabab and other armed groups, despite the presence of Somali and international security forces. From February 1st to May 6th of 2022, 236 security incidents were recorded in the country, most of them attributable to the Shabab. Al shabaab is a Somali Islamist militant group formed in 2006. Its goal is the imposition of a Sunni Islamic state and sharia law in Somalia through jihad. The group has been in conflict with Somalia for more than 10 years. According to Annette Weber, the European Union's High Representative for Somalia, the Shabab has become "the richest and most powerful global franchise of al-Qaeda". The Somali environment is favorable to the movement's progress: Somalia is a country where the government is struggling to establish itself outside the major cities. Thus, even though the government succeeded in regaining control of the capital in 2010, it has not made any real progress in its fight against Al Shabaab. This movement is one of the main causes of insecurity in Somalia and is the cause of numerous armed conflicts and attacks on civilians. It also blocks the access and exit of some villages, preventing the access of humanitarian aid. The Shabab oppress families financially with taxes and forcibly recruit adults and children to join its ranks. They have a very strict interpretation of Islamic law, which they impose in the areas they control: public executions, lapidations, amputations, forced marriages, restrictive codes of conduct for men and women (banning music, movies, certain clothes, etc.). RECENT INFO POINT : August: Attack of Al shabaab in the capital Mogadishu, killing 20 people. September: Alliances of the clan's militias and the government to lead an attack on Al Shabaab. There is therefore a risk of increased violence against the population October: The military offensive against Al-Shabaab continued; In response, the group launched several attacks :

• In Mogadiscio : the deadliest attack in five years, leaving at least 120 dead.
• In Hiran region : Beledweyne city, Buulobarde and Jalalaqsi towns, killing more than 40 people.
• In Kismayo : Al-Shabaab laid siege to a hotel, killing 9 civilians.

Meanwhile, near Ethiopian border, fighting between Al-Shabaab militants and Ethiopian Liyu police forces allegedly resulted in over 100 fatalities on both sides. December:Somali government forces, aided by U.S. airstrikes and African Union troops, are conducting major offensives against al-Shabab, regaining control of large areas in the south. ➪ Thus, hundreds of civilians have been killed in attacks carried out without discernment by parties to the conflict.

• According to the United Nation, the conflict has resulted in 536 civilian victims (241 dead) between February and July 2022, 68% by Al Shabaab, the rest by the government, clan military forces, and international and regional forces.
• In addition, al Shabaab attacks have also resulted in numerous civilian casualties. Most of the attacks targeted AMISOM (African Union Mission In Somalia) and Somali security forces, political figures, the media, and civilians.

Piracy : Initially, piracy developed as a defensive act against illegal fishing: fishermen were left without a means of subsistence following an increase in international smuggling and illegal fishing by foreign trawlers in their territorial waters. Somali pirates were portraying themselves as the nation's unofficial coast guard, fighting against illegal fishing and waste dumping by foreign corporations. However, the motive behind the activity and its proliferation has evolved. Indeed, the activity is extremely lucrative, especially the taking of hostages and the demand for ransom, as pirates could demand hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom. Piracy has therefore been transformed, not into a defense activity, but into a truly lucrative business. It has become a worldwide problem. If the development of piracy can be explained from this point of view, it must also be said that it was able to develop because the political environment allowed it to do so. The political instability of the country and its civil war did not allow for the establishment of a centralized administration, making the fight against piracy difficult, if not impossible. In recent years, however, piracy has decreased significantly. This is due to the presence of many foreign naval forces in Somali waters, which patrol and fight against piracy. The UN has authorized warships to enter Somali waters, and to use all means to defend themselves against piracy. Today, pirate attacks have virtually stopped. HUMANITARIAN SITUATION The humanitarian situation in Somalia remains dramatic and very complex, due to the devastating effects of conflict, insecurity, flooding, drought, a locust invasion, and the pandemic. After four consecutive poor rainy seasons, around 7.8 million people, meaning nearly half of the population, are severely affected by food insecurity. The UN children agency reported in mid-september that more than 500,000 Somali children under five are in danger of dying from hunger due to drought. International aid is the only way to avoid this but it's impossible to reach some cities that are in need, because of Al shabaab. Due to the drought, farmers are unable to cultivate their land or take care of their animals because of the damage to farmland and grasslands. Surface water resources have deteriorated significantly and boreholes have dried up, causing millions of people to flee their homes in search of food, shelter, and water in refugee camps, particularly in areas controlled by the Shabab where humanitarian access is obstructed. According to a study by Oxfam and Save the Children, climate change is worsening hunger among vulnerable populations. The two NGOs estimate that a person dies of hunger every 48 seconds in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia. HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION Short summary of the current situation: Somalia faces a context of numerous human rights violations, including: numerous attacks on humanitarian workers; excessive use of force by police resulting in civilian deaths; violations of the right to freedom of expression and opinion; an increase in sexual and gender-based violence; and an increase in forced evictions during the pandemic. About freedom of expression, association, and assembly: Even if several laws protect these freedoms, in practice, Somali security forces as clan elders and political figures do not protect these rights. According to the Somali Journalists Union and the Somali Media Association, between January and April 2022, 37 journalists were arrested and detained throughout the country and in Somaliland. In its 2021 annual report, the National Union of Somali Journalists reported two murders of journalists and 63 cases of physical assault, harassment, unlawful arrest, detention, torture, cyberstalking, and threats against journalists and four media organizations. About the justice System: There is a high level of impunity in Somalia. The legal system does not allow a strict enforcement of the law and an effective protection of the citizens. The Somali legal system is dual:

• The state system, which faces many difficulties: lack of personnel, infrastructure, equipment and funds... and it is not established in the regions controlled by the Shabab. In these areas, the Shabab strictly enforce Sharia law, which includes the death penalty for certain offences, stoning of married women for adultery, and amputation of the hands of thieves.
• The extrajudicial justice, developed to overcome the weaknesses of the formal system. It is based on a set of unwritten norms of law, including sharia law. The problem is that in these extrajudicial courts, international human rights standards are not respected. Moreover, justice is dispensed in a system where clans have a strong influence, so it is not necessarily dispensed in favor of marginalized groups, but rather benefits the majorities.

