GENEVA, May 16, 2022 – UN human rights experts* urgently called on Israel and the international community to stop the forced evictions, arbitrary displacement and forcible transfer of Palestinian communities from Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank. “Following the judgement of the Israeli High Court of Justice earlier this month, around 1,200 Palestinian residents […]
UNHCR
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Forcibly displaced LGBT persons face major challenges in search of safe haven
GENEVA (May 16, 2022) – On the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, a group of UN and regional human rights experts urged governments to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse (LGBT) persons fleeing persecution are protected against violence and treated with dignity. The experts issued the following […]
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UN Refugee Agency appeals for urgent action amid soaring deaths at sea
April 29, 2022 – More than 3,000 people died or went missing while attempting to cross the Central and Western Mediterranean and Atlantic last year to Europe. This is according to a new report released today by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, which calls for urgent support to prevent deaths and protect refugees and asylum seekers who […]
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UNHCR regrets loss of life in the Aegean Sea, with at least 31 dead and more missing
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is deeply distressed by the recent tragic death toll in Greece’s Aegean Sea. At least 31 people lost their lives in three separate shipwrecks between 21 and 24 December, while an unknown number are still missing. More than 160 people were rescued by the Hellenic Coast Guard, with support from […]
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UNHCR urges states to protect refugees’ rights, not to instrumentalize their plight
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is increasingly concerned by the instrumentalization of refugees and migrants by states apparently to achieve political ends. People are not, and should never be, pawns in geopolitical games. When states encourage population outflows to neighboring countries, they create grave risks and compound the trauma and suffering of people fleeing. It […]
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Report: UNHCR warns of vaccine gap risk for world’s stateless
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is warning today that many of the world’s stateless people may miss out on vaccinations as a result of their lack of citizenship or proof of identity. “There are millions known to be stateless around the world, without the nationality of any state. This has hugely damaging impacts on their […]
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Statement by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on the need to end U.S COVID-19 asylum restrictions
May 20, 2021 – I appeal to the government of the United States to swiftly lift the public health-related asylum restrictions that remain in effect at the border and to restore access to asylum for the people whose lives depend on it, in line with international legal and human rights obligations. I welcome the U.S. […]
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Photo Exhibition Shows Enterprising Migrants and Refugees
Geneva, November 19, 2019 – With an estimated 272 million international migrants in the world today, migration has the potential to significantly improve the wellbeing and socioeconomic conditions of migrants and their families, as well as the development prospects in receiving and sending communities, provided it occurs in an informed manner and within a transparent […]
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Hundreds of thousands in harm’s way in northern Syria
October 10, 2019 – The escalation of conflict in northern Syria risks causing more human suffering and adding new displacement to what is already the largest displacement crisis in the world. Tens of thousands of civilians are on the move to escape the fighting and seek safety. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is calling on […]
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Refugees and migrants from Venezuela top 4 million: UNHCR and IOM
June 7, 2019 – The number of Venezuelans leaving their country has reached 4 million, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and IOM, the International Organization for Migration, announced today. Globally, Venezuelans are one of the single largest population groups displaced from their country. The pace of the outflow from Venezuela has been staggering. From some […]
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UN experts calls for solidarity with people affected by Africa cyclone
GENEVA (1 April 2019) – UN human rights experts* have called on States, international organisations and private actors to show solidarity with Southern Africa countries after Cyclone Idai left hundreds of people dead, hundreds of thousands displaced and caused billions of dollars in damage. Idai caused catastrophic damage in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, leaving more […]
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Legal changes and climate of hatred threaten migrants’ rights in Italy, say UN experts
GENEVA (21 November 2018) – Italy’s proposed tightening of immigration rules will have a serious impact on migrants’ lives, and are of grave concern, UN human rights experts* said today, urging the Government to reverse course. “The abolition of humanitarian protection status, the exclusion of asylum seekers from access to reception centres focusing on social […]
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Four years into its #IBelong Campaign to end statelessness, UNHCR calls for more resolute action by states
Formerly stateless Makonde community member Amina shows off her Kenyan identity card, Kwale, Kenya, March 2017. © UNHCR/Modesta Ndubi Nov. 13, 2018 – Four years after the launch of a decade-long campaign to eradicate statelessness globally, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, called today on states to take faster and more resolute action to help meet the […]
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UN Refugee Agency: U.S. must act in accordance with the 1967 refugee Protocol to which the U.S. is a party
A young Salvadoran girl pauses at a roadside in Huehuetan, southern Mexico, with refugees and migrants from Central America. © © UNHCR/Daniel Dreifuss November 9, 2018 – Among the people on the move in Central America and Mexico today, many are fleeing life-threatening violence or persecution and are in need of international protection. UNHCR expects all […]
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UN experts appalled by Israeli court decision permitting demolition of West Bank Bedouin village
GENEVA, Sept. 10, 2018 – An Israeli High Court ruling giving the Government of Israel the green light to demolish the entire Palestinian Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar Ab al Helu, has been described as “appalling” by two UN human rights experts*. “It is gravely disappointing that a High Court can take a decision that […]
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UN human rights experts welcome resumption of power supplies to Gaza, caution more needs to be done
GENEVA January 10, 2018 – UN human rights experts have welcomed the announcement that power cuts imposed on Gaza for the past six months were being lifted, but cautioned much more must be done to alleviate the human-caused suffering in Gaza. On 7 January 2018, Israel began to resupply Gaza with 50 megawatts (MW) of […]
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Myanmar refuses access to UN Special Rapporteur
GENEVA (20 December 2017) – The Government of Myanmar has informed UN Special Rapporteur Yanghee Lee that all access to the country has been denied and cooperation withdrawn for the duration of her tenure. Ms. Lee had been due to visit Myanmar in January to assess the state of human rights countrywide, including the human […]
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“American Dream is rapidly becoming American Illusion,” warns UN rights expert on poverty
WASHINGTON, D.C. / GENEVA (18 December 2017) – The United States, one of the world’s richest nations and the “land of opportunity”, is fast becoming a champion of inequality, according to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston. Entrenched poverty will be made far worse by policies being proposed […]
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UNHCR study uncovers shocking sexual violence against Syrian refugee boys, men
December 6, 2017 – A study commissioned by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, into sexual violence against men and boys in the Syria crisis indicates that this violence may be far more widespread than previously understood. UNHCR’s study involved several dozen informants and focus group discussions with some 196 refugees in Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan […]
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UNHCR report exposes the discrimination pervading the life of stateless minorities worldwide
November 3, 2017 – A new UNHCR report warns that discrimination, exclusion and persecution are stark realities for many of the world’s stateless minorities, and calls for immediate action to secure equal nationality rights for all. More than 75% of the world’s known stateless populations belong to minority groups, the report notes. Left unaddressed, their […]