News Stories

On 3 July, more than 50 refugees and migrants lost their lives in an airstrike on the Tajoura Detention Centre in the east of Libya’s Tripoli. This week, we appealed to the European Union and African Union to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. The international community should consider the protection of the human rights of migrants and refugees a core element of its engagement in Libya.

Over 1.44 million refugees in 60 hosting countries are urgently in need of resettlement by 2020.

UNHCR is deeply shocked to see the heartbreaking photo of the drowned bodies of a father and his toddler daughter from El Salvador washed up on the banks of the Rio Grande. UNHCR continues to call on all countries in the region to take immediate and coordinated steps to prevent further tragedies like this from occurring.

UNHCR is pleased to announce the first ever Global Refugee Forum, which will take place on 17 and 18 December 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Global Refugee Forum will be an opportunity for countries to take stock of today’s situation and to strengthen the international response. It follows the new Global Compact on Refugees.

Refugee chief says World Refugee Day is a moment to recognize the courage of the 70 million who have fled war, violence and persecution.

The number of people fleeing war, persecution and conflict exceeded 70 million in 2018. This is the highest level that UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has seen in its almost 70 years.

Forced displacement from Central America is straining asylum capacity across the region. UNHCR is calling for an urgent meeting of States in the region to map out coordinated action to address this growing displacement challenge.

Today, UNHCR is launching the second season of its award-wining podcast series Awake at Night, which centers around people dedicating their lives to helping those displaced by war.

In time for the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOT), UNHCR has launched a series of consultations to identify ways of further ensuring the protection of LGBTI refugees against harm, violence, and discrimination.

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.