Mother Opani and daughter find safety in Uganda
When Opani Lilias was met by UNHCR aid workers at the Ugandan border, she had been walking for a week straight with her daughter Brenda swaddled to her chest. Carrying only a small suitcase, Opani and Brenda arrived exhausted, having travelled without food or water,...
Shelter urgently needed for Rohingya fleeing Myanmar violence
Officials warn of ‘true crisis’ as an estimated 73,000 Rohingya seek safety in already strained Bangladesh refugee camps. KUTUPALONG CAMP, Bangladesh – Barefoot and running for her life, Rohingya Dilara, 20, reached Bangladesh in recent days clutching her young son,...
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...
Statement on two-year anniversary of death of Alan Kurdi
Nearly two years after the lifeless body of three-year-old Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi was found on a Turkish beach, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, urges the international community to take robust action to prevent more tragedies. Although the number of arrivals 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...