IN SUMMARY: The combination of drought, flooding, armed conflict, and loss of livelihoods has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis: to the 2.6 million already displaced in previous years, 573,000 new displaced persons can be added between January and August 2022, according to the UN. Those at risk include civilians, clan leaders, electoral delegates, government officials and representatives, police officers, off-duty soldiers and humanitarian workers. As a result, Somalia is facing a deterioration in its security situation as well as a drought and the risk of widespread famine. UNHCR is providing states with new legal guidance on the protection of Somali refugees: states must allow people fleeing Somalia to reach safety: people fleeing violence, human rights abuses, and persecution must be considered to fulfill the criteria for receiving refugee status. ABOUT REFUGEES According to UNHCR data 31,227 people from Somalia fled in 2021 and applied for asylum in other countries. The most common destination countries have been Uganda, Germany and France. The most successful have been the refugees in Uganda and Kenya. A total of 75.3% of Somali's asylum applications were accepted in the world in 2021. Besides, according to the UN refugee agency, "80% of Somali refugees live in neighboring countries: at the end of 2021, there were more than 800 000 Somali refugees and asylum seekers worldwide, the vast majority of whom live in neighboring countries such as Kenya (279,200), Ethiopia (250,719), Yemen (69,940) and Uganda (61,853)". RECENT NEWS FOR EUROPE According to the European Asylum Agency, more than 1 500 Somalis applied for asylum in EU countries in August 2022, about the same as last year at the same time. In August, about 1 300 decisions were made for Somali applicants, and just over 800 of these decisions granted refugee or subsidiary protection status. This gives a refugee status recognition rate of 61% in Europe, a significant increase from the same period last year, when the rate was 54%. The number of applications pending at first instance continued to rise, exceeding 13 300 at the end of August. Just under half of the pending cases have been pending for more than six months. FOR MORE INFORMATIONSBooks :

• "Don't Tell Me You're Afraid" by Giuseppe Catozella : Based on a remarkable true story, an unforgettable Somali girl risks her life on the migrant journey to Europe to run in the Olympic Games.
• "The Orchard of Lost Souls" by Nadifa Mohamed : It is 1987, in Hargeisa, the second largest city in Somalia. The dry winds carry rumours of revolution, but the dictatorship remains firm on its foundations. Soon, through the eyes of three women, we will witness the fall of Somalia.
• "Yesterday tomorrow Voices of the Somali diaspora" by Farah Nuruddin :The author, a Somali, recounts the stories of Somali refugees and others whose lives were uprooted or terribly transformed by the anarchy in Somalia during the early 1990s.

Webpages :

• Crisis group : https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/horn-africa/somalia
• Amnesty international : https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/africa/east-africa-the-horn-and-great-lakes/somalia/report-somalia/
• OHCR : https://www.ohchr.org/fr/countries/somalia

Movies :

• "Fishing Without Nets" (2014) : While storming a French tanker with his colleagues, Abdi, a pirate, befriends one of the hostages. But he will have to make dramatic choices to decide his future.
• "Asad" - Filin Gaaban : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2TOczOBr7g

GLOSSARY

1. UNHCR = The United Nation High Commissioner for Refugee is an agency of another organization, the UN, whose purpose is to ensure respect for and international protection of refugees and asylum seekers.

