News Releases
We bring you the most up-to-date information from UNHCR Canada through news releases.
Photo: © UNHCR / Roger Arnold
South Sudan: 3 Years of Civil War
This past December marked three years since the beginning of South Sudan’s latest civil war. Before December 2013, over 115,000 South Sudanese people were classified as refugees or asylum-seekers. Three years later, that number has reached over 1.6 million. In South...
Government of Uganda, UNHCR on South Sudan refugee situation
Joint statement on behalf of the Government of Uganda and UNHCR The Government of Uganda and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi today jointly appealed to the international community for urgent and massive support for the thousands of South Sudan refugees...
New U.S. rules regarding refugee resettlement
UNHCR underscores humanitarian imperative for refugees as new U.S. rules announced In light of today’s Executive Order regarding U.S. refugee resettlement, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, underscores that refugees are ordinary people forced to flee war, violence and...
Poorer countries host most of the forcibly displaced – report
According to a new UNHCR study, most of the 3.2 million who were driven from their homes in the first half of 2016 found shelter in low or middle income countries. GENEVA – Conflict, persecution and violence newly uprooted at least 3.2 million people in the first half...
Refugees fleeing South Sudan tops 1.5 million
As violence surges, South Sudanese refugee population in Uganda more than triples in six months to 698,000. Sidah Hawa stares towards the horizon. The scorching sun filters through the sparse shade of the tree under which she sits. Her six children huddle close as she...
Bittersweet hope for struggling Syrian family
Father of three from Homs says resettlement from Jordan to U.S. will provide a future for his children, despite pain of leaving loved ones behind. By: Charlie Dunmore and Dalal Mouawad IRBID, Jordan – As he packed his family’s belongings into four large suitcases just...
Funding crunch exacerbates Yemen ‘catastrophe’
Deaths through famine and lack of medical attention in the country are being aggravated as UN Refugee Agency relief operations are just one per cent funded. GENEVA – People in war-ravaged Yemen are dying of famine and lack of medical attention in a situation now...
UNHCR readies for fresh Mosul exodus as battle moves west
Displaced Iraqis voice fears for relatives trapped in west of the city, as UNHCR prepares for movement of up to a quarter of a million people. HASANSHAM, Iraq – When Ahmad’s* family learned yesterday the Iraqi government had launched a military operation focusing on...
As new Mosul offensive unfolds, sheltering the displaced comes back into focus
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. With the new military operations under way in Mosul, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is...
Inside Somalia, drought displacement growing
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Leo Dobbs – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Drought has displaced more than 135,000 people inside Somalia since November, according to data...
To inquire about news releases, please reach out to our Media Contact:
Media Contact
Levon Sevunts
Communications Officer
P: +1 613-286-6975
E: sevunts@unhcr.org
Darcy Knoll
Senior Communications Officer
P: +1 613-219-4446
E: knoll@unhcr.org
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