Migrants and Refugees

© 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.

IOM/Muse Mohammed

Pandemic curbs trend towards ever-increasing migration

15 January 2021
Global

Travel restrictions and other curbs to movement put in place in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, have put a significant dent in migration figures, but the overall trend shows 100 million more people living outside their countries of origin in 2020, compared to the year 2000, a new UN report revealed on Friday.

© 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.

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. 

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. 

© UNHCR/José Ventura

UN refugee agency calls for ‘new chapter for refugee protection’ across Europe

12 January 2021
Europe

As Portugal assumes the presidency of the European Union (EU), to be followed by Slovenia later this year, the UN refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Tuesday called on them to lead the effort to forge a better protection system for those seeking refuge across the continent and beyond.

© UNHCR/Ghislaine Nentobo

Central African Republic: Post-election violence triggers mass displacement  

8 January 2021
Africa

Amidst post-election violence in the Central African Republic (CAR), more than 200,000 people have fled for their own safety, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.    

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.

© 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.

© 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.