Palestine According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA1), as of 21 November 2022, 6,157 Palestinians have been killed and 143,165 injured since 2008 in the context of the occupation and conflict. Noting that the figures covering 2022 are partial and will be updated shortly by OCHA, here are two OCHA graphs showing respectively the number of Palestinian deaths and the number of Palestinian injuries per year since 2008. Palestinians face a conflict that does not spare civilians. They face the denial of their right to freedom of expression and bodily integrity, they live in a climate of widespread violence and in fear of the destruction of their homes. Historical summary Here is a summary of the evolution of the Palestinian territory over the years : Focus on the human rights situation : GAZA : Blockade2 Israel has imposed a sea and air blockade on Gaza since 2007, so it has lasted for fifteen years now, suffocating the population and the economy of the territory. Indeed, imports and exports are drastically reduced, especially those of basic necessities (drinking water, electricity, medicines), and the movement of populations is also restricted: each request to leave - including medical - is subject to approval by Israel, which can block it without explanation. This results in limited access to health care, education and adequate livelihoods, including agricultural land and fishing grounds. Access to work is also very difficult: the unemployment rate reached 44% on 30 September 2022, according to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights3 (PCHR). Moreover, according to the PCHR, "more than half of the population lives in poverty, more than 68.5% of the Gaza population suffers from food insecurity, 80% of the Gaza population relies on international aid". Israel forces: The territory is also facing regular and devastating Israeli military offensives. Thus, in recent years we can mention operations "Summer Rains" (2006), "Cast Lead" (2008-2009), "Pillar of Defense" (2012), "Protective Edge" (2014). The one of 2014 was the deadliest: nearly 2,200 dead on the Palestinian side, 70% of whom were civilians, and more than 10,000 injured. Israel is also violent in its repression of demonstrations. For instance, during the Great March of Return protests in 2019: more than 207 Palestinians were killed and 33 800 injured, according to the United Nations. Human rights violations by Hamas4 in Gaza : Gaza is also facing numerous violations of Palestinian rights perpetrated by Hamas. Hamas violates human rights by repressing demonstrations with violence. For example, in March 2019, during Palestinian protests challenging the deplorable living conditions in Gaza, Hamas arrested hundreds of Palestinian protesters. These protesters were brutalised, arbitrarily arrested, tortured, maltreated. This constitutes a flagrant violation of Palestinians' rights to freedom of expression and association and a denial of their right to be free from arbitrary detention and their right to physical integrity. Health system : All these difficulties are compounded by a health system on the brink of collapse. It is extremely difficult for the health sector in Gaza to cope with the huge number of injured people. With the health system in Gaza regularly facing sudden massive influxes of new injuries to be treated, in addition to the restrictions on the movement of people and materials and the shortage of electricity and some goods and equipment from which it was already suffering. West Bank and East Jerusalem In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, colonization5 continues at a fast pace: there are now nearly 650,000 settlers in these territories. The Palestinians occupying these territories are subject to permanent controls by the Israeli army, in a climate of generalized violence and daily harassment. Thus, the daily life of Palestinians takes place in a context of violence and of an increase in the rate of house demolitions and the seizure of structures belonging to Palestinians (e.g., July 2019: 362 structures destroyed by the Israeli authorities). They also face an increase in raids on Palestinian civil society organisations and residences with the aim of carrying out arbitrary detentions and arrests, in order to silence civil society organisations and human rights defenders. As a result, many Palestinian residents are forced to leave areas affected by the violence, while the expansion of the Israeli settlement continues, effectively encircling the Palestinian population and reducing the space available for them to live. Moreover, the Israeli government is seeking to establish its domination over the eastern part of Jerusalem. It has increased the number of expulsion orders for Palestinians, arrests and demolitions. The Israeli government is pursuing a policy of refusing to authorize building permits for Palestinians in order to recover Jerusalem. The Palestinians thus build houses illegally, and israel government has the right to destroy them. Many Palestinians live with the fear of seeing their house demolished and having to start again from scratch. It has become common for Palestinians to have to rebuild their house three, four or more times. Children's human rights The conflict has a negative impact on the physical and moral health of children : Access to health care in Gaza: The health system in Gaza does not allow children to access adequate care. On top of this, if they cannot get treatment in Gaza, it is also difficult for them to get treatment by entering Israel. Indeed, many applications to enter Israel for medical treatment are rejected or not processed quickly enough. The approval rate for such requests is even lower for Palestinian children injured in the Gaza protests than for those injured in other circumstances. Access to education: The conflict also affects the education system. Israeli forces are also firing with real bullets, releasing tear gas or throwing stun grenades in and around schools. Anxiety: Children are also subject to high anxiety due to constant exposure to violence and the threat of demolition of their homes. The demolition of Palestinian homes by Israeli forces very often results in the displacement of entire families. Forced displacement is a traumatic event, particularly when it affects the most vulnerable, especially children. The trauma of repeated violence in Gaza also has an impact on the mental health of children. According to the World Health Organisation, in 2021, 82% of adolescents in Gaza estimated that they had low or very low mental well-being. Point 2021 According to Al-Haq6, in it's Report on Human Rights Violations of 2021 : In May : Palestinian demonstrations against Israeli settlement activity occurred in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Then, the demonstrations spread to all the territories occupied by the Palestinians, leading to a climate of tensions. The Israeli authorities also carried out an offensive against Gaza in May. This resulted in 11 days of intensive bombardments targeting civilian and military infrastructures, causing considerable damage and loss of life. According to Al-Haq, more than 240 people were killed, including 60 children. Over 630 children were injured. Some suffered injuries resulting in long-term disability such as loss of limbs. The offensive also displaced more than 38,000 residents, whose homes were damaged. Testimony : Testimony of Ahmed*, 41 years old, collected by MSF. (*name changed to remain anonymous) "I was injured on the first day of the bombing. I was at home when the house was hit. We didn't know if it was a bomb or if something in the house had exploded. We had just heard a massive noise and the house shook. That's when I saw my hand almost torn off, hanging from my arm. The whole family was together, it was Ramadan. Part of the house was destroyed, two of my cousins died and another relative was disabled. The explosion was so strong that the neighbours were also injured. The neighbour's son was walking down the street and lost both his eyes. He was only 9 years old and he will never be able to see again. He was just playing outside. People were trying to put the victims in cars. The ambulances couldn't reach us because the bombs were falling from everywhere. I was in a car with four other victims. One of them was a neighbour's child. She died on her father's lap, right next to me, on the way to the hospital. We didn't know if we would get to the hospital alive: everything around us had been bombed. I finally reached Al-Shifa hospital and a week later I was transferred to MSF Al-Awda hospital. In both hospitals they were afraid that the bombs would hit us. I had eight different surgeries and my hand was amputated. While I was in the hospital, I was afraid for my family. Their mental health was deeply affected and the loud noises still make my two youngest children cry. My mother suffered the most. She had a nervous breakdown and is now under the care of mental health professionals. She still can't talk about it without having a panic attack. What hurts the most is that I can't support my family. I was a driver and I can't drive without my hand. I was responsible not only for my wife and children, but also for my elderly parents. I was supposed to get a prosthetic hand, but because of the blockade, I have no idea when it will happen. Sometimes I wonder why I survived. I wish I had died with the others, so that I could finally leave Gaza. Death is the only way out. " June : Numerous demonstrations took place in the West Bank following the assassination of Nizar Banat, a political activist, by Palestinian security agencies during an attempted arrest. In response, Hamas and the Palestinian authorities carried out a policy of strong repression: physical violence against the demonstrators, arbitrary arrests, confiscation of telephones, intimidation, torture... Thus, freedom of expression, the right to physical integrity... were denied. 2021 conclusion : 2021 was another year in which many of the Palestinians' rights were denied: the right to freedom of expression, to security, to freedom of movement, to education, to health, to work, to physical integrity... and also the most essential: the right to life. According to the United Nations, 324 Palestinians died at the hands of the Israeli authorities in 2021, 240 of them during the Gaza offensive. 2021 also resulted, according to Al-Haq, in the demolitions, by the Israeli authorities, of more than 230 houses in the West Bank. More than 1,300 other residential units were completely destroyed in Gaza, as a result of the May bombardment, while another 6,000 residential units suffered partial damage. Point 2022 May : Israel has carried out a new offensive against Gaza, with Israeli strikes killing dozens of civilians and destroying buildings full of homes and businesses, while no obvious military targets were nearby. Israel deliberately targets civilian structures, in contravention of the laws of war, which prohibit attacks that do not have a clear military objective. August : On 5 August 2022, Israeli authorities carried out an attack on the Gaza Strip, targeting the home of Tayseer al-Jabari, a leader of Islamic Jihad, claiming an imminent threat. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported 49 deaths, including 17 children, due to the Israeli strikes. About refugees : Palestine refugees = people whose habitual residence between 1 June 1946 and 15 May 1948 was Palestine, and who lost their homes and livelihoods as a result of the 1948 conflict, and their descendants, according to UNRWA7. Today, some 5 million people meet this definition, according to UNRWA. The majority of Palestinian refugees continue to reside either in the occupied Palestinian territory or in neighbouring countries. According to UNRWA, more than 40% (about two million) live in Jordan, more than one million (23%) live in Gaza, nearly 760,000 (16%) live in the West Bank, 462,000 live in Syria and about 420,000 live in Lebanon. The majority of Palestinian refugees not residing in the occupied Palestinian territory are found in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Gulf States, Chile and the United States. According to the European union agency for asylum, in Europe, in 2021, we registered 3 885 asylum applications from palestinian and the recognition rate was of 64%, which is a recognition rate notably high. For more informations : Movies :

• "Omar" (2013) : A young Palestinian freedom fighter agrees to work as an informant after he's tricked into an admission of guilt by association in the wake of an Israeli soldier's killing.
• "A Bottle in the Gaza Sea" (2010) : Tal is a young French woman living in Jerusalem with her family. At 17, she is at the age of firsts: first love, first cigarette, first piercing. First attack, too. After the explosion of a suicide bomber in a café in her neighbourhood, she writes a letter to an imaginary Palestinian in which she expresses her questions. She slips the letter into a bottle and gives it to her brother to throw into the sea, near Gaza.
• "Alata (Out in the Dark)" : A drama centered on the love affair between two men on opposite sides of the Mid-East conflict: Palestinian student Nimer and Roy, an Israeli lawyer.
• "Ya Tayr El Tayer (Arab Idol) " : this movie it a biopic of the Palestinian singer Mohammad Assaf, whose winning of the pan-Arab version of TV talent show Pop Idol in 2013 led to a moment of national pride and unity in Palestine. It shows the tough circumstances in which Assaf, first as a little boy in Gaza, and later in his twenties, grows up to be a singer.
• "Little Palestine (Diary of a Siege)" (2021) : The Yarmouk neighborhood (Damascus, Syria) was home to the largest Palestinian refugee camp in the world from 1957 to 2018. When the Syrian Revolution broke out, Bashar Al-Assad's regime saw Yarmouk as a refuge for rebels and a core of resistance. It encircled the neighborhood and put in place a siege from 2013. Progressively deprived of food, medicine and electricity, the inhabitants of Yarmouk find themselves cut off from the rest of the world.
• "Jenin, Jenin" (2002) : Documentary about the 2002 deadly confrontations between armed Israeli soldiers and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
• "Budrus : It take a Village to Unite the Most Divided People on Earth" (2010) : Budrus is an award-winning feature documentary film about a Palestinian community organizer, Ayed Morrar, who unites local Fatah and Hamas members along with Israeli supporters in an unarmed movement to save his village of Budrus from destruction by Israel's Separation Barrier.
• "Paradise Now" (2008) : Paradise Now is a political and psychological drama film directed by Hany Abu-Assad about two Palestinian men preparing for a suicide attack in Israel.

