An Education, Multiplied
Aqeela Asifi, a schoolteacher who has helped more than 1,000 refugee girls complete their primary education since she fled Afghanistan two decades ago, was today named the winner of the 2015 Nansen Refugee Award. UNHCR, which presents the award annually, cited her...
Abandoned at Sea
In May of this year, at least 5,000 refugees and migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh found themselves stranded at sea when the people smugglers and ship crews who had promised to take them to Malaysia abandoned them en masse in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea....
More than four million Syrians have now fled war and persecution
GENEVA, July 9 (UNHCR)—More than four million Syrians have now fled war and persecution and become refugees in neighbouring countries, making the Syrian conflict the UN refugee agency’s worst crisis for almost a quarter of a century. Latest figures from UNHCR...
Mediterranean crisis sees former Vietnamese boat person break long silence
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, July 6 (UNHCR) – Harrowing images of the Mediterranean boat crisis has brought back “bitter sweet” memories for Anh Lê, one of Denmark’s most famous Vietnamese restaurateurs, who crossed oceans herself to arrive where she is...
Treacherous Crossings
Most refugees undertake a perilous journey to escape persecution, violence or death. But escape by sea is particularly dangerous as people confront unpredictable weather, unsafe and over-crowded vessels, unscrupulous human traffickers and smugglers. And even if they...
A New Home and a Helping Hand
Time seems to have stopped in Dilingala, a sleepy farming village in southern Chad. But for many local residents, including 40-year-old Nicolas, life is forever changing. The violence ravaging the Central African Republic, just 50 kilometres from here, spilled over...
Tanzania cholera epidemic improving but ‘significant challenges’ still remain
United Nations-backed containment measures aimed at stemming the deadly cholera epidemic in western Tanzania’s Lake Tanganyika region appear to be working, the Organization’s refugee agency (UNHCR) announced today amid a tapering off in the number of...UNHCR statement on Southeast Asia sea movements
UNHCR welcomes the commitment announced today by the Foreign Ministers of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand to resolve the issue of the thousands of refugees and migrants stranded in boats in the Bay of Bengal and off the coast of Southeast Asia. This is an important...