UNHCR

The UN Refugee Agency’s Bold Plan to Manage the Crisis of Climate Migrants

• August 1, 2021

As the world inches closer to catastrophic global heating and vulnerable communities from Mali to Myanmar are already suffering the consequences, the United Nations Refugee Agency has been grappling with the growing role of climate change as a driver of displacement. In a first for the agency, it has begun considering whether international refugee …

Human Rights, Refugees, US Foreign Relations

Leave a Comment

Melissa Fleming Wants to Change the UN’s Public Image. Can She Do It?

Stéphanie Fillion

• January 27, 2020

The United Nations turns 75 this year, all year long. As its purpose is being questioned by some of its biggest donor nations, including the United States, the UN has a new person to reshape its public image through its global communications office, starting with how it presents its news. PassBlue obtained an exclusive copy …

Secretary-General, UN75

3 Comments

UN Agencies Back Asylum Rights of Central American Migrants in Exodus to US

Barbara Crossette

• November 6, 2018

Working closely with Mexico, United Nations agencies are providing food and other necessities to thousands of migrants from Central America who are walking or riding in any vehicle they can find toward the United States. There, they are seeking asylum but face threats from the Trump administration. The president vows that the migrants, still …

Migration, US Foreign Relations

Leave a Comment

WORLDVIEWS

UN Day: Another Day, Another 34,000 Refugees

Michael Curtin

• October 23, 2017

Oct. 24 is not just another day on the calendar. It is United Nations Day, an excellent time to take note of one of the accomplishments the world body has achieved in its 72-year history. The global institution has made it possible for the economic and social development for people worldwide. There is, however, …

Humanitarian Aid, Migration, Refugees, WORLDVIEWS

Leave a Comment

BOOKS

Surviving a Sea That Stole Almost Everything: One Refugee’s Story

Elizabeth Walsh

• March 4, 2017

“I represent just one voice among the millions who risk their lives every day in order to live a life of dignity,” writes Doaa Al Zamel, a young Syrian woman who survived a horrific journey across the Mediterranean. “Every family in my country has lost so much that they have had to rebuild their …

BOOKS, Refugees

Leave a Comment

WORLDVIEWS

The UN Should Just Say No to Returning Refugees to Danger

Bill Frelick

• February 27, 2017

Pressure is building on Afghan and Somali refugees to go home, even if they no longer have homes to return to. It is not surprising that this pressure is coming from governments that have been hosting huge numbers of refugees and want to end what seems to them like a never-ending burden. What is …

Human Rights, Migration, Refugees, WORLDVIEWS

Leave a Comment

WORLDVIEWS

How Trauma Therapy Can Help to Reduce Cycles of Violence

Rolf C. Carriere

• April 26, 2016

ÉCHENEVEX, France — While psychological trauma affects perhaps as many as 500 million victims worldwide, and adversely impacts human and social development on a massive scale, its most devastating — but least suspected — effect may well be the potential for peace. How? Because people who have been traumatized by violence or abuse could …

WORLDVIEWS

One Comment

In UN Refugee Camps, Sports Soothe Trauma for Children

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• January 27, 2016

“Sport is the only area of human existence that has achieved universal law,” said Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee when he announced that elite athletes who were refugees could compete in the 2016 Olympics under that flag. “Regardless of where in the world we practice sport, the rules are the …

Education, Gender Violence, Health and Population, Refugees

One Comment

The UN’s Demands to Stop the Violence in Yemen Fall on Deaf Ears

Tom Woodcock

• October 26, 2015

While the regional coalition led by Saudi Arabia continues its aerial bombardment against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and as ground troops — from Bahrain, Sudan and United Arab Emirates — join the Saudis in the fray, the pain dealt to civilians, especially children, has been rising ever since the war began in March. …

Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, Middle East, Secretary-General, Security Council

Leave a Comment

In New York State, a City Willing to Settle Refugees the Right Way

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• October 20, 2015

BUFFALO — Inside this city’s West Side Bazaar, a business development incubator set up to assist refugees and immigrants here, colors dazzle and appetizing aromas waft around every corner. The bazaar is a packed mashup of a Middle Eastern souk with an outdoor market of Southern Asia. Vendors and aspiring restaurateurs from some of …

Migration, Refugees, Women

16 Comments

More Refugees Destined for Europe, Further Testing Its Ability to Respond

Barbara Crossette

• October 4, 2015

With an astounding 12 million people in Syria displaced from their homes in a population that numbered about 23 million before its civil war began in full fledge in 2012, the questions that inevitably arise are: Why isn’t the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees more actively involved on the ground in Europe, the …

Middle East, Migration, Refugees

One Comment

Desperate Escape: Why Syrian and Other Refugees Are Rushing to Europe

Shazia Z. Rafi

• September 18, 2015

As a relentless remake of the Middle East and North Africa has been taking place, mass displacements of populations have also been occurring. And more chaos is ahead, says the United States Defense Intelligence chief, Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, in his assessment that Iraq and Syria may have been permanently torn asunder by war …

Middle East, Migration, Refugees, UN Agencies

Leave a Comment

Asylum Seekers Knocking at Sweden’s Door Test Its History of Warm Welcome

Alexander Brotman

• October 10, 2014

Far from the first point of entry into Europe for asylum seekers, Sweden has emerged as one of the most generous nations in the European Union, offering to take in high numbers of migrants when other nations have been reluctant to do so. Sweden, with a population of just under 10 million, received 54,300 …

Migration, Refugees

Leave a Comment

Her Job? To Welcome Boat Migrants Landing at Sicily’s Ports

Yermi Brenner

• May 20, 2014

SICILY, Italy — Fabiana Giuliani is a legal associate for the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees, but in the last few months she has spent most of her time in ports. Based on the southern island of Sicily, Giuliani, a 31-year-old Italian native who has been working for the UN refugee agency for …

Africa, Human Trafficking, Libya, Migration

Leave a Comment

Unido: What Does Its Future Hold?

Stephen Browne

• August 7, 2013

At the end of 2012, Britain withdrew its membership from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, or Unido, the most recent of several major donor countries (including the United States and Canada) to do so. Although it has had strong support from many developing countries, Unido has for many years been regarded with skepticism …