Migrants and Refugees

IOM/Muse Mohammed

Number of migrants now growing faster than world population, new UN figures show

17 September 2019
Global

The growing number of international migrants has now reached 272 million, outpacing the growth rate of the world’s population, according to new data from the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), released on Tuesday.

WFP/Nihab Rahman

Monsoon destroys Rohingya shelters, sparking record UN emergency food agency response in Bangladesh

13 September 2019

Unusually heavy monsoon rains have inundated shelters in refugee camps in southern Bangladesh creating “havoc”, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday, as it launched its biggest emergency response of the year for displaced Rohingya families.

© UNHCR/Farha Bhoyroo

More than half of world’s refugee children ‘do not get an education’, warns UNHCR

30 August 2019
Global

Refugee children in their millions are missing out on an education, the UN said on Friday, in an appeal to host countries to back more inclusive policies to prevent them from “languishing” in camps for years and losing hope. 

© UNICEF/Santiago Arcos

Thursday’s Daily Brief: UN refugee agency on Venezuelan migrant crisis, dramatic resurgence' of measles in Europe, a UN News visit to former nuclear test site, Colombian law for disabled persons receives praise, Security Council on violence in Yemen

29 August 2019
Americas

A recap of Thursday's stories: 'No end in sight' to massive movement of Venezuelan migrants and refugees; 'Dramatic resurgence' of measles threatens Europe; Report from nuclear test site in Kazakhstan;  UN expert welcomes new Colombian law for persons with disabilities; Security Council concerned over violent spams in Yemen.

©UNICEF/Arcos

Venezuela migrant crisis begs a ‘coherent, predictable and harmonized’ response: UNHCR

29 August 2019
Americas

There is “no end in sight” to the massive movement of Venezuelan migrants and refugees, now at around 4.3 million in number, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) shared on Thursday.

IOM Peru/Karla Cervantes

Football is ‘refuge for those who have left everything’; UN initiative aims to bolster well-being of refugee, migrant children in Peru

27 August 2019
Americas

Sport brings people together “regardless of conditions or flags”, a senior United Nations official in Perú said on Tuesday referring to a new initiative launched over this past weekend to promote the well-being of children and youth in Lima’s refugee and migrant communities through football. 

© UNHCR/Santiago Escobar-Jarami

UN refugee chief impressed with Brazil’s ‘exemplary’ response to plight of fleeing Venezuelans

19 August 2019
Americas

While praising the “efficient, coordinated, humane and innovative response” by Brazil on behalf of fleeing Venezuelans, the UN refugee chief has said that the sheer number of those on the run is proving to be a major challenge, calling for greater international support.

© UNDP/Imen Meliane

FROM THE FIELD: Green wall of opportunities grows in the Sahel

19 August 2019
Africa

An ambitious plan has got underway to plant a band of trees across the Sahel region of Africa, to hold back desertification and combat climate change, thanks to the support of the United Nations.

UNICEF/Madjiangar

Displaced by DR Congo violence, survivors’ testimonies highlight brutality of armed militia

16 August 2019
Africa

Two months since hundreds of thousands of people fled violence in north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN humanitarians warned on Friday that armed militia continue to make their safe return impossible. 

© 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.