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.
United Nations agencies and humanitarian partners have called on authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to act urgently to help hundreds of migrants, stranded and without shelter, amid freezing winter temperatures.
The UN marks International Migrants Day on Friday, highlighting their essential contribution to societies everywhere, and underlining migrants' central role in recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Refugees and displaced people living in camps are amongst the most vulnerable communities across the world and more likely to catch COVID-19 than others, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
A recap of Monday’s main stories: companies ‘failing’ to address offline harm incited by online hate; gender equality ‘precursor’ to sustaining peace; UN rights chief urges ‘immediate dialogue’ to resolve Chile crisis; African migrants would make perilous Europe journey again; Security Council visits South Sudan.
This Friday, we cover: UN chief appeals for stronger climate action commitment; report on migrant children deaths and disappearances; Ebola fight in DR Congo as violence goes on; and global over-heating.
This Thursday, we cover: the dire humanitarian situation in Syria’s Idlib; living conditions at the US-Mexico border denounced by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF); trachoma-related blindness on the verge of being eliminated; and updates from the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
This Tuesday, we cover: a key fundraising conference for the UN Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA); a new UN report on families in 2019-2020; a call by an independent human rights expert to ban surveillance technology; 20,000 migrants rescued in the Sahara; and malnutrition in India.
A rescue operation on the Mediterranean concluded on Tuesday with confirmation that seven people drowned and 57 were rescued, following a shipwreck off the Greek island of Lesvos, the UN migration agency, IOM, said.
