“With the displaced population rising every year, there is a significant and increasing proportion of the world’s children who are missing out on their education,” said Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday that by the end of 2022, the total number of school-aged refugees globally jumped…
Hope Away from Home gets underway at a time of unprecedented, forced displacement. There are a staggering 110 million people displaced from their homes, and access to asylum and protection is under threat in various regions due to increasingly harsh policies. “People fleeing war, violence and persecution should be met with compassion and kindness, not…
UNHCR’s representative in Niger, Emmanuel Gignac, said that sanctions imposed on the country by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) following last month’s military takeover do not include any exemptions for humanitarian aid. Mr. Gignac observed that food and commodity prices, already climbing before this crisis, jumped after sanctions were introduced. If humanitarians…
This week marks six years since over 700,000 mostly-Muslim Rohingya men, women, and children joined the hundreds of thousands of others already sheltering in Bangladesh, following a brutal crackdown by security forces in Myanmar. As humanitarian conditions in the world’s largest refugee settlement worsen, however, the challenges surrounding this protracted crisis continue to increase. Funds…
“As many families have been on the move for weeks, with very little food and medicine, rising malnutrition rates, disease outbreaks and related deaths continue to be observed,” the UN agency’s William Spindler told journalists in Geneva on Tuesday. Highlighting particular concern for conditions in refugee camps and transit centres, Mr. Spindler said that mental…
“We’re urgently appealing for all States to refrain from forcibly returning any individuals originating from the regions in Burkina Faso where there is an ongoing crisis,” said Elizabeth Tan, UNHCR Director of International Protection. Speaking in Geneva, Ms. Tan highlighted “killings, forced disappearances, torture and kidnappings”, while in several instances, civilians had been targeted and…
The International Conference on Development and Migration, held on Monday, brought together several UN agencies and representatives from multiple countries involved in managing migration flows to address challenges such as irregular migration and forced international displacement. ‘Complex challenges’ “Forced displacement and mixed movements are complex challenges for all: countries of origin, countries of transit and…
The agency’s flagship annual report, Global Trends in Forced Displacement 2022, found that by the end of 2022, the number of people displaced by war, persecution, violence, and human rights abuses stood at a record 108.4 million, up 19.1 million on the previous year – which was also a record increase. “These figures show us…
The number fleeing violence in Sudan since fighting between rival militaries began in mid-April in Khartoum, quickly destabilizing the entire country, has now topped 100,000. The majority of arrivals in eastern Chad – particularly Ouaddaï, Sila, and Wadi Fira provinces – are from the Darfur region, which has been deeply impacted by violence for decades,…
Elizabeth Tan, UNHCR’s Director of International Protection said their first request was that countries allow civilians fleeing Sudan on “a non-discriminatory manner to access their territory”. She said this applied to Sudanese nationals, foreign nationals, and refugees who are being hosted in Sudan, “stateless persons, as well as those who do not have a passport…
