Stories
The latest stories from UNHCR.
Photo: © UNHCR/Roland Schonbauer
We take special care to bring you the latest refugee news and stories of the men, women and children we help each day.
From refugee camp to McGill student: Canadian sponsorship program makes a dream come true
How one girl went from being a refugee in Malawi to a student at a Canadian university.
Syrian family displaced by crisis returns home to rebuild
Abdul Kader and his family moved from one neighbourhood to another five times inside Homs in Syria, as brutal fighting closed in around them. Now, he is determined to rebuild his home and life.
Young newcomers’ tech innovations help refugees in Montreal
The High Commissioner for Refugees witnesses first-hand how refugees’ experiences help them develop tech solutions to their day-to-day problems. By Erla Cabrera in Montreal, Canada This morning, Ahmed Saeed, a 23-year-old asylum seeker from Eritrea, shared with the...
“A promise is a man’s honour” – The Procyk’s Journey to Canada
A daughter describes her father's journey from Polish immigrant to successful farmer in Wilsonville, Ontario. By Christine Wheeler My father William Procyk was six years old when his family made the journey from Poland to Canada, but he can still distinctly remember...
Freed Iraqi Yazidi boy settles into new life in Canada
After three years in captivity, 13-year-old Emad is reunited with his mother and siblings in Winnipeg. Winnipeg, Canada: Annie Sakkab, August 2017. Thirteen-year-old Emad Tammo sits in his new home surrounded by his mother and siblings, his smiling face unrecognizable...
Freed Yazidi boy joins his mother in Canada
After being held captive by armed groups in Iraq for three years, 13-year-old Emad reunites with his mother in Winnipeg with UNHCR help. Iraq: Cathy Otten, August 2017 Emad was kidnapped three years ago when armed groups attacked the town of Sinjar, 100 kilometres...
Remembering Alan Kurdi: we must do more to protect refugees
Jean-Nicolas Beuze, UNHCR Representative in Canada, writes on the second anniversary of the death of Alan Kurdi with a question; as the world moves on and the headlines fade, have we done enough to protect refugees who are most vulnerable? On 2 September 2015, we all...
‘Sea Prayer’ – by Khaled Hosseini, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador
‘SEA PRAYER’ WRITTEN BY KHALED HOSSEINI, UNHCR GOODWILL AMBASSADOR My dear Marwan In the long summers of childhood, when I was a boy the age you are now, your uncles and I spread our mattress on the roof of your grandfather’s farmhouse, outside of Homs. We woke in...
Child refugee grows up to become family doctor
When Sameena and her Ugandan Asian family needed a place of safety, Canada stepped up. Now a doctor, she cares for families in her adoptive home. In 1972, under orders from then President Idi Amin, all Ugandans of Asian descent were required to leave the country...
Tearful reunion for Yazidi boy and family in Winnipeg
The UNHCR Representative in Canada, Jean-Nicolas Beuze has praised Canada's work on refugee resettlement today as a Yazidi boy has been reunited with his family in Winnipeg after three years' separation. Emad Mishko Tamo was just 9 years old when he was captured by...
Donate Today
Please help refugee families in need.