Books :

• "A bottle in the gaza sea" - Valérie Zenatti : Tal is a young French woman living in Jerusalem with her family. At 17, she is at the age of firsts: first love, first cigarette, first piercing. First attack, too. After the explosion of a suicide bomber in a café in her neighbourhood, she writes a letter to an imaginary Palestinian in which she expresses her questions. She slips the letter into a bottle and gives it to her brother to throw into the sea, near Gaza.
• "Apeirogon" by Colum McCann ; Bassam Aramin is Palestinian. Rami Elhanan is Israeli. They inhabit a world of conflict that colors every aspect of their daily lives, from the roads they are allowed to drive on, to the schools their daughters, Abir and Smadar, each attend, to the checkpoints, both physical and emotional, they must negotiate. Their worlds shift irreparably after ten-year-old Abir is killed by a rubber bullet and thirteen-year-old Smadar becomes the victim of suicide bombers. When Bassam and Rami learn of each other's stories, they recognize the loss that connects them and they attempt to use their grief as a weapon for peace.
• "Mornings in Jenin" by Susan Abulhawa : Like his father, and like his father's father, Hassan lives by growing olives in the small Palestinian village of Ein Hod. But in 1948, during the conflict that followed the creation of the State of Israel, Ein Hod was destroyed and its inhabitants driven to a refugee camp. For Hassan, this exile is accompanied by the pain of seeing the ancestral family cycle broken forever. His young son Ismaïl was kidnapped by Israelis who hid his origins from him. The eldest son, Youssef, will grow up hating the Jews, ready for any extremity. As for Amal, his daughter, she will try her luck in the United States, inconsolable, however, for having fled her family. The war separated them. Only she will be able to reunite them.

Webpages : More testimony, by MSF, (in french) :

• https://www.msf.fr/actualites/gaza-un-an-apres-retour-sur-les-effets-devastateurs-des-bombardements-israeliens

About the history :

• https://www.un.org/unispal/history/
• https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-44124396

Latest news :

• Crisis group : https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/east-mediterranean-mena/israelpalestine
• Amnesty international : https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/?qlocation=2045
• OCHR : https://www.ohchr.org/en/search?query=palestine&f%5B0%5D=country_taxonomy_term_name%3APalestine

GLOSSARY:

1. OCHA : the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is the part of the United Nations Secretariat responsible for bringing together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies.
2. BLOCKADE : the isolating, closing off, or surrounding of a place, as a port or city, by hostile ships or troops to prevent entrance or exit.
3. PCHR : the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation based in Gaza City working to protect human rights, to promote the rule of law and to uphold democratic principles in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
4. HAMAS : it's a militant Palestinian nationalist and Islamist movement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that is dedicated to the establishment of an independent Islamic state in historical Palestine. Founded in 1987, Hamas opposed the secular approach of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and rejected attempts to cede any part of Palestine.
5. COLONIZATION : the act of taking control of an area or a country that is not your own, especially using force, and sending people from your own country to live there.
6. AL-HAQ : Al-Haq is an independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights organisation based in Ramallah, West Bank. It was established in 1979 to protect and promote human rights and the rule of law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).
7. UNRWA : The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, is a subsidiary agency created by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1949 to provide relief, health, and education services for Palestinians refugies.

YEMEN Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world and according to the United Nations1, it is the worst man-made humanitarian disaster and a clear confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran. HISTORICAL APPROACH: The conflict began with the Arab Spring of 20112, the uprising of some parts of the society forced the (authoritarian) president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, to leave power thus leaving President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi in charge of the country. During Saleh's term, there were several situations of conflict with the Houthis3 as well as accusations of corruption against the president. With the new president, a National Dialogue Conference was organized to somehow "solve" the latent conflicts: it was decided to divide the country into different regions. This brought discontent in some parts of the population, which the Houthis took advantage of to control some areas of the country, including the capital. This is how Hadi left the country but not his interests in Yemen as a coalition of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates intervened in the country at his request. In 2015 was when the conflict experienced its worst moment as Saudi Arabia along with other Arab countries and some Western countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and France attacked the Houthis, thus defending the government. On the other hand, Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of supporting the Houthis with weapons although the latter denies it. In fact, both Iran and the Houthis profess Shiism4,a branch of Islam. Al Qaeda 5 and the Islamic State (IS)6 have also taken advantage of the chaos to commit lethal attacks and seize some areas in the south of the country. Yemen's location is strategic because it is situated on the Bab al Mandab Strait, which links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, through which most of the world's oil tankers pass. So many countries have economic interests in this region. The Yemen war is a civil conflict as well as a confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Iran that has left 150,000 people dead since 2015, according to ACLED (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project). It has also been labeled the forgotten war because it has received very little media coverage and very little attention from the rest of the world. CURRENT SITUATION: Arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances: All parties to the conflict have repressed freedom of expression and association through arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, harassment, torture and other ill-treatment in custody, and unfair trials. The Yemeni government, along with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, has arbitrarily detained activists and carried out enforced disappearances. Moreover, Houthi forces have also arbitrarily detained opponents, journalists and activists, perpetrating human rights violations such as torture and ill-treatment. As can be imagined, prison conditions are dire: overcrowded cells, limited access to medical care, lack of food and clean water, among others. This situation caused COVID-19 to spread faster and also put the health of many people at risk. Poverty: Today, 24.1 million Yemenis need humanitarian aid to survive (Amnesty International)7.overty rates are higher among the rural population and among women more than men. Unemployment rates are high and according to UNICEF (The United Nations Children's Fund) 8,at least 500,000 people working in the public sector have not been paid for some time. Many Yemenis cannot afford to buy food due to high prices and unemployment rates. Constraints: All parties to the conflict have contributed to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The government along with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia has imposed restrictions on the entry of aid for medicine, food and fuel; the Houthis have made humanitarian aid inside Yemen difficult. All of this has directly affected the civilian population who have ceased to have access to basic services. Malnutrition: 85,000 children under the age of 5 have died in three years from acute malnutrition (Save the Children). According to Amnesty International, since 2021, 16.2 million Yemenis are food insecure and the country is facing a large-scale famine. Diseases: In 2017, the country suffered a cholera epidemic. Around one million people contracted the disease and some 3,000 died. In fact, according to UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)9 60% of the victims of the conflict in Yemen have not been killed by bombings, but by hunger and disease. Children do not have access to vaccines because hospitals are not functioning normally and, if the hospital has electricity to keep vaccines cold, parents fear for their own and their children's lives and do not take them to the health center. This fact makes children vulnerable and exposes them to diseases such as measles and pneumonia. Internally displaced persons: According to the UN, there are 4 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) living in IDP camps with hardly any food and poor hygiene conditions, as well as limited access to health and water. 76% of these IDPs are women and children (UNHCR, 2021). Most of the children living in these camps do not go to school and are also one of the groups facing the highest protection risks. The COVID situation aggravated the situation among this group, forcing them to move for the second, third and fourth time. Economic collapse: So many years of conflict have devastated the country's economy so that the value of the Yemeni riyal is minimal, which caused food prices to rise and drove the population into extreme poverty. 47% of the Yemeni population survives on less than two dollars a day (The world bank, 2022). Climate change: Over the past few years, temperatures in Yemen are rising which has led to: drought, flooding and unpredictable rainfall. This variation in climate has destroyed pieces of land for cultivation, forced many people to move and also destroyed some infrastructure: without canals to store water the levels are dropping rapidly and the population does not have enough drinking water for their survival. DISPLACED PEOPLE: In 2021, according to UNHCR, 3,856 Yemeni people fled and sought asylum in other countries. The countries that received the most applications were: the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom. Only 2% of displaced people migrate to other countries: 98% (UNHCR) of the total number of people are internally displaced. Yemen is not only a country of departure, but also a country of arrival for many people from Somalia and Ethiopia: it is the second largest host country in the world for Somali refugees, according to UNHCR. ASYLUM SEEKERS. Here is a graph extracted from World Data on the development of asylum applications between 2000 and 2021. It can be seen that the number of asylum seekers started to increase in 2015, when the conflict worsened, and from that moment on, the number has been varying, reaching in 2018 the highest peaks in the graph. Not all of these asylum seekers have been recognized as refugees and a small percentage of applications have been rejected during these years. FOR MORE INFORMATION:Books:

