Cash grants transform life in Congo camp for Central African Republic refugees
MOLE REFUGEE CAMP, Democratic Republic of the Congo, October 3 (UNHCR) – The market in Mole refugee camp was buzzing on a recent Saturday morning, with stalls selling everything from fish, goat meat, cassava and vegetables to clothes, cosmetics, household items...
Asylum claims from Syria, Iraq and other conflict zones rise in first half 2014
GENEVA, September 26 (UNHCR) – A UNHCR report released on Friday shows that the number of people seeking refugee status in industrialized countries continued to climb in the first half of 2014, driven by the wars in Syria and Iraq as well as conflict and instability...
Congolese refugee music-lover charts his way to success
KAMPALA, Uganda, September 25 (UNHCR) – Music has always been part of Jeremiah Mbaha’s life, even when he had almost nothing. “I have been singing since my childhood. I could sing anything and I could see people felt warm and happy,” said the...
Creating a home from home, far from home in Erbil
ERBIL, Iraq, September 24 (UNHCR) – What had been an empty lot in Erbil’s Ainkawa district in early August is now a sea of white. Close to 300 UNHCR tents are laid out geometrically in an area the size of a city block in the capital of northern Iraq’s...
UNHCR steps up response as 130,000 Syrian refugees cross into Turkey
GENEVA, September 22 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency is stepping up its response to help the Turkish government provide assistance to an estimated 130,000 Syrians who have crossed into Turkey since Friday. The Turkish authorities and UNHCR are preparing for the...
The humanitarian suffering continues in Ukraine, despite a ceasefire
KHARKIV, Ukraine, September 19 (UNHCR) – Under the imposing dome of the Stalin-era train station of Kharkiv, with its paintings of triumphant peasants and workers, dozens of exhausted travellers lie sprawled and sleeping on benches in a corner of the lobby. They are...
Ukraine: the internally displaced struggle to get by
NIKOLAEVKA, Ukraine, September 18 (UNHCR) – The old lady sits on the bed staring at the lavatory in her small room. “I am human, I am not a dog,” she says. “I didn’t ask them to bomb me. I had everything. Now I have nothing.” Tamara is an...
Stateless in the Philippines: Indonesian descendants feel torn between two lands
KIDAPAWAN, Philippines, September 15 (UNHCR) – The question is simple: “Where are you from?” But in this rice-milling community in southern Mindanao, the answers are never straightforward. “My parents are from Indonesia. My mother escaped forced...