Dear Deeply Readers,

Welcome to the archives of Refugees Deeply. While we paused regular publication of the site on April 1, 2019, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on refugees and migration. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors and contributors.

We continue to produce events and special projects while we explore where the on-site journalism goes next. If you’d like to reach us with feedback or ideas for collaboration you can do so at [email protected].

Executive Summary for July 27th

We review the latest issues related to refugees, including the U.S. missing a court deadline to reunite separated families, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees announcing job cuts and hundreds storming a border fence to a Spanish enclave.

Published on July 27, 2018 Read time Approx. 2 minutes

U.S. Reunites Some Children but Misses Court Deadline

The United States government has reunited most children who were separated from their parents at the southern border, but missed a court deadline to reunite all families. Of the 2,500 children aged 5–17 affected by the former policy, 1,400 are back with their parents, 430 have parents who have been deported and others are not yet reunited for various reasons.

Officials from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras demanded that the U.S. government provide more information about the status of those still waiting for reunification. “This cruelty is unacceptable and un-American,” an International Rescue Committee official said.

UNRWA Cuts Jobs After U.S. Aid Reduction

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees will cancel or phase out 1,000 jobs in the West Bank and Gaza as the United States’ $300 million reduction in aid takes it toll on the UNRWA budget. While some of the shortfall was plugged by other donors, the agency still has a $217 million deficit. It is examining whether schools for Palestinian refugees will open in September.

UNRWA staff held a sit-in in the Gaza Strip to protest the cuts and pledged to step up strikes. One employee who was laid off doused himself in gasoline, but was apprehended before he could set himself on fire.

Migrants Storm Land Border to Spanish Enclave

More than 600 people stormed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa by breaching a border fence from Morocco. Another 200 people were held back by police.

Africans trying to reach European territory periodically stage mass border crossings at Ceuta. The overall number of migrants crossing the border remains fairly consistent, while the number of sea crossings to Spain has more than doubled this year to almost 17,000, causing shortages of emergency accommodation.

Recommended #MustReads

“The welcoming committee is trying to ensure that families make their initial check-in dates, something they feel the government should be helping with but isn’t. But they’re also trying to show another face of America to the victims of the family separation policy.”

“Along the way I learned not only Othman’s name, but also how words like displacement, return and war, so common in press releases and news articles, don’t even begin to express what the last few years have done to many Iraqis, and how hard it will be for many to break out of a long cycle of violence and build any semblance of a future.”

“It’s perhaps no surprise that many immigrant New Yorkers, who for years have tried to do the right thing, such as paying taxes and checking in with ICE, are retreating into the shadows.”

Suggest your story or issue.

Send

Share Your Story.

Have a story idea? Interested in adding your voice to our growing community?

Learn more
× Dismiss
We have updated our Privacy Policy with a few important changes specific to General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and our use of cookies. If you continue to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies. Read our full Privacy Policy here.