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Executive Summary for July 25th

We review the latest issues related to refugees, including Russia and Lebanon discussing the mass return of Syrians, the U.K. cap on child refugees being challenged in court and the U.S. northern border seeing a spike in illegal crossings.

Published on July 25, 2018 Read time Approx. 2 minutes

Lebanon and Russia Discuss Mass Return of Syrian Refugees

Russia is talking to Lebanon about its plan to mass-return Syrian refugees. The Russian plan foresees 1.7 million Syrians returning in the near future. Lebanon’s prime minister said he was discussing the “displacement crisis” with the Kremlin.

The U.N. refugee agency says there are roughly 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon, but the government says it hosts 1.5 million Syrians. Saad al-Hariri said he was “looking forward to the road map prepared by the Russian defense ministry, hoping that coordination with the U.S. administration, the U.N. and other concerned parties will form a serious effort to address the displacement crisis.”

U.K. Senior Judges to Hear Challenge to Child Refugee Cap

The U.K.’s insistence that it can receive only 480 child refugees is being tested in court. Help Refugees, a charity, is challenging the Home Office cap with a decision expected on July 26.

Josie Naughton from Help Refugees said: “The child refugee crisis has not gone away – there are, for example, nearly 4,000 unaccompanied refugee children in Greece right now, two-thirds of whom are living in destitution, exposed to trafficking and other serious abuse. The slow pace of relocations has been shocking.”

Vermont Sees Spike in Illegal Border Crossings From Quebec

U.S. border agents say there has been a spike in illegal crossings from Canada. The increase at the Vermont border is driven by Canada dropping visa requirements for Mexicans, said U.S. officials. Some 324 people have been apprehended in Vermont so far this year, compared to 165 last year.

“They have kind of gone southern-border style where they are taking a hike and they are coming through the tall grass,” U.S. Border Patrol agent Richard Ross said. “It’s something I would have seen years ago when I worked in Harlingen, Texas.”

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VOA: Philippine War Refugees Lose Patience After Exit of China-Backed Rehab Contractor

“Many among the 27,000 families officially listed as ‘internally displaced people’ by the 2017 war between troops and a group of Muslim separatists said this week they’re ready to live indefinitely in single-room units built with relief money. They lost their own houses and small businesses when firefights last year wrecked a quadrant of their hilly lakeside city, Marawi.”

Al-Monitor: Israel Helps White Helmets, but Rejects Syrian Refugees

“The day after getting the aid to the displaced Syrians on the Golan, the IDF made clear that Israel would not allow in Syrians. In other words, residents of Israel’s settlements on the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967, will soon be watching the slaughter of Syrians across the border by Syrian government forces.”

Teen Vogue: Syrian Refugees Are Marrying for Survival, Sometimes Against Their Will

“Not only are legal marriage certificates expensive, but since Daumaa has no residency visa, acquiring the marriage license is near impossible, so her children don’t have a nationality, a problem that could persist for generations. As stateless individuals, they will never be Syrian like their parents, nor likely Lebanese, despite being born in Lebanon. According to the state, it’s as though they do not exist. This means that they will not be able to freely work, travel or go to school and must live without humanitarian protection.”

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