NewzIntel.com

Category: NGOs

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: On World Refugee Day, States throughout the Americas must uphold the right to seek asylum  

    Source: Amnesty International –

    In response to measures being adopted by states across the Americas that violate the human rights of people seeking safety, Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International, said the following:

    “On World Refugee Day, we are witnessing a devasting erosion of the rights of people seeking safety and asylum protections across the Americas. The Trump administration has issued a barrage of executive actions which have halted the US Refugee Admissions Program and make it nearly impossible to seek asylum in the United States, placing countless lives at risk. These policies have already resulted in thousands of people being forcibly returned to places where their lives or safety are at risk. Currently, there is no longer any way for people to seek asylum at the US-Mexico border. This is not only unlawful but inhumane and cruel.

    The Trump administration has issued a barrage of executive actions which have halted the US Refugee Admissions Program and make it nearly impossible to seek asylum in the United States, placing countless lives at risk…This is not only unlawful but inhumane and cruel.

    Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International.

    The Trump administration has also dismantled other critical protections for people seeking safety, including stripping Temporary Protected Status from individuals of certain nationalities and revoking humanitarian parole granted to Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, which contradicts the narrative that these very same countries are experiencing the most dire human rights crises in the region. At the same time, the United States has escalated mass immigration raids, is detaining and separating families, is unlawfully removing individuals from the US with no due process guarantees, and is criminally prosecuting individuals for the way in which they entered the country – treating people in need of international protection as criminals.

    These harmful policies have rippled across the region. Costa Rica and Panama have accepted deportation flights of third-country nationals from the United States – many with ongoing asylum claims – leaving them stranded with limited access to humanitarian assistance and international protection. El Salvador is complicit in the enforced disappearance of hundreds of Venezuelans illegally expelled from the US under the guise of the Alien Enemies Act in the notorious CECOT prison, who were in the midst of ongoing court processes, were arrested while complying with their immigration obligations, were already granted protections in the United States including under the Convention Against Torture, and were labeled as gang members for their tattoos or connection to the Venezuelan state of Aragua with no other evidence.

    The Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) between Canada and the United States bars most people crossing into Canada via the United States from seeking refugee protection in Canada, and vice versa. The agreement has forced individuals to attempt dangerous border crossings and has pushed people underground in order to seek safety, and resulted in people and families detained in the US. As the United States becomes increasingly unsafe for asylum seekers, the Canadian government must withdraw from the agreement immediately. 

    The Dominican Republic has been implementing a series of racist migration policies, without even recognizing the right to seek asylum for those fleeing violence from Haiti, and targeting people of Haitian origin. Haitians are being collectively expelled from the Dominican Republic despite the worsening humanitarian and security crisis in Haiti, placing those forcibly returned at grave risk and undermining the principle of non-refoulement.   

    People from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and across the region and beyond are fleeing widespread human rights crises. Instead of finding refuge and protection, they are being met with hostility, militarized borders and criminalization. The immigration and asylum policies being implemented by countries across the Americas are fueled by racist and xenophobic rhetoric that dehumanizes people seeking safety. 

    The immigration and asylum policies being implemented by countries across the Americas are fueled by racist and xenophobic rhetoric that dehumanizes people seeking safety. 

    Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International.

    The situation is further exacerbated by the US government’s severe cuts to foreign assistance, which have weakened shelters and frontline organizations that provide life-saving support to people seeking safety and internally displaced people. From Costa Rica to Mexico to the Haiti-Dominican Republic border, organizations have been forced to scale back or close food, shelter and legal and psychosocial programs for people seeking safety, just as need grows. 

    On World Refugee Day, Amnesty International urgently calls on states in the Americas to protect, not punish, people seeking safety. States must immediately restore access to asylum, reverse discriminatory policies and uphold their obligations under international law. We stand in solidarity with people across the region who have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety and dignity. Seeking safety is a human right. It’s time for governments to act like it.”

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: UK: Court ruling on Shell oil spills in Niger Delta an ‘important step forward’ for devastated communities

    Source: Amnesty International –

    King Okabi of the Ogale community calling for an end to Shell’s pollution of the Niger Delta © M-A Ventoura/Amnesty International UK

    In response to the High Court’s preliminary issues trial ruling today that Shell can be held responsible for its oil spills in the Niger Delta, Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International Nigeria’s Director, said:

    “It is welcome news that despite Shell’s best efforts to use this trial to evade responsibility the High Court has ruled it can be held liable for the oil spills and leaks it has failed to clean up – regardless of how long ago they happened or whether they were caused by theft by others from Shell’s poorly maintained pipelines.  

