UN refugee chief says protecting Mosul civilians is key
Speaking in Baghdad, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi stresses civilian protection must be part of the military strategy for retaking Iraq’s second city Mosul. BAGHDAD, Iraq – UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said the protection of...
Art therapy helps a boy with PTSD from war
A bogeyman haunts the recurring nightmares of six-year-old Miguel,* who was born and spent his earliest years in a conflict-ravaged corner of Colombia. Now resettled in Canada, he picks up modeling clay at an art therapy session and makes a cage. With delicately...
UNHCR condemns violence against civilians in CAR
BANGUI, Central African Republic – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has condemned attacks on civilians in the Central African Republic, where clashes between rival groups have forced thousands of people to flee their homes and disrupted vital humanitarian aid operations....
Freed from Boko Haram, Nigerians still need help
MONGUNO, Nigeria – Tens of thousands of Nigerians liberated from Boko Haram face a desperate lack of food that has left some children severely malnourished and families struggling to make ends meet, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency warned today. Children are being sent on...
Somali refugee student proves it’s never too late to learn
For most of her life, Nawa watched as other children went to school. As a refugee, and a girl at that, she was told there was no place for her to learn in the classroom. That looked set to continue when she arrived in Malaysia, where refugees do not have access to...
Mother inspires daughter to academic success
Aisha Slaybi was determined that nothing, not bullets, bombs or war, would force her to take her family away from their home in Aleppo until her teenage daughter had graduated from high school. It was May 30, 2014, and in 10 days’ time her daughter, Fatima Alzahraa...UNHCR welcomes recommendation of Guterres as Secretary-General
UNHCR warmly welcomes the recommendation by the UN Security Council of its former High Commissioner, António Guterres, as the next United Nations Secretary-General. “During his ten years at UNHCR, Mr. Guterres managed some of the biggest refugee crises of our times,”...
Solidarity “essential” to refugee protection
GENEVA – With wars and violence uprooting record numbers of people worldwide, UNHCR’s international protection chief today called for a renewed spirit of multilateralism and solidarity to provide effective refugee protection and curb xenophobia. In a speech to the...