Over the past 12 days, Turkish sea cleaning teams have collected a total of 4,555 cubic meters (160,858 cubic feet) of mucilage from the Sea of Marmara, said the country's environment and urbanization minister on Sunday.

Updating on the efforts to clear out the mucilage, also known as sea snot, Murat Kurum said on Twitter that the operations were conducted at 278 locations.

Noting that the collected mucilage has been sent for disposal, Kurum said Yalova, Kocaeli, Bursa, Tekirdag, Istanbul, Balikesir and Canakkale are among the provinces where most of the mucilage has been cleared.

Mucilage is an overgrowth of microscopic algae called phytoplankton caused by rising seawater temperatures due to global warming, stagnant water, and pollution.

On June 6, Turkish authorities announced a 22-point action plan to clear it out./aa

Although the number of people fleeing lands because of climate change-related effects has increased, neither climate refugees nor environmental migrants and environmentally displaced people are considered legal persons under international law.

They are not legal persons as part of international law as they are not recognized in the 1951 Refugee Convention.

But the debate on the issue has become more visible among academics, human rights advocates and environmental organizations as the negative effects of climate change are becoming more frequent and intense amid concerns that it will force more and more people to leave their homes in the near future.

Sumudu Atapattu, executive director of Madison Human Rights Program at the University of Wisconsin (UW), who is an academic at UW Law School, told earlier Anadolu Agency that climate refugees or environmental migrants are "entitled to the minimum protection accorded under international human rights law.”

Referring to the undefined status of climate refugees in comparison with other migrants, she highlighted that there is no grounded terminology. "There is neither terminology nor legal framework to govern those who cross an international border due to consequences related to climate change," she said.

And so, they are not mentioned when World Refugee Day is marked.

Designated by the UN in 2000 to honor refugees around the globe, World Refugee Day is celebrated annually June 20 to raising awareness of the situation of refugees.

International law on environmental migration

The Geneva Convention on Refugees is a legal framework that governs those who seek refuge in another country and since one has to establish persecution, it cannot apply to climate refugees.

Along with the Geneva Convention, the Task Force on Climate Displacement, established by the Paris Agreement, refers to migration and human mobility concerning climate change as well as recommendations for integrated approaches to avert, minimize and address displacement related to the adverse impacts of climate change but no grounded terminology specifically regarding climate refugees.

Experts warn that when considering small island countries and poor countries, such as Bangladesh, where more than 200 million live less than one meter above sea level, defining climate migration or environmentally displaced people as part of international regulations on refugees is an urgent issue that requires decisive steps to be taken.

During a leaders' summit, NATO discussed the fight against climate change for the first time. It made clear the current dangers of climate change to the world and especially in the near future.

"NATO will increase awareness by monitoring and tracking climate change much more closely, and invest in better research, data sharing, and analysis. It will accelerate its adapting to continue to operate in all conditions, including extreme heat and cold, rising sea levels, and natural disasters," it noted in its 2030 agenda.

Mentioned in 2018 by a World Bank's report was that unless urgent climate action is taken, the regions of sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America could be dealing with a combined total of more than 140 million internal climate migrants by 2050.

Another sobering report on the issue revealed by the UN in April warned of disasters linked to climate change effects on worsening poverty, hunger and access to natural resources, stoking instability and violence.

Following evaluations, a report by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, noted that extreme weather events-related causes have forced more or less an excess of 21 million people annually to move since 2010.

"Weather-related crises have triggered more than twice as much displacement as conflict and violence in the last decade," said UNHCR.

Considering the statistics, warnings of experts and the ever-increasing effects of climate change, it would not be a surprise to see important legal changes made on climate refugees, environmental migrants and environmentally displaced people in the near future./aa

About 25 million years ago, giant rhinos more than 16 feet tall roamed the Earth. They are considered the largest land mammal that ever lived — but their evolutionary history and dispersal across Asia have left scientists puzzled.

Paleontologists have now found fossils for a new, sixth species of the extinct giant rhino, Paraceratherium linxiaense, which are shedding light on how the animal moved across China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Pakistan. The team of researchers, led by Deng Tao from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, published its 2015 findings in a new study this week in the journal Communications Biology.

Researchers uncovered one fossil of a completely preserved skull, jawbone and teeth with their associated atlas, the part of the body where the head connects to the spine. Another fossil consists of three vertebrae.

The remains provided enough detail for the team to build a digital 3D model and compare them to other giant rhinos — leading them to classify the new species, distinct with its longer, more flexible neck.

The rare fossils, found in Gansu Province, China, located at the northeastern border of the Tibetan Plateau, date back to the Late Oligocene, an epoch that lasted from about 34 million years ago to about 23 million years ago.

These giant rhinos were significantly larger than the rhinos of modern day, with estimated shoulder heights of about 16 feet, and a weight of over 40,000 pounds. They also lacked horns.

The discovery sheds light on how the region has transformed since these massive creatures went extinct.

"The Tibetan region likely hosted some areas with low elevation, possibly under 2,000 meters during Oligocene, and the lineage of giant rhinos could have dispersed freely along the eastern coast of the Tethys Ocean and perhaps through some lowlands of this region," researchers wrote in the study.