    “The judgement is an important step towards justice for communities in the Niger Delta. It is a vital opportunity to make Shell pay for the devastating pollution it has caused on the Ogale and Bille lands, and to require it to clean up its toxic mess thoroughly caused by nearly 70-years-worth of oil leaks and spills, and properly compensate the Ogale and Bille communities before it leaves the region.”

    Toxic legacy

    More than 13,500 Ogale and Bille residents in the Niger Delta have filed claims against Shell over the past decade demanding the company clean up oil spills that they say have wrecked their livelihoods and caused widespread devastation to the local environment. They can’t fish anymore because their water sources, including their wells for drinking water, are poisoned and the land is contaminated which has killed plant life, meaning communities can no longer farm.  

    For nearly 70 years Shell’s oil spills and leaks due to poorly maintained pipelines, wells and inadequate clean-up attempts that have ravaged the health and livelihoods of many of the 30 million people living in the Niger Delta – most of whom live in poverty. Shell plc is domiciled in London and should be legally responsible for the environmental failures of its subsidiary company, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria. 

    View latest press releases

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Azerbaijan: Seven journalists sentenced in latest shocking crackdown on free speech

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Reacting to the sentencing to lengthy prison terms of seven media workers in the “Abzas Media case” in Azerbaijan, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said:

    “The case against Abzas Media is an example of how Azerbaijan’s judicial system is being weaponized to muzzle independent journalism and calls for a strong international response. By pressing fabricated economic charges against journalists who exposed high-level corruption, the Azerbaijani authorities are sending a chilling message to anyone in the country who dares to challenge them. A strong international reaction should make clear that this is unacceptable.

    “The political repression in Azerbaijan today is staggering, yet we lack a united, principled stand against it from the international community, in defence of human rights. In stark contrast, major actors like the European Union persist in actively courting President Ilham Aliyev in search of lucrative gas deals.

    The political repression in Azerbaijan today is staggering, yet we lack a united, principled stand against it from the international community

    Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director

    “The international community must exert real pressure on the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately release the Abzas Media journalists, imprisoned media workers from Toplum TV, Meydan TV and Kanal 13, and all other government critics imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression, and to put an end to the Azerbaijani government’s systemic campaign against dissent.”

    Background

    On 20 June, the Baku Court of Serious Crimes sentenced seven media workers affiliated with the independent investigative outlet Abzas Media – including director Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinc Vagifgizi, investigative journalist Hafiz Babaly, reporters Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasymova, translator Muhammad Kekalov, and economist and Radio Free Europe correspondent Farid Mehralizade – to prison terms ranging from seven and a half to nine years. The charges included “currency smuggling,” “money laundering,” “tax evasion” and forgery of documents.

    Their prosecution and imprisonment are widely believed to be in retaliation for the media organization’s investigations into corruption among President Ilham Aliyev’s family and inner circle. These include reports on post-war reconstruction in Nagorno-Karabakh and illicit financial networks tied to state-linked companies. During the hearings, the defence highlighted numerous procedural irregularities, pressure on the defendants and witnesses, and a lack of credible evidence. Witnesses have withdrawn or denied previous statements, and defendants have reported ill-treatment in custody.

    At least 25 journalists are currently imprisoned in the country. Azerbaijan has the highest number of imprisoned media workers held on politically motivated charges since it joined the Council of Europe in 2001. Just on 7 May, independent journalist Ulviyya Ali, a contributor to Voice of America, was arrested.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: How Nuclear and Isotopic Techniques Help Countries Combat Soil Salinization

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

    The IAEA has a long history of helping countries adjust to salinized soils. In 1978, the IAEA helped develop climate smart agricultural practices to reclaim salt-affected soil that transformed saline soils in Pakistan into productive farmlands.

    IAEA support to the country has continued as the changing climate has caused even further soil salinization. In Pakistan, erratic rainfall patterns have pushed farmers to irrigate using groundwater with high levels of salt. With IAEA support, Pakistan’s Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB) has developed and planted salt-tolerant crops and implemented soil nutrient and water management techniques. Today, NIAB is sharing its expertise by training scientists from other countries affected by soil salinization.

    The IAEA is also supporting countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, where scientists are using nuclear techniques to develop salt-tolerant crops, helping farmers grow food in degraded soils.

    Following IAEA regional projects, in which 60 researchers from 10 countries were trained in soil, nutrient and water management to combat soil salinity, the IAEA published an open-access book enabling experts in several countries to successfully grow crops under saline conditions such as millet in Lebanon, barley and safflower in Jordan and Kuwait, okra in Syria and quinoa in the United Arab Emirates. “Thanks to the joint work with the IAEA, our scientists applied the recommended climate-smart agricultural practices to successfully grow crops under saline conditions,” says Nabeel Bani Hani, Director of the National Agricultural Research Center in Jordan.

