UNHCR, IOM and partners in $550m appeal for humanitarian operations for Europe's refugee and migrant situation
Briefing Notes, 26 January 2016
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 26 January 2016, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
As continuing conflict in the Middle East and elsewhere drives people to seek refuge in Europe, UNHCR, IOM, and some 65 other organizations yesterday appealed in Geneva to donors for $550 million to support the ongoing humanitarian response.
With global forced displacement at a record high of some 60 million people and increasingly impacting countries of the Global North, 2015 saw over a million refugees and migrants arriving in Europe by boat. Around 850,000 of these crossed from Turkey to Greece, with most continuing through the Balkans and towards Austria, Germany, Sweden and other countries.
The appeal aims at funding humanitarian operations in 2016 across the affected countries, with approximately half of the funds allocated for Greece. Humanitarian operations will include aid and protection activities where people are arriving, including identifying those at heightened risk, registration, shelter, water and sanitation etc., to bolster capacities for front-line responders such as coast guard, border guards, police and support for affected communities. Help with relocation, resettlement and other regular solutions was also part of the appeal.
The Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan for Europe: Eastern Mediterranean and Western Balkans route will be available later today: http://rmrp-europe.unhcr.org/.
UNHCR Media contacts:
Adrian Edwards: +41 79 557 9120, edwards@unhcr.org
William Spindler, +41 79 217 3011, spindler@unhcr.org
Karin de Gruijl +41 79 255 9213, degruijl@unhcr.org
IOM Media contacts:
Leonard Doyle Tel: 41 22 717 9589 – Mobile: 41 79 285 71 23, Email: ldoyle@iom.int
Joel Millman Tel: 41 22 717 9486 – Mobile: 41 79 103 87 20, Email: jmillman@iom.int
Itayi Viriri Tel: 41 22 717 9361 – Mobile: 41 79 285 43 66, Email: iviriri@iom.int
Monthly update: March 2014
over 4 million Syrians are now refugees
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UNHCR's Nansen Refugee Award 2015
Aqeela Asifi, an Afghan refugee living in Pakistan, has been named the 2015 winner of UNHCR's Nansen Refugee Award. Asifi has dedicated her adult life to educating refugee girls. Despite minimal resources and significant cultural challenges, hundreds of girls have now passed through her school, equipped with life-long skills and brighter hopes for their futures.
Asifi fled from Kabul in 1992 with her young family. They found refuge in the desolate Kot Chandana refugee village in the south-eastern Punjab province of Pakistan. Adjusting from life in a capital city and working as a teacher, to living in a dusty refugee village was difficult. She was especially struck by the total absence of schools for girls.
It took time but eventually Asifi was allowed to start a small school under a tent. Over the years the school expanded and received the hard-won backing of community elders. Asifi's dedication has helped guide more than 1,000 girls through to the eighth grade and encouraged more schools to open in the village. Another 1,500 young people (900 girls, 650 boys) are enrolled in six schools throughout the refugee village today.
UNHCR's Nansen Refugee Award 2015
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Most of the new arrivals are Syrians escaping fighting between rival military forces in and around the key border town of Tel Abyad, which faces Akcakale across the border. They join some 1.77 million Syrian refugees already in Turkey.
However, the influx also includes so far 2,183 Iraqis from the cities of Mosul, Ramadi and Falujjah.
According to UNHCR field staff most of the refugees are exhausted and arrive carrying just a few belongings. Some have walked for days. In recent days, people have fled directly to Akcakale to escape fighting in Tel Abyad which is currently reported to be calm.
Thousands of desperate Syrian refugees seek safety in Turkey after outbreak of fresh fighting
Special Envoy Angelina Jolie in Iraq
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Jolie spoke to people with dramatic stories of escape, including some who walked through the night and hid by day on their road freedom. She also met women who were among the 196 ethnic Yazidis recently released by militants and now staying in the informal settlement at Khanke.
"It is shocking to see how the humanitarian situation in Iraq has deteriorated since my last visit," said Jolie. "On top of large numbers of Syrian refugees, 2 million Iraqis were displaced by violence in 2014 alone. Many of these innocent people have been uprooted multiple times as they seek safety amidst shifting frontlines."
Photos by UNHCR/Andrew McConnell
Special Envoy Angelina Jolie in Iraq
Za'atari oldest man
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"He was sad when we told him we wanted to leave," says his daughter Nejmeh. "He tells me he wants to go back to Syria…He made me promise, if he dies, to bury him in Syria."
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