News Releases
We bring you the most up-to-date information from UNHCR Canada through news releases.
Photo: © UNHCR / Roger Arnold
Elderly Rohingya rely on families to carry them to safety
The old and sick are among the most vulnerable of the estimated 370,000 Rohingya who fled violence in Myanmar. Many are carried to Bangladesh by relatives. This is not how Mabia Khatun, 75, imagined she would spend her old age: as a refugee, cocooned in a blanket and...
Khaled Hosseini Visits a Refugee Camp in Uganda
By Khaled Hosseini, award-winning author and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. Looking over the shoulder of Gladys, a young South Sudanese refugee flicking through a frayed album of old family photos, my mind flashes back to my own younger self. In 1983 I was in high school....
Mother Opani and daughter find safety in Uganda
When Opani Lilias was met by UNHCR aid workers at the Ugandan border, she had been walking for a week straight with her daughter Brenda swaddled to her chest. Carrying only a small suitcase, Opani and Brenda arrived exhausted, having travelled without food or water,...
Shelter urgently needed for Rohingya fleeing Myanmar violence
Officials warn of ‘true crisis’ as an estimated 73,000 Rohingya seek safety in already strained Bangladesh refugee camps. KUTUPALONG CAMP, Bangladesh – Barefoot and running for her life, Rohingya Dilara, 20, reached Bangladesh in recent days clutching her young son,...
Freed Iraqi Yazidi boy settles into new life in Canada
After three years in captivity, 13-year-old Emad is reunited with his mother and siblings in Winnipeg. Winnipeg, Canada: Annie Sakkab, August 2017. Thirteen-year-old Emad Tammo sits in his new home surrounded by his mother and siblings, his smiling face unrecognizable...
Freed Yazidi boy joins his mother in Canada
After being held captive by armed groups in Iraq for three years, 13-year-old Emad reunites with his mother in Winnipeg with UNHCR help. Iraq: Cathy Otten, August 2017 Emad was kidnapped three years ago when armed groups attacked the town of Sinjar, 100 kilometres...
Remembering Alan Kurdi: we must do more to protect refugees
Jean-Nicolas Beuze, UNHCR Representative in Canada, writes on the second anniversary of the death of Alan Kurdi with a question; as the world moves on and the headlines fade, have we done enough to protect refugees who are most vulnerable? On 2 September 2015, we all...
Statement on two-year anniversary of death of Alan Kurdi
Nearly two years after the lifeless body of three-year-old Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi was found on a Turkish beach, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, urges the international community to take robust action to prevent more tragedies. Although the number of arrivals in...
Child refugee grows up to become family doctor
When Sameena and her Ugandan Asian family needed a place of safety, Canada stepped up. Now a doctor, she cares for families in her adoptive home. In 1972, under orders from then President Idi Amin, all Ugandans of Asian descent were required to leave the country...
UNHCR seeks safe options to perilous refugee journeys
The UN Refugee Agency is appealing for US$421 million in funding to provide alternatives to a growing number of refugees making dangerous journeys to Europe. PORTO EMPEDOCLE, Italy – Fifteen-year-old Omar is among a growing number of Yemenis caught up in a deadly...
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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