    “As the world faces increasing pressure to feed a growing population, restoring degraded land is more urgent than ever. The IAEA’s work shows that with the right tools—science, collaboration, and innovation—we can turn salty, barren soils into fertile ground for the future” said Mohammad Zaman, Head of the Soil and Water Management and Crop Nutrition Section of the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: IAEA Mission Observes Commitment to Safety at Research Reactor in Malaysia, Recommends Further Improvement

    Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) –

    An IAEA team of experts visited Malaysia’s nuclear research reactor, the Reaktor TRIGA PUSPATI, during an Integrated Safety Assessment for Research Reactors mission. (Photo: Nuklear Malaysia)

    An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts said Malaysia is committed to the safe operation of its sole nuclear research reactor, the Reaktor TRIGA PUSPATI (RTP). The team also identified the need to further enhance the effectiveness of the reactor’s safety committee, the management of refurbishment and modernization of the reactor’s safety systems and components, and operating procedures.

    The five-day Integrated Safety Assessment for Research Reactors (INSARR) mission to the RTP facility, which concluded on 20 June, was conducted at the request of Malaysian Nuclear Agency (Nuklear Malaysia). The mission team comprised three experts from Slovenia, South Africa, and Thailand, and two IAEA staff.

    RTP is located in Bangi, Selangor, about 30 kilometres south of Kuala Lumpur. Two INSARR missions were conducted at RTP in 1997 and 2014. Since then, the reactor has undergone modifications, including replacement of the rotary rack, refurbishment of the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems and the upgrading of the stack monitoring system.

    RTP was constructed in 1979 and began operation in 1982. RTP was designed for various fields of nuclear research, education and training, and it incorporates facilities for neutron and gamma radiation studies, as well as isotope production and sample activation.

    The INSARR team visited the reactor and its associated facilities and met with the research reactor staff and management. “Nuklear Malaysia has shown a commitment to safety by requesting an IAEA INSARR mission,” said Kaichao Sun, team leader and Nuclear Safety Officer at the IAEA. “Ageing management of reactor systems and components that are important to safety can be challenging. Effective application of the IAEA safety standards, including the establishment of effective leadership and management for safety and the utilization of operating experience feedback, helps address this challenge.”

    The mission team made recommendations and suggestions to Nuklear Malaysia for further improvements, including the need for:

    • Improving the reactor safety committee’s oversight of all activities important to safety, including reactor modifications and operational safety programmes such as refurbishment and modernization of the reactor’s safety systems and components;   
    • Strengthening procedures to respond to abnormal situations and events, such as loss of electrical power, fire and earthquakes;      
    • Establishing procedures for learning from operating experience; and     
    • Strengthening radiological protection practices by improving the classification of different areas of the workplace.  

    “The INSARR mission is a valuable opportunity for us to engage in a peer-review process,” said Julia Abdul Karim, Director of Technical Support Division at Nuklear Malaysia. “It enables us to benchmark our programmes and activities against the IAEA safety standards and the international best practices and to strengthen our operational safety of our research reactor.”

    Background

    INSARR missions are an IAEA peer review service, conducted at the request of a Member State, to assess and evaluate the safety of research reactors based on IAEA safety standards. Follow-up missions are standard components of the INSARR programme and are typically conducted within two years of the initial mission. General information about INSARR missions can be found on the IAEA website.

    The IAEA Safety Standards provide a robust framework of fundamental principles, requirements, and guidance to ensure safety. They reflect an international consensus and serve as a global reference for protecting people and the environment from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Central African Republic: Breakthrough as ex-combatants of rebel group are convicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity but trial tarnished by absence of four defendants

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Reacting to the news that the Special Criminal Court has convicted six former combatants of the Popular Front for the Rebirth of the Central African Republic (Front populaire pour la renaissance de la Centrafrique) for crimes against humanity and war crimes, Alice Banens, Legal Adviser at Amnesty International, said:

    “The decision handed down by the Special Criminal Court (SCC) in the Ndélé 2 case represents a breakthrough in the fight against impunity for serious crimes committed in the Central African Republic. Light has been shed on the atrocities committed in Ndélé in March 2020.

    “However, four of the six people found guilty and given heavy sentences were convicted in absentia. Amnesty International considers that the defendant’s right to be present at their trial, to prepare their defence with their lawyer, and to address the Court directly are pillars of the right of defence, without which there can be no fair trial.

    The execution of arrest warrants is essential if the fight against impunity is not to be selective.

    Alice Banens, Legal Adviser at Amnesty International

    “Several suspects who are accused of serious crimes and subject to arrest warrants from the SCC are still at large. This situation continues to deprive victims of their right to truth, justice and effective reparation. The execution of arrest warrants is essential if the fight against impunity is not to be selective.”

