Seven facts about the Syria crisis
1. More than half of all Syrians have been forced to flee their homes There are over 5.5 million registered Syrian refugees and more than six million people displaced inside Syria. Syria accounts for the world’s largest number of forcibly displaced people with...Joint UN Press Release: The UN and partners plan to deliver humanitarian assistance to eastern Ghouta
Damascus, Syria The UN and partners plan to deliver humanitarian assistance to Duma in eastern Ghouta today, 5 March 2018. Today’s convoy will consist of 46 truckloads of health and nutrition supplies, along with food for 27,500 people in need and will be led by Ali...
Burundian refugee stitching together a brighter future in Rwanda
My name is Sandrine and I am 18 years old. I am a Burundian refugee. I came here to Mahama camp in Rwanda with my mother and my seven brothers and sisters. We fled from Burundi in 2015. It was getting violent there, so we escaped to save our lives. During our journey,...
Why thousands of children in Central America are forced to flee
By Jean-Nicolas Beuze, UNHCR Canada Representative Last fall, I travelled to Honduras, meeting children sheltered in a project supported by UNHCR. To break the ice, I asked what you might ask any teen: “What’s your dream when you grow up?” To my surprise, quite a few...
Call to support Syrians amid violence in Eastern Ghouta
Update 27 February 2018: Since the release of the statement below, the ceasefire declared in Eastern Ghouta was broken. As of Tuesday morning, 27 February, fighting continues. In an interview with CNN, UNHCR Representative in Syria, Sajjad Malik, has emphasized the...
LGBTQ2 refugee activist spreads message of tolerance and equality
By Biko Beauttah, as told to Fiona Irvine-Goulet Biko Beauttah arrived at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport in 2006 as an asylum seeker. Beauttah is transgender, and in her native Kenya, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning...
The sweetest welcome: Syrian refugees bring taste of home to Canada
By Fiona Irvine-Goulet Imagine you’ve just arrived in a foreign country with almost nothing to your name. You know little about this cold land, but at least you speak the language, though it’s not your own. You’re educated and ambitious but have no family or friends...
UN High Commissioner for Refugees praises Canada for “extraordinary generosity”
By Lauren La Rose Among the many refugees Filippo Grandi encountered during his mission to Canada, a hospital worker in Montreal had a particularly profound impact on the head of the UN Refugee Agency. During the first leg of a four-day visit to Canada, Grandi met...