• Sold by Zana Muhsen
• Yemen: Dancing on the Heads of Snakes by Victoria Clark
• The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers

Webpages:

• https://www.amnesty.org/es/latest/news/2015/09/yemen-the-forgotten-war/

Movies:

• I am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced (2014)
• 10 Days Before the Wedding (2018)

Documentaries:

• Hunger Ward (2020)
• Yemen: A History of Conflict (2020)
• Yemen-kids and the war (2018)

Podcast:

• https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/23-napier-barracks-life-inside-britains-first-refugee-camp/id1468264562?i=1000508831648
• https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/yemen/id1443491069?i=1000432451819

GLOSSARY:1. UN: The United Nations is the largest international organization in existence whose purpose is to maintain peace and security and to unite efforts through the integration of governments around the world to achieve human rights objectives. 2. Arab Spring: a series of protests and demands for reform in the Middle East and North Africa in which long-time authoritarian leaders were overthrown. Here is a map, extracted from The economist: press reports, of the entire area that experienced these uprisings. 3. Houthis: is a revolutionary military group, mostly of Shiites, which was born in response to the religious influence of Saudi Arabia in Yemen. Their motto is "God is great, death to America, death to Israel, curse on the Jews and victory of Islam". 4.Shiites and Sunnis: these are the two main branches of the Muslim religion. The origin of the division into two branches goes back to the death of Mohammed and the problem of his succession. The Sunnis recognize the first three successors, while the Shiites only recognize as legitimate the fourth successor, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad who married his daughter, and his successors. Sunnis represent 90% of today's Muslims. They are the majority in many countries of the so-called Muslim world. Shiites are the majority in Iraq and Iran, where it is the official religion. There is also a Shiite minority in several Sunni-majority countries, such as Syria and Lebanon. The theological differences between Sunni and Shiite religions are used as a tool in many conflicts, although they often hide other reasons for confrontation. 5. AL-QAEDA: is an Islamist organization created by Osama bin Laden in 1988 with the aim of creating an Islamic caliphate throughout the Muslim world. This group has committed terrorist attacks in many parts of the world: the best known was that of September 11 in the United States. The roots of this militant Islamic network go back to the 1970s, with the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. 6. IS: The acronym stands for Islamic State and is a fundamentalist jihadist terrorist group that follows a radical doctrine of Sunni Islam. It emerged in Iraq as a response to the invasion of that country and people belonging to this group have an extremist interpretation of Islam and believe they are the true believers. In order to carry out the sharia -Islamic law based on the fundamental norms of the Koran- and fulfill their objective: to establish a global caliphate -government in which the leader is a caliph, successor of the prophet Mohammed- they violate human rights, executing people, carrying out ethnic cleansing and banning clothing, among others. 7. Amnesty International: is a global and independent organization that acts in situations of injustice, defending human rights around the world. 8. UNICEF: the United Nations Children's Fund is a UN agency that works for the world's most disadvantaged children and adolescents, providing them with vaccines, food, clean water and education, among other things. 9. UNHCR: the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugee is an agency of another organization, the UN, whose purpose is to ensure respect for and international protection of refugees and asylum seekers.

VENEZUELA Venezuela is facing a political and economic crisis, which has caused more than 7 million Venezuelans to leave their country since 2015 according to the UN. CONTEXT Venezuela has been for a long time one of the poorest countries in the world. However, at the beginning of the 20th century, it was discovered that it had very important petrol resources. This will allow Venezuela to get out of misery, but will also cause its loss. When Hugo Chavez came to power in 1999, through the elections, Venezuela was at the peak of its wealth. He gained popularity by showing his opposition to the previous government, which was becoming authoritarian and not redistributing income. He then began the phase of the Bolivarian revolution. He wanted to establish an innovative socialist regime, redistribute wealth and invest massively in education, health and public services. He pulled thousands of Venezuelans out of poverty. He is a hero. Nevertheless, he chose to bet everything on the petrol rent. Meaning that the country lives on petrol and imports almost everything. Nicolas Maduro succeeded him when he died in 2013 and did not change the political choices made by Chavez. When the price of petrol collapsed in 2015, so did Venezuela's economy. Thousands of Venezuelans fell below the poverty line and public services declined due to lack of resources. Maduro's popularity, already low, fell further. And this is only the beginning of Venezuela's economic crisis. Prices rise exponentially, purchasing power is collapsing. Thus, in 2021, according to the National Survey of Living Conditions in Venezuela, 94.5% of the population live in poverty and 76.6% in extreme poverty. In addition, there are the fact that Venezuela is one of the most violent countries in the world, and the fact that Maduro's government, whose popularity has collapsed, seems to be taking an authoritarian turn: repression of demonstrations through violence, arbitrary detention of the regime's opponents, limitation of the powers of parliament... The situation in Venezuela is therefore particularly alarming, leading many Venezuelans to flee their country:

• Opponents of the regime are actively encouraged to leave the country to avoid persecution and violence. Indeed, numerous human rights violations have been reported in Venezuela in recent years: extrajudicial executions, excessive use of force, arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment. Among those targeted we find a lot of human rights defenders, journalists and activists.
• Migrants are also fleeing : rising crime rates, lack of food, medicine and essential services.

