Migrants and Refugees

Intercommunal violence in Darfur has left millions in need of assistance. Pictured here, an IDP settlement in Sortoni. (file photo)
UNAMID/Mohamad Almahady

Sudan: 250 killed, over 100,000 displaced as violence surges in Darfur

22 January 2021
Africa

A sharp uptick in intercommunal violence in Sudan’s Darfur region has forced more than 100,000 people to flee their homes in search of safety, including many into neighbouring Chad, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported on Friday.

The United States Capitol Building, Washington, DC.
©Sarah Scaffidi

UN welcomes Biden administration commitment to refugee protection

20 January 2021
Americas

The UN Secretary-General on Wednesday welcomed the “positive steps” announced by the new US administration towards migrants and refugees, while the head of UN refugee agency (UNHCR) congratulated the new President and Vice President on taking office, pledging to work with them to strengthen global support for refugees. 

Fatima Hussein Al Ahmad, a Syrian refugee, is now living in Jordan.
© Abdel Hameed Al Nasier

First Person: Cheese proves key to survival for Syrian refugee family amid pandemic

16 January 2021
Middle East

Syrian refugee Fatima Hussein Al Ahmad, a mother of four, lives on a farm with 50 other workers in Sahba, Jordan. COVID-19 travel restrictions meant that she didn’t work for two months in 2020, and feeding her family became a daily struggle.

Central Africans fearing electoral violence are fleeing to the Democratic Republic of the Congo .
© UNHCR/Ghislaine Nentobo

Central African Republic: Displacement reaches 120,000, as another deadly attack leaves one UN peacekeeper dead

15 January 2021
Africa

“Worsening” election violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) has forced 120,000 people from their homes, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday, as the UN Secretary-General also condemned another attack by combatants on a UN convoy, which left a peacekeeper from Burundi dead, and two others wounded.

A devastating fire broke out on 14 January in Nayapara refugee camp, southern Bangladesh, destroying over 500 shelters.
WFP Bangladesh

UN steps up support for thousands left homeless after fire at Rohingya refugee camp

15 January 2021
Asia Pacific

UN agencies have stepped up efforts to help thousands of Rohingya refugees left without shelter after a devastating fire tore through a crowded refugee camp in south-eastern Bangladesh on Thursday. 

Ethiopian refugees fleeing clashes in the country’s northern Tigray region cross the border into Hamdayet, Sudan.
UNHCR/Hazim Elhag

Ethiopia: Safe access and swift action needed for refugees in Tigray

14 January 2021
Africa

The head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on Wednesday expressed his deep concern over the humanitarian situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, including its impact on Eritrean refugees hosted there. 

Twenty-four years after the Rwanda genocide, survivor Liberée Kayumba, a Monitoring Officer with WFP, is now helping refugees coming to the country.
WFP/Jonathan Eng

FROM THE FIELD: The genocide survivor helping others avoid starvation

7 January 2021

During the 1994 Genocide Against The Tutsi In Rwanda, Liberee Kayumba avoided starvation thanks to emergency rations from the World Food Programme (WFP). Today, she is helping to ensure that Burundian refugees in the country have enough to eat.

Tens of thousands of refugees have crossed the border from Ethiopia to Sudan, fleeing conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
© WFP/Leni Kinzli

UNHCR relocates victims of Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict to new site in Sudan

5 January 2021

A second refugee camp has opened in Sudan for people fleeing violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray region carrying “little more than the clothes on their backs”, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), said on Tuesday.

A 33-year-old man from Afghanistan, pictured with his family on the Greek island of Lesvos, is hoping to be relocated to Germany.
© UNICEF/Canaj Magnum Photos

The virus that shut down the world: The plight of refugees and migrants

29 December 2020
Global

In part four of our review of the global impact of COVID-19, UN News considers the new challenges faced by refugees and migrants during 2020; from a heightened risk of catching the COVID-19 virus in crowded camps, to being stranded due to travel restrictions, and becoming the targets of criminal gangs.

The Tigray region faces some of the toughest development challenges in Ethiopia. (file photo)
© UNICEF/Zerihun Sewunet

25,000 refugees in unsettled Tigray region receive urgent UN food supplies

28 December 2020
Africa

Some 25,000 Eritrean refugees, sheltering in two camps in the unsettled Tigray region of Ethiopia, have received desperately needed food aid for the first time since mid-October.