UNHCR Chief arrives in Islamabad on a three-day visit
Press Releases, 22 June 2015
ISLAMABAD: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres begins on Monday a three-day Ramadan Solidarity mission to Pakistan, where he will express his appreciation and solidarity with the people and Government of Pakistan for having generously hosted the world's largest protracted refugee population for over 35-years in line with the Islamic values and the long-standing tradition of hospitality.
This is the seventh visit of the High Commissioner to Pakistan in the past 10 years of his tenure/in office , which will enable him to get a first-hand look at the largest ongoing repatriation operation in UNHCR's history, meet with Afghan refugees and visit one of the Refugee Affected and Hosting Areas (RAHA) projects. Since 2002, more than 3.8 million Afghan refugees have returned home from Pakistan with the assistance of the international community. During his stay, the High Commissioner is also expected to meet with the top leadership of the country, the provincial Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as the largest refugee hosting province, donors and UN and NGO partners.
Mr. Guterres will be discussing the way forward on lasting solutions and the management for Afghan refugees, in particular prospects for their sustainable return and reintegration; an issue that is inevitably linked to Afghanistan's absorption capacity and broader development. On Tuesday, he will travel to Peshawar, where he will meet refugees returning to Afghanistan.
Mr. Guterres' visit comes at a time when fresh emergencies in the Middle East and Africa continue to engage global attention while the future of some 2.6 million Afghan refugees who have been living outside their country for over three decades still hangs in the balance. Up to 92 countries have provided for Afghans in need of refuge, but around 95 per cent of the Afghan refugees worldwide are hosted by just two countries: Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Pakistan is hosting 1.5 million registered Afghan refugees; 67 per cent live in urban or rural areas, while 33 per cent reside in 76 refugee villages. In addition, there are an estimated 1 million undocumented Afghans in Pakistan.
Before coming to Pakistan, the High Commissioner paid a visit to Afghanistan in May, where he held fruitful and forward-looking discussions with the country's new top leadership. While cognisant of the challenges, the High Commissioner is optimistic about the gradual stabilization in Afghanistan; it's improving bilateral relations with Pakistan, as well as concrete steps taken by the new Afghan administration at the highest level to demonstrate ownership and genuine commitment to resolving the long-standing displacement situation. These positive developments have created a sense of renewed optimism, credibility and space for constructive negotiations between the two governments on a number of issues of mutual interest, including importantly solutions for refugees.
MEDIA CONTACTS
- Duniya Aslam Khan for Islamabad – 0300 5017939, email KHAND@unhcr.org
- Qaiser Khan Afridi for Islamabad – 0300 5018696, email AFRIDIQ@unhcr.org
Filippo Grandi, who took office on January 1 2016, is the UN refugee agency's 11th High Commissioner.
2015 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award
UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres presents the Nansen medal to Afghan refugee, Aqeela Asifi in Geneva, Switzerland.
Asifi, 49, has dedicated her life to bringing education to refugee girls in Pakistan. Despite minimal resources and significant cultural challenges, Asifi - a former teacher who fled from Kabul with her family in 1992 - has guided over a thousand refugee girls through primary education in the Kot Chandana refugee village in Mianwali, Pakistan.
Before she arrived, strict cultural traditions kept most girls at home. But she was determined to give these girls a chance and began teaching just a handful of pupils in a makeshift school tent.
UNHCR's Nansen Refugee Award honours extraordinary service to the forcibly displaced, and names Eleanor Roosevelt, Graça Machel and Luciano Pavarotti among its laureates. Speakers and performers at today's award ceremony include UNHCR Honorary Lifetime Goodwill Ambassador Barbara Hendricks, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Ger Duany, Unicef Goodwill Ambassador and singer Angelique Kidjo and visual artist Cedric Cassimo.
Afghanistan is the largest, most protracted refugee crisis in the world. Over 2.6 million Afghans currently live in exile and over half of them are children.
2015 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award
Victims of Conflict in Nigeria Find Safety in Cameroon Camp
UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres visited Cameroon in late March to put a spotlight on the situation there of tens of thousands of refugees from Nigeria. These people have escaped mounting violence by insurgents in the north-east of their country. Among the places that Guterres visited during his March 24-25 visit is the Minawao Refugee Camp, where many of the uprooted have been relocated.
Situated some 120 kilometres from the dangerous border area with Nigeria in Cameroon's Far North region, Minawao camp is currently home to 33,000 Nigerian refugees, mainly from Borno state. Many of the arrivals are traumatized and in need of material and psycho-social help. They told the High Commissioner of losing their homes and belongings as well as members of their families. Some were injured. In total, an estimated 74,000 Nigerians have found refuge in Cameroon while cross-border incursions from Nigeria have displaced 96,000 Cameroonians. UNHCR photographer Hélène Caux also visited Minawao to hear the individual stories.
Victims of Conflict in Nigeria Find Safety in Cameroon Camp
UNHCR chief meets Malian refugees in Burkina Faso
On 1 August, UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres travelled to northern Burkina Faso with the United States' Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (BRPM), Anne Richard. In Damba camp, they met with Malian refugees who had fled northern Mali in the past six months to escape the ongoing conflict and political instability. To date, more than 250,000 Malian refugees have fled their homes and found refuge in neighbouring countries, including 107,000 in Burkina Faso alone. The UN refugee agency has only received one-third of the US$153 million it needs to provide life-saving assistance such as shelter, water, sanitation, health services, nutrition and protection to the refugees. UNHCR fears that the volatile political and humanitarian situation in Mali could lead to further outflows to neighbouring countries.
UNHCR chief meets Malian refugees in Burkina Faso
Hopes, fears and the way forward
António Guterres, who served as UN High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015, reflects on the dramatic acceleration of displacement around the world and calls for a surge in diplomacy for peace in an interview with his chief spokesperson, Melissa Fleming.
High Commissioner Guterres Remarks on the resettlement of Refugees from Bhutan in Nepal
The UN refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) marked a major milestone: the resettlement of over 100,000 refugees from Bhutan in Nepal to third countries since the launch of the programme in 2007.
Turkey: World Refugee Day visits
On World Refugee Day the UNHCR High Commissioner, António Guterres, along with Special Envoy Angelina Jolie, travelled to southeastern Turkey, the home of hundreds of thousands of refugees from conflicts in Syria and Iraq. They were in the midyat refugee camp to see conditions for these people and to issue a warning to the world.
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