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Mint
11 hours ago
- Health
- Mint
Mercury poisoning in Perus Amazon threatens health disaster
Illegal gold mines pollute Peru's Loreto region Nearly 80% of people have mercury unsafe levels Pregnant women and children most at risk LIMA, June 20 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Indigenous and riverine communities in the Loreto region of the Peruvian Amazon have "chronic exposure" to mercury, according to a new study by the Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation at Wake Forest University in the United States. The test results released this month show nearly 80% of the people tested late last year had levels of mercury far above the safe limits in six communities on the banks of the Nanay and Pintuyacu rivers. "The majority of the population is contaminated," said Jairo Reategui Davila, the Apu, or leader, of San Antonio de Nanay, one of the tested communities. "We call on the authorities to take action on the matter because we are very concerned," he said. The results showed 37% of the 273 men, women and children tested had levels of mercury at more than 10 ppm (parts per million) in their hair, compared to just 3% under the 2.2 ppm 'safe' limit established by the World Health Organization (WHO). Gold prices have soared by nearly 50% in the last year, beating successive record highs, and encouraging a flourishing illegal gold mining trade that is damaging local nature and biodiversity, and raising significant health concerns. Illegal miners use mercury to extract gold particles from the river silt and then burn off the toxic metal, which turns to vapour and is absorbed by surrounding plants, soil and rivers, said Claudia Vega, head of the mercury program at CINCIA. Mercury poisoning is associated with several health issues, including cognitive impairment in adults and irreversible developmental delays and learning difficulties for children and babies in the womb. Gabriel Barría, regional coordinator for heavy metals for the local health authority, said it was "very regrettable that villagers were highly contaminated" and blamed the spread of illegal gold mining for the mercury levels in Amazon rivers. He said the health authority did not have the budget to carry out tests for mercury and had only tested 12 villagers on a recent health visit relying on blood and urine samples. CINCIA said tests revealed an average level was 8.41 ppm, exceeding the WHO limit by nearly four times. Given that illegal mining in Loreto is fairly recent, there are no comprehensive studies on its health impact on the local population yet. But the levels in these initial tests are already higher than those in the Peruvian Amazon region most impacted by illegal gold mining, Madre de Dios, where 2012 tests showed the majority of adults had average mercury levels of 2.7ppm. Luis Fernandez, executive director of CINCIA and Research Professor at Wake Forest University, said if illegal mining continued to spread in Loreto, then villagers with already high mercury levels might begin to approach those close to the worst recorded case of mercury contamination. This includes Minamata Bay, the renowned case in Japan in the 1950s, where children were born with congenital deformities and neurological disabilities caused by a chemical factory dumping mercury into the water supply for decades. Vega from CINCIA, who led the study, said the results showed worrying "background" levels of mercury in the Loreto riparian communities. She said it could not be fully determined if the mercury came from naturally occurring sources or human-caused activities like illegal gold mining, but it was mostly caused by the villagers' diet fish-based diet. However, "several studies agree that the entry of mining into a territory tends to significantly increase mercury levels in the environment", she said. The newly released study found that people were mainly exposed to methylmercury, a highly toxic form that accumulates in the body.
TimesLIVE
13 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Ugandan women rebuild traumatised lives after Gulf abuse
Emily Ounyesiga, 38, beams with pride as she talks about the bakery she runs in Uganda's capital Kampala — a vibrant, bustling space filled with the sweet aroma of freshly baked bread and pastries. In 2017 Ounyesiga was duped by a recruitment agent and trafficked to work as a live-in nanny in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. She was promised a monthly salary of $400 (R7,220) — six times more than she could earn in Uganda. Instead, over four years, Ounyesiga was enslaved, starved, raped and jailed. 'When I returned to Uganda, I was so sick and frail,' the mother of two told Context/the Thomson Reuters Foundation via a video call. 'But I was luckier than most. I got help. I was taken to a hospital to get treatment, provided with a place to stay and given training where I learnt baking and was able to rebuild my life. Now, I feel I have a bright future.' Ounyesiga is one of just a few African women who, after being exploited as domestic workers in the Middle East, have managed to forge a new path with support from international charity EverFree. The organisation operates in Uganda and the Philippines, providing survivors of human trafficking with shelters, medical and psychosocial care and skills training. Monica Kyamazima, head of EverFree in Uganda, said the charity has helped hundreds of young women but many more remain trapped in poverty and suffering after returning from the Gulf. In 2024 the charity supported 353 survivors of human trafficking.