Researchers determined that, in the Early Oligocene, the animal dispersed westward to Kazakhstan, with a descendant expanded to South Asia, then returning north to cross the Tibetan area to eventually produce P. linxiaense to the east in the Linxia Basin.

"Late Oligocene tropical conditions allowed the giant rhino to return northward to Central Asia, implying that the Tibetan region was still not uplifted as a high-elevation plateau," Deng said./agencies

Hong Kong's Apple Daily will close within days because the pro-democracy newspaper's assets have been frozen under China's national security law, an adviser to the company's imprisoned founder Jimmy Lai told media Sunday night.

Why it matters: It's the latest blow to the democratic movement in the Asian financial hub, as Beijing continues to crack down on dissent under the law, which landed Lai and other pro-democracy leaders in jail and led to the arrest last week of five senior Apple Daily executives.

What's happening: Apple Daily reported Sunday that authorities had frozen the news outlet's assets and that its parent company Next Digital "only has enough cash to continue normal operations for several weeks."

• In an interview with CNN, Mark Simon, an adviser to Lai, said the firm had about $50 million that it couldn't access because of the action.
• Simon told Reuters that they initially believed the paper could "make it to the end of the month." But he said the situation was getting "harder and harder" and it's "essentially a matter of days."

"Vendors tried to put money into our accounts and were rejected. We can't bank. Some vendors tried to do that as a favor. We just wanted to find out and it was rejected."

Axios

Mohammed knew it was time to leave behind his beloved home in Aleppo, Syria, as he did not want to be part of the bloody-handed Bashar al-Assad regime's military 11 years ago.

On the occasion of World Refugee Day, Mohammed and Ahmed Mulla brothers have shared their journey to success, starting as refugees to now business owners in Ankara.

Labeled by the UN in 2000 to honor refugees around the globe, World Refugee Day is celebrated annually on June 20 to raise awareness of the situation of refugees throughout the world.

Amid mounting atrocities in the civil war raging in Syria since early 2011, Turkey opened its borders to Syrians fleeing from the Assad regime's brutalities.

Mulla brothers are among millions of Syrians who fled to Turkey, seeking refuge from ongoing Assad regime brutality.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Mohammed was only 17-years old when he and his family crossed into Turkey with hopes to rebuild a life that they had to leave behind in Aleppo.

He first came to Turkey's southernmost Hatay province, stayed there for a year, and learned Turkish. He then left to south-central Gaziantep and worked at the local bus terminal as an office boy as well as a translator for those Arabic-speaking travelers.

Arrived in Turkish capital Ankara in 2016, Mohammed said he had worked at various jobs to meet his family's needs.

As a predecessor job, Mohammed began to work at several different dry-cleaning shops in Ankara.

"Before coming to Turkey, my father worked as a dry cleaner in Syria. Then, he worked in Lebanon as a dry cleaner for the al-Hariri family for four years," he said while adding that his father taught him everything he knew about the job.

Telling that they have not received any means of monetary support from the Turkish government, the Mulla brothers were able to open their very own dry-cleaning center in 2018 at the heart of Ankara with the money borrowed from family and friends.

When their father passed away due to COVID-19 in 2020, the brothers came to a "crossroads," Mohammed said.

"Without the support from our father, we either had to shut down our business, or we were going to take a risk and try to manage as two brothers," he added.

Mohammed and Ahmed took a chance and now operating their business with growing profit each day.

Arrived as a refugee, the Mulla brothers are now business owners, contributing to the Turkish economy and society.

"Almost 99 percent of our customers give us satisfied feedbacks. Moreover, approximately 75 percent of our customers are our loyal customers, as we do sometimes encounter some racism or rather discomfort due to our nationality," Mohammed said.

While the minority of people refrain from getting service from the Syrian business owners, Mohammed said most people coming to the center ask for him to teach them the Arabic language.

"There is one customer who asks me to teach him an Arabic word each time he comes," Mohammed tells with a big smile on his face.

He also noted foreign diplomats residing in Ankara, especially those from Arabic-speaking countries, are getting their dry-cleaning services from the Mulla brothers.

Telling that their first goal is to pay their debts, Mohammed said their next goal is to open their own carpet cleaning factory within a month or two.

For his part, Ahmed said Turkey meant "hope" for them and as they crossed into the country, he saw that hope in the eyes of Turkish soldiers, he added.

"We are operating this business, not only to meet our needs but also to contribute to the Turkish economy. It's our duty. I am happy and proud to be here in Turkey," Ahmed said.

Additionally to the Mulla brothers, the dry-cleaning center meets the needs of two other families in which one of them is Abbas Efendi.

18-year old Abbas began to work beside the Mulla brothers very recently, as he and his family came to Turkey in 2016.

Originally from Iraq's Tal Afar city, Abbas and his family had to escape the country due to Daesh terror.

Located in Iraq's northern Nineveh province, majority-Turkmen Tal Afar sits roughly 60 kilometers west of provincial capital Mosul.

