UN-facilitated family visits for Western Sahara refugees resume
The United Nations refugee agency announced today that its programme to facilitate family visits for Western Sahara refugees who have been separated for more than 30 years has resumed.
UN agency urges resumption of family-visit flights for Western Sahara refugees
The United Nations refugee agency said it is seeking to clarify why a family-visit flight for Western Sahara refugees had to be aborted last week, adding that it hoped the confidence-building measure will be able to resume as soon as possible.
Rwandan rebel attacks lead to more displacement in eastern DR Congo, UN says
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today it continues to be extremely worried about rising violence against civilians in the eastern Congolese province of North Kivu, where attacks by Rwandan Hutu rebels have sparked new displacement.
Overcrowding of boat people on Italian island worries UN refugee agency
The United Nations refugee agency today expressed concern over the overcrowded conditions faced by nearly 2,000 boat people, including asylum seekers, currently crammed into one reception centre on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.
Actor Ben Affleck and Rolling Stone Mick Jagger join forces to help UN refugee agency
Actor-director Ben Affleck and Rolling Stone singer Mick Jagger today released a short film to help raise $23 million for United Nations efforts to pay for clean water and emergency aid kits for 250,000 people driven from their homes by renewed fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
UN refugee agency wants to help world’s 23 million internally displaced persons as well
The desperate situation of more than 2 million Sudanese uprooted in Darfur highlights the international challenge of providing protection to some 23 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) around the world, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres said today.
Internally displaced numbers dwarf refugees, need urgent global action – UN report
While the number of refugees worldwide has reached its lowest level in 25 years at 9.2 million, the surge in internally displaced people to some 25 million has put the international system for dealing with human displacement at a critical juncture, according to a new United Nations report released today.
UN refugee agency objects to Austrian asylum proposals
The United Nations refugee agency said today that some proposed changes in asylum laws under study by the Austrian parliament this week, if passed unchanged, would be “among the most restrictive pieces of legislation” within the European Union.
Disease and malnutrition claim lives of 10 Somali refugees in Kenya: UNHCR
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today voiced "grave concern" over the situation in Kenya's volatile border region, where 10 Somali refugees have died of disease and malnutrition over the past six days as the Kenyan authorities have prevented aid agencies from moving thousands to a safer location.
UN sets up new unit to respond to crisis of 50 million internally displaced persons
With an estimated 50 million people around the world having lost their homes due to war and natural disasters, the United Nations has set up a new unit to respond to the severe crisis of internally displaced persons.