Gulf Today
4 days ago
- Politics
- Gulf Today
Ukrainian visa schemes in UK leave refugees in limbo
Lin Taylor, Reuters After fleeing Ukraine with her new-born baby and toddler in 2022, Lidiia rebuilt her life Britain, but now the 36-year-old fears she will have to return next year because there is no easy way to get the right to permanently stay in her new home. With the Russian invasion well into its third year and little sign of peace, Lidiia, who asked to use a pseudonym to protect her privacy, is terrified for her children. "Even if they say there's a ceasefire ... I will have in my mind that in five, six years, (the Russians) are going to be back," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "And then my son will have to be a soldier. My daughter might be killed," she said. Like most of the 218,000 Ukrainians who came to Britain on special visas from 2022, Lidiia is running out of time — her original visa is expiring and although she is applying for an extension, even that will run out after another 18 months. Although nearly 70% of Ukrainians in Britain want to stay, according to a 2024 Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey, without legal status, many say they will have no choice but to head elsewhere or return to their war-ravaged homeland. With Ukraine urging citizens to come back — it created the Ministry of National Unity last December to facilitate the return of nearly 7 million citizens — and Britain offering no permanent resettlement process, Lidiia feels trapped. She says her children feel more British than Ukrainian and have close bonds with their community in northern England. "I want to stay in the UK, 100%. If the UK doesn't want us to stay, I will go back to Ukraine and just hope that we'll survive. There is no other choice," said the charity worker. Britain has two visa schemes for Ukrainian refugees: one for those with family already in the UK — a route that has now closed — and the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme that allowed Britons to offer accommodation to those fleeing the war. In February this year, the government opened an 18-month Ukrainian Protection Extension visa to those whose initial three-year visas were due to expire this year. But none of these schemes offer the option of staying permanently and the Home Office, or interior ministry, has yet to propose further visa extensions. "Our offer of temporary sanctuary is in line with the Ukrainian government's strong desire for the future return of its citizens, and does not lead to settlement," a Home Office spokesperson said in emailed comments. Ukrainian support charity Opora said Ukrainians should have the choice to resettle in Britain and could help rebuild Ukraine from afar by, for example, sending back remittances. "Ukraine will need people going back to rebuild, of course, but closing off options and thereby forcing people to go back will not build a happy cohort of returnees. So give people a choice," said managing director Stan Beneš. In early June, the European Commission proposed extending temporary protection for around 4.26 million Ukrainian refugees in the European Union until March 2027. It also recommended member states start transitioning those who want to stay to other legal statuses, for instance by offering work permits and student visas. Settled, a charity that supports EU citizens and Ukrainians in Britain, urged London to follow suit and increase the duration of the extension visa to 36 months from 18, and also offer resettlement possibilities, as is the case for Afghans and Hong Kongers. "Ukrainians should be given a path to settlement. We have children who have been born and are growing up in the UK. English is their first language," said Yuliia Ismail, an immigration adviser at Settled. She said she had seen an increase in Ukrainians wanting to apply for asylum, despite a record backlog, because if they were successful they would be able to stay indefinitely. In the first quarter of 2025, there were nearly 380 asylum claims by Ukrainians, compared to 570 in all of 2024 and around 100 the year before, according to official data. "This uncertainty pushes people to the asylum system," Ismail said. Even with an 18-month visa extension, many Ukrainians are unable secure rental accommodation or work contracts because of uncertainty over their ultimate status, charities say. More than a third of Ukrainians surveyed by the ONS in 2024 said they were looking for work, and only a third said they were working in the same sector as they did in Ukraine. A February report by the British Red Cross said without jobs, many Ukrainians were unable to rent properties and were more than twice as likely to be homeless than the general population. Maria, a 40-year-old single mother from Kyiv living in Scotland, said she could not find teaching work despite retraining to get local qualifications and applying for around 100 jobs. Maria, who also used a pseudonym for privacy, said employers were not interested in hiring Ukrainians for longer-term jobs. "It really distresses me. We cannot buy anything new for our home like a wardrobe, even an extra spoon. What will we do if we need to leave? Everyday life is just unstable. I cannot think about what tomorrow will be," she said.