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Colombia: One year on, women searchers for victims of enforced disappearance are still waiting for the country to deliver for them

    Source: Amnesty International –

    • A year ago, the Colombian government approved Law 2364 of 2024, recognizing the work and rights of women searchers for victims of enforced disappearance. National and international social organizations are calling on the government to make progress on its implementation. 
    • According to official sources, between 100,000 and 200,000 persons have been forcibly disappeared in Colombia. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has recorded that even today one person disappears every 36 hours in the country. Their loved ones dedicate their lives to search for them in the midst of violence. Most of those searching are women. 
    • Amnesty International acknowledges that Colombia marked a first in the world when it approved this law, but a year has now gone by, and implementation is still pending. Organizations of women searchers such as the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation emphasize that the risks and threats involved in searching make progress in the implementation of the law a matter of urgency. 

    Bogotá, 18 June 2025. A year ago, the Colombian government passed Law 2364 of 2024, which recognizes and provides for the integral protection of the work and rights of women searchers for victims of enforced disappearance. The Congress of the Republic debated and approved this law following the advocacy initiative of organizations of women searchers throughout the country. Amnesty International joined the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation and the many other organizations of women searchers for forcibly disappeared persons in Colombia to demand that the law be implemented and the promise of state protection for the women who dedicate their lives to searching for their loved ones in the midst of violence be upheld.

    Although social organizations acknowledge the importance of Colombia having a law that recognizes and protects women searchers, it is concerning that the timelines provided for its implementation have not yet been met one year on. The law mandated the government to issue a regulatory decree on the participation of women searchers in developing, applying and evaluating public peace policies within three months from its entry into force. It also granted the Ministry of Health and Social Protection a period of six months for regulating access to age-related health and social protection programmes for women searchers, and the ministries of Internal Affairs and Equality the same period for promoting prevention and protection measures to ensure their safety. Finally, the law mandated that the government develop regulations for a Single Register of Women Searchers – to be managed by the Victims Unit (UARIV) – within one year, but such register has not yet been created. 

    The Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation and Amnesty International have emphasized that it is crucial that the regulations governing the law, which are currently being developed, are finalized and implemented, as significant risks persist in the search for disappeared persons. 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: 8 out of 10 Indian support taxing oil and gas corporations to pay for climate damages, global survey finds 

    Source: Greenpeace Statement –

    New Delhi, 19 June 2025 – A global survey shows a strong support for holding fossil fuel companies accountable for environmental damage. 80% Indian respondents believe the fossil fuel corporations should be taxed for environmental damage they cause.  The data from the survey reflects a growing public consensus that the industries driving the climate crisis should be held financially accountable for the destruction they caused. 

    A remarkable 86% of people support government spending on climate disaster relief–provided it is funded by tax on coal, oil, and gas polluters. Notably, 89% of BJP supporters and 82% of Congress (INC) supporters agree on the need to increase taxes on oil and gas corporations to support those hit hardest by extreme weather events, highlighting rare cross-party unity on climate accountability.   

    The study, jointly commissioned by Greenpeace International and Oxfam International, was launched today at the UN Climate Meetings in Bonn (SB62), where government representatives are discussing climate policies, including ways to mobilise at least US$ 1.3 trillion annually in climate finance for Global South countries by 2035. The survey was conducted across 13 countries, including most G7 countries. 

    Selomi Garnaik, Climate and Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace India said: “Communities in developing countries are paying the price for a crisis they did not cause, while fossil fuel companies continue to profit. The science is clear—over a century of burning coal, oil, and gas has fueled the climate damage we face today. This new survey reveals strong public support for making polluters pay. As we head into COP30, governments have a clear public mandate to act- stand with the people, not the polluters, and make fossil fuel companies pay for the harm they have caused.”

    The study, run by Dynata, was unveiled alongside the Polluters Pay Pact, a global alliance of communities on the frontlines of climate disasters. The Pact demands that governments make oil, gas and coal corporations – not the people – pay their fair share for the damages they cause, through the introduction of new taxes and fines.

    The Pact is backed by firefighters and other first responders, trade unions and worker groups, and mayors from countries including Australia, Brazil, Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and South Africa, the US, and plaintiffs in landmark climate cases from Pacific island states to Switzerland.

    The Pact is also supported by over 60 NGOs, including Oxfam International, 350.org, Avaaz, Islamic Relief UK, Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA), Indian Hawkers Alliance, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, Jubilee Australia and the Greenpeace network.

    The survey’s findings published today reveal broad public support for the core demands of the Polluters Pay Pact, as climate impacts worsen worldwide and global inequality grows.

