Ethiopia: The ongoing emergency in the Tigray region
After eight years living in the Shimelba refugee camp, Fathma (pictured above), an Eritrean refugee, found herself fleeing for her life once again. The conflict in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia reached the camp, which was destroyed. She is now among the...
Afghanistan: The latest on an escalating humanitarian crisis
UNHCR will continue to step up its response in Afghanistan as the situation on the ground continues to deteriorate after a tumultuous year. Screen Shot 2022-04-26 at 10.19.50 AM Screen Shot 2022-04-26 at 10.20.03 AM The country was already facing a number of crippling...
Climate change: How the defining crisis of our time is impacting displacement
For more than seven decades, UNHCR has been providing aid and protection to people who have been displaced from their homes due to war, conflict and persecution. Now, there is another devastating threat driving displacement and uprooting the lives of millions in the...
UNHCR helps Syrian student on his journey to higher learning
The UNHCR refugee scholarship program (DAFI) has sponsored more than 18,500 refugee students in over 50 countries since it began in 1992. Shadi Al Mesitef was a DAFI scholar at Zarqa University in Jordan where he studied medical laboratory. He graduated in June of...
Welcome warmth: How cash assistance offers a lifeline for Syrian families.
The COVID-19 pandemic that has had the world in its grip for the past two years has made life very difficult for Abu Ahmad (pictured above) and his family. As a construction worker in Aleppo, Syria, Abu was able to support his family for years; but a number of health...
Forging forward: Rohingya refugees rebuild after a challenging year
2022 marks the fifth year since the mass exodus of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar fleeing violence and persecution in the northern part of Rakhine State. In August 2017, some 740,000 vulnerable men, women and children arrived by foot and by boat, crossing into...
The Nobel laureate who tackles themes of displacement, history and home
By Barney Thompson Abdulrazak Gurnah reflects on the isolation and hostility he had to face as a young man – and argues in favour of more humane attitudes towards refugees and asylum seekers. “You think you understand places,” says author and Nobel Prize winner...
News comment: UNHCR’s Grandi fears UK legislation will dramatically weaken refugee protection
Statement by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi Today, the UK Parliament approved new legislation on nationality, asylum and immigration – the Nationality and Borders Bill. The bill will become law once it receives Royal Assent. UNHCR, the UN Refugee...