Mosul offensive triggers growing displacement in Iraq
As a military offensive to retake Iraq’s second city Mosul gathers momentum, UNHCR prepares to assist hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people. DEBAGA, Iraq – Under cover of darkness, 14-year-old Ali slipped out ...
Majid dreams of a good education for his children
Majid, 31 years old: “This was our number one dream. We wanted Rose and Baban, our children, to have a good education here. They will go to a good school, they will have a ...
Laughter, antics help refugee kids rediscover childhood
ERBIL, Iraq, Dec 30 (UNHCR)—A sense of excitement spread through the market area as dozens of children ran from their tents to find out where the music and laughter was coming from. It was ...
“End of Syria as we know it” if no peace deal, Guterres says
NEW YORK, Dec 21 (UNHCR)—If a swift end to the war in Syria is not found, the country may cease to exist, António Guterres, outgoing head of the UN Refugee Agency has warned. “If ...
Iraqi national flees for second time as bombs rain on adopted home of Yemen
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Oct 22 (UNHCR)—When Husam and his wife Nemah decided to leave their home in Shar Khawlan Nuqum, Yemen last June, they did not hesitate for one moment. The country was a ...
Refugees themselves, Iraqis volunteer to help others reach safety in Germany
SALZBURG, Austria, Oct 12 (UNHCR)—Childhood friends Hussein and Jaffa fled war ravaged Iraq together, crossing seven borders and the Aegean Sea to seek refuge in Europe. As they seek asylum in Austria, they decided ...
Iraqi schools face a desk deficit
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept 30 (UNHCR)—While many Iraqi students were enjoying the last weeks of summer before school resumed, the classrooms of al-Asil elementary school in Baghdad’s Mansour neighbourhood were full. Here, students whose families ...
Crossing to Safety
Steady streams of traffic flow in both directions across the floating bridge that spans the Euphrates River near Bzeibiz, Iraq. Young men pushing wheelbarrows full of watermelons, cucumbers and tomatoes weave in and out ...