Resettlement of Bhutanese refugees surpasses 100,000 mark
KATHMANDU, Nepal, Nov 19 (UNHCR)—The UN refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Thursday marked a major milestone: the resettlement of over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees from Nepal to third countries since the launch of the program in...
UNHCR chief says it is “absolute nonsense” to blame refugees for terror
PRESEVO, Serbia, Nov 17 (UNHCR)—UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said today it was “absolute nonsense” to try to blame refugees for terror attacks, stressing that they were its “first victims” and could not be held responsible...
After Paris attacks, refugees should not be turned into scapegoats
GENEVA, Nov 17 (UNHCR)—The UN refugee agency has expressed its shock and horror at the attacks in Paris and the killing of so many innocent people, and cautioned against the scapegoating of refugees. UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres has conveyed his...
Some 3,300 people a day still arriving on Lesvos
GENEVA, Nov 13 (UNHCR)—With winter closing in, more than 3,000 people a day are still arriving on the Greek island of Lesvos despite dangerous sea conditions and overstretched and inadequate reception facilities, the UN refugee agency said today. “The number of...
UNHCR welcomes definitive bilateral ceasefire in Colombia
GENEVA, Nov 13 (UNHCR)—United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres has welcomed the announcement by the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to establish a bilateral and definitive cease-fire in the coming...
UNHCR condemns attacks on camps in Central African Republic
GENEVA, Nov 12 (UNHCR)—The UN refugee agency has condemned spreading violence around the volatile Central African Republic in recent days, including attacks on two camps for Internally Displaced People (IDP) that killed eight people and the fatal shooting of a UN...
As fighting in Yemen intensifies, more flee to Djibouti
OBOCK, Djibouti, Nov 11 (UNHCR)—Yemeni fisherman Seif Zeid Abdulah was riding home on his motorbike when an airstrike pounded his native Bab El Mandab region. A sudden, concussive blast sent the 27-year-old flying. His left leg shattered by shrapnel, he found he was...UNHCR hails Canada’s pledge to take another 25,000 Syria refugees
UNHCR today welcomed the announcement by the Government of Canada to take in a further 25,000 Syrian refugees through humanitarian admission programmes by the end of 2015. “This is a huge gesture of solidarity with the Syrian people and the countries...