    Key findings of the survey include:

    • 81% of people surveyed globally would support taxes on the oil, gas, and coal industry to pay for damages caused by fossil-fuel driven climate disasters like storms, floods, droughts and wildfires. 
    • 87% of people surveyed in India support channeling revenues from higher taxes on oil and gas corporations towards communities most impacted by the climate crisis. Climate change is disproportionately hitting people in Global South countries, who are historically least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. 
    • 68% of people surveyed globally felt that the fossil fuel industry and the super-rich had a negative influence on politics in their country. 77% say they would be more willing to support a political candidate who prioritises taxing the super-rich and the fossil fuel industry. 

    Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International, said: “Fossil fuel companies have known for decades about the damage their polluting products wreak on humanity. Corporations continue to cash in on climate devastation, and their profiteering destroys the lives and livelihoods of millions of women, men and children, predominantly those in the Global South who have done the least to cause the climate crisis. Governments must listen to their people and hold polluters responsible for their damages. A new tax on polluting industries could provide immediate and significant support to climate-vulnerable countries, and finally incentivise investment in renewables and a just transition.” 

    The Polluters Pay Pact demonstrates popular support for the campaign to make polluters pay. The campaign is being waged throughout 2025 in countries worldwide and in critical international forums, including the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30), and negotiations for a UN tax convention that could include new rules to make multinational oil and gas companies pay their fair share for their pollution.

    ENDS

    Notes:

    [1] The research was conducted by first-party data company Dynata in May-June, 2025, in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Kenya, Italy, India, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the US, with approximately 1200 respondents in each country and a theoretical margin of error of approximately 2.83%. Together, these countries represent close to half the world’s population. Statistics available here. 

    Additional background information available here.

    [2] Learn more about the Polluters Pay Pact: polluterspaypact.org

    [3] Additional quotes here from people around the world who are backing the Polluters Pay Pact, including first responders, local administration, youth, union representatives and people bringing climate cases to courts. 

    Contacts: 

    For Greenpeace India:
    Nibedita Saha, Media Officer, [email protected]

     For Greenpeace International: 

    Tal Harris, Greenpeace International, Global Media Lead – Stop Drilling Start Paying campaign, [email protected], +41-782530550

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Living as a humanitarian and refugee in Lebanon

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    My name is Muhammad Sunallah, and I am a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon.

    Mohammad Sunallah has been working with MSF in Lebanon since 2011. Lebanon, June 2025.
    © Salam Daoud/MSF

    I was born and raised in the Ain El-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp located in Saida, southern Lebanon. Established following the Nakba in 1948, it’s one of 12 Palestinian refugee camps in the country. It might be the largest one, but it always felt too small. The concrete walls surrounding it block the view of the ‘outside world’.

    Like millions of refugees around the world, I did not choose to become a refugee. In 1948, my grandparents were forced to leave Deir El-Asad in Acre, heading for an unknown destination. My father was a young child, and my mother was just an infant. “In three days, the situation will improve, and you will return,” my great grandmother told my grandfather. Why have those three days turned into 77 years?

    I, like other Palestinian refugees, have gone through identity crises morphed by accumulating traumas, the first of which stems from growing up away from our homeland. From a young age I knew I was Palestinian, but I didn’t know what that actually meant. I have never seen Palestine, I have never stepped on its soil, I have never played in its neighbourhoods. My internal wounds grew bigger when I realised that every “I have never” in these statements was realistically “I will never”. What is a refugee who does not have a homeland to return to?

    Growing up, I wanted to become a doctor and help people who needed medical care. But I soon faced the harsh reality that as a refugee I could not practice medicine in this country. Choosing that path would mean I had leave Lebanon, which I was not willing to do. So, I decided to become a nurse.

    When I joined Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in 2011, my appreciation for nursing as a profession doubled.

    I initially worked with MSF inside Ain El-Hilweh camp for many years, during which our activities took many shapes. Much like other Palestinian camps in the country, Ain El-Hilweh hosts Syrian refugees who fled the war that started in 2011. In 2015, I moved to MSF’s project in south Beirut, where we ran two clinics in the Shatila and Bourj El-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camps.

    In 2017 and 2023, several armed clashes broke out in Ain El-Hilweh camp. MSF launched emergency responses in both years, which I joined to support my community. I’ve also taken part in several emergency vaccination campaigns supporting Ministry of Health efforts.

    In 2020, we also witnessed the Beirut Port explosion, yet another trauma in the country that shook me just as it shook the city. MSF’s emergency response included providing essential healthcare, dressing wounds, ensuring people with non-communicable diseases had their medication, mental health services, and donating clean water, drinking water and hygiene kits. At that point, I was no longer just a refugee supporting refugees.

