The Snow Storm
Aisha, a mother of four from Syria, wraps a blanket around her shoulders as the wind beats against the walls of the tent. Outside, snow is piling up and soon the family’s food will run out. “We are really scared of the storm,” she says, shivering as she hands some...
The Sound of Peace
Every morning, Ahmad gently wakes his six-year-old son, Abdu. Then he places hearing aids over the boy’s ears and asks him what he can hear. It is a ritual they cherish, a moment when they remember just how much their lives have changed. Ahmad and Abdu are Syrian...
Try this 75-second visualization exercise
It’s hard to imagine what a group of 1.5 million children looks like. Or what it would be like if they all had to run from their homes, in need of food, shelter, care and protection from harm. The numbers that describe today’s refugee crisis are often hopelessly...
Thank You for Supporting Refugees
At a time when the number of refugees and displaced people around the world reached more than 50 million—the highest since WWII—you gave generously and thoughtfully to UNHCR. Thank you. It would be easy to become overwhelmed by that number, but we’re not and we know...
Refugees caught in heavy snow as storms lash Lebanon and Jordan
GENEVA, January 7 (UNHCR) –Thousands of refugees across Lebanon and Jordan have been struggling to keep warm and protect their shelters this week as severe winter storms bring plummeting temperatures, heavy snow, strong winds and lashing rain to the region. UNHCR...
Italian football great Franco Baresi opens sports centre in Lebanon for UNHCR
TRIPOLI, Lebanon, December 19 (UNHCR) – AC Milan legend Franco Baresi has opened a renovated sports centre in the Lebanon city of Tripoli under a UNHCR project aimed at helping young Syrian refugees overcome trauma and make friends with Lebanese children. The AC Milan...
Displaced Iraqis seek safety and aid in camps as winter falls
ARBAT, Iraq, December 30 (UNHCR) – More than 3,000 internally displaced Iraqis are living in Arbat camp three months after it opened to shelter to some of the 2 million people uprooted by conflict in northern and central Iraq in 2014. They comprise some 660 families,...
Rough Crossing
As he stepped onto a boat on the Indonesia coast, Barat Ali Batoor knew he might not survive the voyage to Australia. But it was a risk he says he had to take. “It was not an easy decision for me,” says Batoor, 31, who proved luckier than many who brave the high seas...