Migrants and Refugees

The former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo in February 1995.
©UNHCR/Panos Moumtzis

Tributes for ‘role model’ former UN refugee agency chief, Sadako Ogata

29 October 2019

The first woman to serve as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, has died in Tokyo at the age of 92, hailed by the UN Secretary-General on Tuesday as a “role model for people across the world.”

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.

Two young unaccompanied Gambian migrants look at a map after crossing to Italy. (file)
© UNICEF/Ashley Gilbertson

More than 90 per cent of Africa migrants would make perilous Europe journey again, despite the risks

21 October 2019

A landmark UN migration study published on Monday shows that 93 per cent of Africans making the journey to European countries along irregular routes, would do it again, despite facing often life-threatening danger. 

Azizbek Ashurov, Director of Kyrgyzstan-based Ferghana Valley Lawyers Without Borders, has been named 2019 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award Winner for 2019.
© UNHCR/Chris de Bode

'Tenacious' Kyrgyz lawyer and statelessness champion, wins prestigious UNHCR prize

2 October 2019

A rights lawyer who took to horseback to help more than 10,000 stateless people gain nationality in Kyrgystan after the break-up of the Soviet Union, has been awarded the UN refugee agency’s prestigious 2019 Nansen Refugee Award.