Migrants and Refugees

Steven of Venezuela and three friends attempt to hitchhike to the Paramo de Berlin (3,000m), the highest peak on their journey from Cucuta, Venezuela, to Bogota, Colombia.
IOM/Muse Mohammed

UN and partners call for solidarity, as Venezuelans on the move reach 4.5 million

23 October 2019
Americas

Since 2015, approximately 4.5 million Venezuelans have fled their country as the Latin American nation's political, humanitarian and economic crisis drags on, creating one of the “direst” displacement crises in the world, the UN and European Union said on Wednesday, ahead of a solidarity conference next week.

Children raise their hands to answer a question in class at a UNICEF learning space in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. (8 July 2019).
© UNICEF Patrick Brown

Two years after exodus, Myanmar’s ‘desperate’ Rohingya youth need education, skills: UNICEF

16 August 2019
Asia Pacific

The daily struggle to survive for Myanmar’s Rohingya people in one of the world’s largest refugee settlements, has caused “overwhelming” despair and jeopardized the hopes of an entire generation, the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Henrietta Fore, said on Friday.

Migrant children walk outside a detention centre located in Tripoli, Libya (file photo).
UNICEF/Romenzi

Six children among 53 confirmed fatalities after Libya detention centre airstrikes: Security Council condemns attack

5 July 2019
Africa

The toll from Tuesday’s reported airstrikes on a detention centre in the suburbs of Tripoli has risen to 53 dead and more than 130 injured among the “severely traumatized” surviving migrants and refugees, UN aid agencies said on Friday, reiterating their appeal to close all such facilities in the embattled country.

Farhia Mousa sits with three of her six children, including Nacima, 10-days-old, Abdulahi, 4-years-old, and Nasterha, 2-years-old, in a camp for people displaced by conflict and drought in Dangaroyo, Somalia. (22 May 2019)
© UNICEF_Joe English

Don’t take African generosity towards refugees for granted, says UN refugee chief

24 June 2019
Africa

The international community must not take the generosity of Africans for granted, UN refugee chief, Filippo Grandi, told an informal meeting of Security Council members at UN Headquarters in New York on Monday.

The small amounts of $200 or $300 that each migrant sends home make up about 60 per cent of the family’s household income.
IFAD/Christine Nesbitt

Remittances matter: 8 facts you don’t know about the money migrants send back home

15 June 2019
Global

This Sunday marks the second International Day of Family Remittances, observed every year on 16 June, in recognition of the fundamental contribution of migrant workers to their families and communities back home.

A boat filled with refugees and migrants from across Africa waits to be rescued by the Sea Watch vessel, in Libya.
© UNHCR/Hereward Holland

‘Huge data gaps’ hampering ‘evidence-based’ national migration policies

4 March 2019
Global

There are still “huge gaps at country level,” to be overcome in order to develop an effective global migration data programme, said the head of the Demographic and Social Statistics Branch of UN Statistics, on Monday.

A man holding a one-year-old child disembarks from the Dutch-flagged rescue ship Sea Watch in Malta. 9 January 2019.
© UNHCR/Federico Scoppa

‘Comprehensively include migrants’ or sustainable development won’t happen, warns General Assembly President

27 February 2019
Global

Migration and sustainable development are “deeply interconnected” and the 2030 Agenda, the UN’s blueprint for a sustainable future for all, will not be achieved if we do not “comprehensively include migrants,” the President of the General Assembly said on Wednesday.

A woman weeps, minutes after being saved from the Mediterranean Sea by the Sea Watch search and rescue ship. (file)
© UNHCR/Hereward Holland

‘World’s deadliest sea crossing’ claimed six lives a day in 2018: UN refugee agency

30 January 2019
Europe

Six people died every day last year trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe – “the world’s deadliest sea crossing” - the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Wednesday, citing ongoing political deadlock over sea rescue and disembarkation.

Syrian refugee Mohamad Hamza Alemam (left) is receiving baking lessons from Master baker Björn Wiese (wearing cap), at the Backwerkstatt Bakery in Eberswalde, eastern Germany. 4 December 2018.
© UNHCR/Gordon Welters

FROM THE FIELD: How the smell of fresh bread transformed one refugee life

11 January 2019
Europe

Who would imagine that the smell of fresh bread wafting through a bakery could change the course of a young Syrian refugee’s life?

Italy. Restaurant run by refugees and local entrepreneurs opens in Catania
© UNHCR/Alessio Mamo

Global Compact on Refugees: How is this different from the migrants’ pact and how will it help?

17 December 2018
Global

The terms ‘refugee’ and ‘migrant’ have been used interchangeably to describe the millions of people worldwide that are either fleeing conflict or seeking better living conditions. As the United Nations sets out to secure global compacts to better protect them, it’s critical to understand the differences between the two.