refugees

UN agency to transfer Iranian Kurd refugees in Iraq to more secure camp

11 October 2005
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today announced plans to transfer some 2,000 Iranian Kurdish refugees from an insecure camp in central Iraq to a more stable location in the north.
Somali Refugees

UN refugee agency appalled at continued drownings off Yemen

6 September 2005
The United Nations refugee agency said today that it was "appalled" that yet another group of at least 45 Somalis and Ethiopians died last week at sea while crossing the Gulf of Aden in an attempt to reach Yemen aboard smugglers' boats from Somalia.

Number of asylum-seekers in industrialized world continues to fall sharply: UN

6 September 2005
The number of people seeking asylum in industrialized countries has continued to fall during the first half of this year, maintaining the sharp downward trend that began in 2002, the United Nations refugee agency said today.
Colombian Singer Juanes

Colombian singer helps UN refugee agency raise awareness in Spain

30 August 2005
The United Nations refugee agency has launched an awareness campaign in Spain on behalf of refugees and internally displaced people with a concert by Colombian singer Juanes in the north-western town of La Coruña.

UN agency backs London mayor’s push for balanced coverage of refugee issues

16 August 2005
Aware that refugees and asylum-seekers are the subject of frequent, negative coverage in some British newspapers, the United Nations refugee agency has joined London municipal authorities and journalists to launch a local press award to help draw positive attention to the contributions made by refugees to London's thriving ethnic mosaic.
Refugees in Bonga camp receive food in better times

Critical malnutrition found in Ethiopian refugee camps – UN

21 June 2005
Critical malnutrition is widespread in two camps that house an estimated 50,000 Sudanese refugees in the south-western part of Ethiopia, according to a survey by United Nation agencies and the Ethiopian Government, and the UN food agency is urgently transporting blended foods to the camps in response.

Refugee numbers fall to 25-year low but internally displaced and stateless rise

17 June 2005
The global number of refugees fell 4 per cent in 2004 to 9.2 million, the lowest total in almost a quarter of a century, but the numbers of internally displaced and stateless people and others “of concern” to the United Nations refugee agency increased to 19.2 million from 17 million over the course of the past year, it was announced today.
Angolan refugees in Kisenge, DRC

UN closes Congolese sites as Angolan refugees return home

31 May 2005
With the assistance of the United Nations refugee agency, the final convoy of Angolan refugees has returned home from a southern province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), ending a refugee program that has run for 20 years.
Temporary shelters built by Rwandan asylum seekers

Rwandan refugees moved without notice farther into Burundi, UN says

31 May 2005
The United Nations refugee agency today expressed concern over the surprise relocation over the weekend of thousands of Rwandan asylum-seekers by Burundian authorities to an inadequately equipped northern transit centre in their post-conflict Great Lakes country.
Ruud Lubbers says farewell to UNHCR staff

Annan launches wide-ranging search for refugee chief in new transparency policy

25 February 2005
A day after United Nations refugees chief Ruud Lubbers stood down amid controversy over alleged sexual impropriety, the world body today announced a far reaching search for a successor, contacting both governments and civil society groups as part of a new transparent approach to recruit the best people as agency heads.