    In September 2024, Israel escalated its war in Lebanon, which required an emergency response yet again. But this response was not like prior ones; it was much larger as the deadly war retraumatised many Lebanese people, migrants, and refugees alike. MSF went from operating one mobile medical team to 22 teams across Lebanon. We worked hard to provide health care and medication to the displaced wherever they were, in shelters, overcrowded apartments, or even on the streets.

    This latest emergency response lasted for two months, but the war did not stop with the declaration of a ceasefire. We are still witnessing Israel bombing in south Lebanon and the southern suburb of Beirut, and Israeli forces are still in Lebanon. We are still supporting people who were displaced and have not found homes or even villages to return to. It pains me greatly for Lebanon to suffer from Israel’s war that steals lives, hope, and memories, just as is happening in Palestine.

    I may not know who I am to Lebanon, but I’m certain of what Lebanon is to me. After spending 39 years in this country, it is no longer the closest thing to home: it has become home. It is a homeland I sing for; a homeland I feel a sense of belonging and loyalty to.

    My family members who emmigrated from Lebanon always ask me why I don’t leave it like they did, and I always answer them that this country needs me just as I need it. My mission is to serve the Lebanese society, which includes Lebanese people, migrants, and refugees—the Palestinian and Syrian.

    I am raising my 7-year-old son as though he’s a dual citizen, Palestinian on his father’s side and Lebanese on his mother’s side. But the bitter reality is that my son lacks both citizenships because his mother can’t pass it down to him. No matter how much I try to protect him from the traumas that are passed down through Palestinian generations, trauma is inevitable. But we find ways to cope, in search of belonging. We persevere, and we thrive.

    On World Refugee Day, I say: my name is Muhammad Sunallah, and I am a husband, a father, a nurse, and a humanitarian worker. But I am who I am today because I am a refugee.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Living as a humanitarian and refugee in Lebanon

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    My name is Muhammad Sunallah, and I am a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon.

    Mohammad Sunallah has been working with MSF in Lebanon since 2011. Lebanon, June 2025.
    © Salam Daoud/MSF

    I was born and raised in the Ain El-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp located in Saida, southern Lebanon. Established following the Nakba in 1948, it’s one of 12 Palestinian refugee camps in the country. It might be the largest one, but it always felt too small. The concrete walls surrounding it block the view of the ‘outside world’.

    Like millions of refugees around the world, I did not choose to become a refugee. In 1948, my grandparents were forced to leave Deir El-Asad in Acre, heading for an unknown destination. My father was a young child, and my mother was just an infant. “In three days, the situation will improve, and you will return,” my great grandmother told my grandfather. Why have those three days turned into 77 years?

    I, like other Palestinian refugees, have gone through identity crises morphed by accumulating traumas, the first of which stems from growing up away from our homeland. From a young age I knew I was Palestinian, but I didn’t know what that actually meant. I have never seen Palestine, I have never stepped on its soil, I have never played in its neighbourhoods. My internal wounds grew bigger when I realised that every “I have never” in these statements was realistically “I will never”. What is a refugee who does not have a homeland to return to?

    Growing up, I wanted to become a doctor and help people who needed medical care. But I soon faced the harsh reality that as a refugee I could not practice medicine in this country. Choosing that path would mean I had leave Lebanon, which I was not willing to do. So, I decided to become a nurse.

    When I joined Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in 2011, my appreciation for nursing as a profession doubled.

    I initially worked with MSF inside Ain El-Hilweh camp for many years, during which our activities took many shapes. Much like other Palestinian camps in the country, Ain El-Hilweh hosts Syrian refugees who fled the war that started in 2011. In 2015, I moved to MSF’s project in south Beirut, where we ran two clinics in the Shatila and Bourj El-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camps.

    In 2017 and 2023, several armed clashes broke out in Ain El-Hilweh camp. MSF launched emergency responses in both years, which I joined to support my community. I’ve also taken part in several emergency vaccination campaigns supporting Ministry of Health efforts.

    In 2020, we also witnessed the Beirut Port explosion, yet another trauma in the country that shook me just as it shook the city. MSF’s emergency response included providing essential healthcare, dressing wounds, ensuring people with non-communicable diseases had their medication, mental health services, and donating clean water, drinking water and hygiene kits. At that point, I was no longer just a refugee supporting refugees.

    In September 2024, Israel escalated its war in Lebanon, which required an emergency response yet again. But this response was not like prior ones; it was much larger as the deadly war retraumatised many Lebanese people, migrants, and refugees alike. MSF went from operating one mobile medical team to 22 teams across Lebanon. We worked hard to provide health care and medication to the displaced wherever they were, in shelters, overcrowded apartments, or even on the streets.

    This latest emergency response lasted for two months, but the war did not stop with the declaration of a ceasefire. We are still witnessing Israel bombing in south Lebanon and the southern suburb of Beirut, and Israeli forces are still in Lebanon. We are still supporting people who were displaced and have not found homes or even villages to return to. It pains me greatly for Lebanon to suffer from Israel’s war that steals lives, hope, and memories, just as is happening in Palestine.

