Angola Repatriation: Antonio returns home after 40 years in DR Congo
KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo, August 28 (UNHCR) – When Antonio last stood in his home village of Kwilu, Angola was a colony of Portugal on the verge of becoming independent. A last flourish of fighting in the final weeks of colonialism, forced him to...
Needs soar as number of Syrian refugees tops 3 million
GENEVA, August 29 (UNHCR) -The UN refugee agency reports that Syria’s intensifying refugee crisis will today pass a record 3 million people, amid reports of horrifying conditions inside the country. These include cities where populations are surrounded, people...
Number of displaced inside Ukraine more than doubles since early August to 260,000
GENEVA, September 2 (UNHCR) – The UN Refugee Agency said on Tuesday that fighting in eastern Ukraine, in particular around Donetsk, Luhansk and neighbouring towns, is driving more people from their homes and increasing the need for humanitarian aid. Vincent Cochetel,...
Statelessness: Hoping to acquire a nationality and put down roots
BRUSSELS, Belgium, September 1 (UNHCR) – Three years ago, Railya Abulkhanova told a UNHCR film crew that she felt like a tumbleweed. “It rolls . . . with the breeze it rolls away. That is what it is. That is statelessness,” she said in the story-telling...
Sisters with a Message: Our music will go where our feet can’t reach
OTTAWA, Canada, August 25 (UNHCR) – As refugees in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, the four Bahati sisters released a debut single entitled “Don’t Give Up.” It’s a message they have long embraced and which has helped them survive the tough...
UNHCR on target to deliver 2,410 tons of aid for Iraqi displaced
GENEVA, August 22 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency on Friday said a massive aid push for some 500,000 displaced Iraqis was going to plan, with a second airlift of aid to Erbil and more flights due today and tomorrow. The operation began on Wednesday and a second flight...
Russia speeds up asylum procedures as Ukrainian influx continues
ST. PETERSBURG, Russian Federation, August 21 (UNHCR) – Before Ukraine’s secession crisis erupted in February, the Federal Migration Service office in St. Petersburg handled 120 asylum applications a year, mainly from Asians and Africans. Today,...