Stateless in West Africa
Lisette, 20, was born and raised in Côte d’Ivoire. To make a living, she sells grains of millet at the local market in Zuenoula. But without ID documents to prove her birthplace, or her ancestral ties to Burkina Faso, she might as well be invisible. Bereft of a...
Humanity, hope and thoughts of home: Syrian refugees in southern Lebanon
ABBASIEH, Lebanon, February 25 (UNHCR) – Ali* and his family are living through their third winter in Lebanon, but thoughts of their Syrian home in the city of Idlib are never far away. “If we could go home, we would. But as long as the troubles last we...
Fresh violence displaces almost 50,000 people in Central African Republic
BANGUI, Central African Republic, February 24 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency on Tuesday reported that an upsurge in violence in the Central African Republic has forced the displacement of almost 50,000 people since the start of the year. This includes an estimated...
Shakespeare in Za’atari
Twelve-year-old Wiam Yousef Al-Ammari has not been to school since her family fled Syria in January 2013. But that hasn’t stopped her from studying Shakespeare. She was one of 80 young refugees who recently staged “King Lear” at Za’atari camp in Jordan, exploring...
Fire and Rain
Rain pours down on the scorched ruins of what was, until just a few weeks ago, a refuge for thousands of people displaced inside the volatile North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Dozens of former inhabitants, mainly women and children, gather...
As violence spreads beyond Nigeria, UNHCR calls for urgent access to the displaced
GENEVA, February 13 (UNHCR) –The UN refugee agency, concerned about the spread of violence from north-east Nigeria into neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and Niger, on Friday called for urgent humanitarian access to refugees and internally displaced people in these...
A Wedding in Wartime
In Syria, I’m told, wedding celebrations can last up to a week—and sometimes even a month. The night before the wedding, the groom is typically fêted at home or at the hamman. On the day of the ceremony, the bride spends hours getting ready with young relatives and...
Nigerian refugee children lose family in the desperate dash for safety
DAR ES SALAM CAMP, Chad, February 5 (UNHCR) – Since militants attacked the Nigerian town of Baga a month ago, more than 14,000 people have found safety in Chad, including hundreds of children who are still suffering. Many, like 15-year-old Ismail, have been separated...