Nearly 300,000 Syrians displaced from Idlib since mid-December, Security Council hears
New York/IBNS: Amidst concern for the safety and protection of more than three million civilians in Syria’s last rebel-held enclave, the UN’s most senior humanitarian and political affairs officials briefed the Security Council on Syria behind closed doors on Friday.
Libya: UN refugee agency deeply concerned by shelling near Tripoli facility
New York/IBNS: Shelling near a major facility run by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Thursday, has sparked the deep concern for the safety of refugees and asylum seekers there.
Global Refugee Forum ends with hundreds of pledges
New York/IBNS: The first-ever Global Refugee Forum concluded in Geneva on Wednesday with more than 770 pledges of support, covering areas such as protection, employment, and education, for refugees and the communities which have taken them in.
60,000 young refugees and migrants who arrived in Italy alone lack support
New York/IBNS: United Nations agencies on Friday highlighted the dire needs of thousands of unaccompanied and separated children who have arrived in Italy as refugees, lacking the proper support to transition through to adulthood.
Ingredients for a new life: how cooking helps refugees and migrants blend in
On a Friday afternoon, in a small restaurant kitchen in the New York borough of Brooklyn, head chef Alexander Harris is giving instructions to his attentive team, preparing them for the busy evening ahead. So far, the tables are empty, but the small, popular space, with just a handful of tables - and some stools around the bar - will soon be bustling with the evening crowd.
New refugee data centre can inform policies, solutions worldwide: Guterres
New York: A new UN refugee data centre will improve the way humanitarian agencies support “some of the most dramatically vulnerable people in the world”, UN chief António Guterres said on Thursday.
Religions for Peace express serious concern for Myanmar refugees
Lindau, Germany: The Religions for Peace (RfP) leaders from Myanmar and Bangladesh held track II consultations on the refugee problem affecting the two countries at the 10th World Assembly of Religions for Peace today in Lindau, Germany, which concluded today. Cardinal Charles Maung Bo represented Myanmar.
Scores of Rohingya refugee shelters in Bangladesh destroyed by flooding
New York, July 6 (IBNS): Heavy monsoon rains in Bangladesh have drenched the Cox’s Bazar settlement, home to more than 900,000 Rohingya refugees, destroying some 273 shelters, and injuring 11 people, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday. The huge refugee camp has been hit by three days of non-stop rain, and more heavy downpours are expected throughout next week, with four months of the monsoon season still to go.
1.4 million refugees set to need urgent resettlement in 2020: UNHCR
New York, July 2 (IBNS): More than 1.4 million displaced people in over 60 refugee hosting countries will need resettlement next year, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Monday, while also supporting a call for far greater protection for vulnerable LGBTI individuals seeking asylum.
Libya: UN to support thousands uprooted by Tripoli clashes, renews call for humanitarian truce
Libya, Apr 30 (IBNS): Since fighting broke out on the edge of Libya’s capital, Tripoli, earlier this month, over 42,000 people have been displaced and thousands are believed trapped in the city’s southern outskirts, United Nations (UN) reports said.
Education remains an impossible dream for many refugees and migrants
New York, Mar 7 (IBNS): The older refugee and migrant children get, the less likely it is that they will get a quality education: less than a quarter of the world’s refugees make it to secondary school, and just one per cent progress to higher education. Even for migrants who settle in wealthy, developed host countries, accessing university is an uphill struggle.
Venezuelan refugees now number 3.4 million; humanitarian implications massive, UN warns
New York, Feb 23 (IBNS): As the number of refugees and migrants from Venezuela continues to rise – hitting the 3.4 million mark this month – United Nations agencies sounded the alarm on Friday over the humanitarian needs these women, children and men face, and the strain this represents for communities hosting them.
Solidarity needed to overcome ‘isolated’ attacks on Venezuela refugees, migrants
New York, Jan 29 (IBNS): Attacks and hate speech against Venezuelans seeking shelter in neighbouring countries should be condemned “with a clear and forceful message of rejection” and solidarity, a top UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and UN migration agency (IOM) official said in a statement on Monday.
Myanmar Government side-lining democratic reform, resorting to military era repression: UN expert
New York, Jan 26 (IBNS): The human rights situation in Myanmar continues to deteriorate, as the civilian government fails to bring about democratic reforms and instead resorts to the kind of repression carried out under previous military regimes, said the UN human rights expert Yanghee Lee, speaking at the end of an 11-day mission to neighbouring Thailand and Bangladesh.
Storms and snow in Lebanon worsen plight for Syrian refugees
New York, Jan 11 (IBNS): Storm-force winds and snow across Lebanon have worsened the plight for tens of thousands of Syrian refugees who’ve been forced from their homes by nearly eight years of conflict, a top UN humanitarian official said on Thursday.