INSECURITY AND THE RISING CRIMES RATE The situation is particularly alarming in the Arco minero del Orinoco region and other areas in Bolivar state. Bolívar, located south of the Orinoco River, is the largest state in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The state includes vast protected areas and also traditional territories of indigenous peoples. It is also rich in strategic minerals. Here is a map of Venezuela, with the Bolivar state in red. The Bolivar state shares borders with Brazil, Colombia, and Guyana. Thus, it is one of the main routes for Venezuelans wishing to cross the border. It is also a strategic location for illicit trade in strategic minerals, arms and drugs. High level of violence We observe a high level of violence in this Bolivar state. This violence is due to the strong presence of criminal groups, but not only. Both state security forces and armed criminal groups perpetrate killings, abductions, torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, as well as sexual and gender-based violence, particularly against residents and workers in mining areas. A lot of violence also takes place during violent conflicts between armed groups or with state security forces. In addition, criminal groups exercise control over large mining areas by violently raiding the mines, by setting up checkpoints, and by imposing a strict disciplinary regime on the local populations under their control, which includes severe and violent punishments against the civilian population working in the mining areas under their influence: shaving of women's heads, amputations, beatings and other violent forms of execution. Often these punishments are imposed for non-payment of fees that the sindicatos1 demand from people working in the mines. Cases of beheading to make an example are also common in clashes between armed gangs, as a punishment or warning by the sindicatos. Zoom on Gender violence : Sexual and gender-based violence is common in the state of Bolívar, particularly against women and girls, and is perpetrated by state actors and armed criminal groups. Criminal groups often coerced women and girls into sex, through abuse of power, threats of violence, and sometimes recruitment under false pretenses. For example, if a member of a sindicato wants to have sex with someone, that person cannot refuse or denounce the commission of the rape, or risk being beaten or killed. Women's punishments are also different from those of men: women who do not obey the demands of the sindicato members may be subjected to specific punishments such as rape or other forms of sexual violence, the cutting of their hair against their will or the disfiguring of their face. But state actors are also perpetrating sexual violence against women in the context of checkpoints and border controls. The agents can for example refuse to give back the id of the women and girls, preventing them from moving forward, until they accept to have a sexual relation with them. THE VENEZUELAN-COLOMBIAN RELATIONSHIP Violence has always been common along the Colombia-Venezuela border. But recently, there has been a huge escalation, involving more rebel and military forces, as well as a range of traffickers and criminals. The closure of the border due to the Pandemic didn't lead to the stop of trafficking. On the contrary, we have observed an increase in the smuggling of goods and people through illegal passages controlled by armed groups such as the ELN2 and the FARC3.If these organizations manage similar illicit activities, conflicts between them are frequent, as well as the violence they commit against civilians. LACK OF FOOD AND OTHERS ESSENTIALS SERVICES The humanitarian emergency continued to worsen in 2022. According to OHCHR, access to essential goods and services has become increasingly difficult, in particular access to medical assistance, water, gas, food and fuel. As a result, according to the OHCHR, 1/3 of the Venezuelan population is food insecure. The Documentation and Analysis Centre for Workers calculated that the basic monthly basket cost US$260.77 in October, while the minimum monthly wage was US$1.66. The National Survey of Living Conditions found that 94.5% of the population lived in poverty and 76.6% lived in extreme poverty. Someone is considered to be in extreme poverty when living on less than $1.90 (£1.40) a day. The situation is particularly alarming for indigenous communities. They are cut off from the outside world and NGOs or aid agencies trying to reach these areas are restricted in their movements by the military authorities and armed groups. As a result, malnutrition and illnesses that would be curable elsewhere put the lives of some of these people at risk. According to the OHCHR4 , here is a graph showing the evolution of the percentage of households in poverty (light blue) and extreme poverty (dark blue) in Venezuela from 2002 to 2021. HUMAN RIGHT VIOLATIONS Numerous testimonies and reports highlight the role of two military and civilian intelligence services of the state in numerous human rights violations: the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM5) and the National Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN6).

• DGCIM: It is an organ that has the power to carry out counter-intelligence activities, targeting real or supposed enemies of the government.
• SEBIN: It was created in June 2010 with the aim of planning, formulating, directing, controlling and executing civilian intelligence and counterintelligence policies and actions. According to its regulations, SEBIN carries out activities aimed at "neutralizing potential or actual threats to the state".

Many victims who have been detained by DGCIM and SEBIN have been subjected to torture, sexual violence and/or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Their aim is to target real or perceived opponents of the government. All this is happening in a climate of impunity. Arbitrary detentions According to the human rights organization Foro Pénal, at the end of 2021, 244 people were being arbitrarily detained for political reasons. These included political activists, students, military personnel, human rights defenders and others considered to be opponents of the Nicolás Maduro government. A high proportion were arrested according to false evidences, planted or manipulated by the authorities. The tactics used by the authorities also include the use of torture to pressure detainees to make false accusations. Enforced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment Torture : The practice of torture is commonplace for SEBIN and DGCIM. This torture can be both physical and moral: sexual and gender-based violence, heavy beatings with objects, electric shocks, asphyxiation with plastic bags and stress positions, rape, threats to rape the detainees and/or their family members, forced nudity, touching of sexual organs, electric shocks or beatings to reproductive organs, and threats to mutilate genitals... Enforced disappearances: It is common for those arrested to be held in secret, in remote locations. The authorities lie to family members who are looking for them, claiming that they do not know where the person is, not revealing that they are holding them. This can last for several months. The authorities also use a strategy called Sippenhaft, which consists of kidnapping the relatives of the person being pursued, to force them to surrender. Impunity: The authorities regularly avoid investigating allegations of torture, even though detainees appear at trial with visible injuries and signs of ill-treatment. Inhumane conditions of detention: Lack of medical care, of clean water and of food, unsanitary conditions, overcrowding and violence are daily occurrences in prisons and other detention centers. Malnutrition and tuberculosis were the two main causes of death in prisons in 2021, according to the Venezuelan Prison Observatory. Cells are deprived of natural light, while time outside and access to sanitary facilities is highly restricted. Prisoners have to defecate into plastic bags or bottles and are forced to eat food from the floor. Repression of the opposition: Real or perceived political opponents of Maduro's government are under constant attack and harassment. They are at risk of arbitrary detention, torture and other human rights violations as part of the repressive policy. Repression of human rights defenders The repression and criminalisation of civil society and human rights defenders has stepped up in 2021. Arbitrary arrests are common, with human rights defenders being charged with several types of offenses, including "terrorism", "incitement to hate", "treason"... According to the Centre for Human Rights Defenders and Justice, in 2021, 743 attacks were carried out against human rights defenders. ABOUT REFUGEES More than 7 million Venezuelans have left their country since 2015 due to the economic and political crisis, according to the UN. About 80% of them are in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). This is considered one of the largest refugee and migrant displacement crises in the world and the largest for the Americas in recent history. According to R4R7, many Venezuelans, in search of a secure and sustainable future, have undertaken life-threatening journeys, taking extremely dangerous routes. For example, one of the most dangerous routes is through the Darién jungle, between Colombia and Panama. More than 68,000 Venezuelans crossed the Darién between January and August 2022. Upon arrival in Panama, all reported seeing, hearing or being sexually assaulted while walking through the jungle. Zoom on Europe : According to the European Union's asylum agency, from January to September 2022, more than 37,800 Venezuelans sought asylum in EU+ countries, four times more than in the same period in 2021. In September, again according to the EU asylum agency, Venezuelan applicants received around 3,400 first instance decisions. Only about 110 decisions in September granted refugee status or subsidiary protection, giving an EU recognition rate of about 3%. However, Venezuelans are frequently granted a form of national protection, which is not part of the Common European Asylum System and is not counted here as a positive decision. FOR MORE INFORMATIONSBook :