The Star
07-06-2025
- General
- The Star
Special feature - Philippine marine life under threat from industrial fishing
MANILA (Thomson Reuters Foundation): Impoverished fishing communities in the Philippines are caught in a David-and-Goliath fight with industrial fishing companies after the country's top court loosened restrictions on commercial operations in protected coastal waters. Already facing threats from extreme weather and urban development that have destroyed fish breeding grounds, fishers fear they may now have to compete with large vessels in municipal waters, the 15-km (9 mile) stretch of sea off the coastlines of cities. "Once commercial fishing vessels enter our area, there will come a time when we will no longer be able to catch any fish," said Rommel Escarial, 37, who has fished Manila Bay since he was a teenager. Mayors, environmentalists, fishing communities and the national government have all appealed against a Supreme Court ruling last year that invalidated a ban on large-scale fishing operations in municipal waters, where about 2 million people rely on fishing for their livelihoods. While the Supreme Court decision is not yet final during the appeals process, lawyer Grizelda Mayo-Anda of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center said that some commercial fishers have already been entering municipal waters. "In Palawan province … commercial fishers now use the ruling to their advantage," said Mayo-Anda, whose NGO has joined one of the appeals. Municipal waters not only provide income to communities, who are among the country's poorest, but also act as extensions of protected marine areas by preventing overfishing in productive habitats to allow recovery of depleted stocks. Small-scale Filipino fishers, who use more sustainable methods such as hand-lining, cast net fishing or bamboo fish corrals, have struggled for years with the encroachment of commercial fishing vessels in municipal waters. Some 370,000 municipal fishing vessels and more than 5,000 commercial vessels are registered in the Philippines, according to 2022 data from the government's Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. Last year fisheries production fell 5%, according to government figures, while production from both commercial and municipal fishers declined by nearly one-quarter from 2010 to 2023 due to overfishing, illegal fishing and habitat destruction. Commercial fishing often involves trawling, in which a vessel uses nets to collect everything in its path, damaging coral reefs, seagrass beds and other habitats. "If we totally allow commercial fishers even into municipal waters, it will only further decline our fisheries production," said Jerwin Baure, a marine biologist and member of the Advocates of Science and Technology for the People, an association of Filipino scientists. FEW PROTECTIONS The League of Municipalities, an association of more than 1,400 mayors, questioned the ruling in February, saying preferential rights for small-scale boats was a "matter of social justice, economic stability and environmental sustainability." Alfredo Coro, mayor of the coastal town of Del Carmen, also appealed to Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Supreme Court justices to overturn the ruling. "The small fishers are ... continuously being exposed to multiple threats including impacts of climate change, low income without social protection and limited access to public services due to their remote habitation," he said in an open letter shared with shared with the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Of the Philippines' more than 2 million square km (772,000 square miles) of marine waters, 15% are classified as municipal waters, while commercial fishing vessels are allowed to fish within 84% of territorial waters, according to the Philippine Association of Marine Science. Fishers compete in shallow waters of up to 50 metres depth, because these are the richest fishing grounds due to their proximity to sunlight and nutrients. Under the Philippines' fisheries code, small to medium commercial vessels may be given permission to fish in municipal waters without active gears like trawlers or towed nets which damage ecosystems. Trawls are used to catch saltwater species like shrimps and anchovies, while purse seine - in which a large net surrounds a school of fish - is used for surface-dwelling and midwater species such as sardines, tuna and mackerel. Baure said the court ruling may force municipal and commercial boats to fight for fish stocks, with smaller boats at a clear disadvantage in fuel and equipment. "Our country is already facing a lot of cases of illegal fishing, such as commercial vessels illegally entering municipal waters. That alone was a challenge to control," he said. Scientists at the Philippine Association of Marine Science have called for a long-term and science-based harvest strategies that will provide equitable access to fisheries without harming marine biodiversity. (Reporting by Mariejo Ramos. Editing by Jack Graham and Ayla Jean Yackley. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters. Visit
Scroll.in
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Orooj Hakimi, Thomson Reuters Foundation
Stories written by 'People are petrified': Afghan refugees at risk of deportation as US ends protected status Thousands of Afghans are stuck in a legal limbo because of a huge backlog in processing residency applications. Emma Batha, Thomson Reuters Foundation & Orooj Hakimi, Thomson Reuters Foundation · 20 minutes ago