    I may not know who I am to Lebanon, but I’m certain of what Lebanon is to me. After spending 39 years in this country, it is no longer the closest thing to home: it has become home. It is a homeland I sing for; a homeland I feel a sense of belonging and loyalty to.

    My family members who emmigrated from Lebanon always ask me why I don’t leave it like they did, and I always answer them that this country needs me just as I need it. My mission is to serve the Lebanese society, which includes Lebanese people, migrants, and refugees—the Palestinian and Syrian.

    I am raising my 7-year-old son as though he’s a dual citizen, Palestinian on his father’s side and Lebanese on his mother’s side. But the bitter reality is that my son lacks both citizenships because his mother can’t pass it down to him. No matter how much I try to protect him from the traumas that are passed down through Palestinian generations, trauma is inevitable. But we find ways to cope, in search of belonging. We persevere, and we thrive.

    On World Refugee Day, I say: my name is Muhammad Sunallah, and I am a husband, a father, a nurse, and a humanitarian worker. But I am who I am today because I am a refugee.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Oxfam reaction to final outcome document for Financing for Development Conference

    Source: Oxfam –

    In reaction to the vote of the final outcome document of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International’s Executive Director said: 

    “Rich countries missed a chance to make a real difference in the fight against global poverty and inequality. They could have helped to end the debt crisis that is impacting over three billion people in the Global South mainly women and girls. This was a key demand of developing countries, many of whom are spending more repaying debt than they can on public education and healthcare. The outcome does however make some positive calls on inequality and on taxing the super-rich, which governments can build upon. 

    Oxfam is going to Sevilla in two weeks to urge governments to take more ambitious commitments to fight inequality by taxing the super-rich, advancing on gender equality, meeting their aid goals and adopting a public finance first approach. We cannot transform multilateralism without putting the fight against inequality at its core.” 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Global survey finds 8 out of 10 people support taxing oil and gas corporations to pay for climate damages

    Source: Oxfam –

    A majority of people believe governments must tax oil, gas and coal corporations for climate-related loss and damage, and that their government is not doing enough to counter the influence on politics of the super-rich and polluting industries. These are the key findings of a global survey, which reflects broad consensus across political affiliations, income levels and age groups.  

    Today’s study, which was jointly commissioned by Greenpeace International and Oxfam International, was launched at the Bonn UN climate meetings (SB62 16-26 June), where governments are discussing key climate policy priorities, including ways to mobilize at least US $ 1.3 trillion annually in climate finance for Global South countries by 2035. The poll was conducted across 13 countries, including most G7 countries. 

    The study, run by Dynata, comes with additional research by Oxfam showing that a polluter profits tax on 590 oil, gas and coal companies could raise up to US $400 billion in its first year. This is equivalent to the estimated annual costs of climate damage in the Global South. Loss and damage costs from climate change to the Global South are estimated to reach between $290bn to $580bn annually by 2030. 
     

    Key findings of the survey include: 

    • 81% of people surveyed support new taxes on the oil, coal and gas industry to pay for damages caused by fossil-fuel driven climate disasters like storms, floods, droughts and wildfires.
       
    • 86% of people in surveyed countries support channelling revenues from higher taxes on oil and gas corporations towards communities who are most impacted by the climate crisis. Climate change is disproportionately hitting people in Global South countries, who are historically least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions.
       
    • When asked who should be taxed to pay for helping survivors of fossil-fuel driven climate disasters, 66% of people across countries surveyed think it should be oil and gas companies compared to than 5% who support taxes on working people, 9% on goods people buy, and 20% in favour of business taxes.
       
    • 68% felt that the fossil fuel industry and the super-rich had a negative influence on politics in their country. 77% say they would be more willing to support a political candidate who prioritises taxing the super-rich and the fossil fuel industry. 
       

    Oxfam’s research finds that 585 of the world’s largest and most polluting fossil fuel companies made $583 billion in profits in 2024, a 68% increase since 2019. The annual emissions of 340 of these corporations (for whom data was available) accounted for over half of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans. Their emissions in just one year are enough to cause 2.7 million heat-related deaths over the next century. 

    A polluter profits tax on these companies would ensure that renewable energy is more profitable than fossil fuels, encouraging companies to invest in renewables, as well as avoid more deaths driven by fossil fuelled climate change. This new tax must be accompanied by higher taxes on the super-rich and other polluting companies. Governments should impose such taxes nationally and engage positively at the UN to ensure a fair global tax agreement.  