• The story of Rachel, Venezuela : https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/pccimmigration/chapter/rachel/

Movies :

• https://ontheotherside360.org/ : a 360 interactive film about the Venezuelan displacement in Ecuador : ON THE OTHER SIDE is a collaborative project that was created jointly with Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Ecuador, who took a workshop to learn more about immersive storytelling and shared their stories in order to create the script.
• "Once upon a time in venezuela" : Villagers in the Venezuelan community of Lake Maracaibo fight against pollution, corruption and neglect to keep homes and way of life.

Documentary :

• "The Crossing" (La Frontera) - 2020: The Crossing (2019) examines the Venezuelan refugee crisis from the vantage point of a border city in its brother country, Cúcuta, Colombia.
• "The Broken Country" (El País Roto) : This documentary plunges right into the epicenter of the current crisis in Venezuela through the voices of its true protagonists. It tells five intertwined stories showing how the citizens are making their way through the remains of a run-down government.

Webpages :

• Crisis group : https://www.crisisgroup.org/latin-america-caribbean/andes/venezuela
• Amnesty : https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/?qlocation=1804
• United Nations Human rights council : https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/venezuela

GLOSSARY

1. Sindicato = an armed group of the mines.
2. ELN = Colombian guerrilla group named National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional). It's a communist guerrilla group involved in the Colombian conflict.
3. FARC = The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) are Colombia's largest rebel group. It was formed in 1964, as the military wing of the Colombian Communist Party.
4. OHCHR = The mission of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is to work for the protection of all human rights for all people; to help empower people to realize their rights; and to assist those responsible for upholding such rights in ensuring that they are implemented.
5. DGCIM = It is an organ that has the power to carry out counter-intelligence activities, targeting real or supposed enemies of the government.
6. SEBIN = It was created in June 2010 with the aim of planning, formulating, directing, controlling and executing civilian intelligence and counterintelligence policies and actions. According to its regulations, SEBIN carries out activities aimed at "neutralizing potential or actual threats to the state".
7. R4R = This is an interagency operation website, managed and supported by the Regional Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants of Venezuela, jointly led by IOM8 and UNHCR9. This page seeks to be a common entry point, facilitating communication, improving coordination of operations in the region and evidence-based advocacy to meet the needs of refugees and migrants in Venezuela.
8. IOM = The International Organization for Migration. It's part of the United Nations System as the leading inter-governmental organization promoting since 1951 humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all.
9. UNHCR = The United Nation High Commissioner for Refugee is an agency of another organization, the UN, whose purpose is to ensure respect for and international protection of refugees and asylum seekers.

IRAN Iran, ancient Persia, one of the oldest civilizations in the world still in existence, is experiencing a time of rebellions in which the government is acting in a violent and cruel manner: condemning protesters to death and restricting many fundamental freedoms. HISTORICAL APPROACH:

• Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution:

Prior to the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution, which would overthrow the monarchy and change the course of the country, Iran was ruled by Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, whose reforms to westernize the country, corruption and suppression of individual freedoms would infuriate the communist and religious sectors of the nation. During the Shah's period, the economy and educational opportunities expanded, even for women: they were encouraged and motivated to study, thus getting many conservative and rural families to allow their daughters to study outside the city. Moreover, schools were not segregated by gender: boys and girls studied together. Women could also attend sporting events and meet with friends and family regardless of their gender. Women's dress was free, with some women wearing hijab and others preferring to choose Western style. There was no dress code requiring them to wear veils and modest clothing. Before 1979, there were discos and entertainment venues and everyone could socialize with whomever they wanted. During the well-known White Revolution1,in 1963, women were given the right to vote and the same political rights as men. Even so, they did not have as much political representation as their male counterparts, nor did they cease to play traditional roles. The "family protection" law changed the minimum age of marriage for girls from 13 to 18, as well as giving women more leverage to ask for a divorce. It also banned polygamy, where men could only have one wife. The economic growth of the country allowed, in turn, the growth of the artistic activity since it had a lot of oil from which it obtained many benefits. However, not all the population profited from such wealth, but it was divided with only some sectors of society. The Shah, being an autocratic leader, was also a progressive and was committed to secularization. However, all that glitters is not gold because during his reign, political freedoms were restricted through authoritarian measures: opposition parties were marginalized or outlawed; social protests were often censored; illegal arrests were carried out; and opponents of the regime were tortured. All this was a major problem that led different sectors - communists, liberals and religious - to make a revolution to achieve true democracy.

• After the Islamic Revolution of 1979:

