UN High Commissioner for Refugees

August 13, 2019 – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is today calling on European governments to allow the immediate disembarkation of 507 people recently rescued on the Central Mediterranean who remain stranded at sea. Many are reportedly survivors of appalling abuses in Libya and are from refugee-producing countries. They are in need of humanitarian assistance […]

July 16, 2019 – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is deeply concerned about the new rule barring from asylum the majority of people crossing the southern U.S. land border. This will endanger vulnerable people in need of international protection from violence or persecution. “We understand that the U.S. asylum system is under significant strain. And […]

Feb. 19, 2019 – This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. New data released by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency shows that despite record levels of worldwide forced displacement, just 4.7 per cent of global refugee resettlement needs […]

Jan. 28, 2019 – The flow of hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants from Venezuela in recent years is the largest population movement in the recent history of Latin America. In the face of this monumental crisis, the reaction of the countries of the region has been exemplary. In my travels through the region, […]

August 3, 2018 – More than 1,500 refugees and migrants have lost their lives attempting to cross the Mediterranean in the first seven months of this year. The bleak milestone was confirmed after more than 850 lives were lost in June and July alone, marking the Mediterranean crossing as the deadliest sea route in the […]

April 3, 2018 – It is with regret that UNHCR notes today’s cancellation by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Israel-UNHCR Agreement of 2nd April on solutions for Eritreans and Sudanese currently in Israel. The Agreement was the result of discussions over an extended period of time, and reflected a shared effort to find a […]

March 9, 2018 – The relentless suffering of Syrian civilians marks a shameful failure of political will and a new low in Syria’s long-running conflict, which this month reaches a depressing seventh anniversary, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said on Friday. “This seven-year war has left a colossal human tragedy in its […]

GENEVA, June 2, 2017 – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is shocked to hear about the reported deaths of 44 desperate migrants and refugees in the Sahara Desert this week – including women and children. Survivor accounts suggest a group of 50 people was on their way to Libya when their truck broke down between […]

May 30, 2017 – UNHCR is appealing for urgent safe passage and admission for a group of Syrian refugees stranded in dire circumstances on the Algerian-Moroccan border. Deeply concerned about rapidly deteriorating conditions for this group of vulnerable Syrian refugees, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, called today on the two countries to urgently address humanitarian […]

GENEVA, March 6, 2017 – In light of today’s Executive Order regarding U.S. refugee resettlement, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, underscores that refugees are ordinary people forced to flee war, violence and persecution in their home countries and who remain in urgent need of life-saving assistance and protection. Commenting on the Executive Order the UN […]