UNHCR and IOM saddened at deaths of refugees and migrants in shipwreck off Venezuela coast
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are deeply distressed by the death or disappearance at sea of up to 25 refugees and migrants from Venezuela, including children, after their boat capsized en route to Trinidad and...
UNHCR applauds Kenya’s decision to resolve the statelessness of the Shona and other communities
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes the Government of Kenya’s decision to grant citizenship to 1,670 stateless Shona and 1,300 stateless persons of Rwandan descent who qualify under the law as Kenyan citizens. President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the landmark...
UNHCR at 70: proud of our work but in no mood to celebrate
For seven decades, colleagues in the UN Refugee Agency have protected, saved and changed millions of lives. But how much better it would be, says High Commissioner Filippo Grandi, if no one was compelled to flee at all… By Filippo Grandi On 14 December, the Office of...
Hope on the horizon as UN Refugee Agency turns 70
OTTAWA, CANADA, 14 DECEMBER 2020 – Today marks the 70th anniversary since UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, was given its mandate by the UN General Assembly to protect people forced to flee persecution, provide humanitarian assistance and work to find solutions for...
Statement attributable to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on the situation in Ethiopia’s Tigray region
I am deeply alarmed about the safety and well-being of Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia, who have been caught in the conflict in the Tigray region. For over a month, UNHCR and humanitarian partners have had no access to the four Eritrean refugee camps inside Tigray,...
IOM and UNHCR chiefs stress that COVID-19 underlines the urgent need for universal health coverage
Ahead of International Universal Health Coverage Day (12 December), as the world struggles to curb COVID-19, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and the Director General of IOM António Vitorino, stressed that health services must be inclusive of all...
Urgent support needed for Venezuelan refugees and migrants facing trauma and hardship
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is warning of unprecedented levels of trauma and despair...
Yemenis displaced by conflict now face threats of looming famine
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is today warning that hundreds of thousands of internally...