Thousands of families displaced in recent fighting in central Somalia are in dire need of food and water, according to the Elman Human Rights Organization (EHRO), based in Mogadishu. According to Kiki Gbeho, head of OCHA-Somalia, despite the problems of access, “the humanitarian community is making all efforts to seek alternative ways to reach the affected and are currently planning to distribute food and non-food items to populations displaced by recent fighting. Humanitarian agencies are also planning to scale up water and sanitation, health and nutrition activities in the area.”
TOGO: Anti-trafficking law alters routes, not flow
Even after Togo criminalized child trafficking in 2005, every year thousands of children leave the country undetected under precarious conditions, according to the government. The government's National Commission for the Reception and Reinsertion of Trafficked Children reported about 500 children rescued per year from neighboring countries as victims of trafficking in 2007/2008. Before the law's passage, the commission reported on average more than 800 repatriated children each year from 2002 to 2004. Human rights organizations estimate hundreds of thousands of children are still recruited or transported within and outside of Togo annually.
Australia refugee policy attacked
Australia's human rights watchdog has condemned the country's treatment of refugees. Asylum seekers were being held in “utterly miserable conditions” for prolonged periods of time, the Human Rights Commission said. Children continued to be detained, it said in its annual report. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promised a more humane refugee policy when he was elected in November 2007 and scrapped the policy of mandatory detention. But a report from the government's own human rights watchdog has found that refugees continue to be held in poor conditions.
Police crack China baby sale gang
Police in southern China have broken up a gang that abducted migrant workers’ children to sell in distant provinces, state media reports. The children, mostly toddlers aged two or three years old, were snatched in Hunan's province's Yueyang city while they were playing or sleeping. They were sold for between 860 yuan (USD 125) and 26,000 yuan (USD 3,800), the Beijing News said. Five children had been rescued and 13 suspects arrested, Xinhua said. The children were snatched in broad daylight by gang members on motorbikes, it added.
PAKISTAN: Record number of polio cases in 2008
Early indications in 2009 suggest Pakistan's campaign to eradicate polio may continue to face challenges. Muhammad Sirajuddin, chief health officer in Sahiwal District, Punjab Province, confirmed polio in a five-year-old girl on Jan. 2. This is a blow to the anti-polio campaign, given that the district was among those ranked “polio-free” by the Punjab government. Six children who lived with the infected child are now also being tested, the district surveillance coordinator for polio, said. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) confirmed 118 cases last year in all four provinces of the country.
Belgium delays Gaza mission as evacuee flow stops
Belgium has postponed a humanitarian mission to treat and transport injured Palestinian children from Gaza because security conditions are hampering their evacuation, the foreign ministry said Jan. 12. “Under present safety conditions, we cannot do it,” ministry spokesman Bart Ouvry said. A Belgian C-130 aircraft carrying medical supplies and a reconnaissance team was meant to land at the weekend in Egypt's El-Arish, some 60 km from the Gaza Strip. The Belgians planned to fly injured Gazan children to hospitals in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan or Europe after they had been evacuated from the territory by local aid groups.
Saudi to treat Gaza children maimed in Israel raids
A Palestinian girl who lost her legs and a boy who was blinded in Israel's attack on Gaza are amongst Palestinians receiving treatment in Saudi Arabia, a Saudi minister said on Jan. 13. Saudi state media have carried prominent coverage of several dozen wounded Palestinians brought to the country for treatment in Saudi hospitals. A precise figure of those being treated was not available. A meeting of Arab health ministers in Riyadh will discuss Israel's offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 900 Palestinians and put Arab leaders under public pressure to act.