The Shah's successor was Ayatollah2 Ruhollah Khomeini who replaced an authoritarian regime with a religious authoritarian regime. He and his successors implemented a series of changes in the country: they decreed that all women must wear the veil and could only wear what they wanted to wear behind closed doors; the frequent prohibition of women's attendance at sports stadiums where the players are men; it was written in the Constitution that the highest authority is God and this will be represented by the supreme religious leader; they promised justice, freedom and democracy, and independence from the tutelage of the great powers (the United States, for example), among other things. During the post-revolution years, a significant decrease in poverty was observed: the revolution sought to eliminate the differences between rural and urban areas. However, the government's inability to create jobs became notorious, considering that the Iranian labor market cannot absorb as many graduates as there are in the country. Moreover, many Iranians have suffered and continue to suffer from socioeconomic precariousness. On the other hand, it should be noted that policies favor those loyal to the regime, with corruption, mismanagement and cronyism taking place. One change that never happened was that of the class character of Iranian society: a revolution without change in which the Shah's crown was replaced by the turban of the mullahs3. CURRENT SITUATION: As we have seen in the previous point, Iranian society has been feeling frustrated and angry for many years, especially the youth, who want a secure future and a decent job, as well as the desire to live their youth without the religious and moral pressures of society. The following are named and developed some points that are of concern to Iranian society and which, in turn, infringe on human rights or repress individual freedoms. Morality Police: Is a surveillance system charged with implementing strict interpretations of Islamic morality. Gasht-e Ershad is now the main agency charged with this task. Officers arrest women who wear the hijab incorrectly or not at all, women who show too much hair, and women who wear tight-fitting clothing or excessive makeup. When women are arrested for violating some of the rules, they may be fined, imprisoned or physically abused. "When I was a teenager in Iran, the moral police arrested me for being in a pizzeria with a group of friends" (BBC, 2022). Freedom of expression, association and assembly: Iran ranks 178th among 180 of the countries most repressive of the press, imprisoning journalists and banning publications (Reporters Without Borders). According to Amnesty International, in 2021, the authorities banned many political parties and censored media outlets. In addition, they also added Signal to some social networks to monitor the publications of cities and arrest them if deemed necessary. In peaceful protests, pellets are used to disperse them, as well as the Internet is shut down to hide human rights violations by security forces. Torture and ill-treatment: Authorities and prosecutors frequently torture prisoners during interrogations, as well as keeping them in overcrowded and inhumane conditions. In 2021, many inmates died from beatings including flogging, blindness, amputation and stoning. Discrimination against women and girls: The lack of legal protection for this group is obvious, suffering exclusion in legislation, in matters related to marriage, divorce, employment, inheritance and the holding of political office. Similarly, child marriage is the order of the day: between March 2020 and March 2021, 31,379 marriages of girls between 10 and 14 years of age were registered (Amnesty International). Discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people: Homosexuality is considered a perversion, with violent methods of conversion therapies, which consist of procedures to modify a person's sexual orientation, as well as murders of people who are part of the group. Discrimination against ethnic minorities: Some communities such as the Ahwazi Arab, Azerbaijani Turkic, Baluchi, Kurdish and Turkmen communities suffer restrictions in access to education, employment and political positions. In the same vein, death sentences and arbitrary arrests, on charges such as enmity against God, are known to occur to a greater extent among ethnic minorities, especially towards Kurds4. Discrimination against religious minorities: Religious minorities suffer exclusion in law and in practice - in education, employment and adoption, among others - as well as torture and ill-treatment for practicing their faith. In recent years, the Government has curtailed freedom of religion by introducing in the Penal Code a penalty of up to five years imprisonment or a fine for insulting ethnic Iranians, religions of divine revelation or Islamic faiths or for engaging in activities [...] that contradict Islam (Aministia International, 2021). Death penalty: In recent years, many people who have not committed internationally recognized serious crimes, such as drug trafficking and corruption, have been sentenced to death, and even protesters have been punished by this measure.

• Assassination of Mahsa Amini (2022):

On September 16 Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish girl, died in hospital from beatings by moral police after being arrested for not wearing her hair properly covered with the veil. For their part, the authorities deny that the events occurred in this way, but state that the young woman died of heart failure. The parents deny that Mahsa had any illness. This situation has unleashed a wave of demonstrations throughout the country in which many demonstrators have been arrested and several have even been sentenced to death. It is already known that the Iranian government has carried out some of these executions publicly to spread fear, justifying that those sentenced to death killed members of the authorities. In addition to these drastic measures that have been taken, access to the Internet has also been restricted to prevent citizens from sharing with the rest of the world what is happening. The demonstrations are a sign of the need for change in the country, a country that respects the rights of women and ethnic minorities. The slogan most often heard these days is Woman. Life. Freedom. DISPLACED PERSONS According to UNHCR, in 2021, 20,575 Iranian people fled and sought asylum in other countries. -0.0.23% of the total population. The most frequent destination countries were UK, Germany and Canada and, the most successful were asylum seekers in Iraq and Azerbaijan (World Data).

• Afghans in Iran:

A large number of Afghan refugees live in Iran. To reach the neighboring country, they try to cross borders where fire is opened against them, and if they manage to enter, they are often detained and subjected to torture and ill-treatment. Those who manage to settle, live undocumented or in precarious conditions; many children are forced to work and access to education is limited. Since 2021, approximately 65% of Afghan asylum seekers were deported to Afghanistan. FOR MORE INFORMATION:Books:

• Salam, maman by Hamid Ziarati (just translated in French and Italian).
• The house of the mosque by Kader Abdolah
• The Cypress Tree by Kamin Mohammadi
• Land of the turquoise mountains by Cyrus Massoudi

Webpages:

• https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/iran/report-iran/

Movies:

• Persépolis (2007)
• Bashu, The Little Stranger (1986)

Documentaries:

• The Green Wave (2010).
• No Land’s Song (2014).

Podcast:

• https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-iran-podcast/id1515542917

GLOSSARY 1. White Revolution: consisted of a series of reforms by the Shah to modernize the country whose name is due to the leader's intention to prevent a red revolution, with blood. Some of the measures were: strict control of religious institutions and land reform. The latter was not very successful because it caused the regime to lose the support of the large landowners. 2. Ayatollah: literally means sign of God and is a title of one of the highest religious authorities among the Islamic Shiites -a branch of Islam-. 3. Mullah: is the title designating Shiite Islamic priests. 4. Kurdistan: is a large region belonging to Middle Eastern countries - mainly Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, and also, but with less representation, Armenia - without a state. They speak Kurdish, although with different variations depending on the country of origin, and in some of the countries, as in Turkey, they have suffered harsh repression at some points in history. They claim an autonomous and independent region from the countries in which they reside.

Do you know that in Venezuela, human rights advocates are accused of terrorism, incitement to hatred, and treason? Do you know that 80% of Somali refugees live not in Europe but in neighboring and equally unstable countries in Africa? Do you know that many Palestinians in the West Bank live with the constant fear of seeing their house demolished? Do you know that in Pakistan, the unbearable heat due to climate change further worsens the daily life of women? Do you know that 6 out of 10 asylum applications requested by Syrians were refused in Europe in 2020? Do you know that in Iran, homosexual people are forced to modify their sexual orientation through "medical" conversion therapies? We are Alessandra (27), Maewenn (21) and Gisela (28), from Italy, France and Spain, respectively. We met in Ioannina (Greece) to live a beautiful experience with unaccompanied minors. Our job is to make the experience of a minor's journey from his country of origin to Europe a little more pleasant, and that is why we go every day to the facility where these people live. Our days are full of emotions and learning: we learn from every person we meet. That is why we decided to study and go deeper into the context from which come the people who make us move every day and those who give us their time. We wanted to understand the reason for some sad looks, the generosity, the origin of everything; and we wanted to understand ourselves too: our feelings, berries and thoughts when we are in contact with them. After several weeks of research, exchanges and readings, we decided to gather all the information we found in order to share it. Our main objective doing this interactive map was to highlight all these crises that are in the shadows. If like us you are interested in the reasons that pushed all these refugees and asylum seekers to leave their country, their family and friends to start this perilous journey for a better life, here is the link of our interactive map: English->https://view.genial.ly/63510be4b9e80400181f95db/interactive-content-the-refugee-crisis-reverse-path Spanish-> https://view.genial.ly/63c117b265e34b0011c3100a/interactive-content-la-crisis-de-los-refugiados-el-camino-a-la-inversa French -> https://view.genial.ly/63b55127e5072f001124c4cc/interactive-content-french-map Italian-> https://view.genial.ly/63c1174ea84911001878d532/interactive-content-la-crisi-dei-rifugiati-percorsi-al-contrario