    “People understand that storms, floods, drought, wildfires, and other extreme weather events are being fuelled by oil and gas corporations. Instead of leaving communities exposed to deal with these devastating costs alone, governments can unlock huge sums of money to invest in climate solutions through making dirty energy companies pay,” said Rebecca Newsom, Global Political Lead for Greenpeace’s Stop Drilling, Start Paying campaign. “The Polluters Pay Pact unites communities on the frontlines of climate disasters, concerned citizens, first responders like firefighters and humanitarian groups around the world to call on politicians to act now through making polluters, not people, pay for climate damages.”  

    Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International, said: “Mega-rich coal, oil and gas companies have known for decades about the damage their polluting products wreak on humanity. Corporations continue to cash in on climate devastation, and their profiteering destroys the lives and livelihoods of millions of women, men and children, predominantly those in the Global South who have done the least to cause the climate crisis. Governments must listen to their people and hold rich polluters responsible for their damages. A new tax on polluting industries could provide immediate and significant support to climate-vulnerable countries and finally incentivise investment in renewables and a just transition.”  

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Georgia: Court order on five independent NGOs a blow to freedom of association 

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Reacting to news that a court in Georgia has ordered five independent civil society organizations to submit highly sensitive information about beneficiaries protected through their human rights work, as well as information on their activities and grants, to the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:

    “This order is yet another example of the authorities’ escalating repression of the rights to freedom of expression and association in Georgia and weaponization of the country’s justice system and the Anti-Corruption Bureau to target and crackdown on human rights defenders, activists and independent civil society organizations. Targeting those who fight for justice and combat corruption is contrary to Georgia’s international human rights obligations including the rights to freedom of expression and association.

    Targeting those who fight for justice and combat corruption is contrary to Georgia’s international human rights obligations including the rights to freedom of expression and association

    Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

    “Forcing non-governmental organizations to hand over sensitive information, including their beneficiaries’ names, photographs, banking records and health data limits the independence and autonomy of the organizations, and grants disproportionate governmental control over the operations of the organizations. It places impingements on the crucial work of Georgia’s vibrant civil society and human rights defenders who protect those who have suffered from torture, sexual violence, corruption or other human rights violations. This blatant violation of the rights to privacy and freedom of expression and association must stop.

    “The authorities must immediately revert the order, repeal the repressive legislation which targets the independence and autonomy of civil society organizations, and guarantee and ensure that human rights defenders and activists can work free from fear of retaliation.”

    Background

    An order by the Tbilisi City Court, dated 12 June 2025, granted the Anti-Corruption Bureau the right to demand from five civil society organizations – Transparency International Georgia, Sapari, Civil Society Foundation, Economic Policy Research Center and Georgia’s Future Academy – vast amounts of programmatic, administrative, financial and personal information, including on all their contractors and individual beneficiaries, from 1 January 2024 to 10 June 2025.

    The order invokes the Law on Grants, the Law on Political Associations of Citizens and the Law on Combatting Corruption, all recently amended by the ruling Georgian Dream party in its campaign aimed at curtailing the rights to freedom of association and expression and other human rights.

    The NGOs have condemned the move and vowed to challenge it in court.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: President Trump’s Iran statements ‘a deadly game of brinkmanship’, Lord Robertson tells London Conference

    Source: Chatham House –

    President Trump’s Iran statements ‘a deadly game of brinkmanship’, Lord Robertson tells London Conference
    News release
    jon.wallace

    Fading trust in international rules-based order was a common point of discussion at annual conference with the theme ‘Rewriting the rules of the world’.

    The Israel–Iran war and its implications for US foreign policy dominated Chatham House’s London Conference, the annual event that brings together policymakers, businesspeople, and experts on international affairs. Shifting global allegiances and power dynamics informed many of the discussions at the day-long gathering at the St. Pancras London, Autograph Collection hotel. 

    The two keynote speakers brought different perspectives on the Israel–Iran war. In the opening session former NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson told Chatham House Director Bronwen Maddox:

    —

    Lord Robertson speaks at the London Conference.

    ‘One feature will be the…US president’s decision and we await to see what that’s going to be. And that will shift the places on the chess board quite dramatically, irrespective of the way it goes. 

    ‘And it would appear at the moment that he is involved in a deadly game of brinkmanship, using the same skills that he had as a property developer. But this is not, you know, the plan for a condominium in the centre of New York, you know, this is the future stability of the world.’

    Later, former MI6 chief Sir John Sawers said he believed that that US should bomb Iran’s deep nuclear sites, such as Fordow, that Israel could not reach, but that President Trump should not seek regime change.

    ‘I think the Americans should frankly get on with it and get it over with. A, it reduces the chance of the Iranians shipping out more and more kit from Fordow and other sites into places where they can store it safely, and they will certainly have those options, I think.