The Daesh terrorist group captured Tal Afar, a predominantly Turkmen city, in mid-2014 and killed numerous Turkmen in the organized attacks.

Abbas said he and his family fled the Daesh terror and first went to Syria, then to Turkey. Being the oldest of seven siblings, Abbas said he is happy to be working for the Mulla brothers and sees them as one of his siblings.

When asked if he misses his home in Iraq, "Of course I do pine for it. If we didn't have to flee, then I would've been in school right now and my father would be the only one working," he said.

However, with seven siblings, Abbas said he has to work to help his father to meet the needs.

With his perfect Turkish, Abbas also greets customers when Mohammed or Ahmed is not available.

The dry-cleaning center also contributes to the Turkish community as Mohammed said they had washed Turkish post flags of local schools, as well as for the military.

During Turkey's anti-terror Operation Olive Branch launched in 2018 at northern Syria's Afrin, the Mulla brothers' dry-cleaning center washed the uniforms of Turkish soldiers for free.

"When the COVID-19 pandemic first emerged, we provided free dry-cleaning service to all health personnel. This was our way to give our thanks for all their efforts," Mohammed added.

According to UNCHR's latest report, "the number of people fleeing wars, violence, persecution and human rights violations in 2020 rose to nearly 82.4 million people."

The report also stressed that "For the seventh year in a row, Turkey hosted the largest refugee population worldwide (3.7 million refugees), followed by Colombia (1.7 million, including Venezuelans displaced abroad), Pakistan (1.4 million), Uganda (1.4 million) and Germany (1.2 million)."/aa

Anas al-Shaarani, 15, was forced to flee Yemen amid a raging armed conflict between Iran-aligned Houthi rebels and Saudi-backed government forces.

“The ongoing war in Yemen forced me to leave the country in 2019 as it was no longer suitable for living,” al-Shaarani told Anadolu Agency on Sunday on the occasion of the World Refugee Day.

“My father used to work as a teacher, but because of the absence of salaries for more than three years and the difficulty to find other jobs, he could not afford the expenses of our seven-member family.”

Al-Shaarani decided to leave the war-ravaged country for Europe when his older brother joined Houthi rebels.

“As my older brother went fighting with the Houthi rebels, I decided to migrate abroad to help my father,” he said.

The Yemeni teenager left Yemen for Egypt and from there he travelled to Niger, Mali and Algeria before settling in Morocco where he stayed with other Yemeni asylum seekers for nine months under the protection of UN refugee agency UNHCR, which pays for their housing and a cash payment of $50-100 per month.

Yemen fell into civil war in 2014 when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa. The conflict escalated when a Saudi-led coalition launched a massive air campaign aimed at rolling back the Houthi military gains.

According to the UNHCR’s annual Global Trends report, nearly 82.4 million people have been displaced by wars, violence, persecution and human rights violations in 2020.

The report said that by the end of 2020, there were 20.7 million refugees under the UNHCR mandate, 48 million internally displaced within their own countries, including Afghanistan, Colombia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Sudan and Yemen, and 4.1 million were asylum-seekers.

European dream

In May, al-Shaarani tried to swim from the city of Ceuta and cross barbed-wire fences to get into Spain, but with no luck.

“When we heard of the opening of borders in the city of Ceuta, I tried to cross into Spain, but we were repressed and tear-gassed by Spanish forces. I was injured in the leg,” al-Shaarani said. “After two days of trying, I managed to go back to Nador city where I live now,” he said.

Al-Shaarani recalled that when he was in Egypt, he applied for resettlement at the UNHCR office, but his application was rejected.

“While other nationalities like Eritreans and Sudanese get accepted, Yemenis are rejected and I don’t know why,” he said.

Regardless of the dangers facing him during his asylum journey, al-Shaarani said that his goal is to reach the Netherlands to complete his education and help his family with the money he hopes to earn there.

“My mother asks me to come back, but my father prefers to keep me away from war,” al-Shaarani explained.

Risky journey

Salman al-Masqari, 25, is another Yemeni asylum seeker who wishes to travel to Sweden for a better life.

“There, I will get a decent job and live under law that respects different beliefs and allows free expression of opinion,” he told Anadolu Agency.

Al-Masqari said he has lost six of his friends during the armed conflict in Yemen. “I found myself alone and came to the conclusion that I cannot live in Yemen any longer,” he said.

The Yemeni civilian said he was arrested and his home raided after writing a post on Facebook. “I was being hunted because of my political thoughts. I had to choose either to remain silent or get arrested, but I chose to run away.”

There are 40 Yemenis, including five teenagers and a woman, in Morocco who are trying to travel to Europe for different reasons, but all agreed that escaping from the scourge of war and instability in their country is the solution to their problems.

“I managed to swim to the Spanish side of the border and slipped behind the gate, but I was taken back to Morocco. I tried once again but failed again,” al-Masqari said. “Despite the heavy security presence, I am still trying to get across every day until I succeed.”

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Yemeni conflict has claimed more than 233,000 lives since 2014.

In 2020 alone, approximately 172,000 people became uprooted, giving Yemen the fourth largest number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the world, according to the UN./agencies