1 November 2021

UN

Afghanistan on ‘countdown to catastrophe’ without urgent humanitarian relief  

The combined shocks of drought, conflict, COVID-19 and an economic crisis in Afghanistan, have left more than half the population facing a record level of acute hunger, according to a new UN assessment published on Monday. 

The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report co-led by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP), revealed that the lives, livelihoods and access to food for 22.8 million people will be severely impacted. 

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Migrant Workers Face Heightened Risk of Death and Injury

Berlin – Migrants who often fill more dangerous jobs frequently face higher risk of injury and death than other workers and more data on the circumstances of deaths is critical for policies that ensure their safety, according to a new report from the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Missing Migrants Project. 

The "Occupational Fatalities among International Migrant Workers" report compiled by the Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) highlights that migrant workers are overrepresented in hazardous jobs in industries such as construction, manufacturing, mining and agriculture compared to non-migrants. They are also more likely to have jobs in the informal economy, where risks are even greater. A lack of data is limiting any action to measure and address these risks, the report says. 

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UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Bachelet calls Israel’s “terrorism” designation an unjustified attack on Palestinian civil society

GENEVA (26 October 2021) – Israel’s decision to designate six Palestinian civil society organizations as “terrorist organizations” is an attack on human rights defenders, on freedoms of association, opinion and expression and on the right to public participation, and should be immediately revoked, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Tuesday.

The organizations concerned* are some of the most reputable human rights and humanitarian groups in the occupied Palestinian territory and for decades have worked closely with the UN.

“Claiming rights before a UN or other international body is not an act of terrorism, advocating for the rights of women in the occupied Palestinian territory is not terrorism, and providing legal aid to detained Palestinians is not terrorism,” Bachelet said.

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UN values of peace, development and human rights ‘have no expiry date’ 

At a celebratory concert in New York on Thursday night, marking the anniversary of the foundational UN Charter entering into force, the Secretary-General said that the “spirit of solidarity and action” that marks United Nations United Nations Day itself, is “wonderfully expressed in the power of music”.  

The actual Day is 24 October, when each year, the Organizsation reaffirms the purposes and principles that have guided it for the past 76 years.  

UN chief António Guterres observed that while COVID-19, conflicts, hunger, poverty and the climate emergency remind us that our world is far from perfect, they also make clear that “solidarity is the only way forward”. 

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INTERPOL

The 89th INTERPOL General Assembly in Turkey

LYON, France – The 89th INTERPOL General Assembly in Istanbul, Turkey (23 - 25 November) will bring together chiefs of police and senior officials from around the world to address global security issues.

The General Assembly opening and closing ceremonies will be open to media. 

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Increasing cybercrime threats focus of INTERPOL’s regional policing dialogue

TUNIS, Tunisia – Gathering at the INTERPOL Dialogue, leaders of regional policing bodies discussed the need for a more effective and coordinated response to tackle cybercrime and other transnational threats.

The growing trend of ‘cybercrime as a service’, with more sophisticated, more complete and more accessible packages of services and tools lowering the barriers to entry for would-be cybercriminals, was identified as key development.

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Ground-breaking insights into the risk of online child sexual exploitation and abuse in Kenya

27 October 2021, ECPAT, INTERPOL, and the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti, with support from Safe Online at the End Violence Partnership, release Disrupting Harm in Kenya.

Seven per cent of internet-using children were offered money or gifts in return for sexual images or videos of themselves and had their sexual images shared with others without their consent, in the past year alone.

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Cash, guns, cocaine and a suspected terrorist captured in international border operation

LYON, FRANCE - An international operation aimed at strengthening passenger controls at a number of seaports and airports linking North Africa to Southern Europe has yielded 29 arrests for a variety of offences, including one on terrorism charges.

More than 650,000 checks against INTERPOL and national databases were carried out across Mediterranean seaports and airports during Operation Neptune III.

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Europol

12 targeted for involvement in ransomware attacks against critical infrastructure 

These cyber actors represented a dangerous combination of aggressive disruption and high-stake targets.

A total of 12 individuals wreaking havoc across the world with ransomware attacks against critical infrastructure have been targeted as the result of a law enforcement and judicial operation involving eight countries. 

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150 arrested in dark web drug bust as police seize €26 million

Police forces across the world have arrested 150 alleged suspects involved in buying or selling illicit goods on the dark web as part of a coordinated international operation involving nine countries. 

More than €26.7 million (USD 31 million) in cash and virtual currencies have been seized in this operation, as well as 234 kg of drugs and 45 firearms. The seized drugs include 152 kg of amphetamine, 27 kg of opioids and over 25 000 ecstasy pills. 

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