UNHCR provides winter help for displaced Iraqis and Syrian refugees – but $60m is still required for Mosul response
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has this week begun distributing essential winter items to 1.2 million displaced Iraqis, including families recently displaced due to the current Mosul offensive, and to communities across Iraq that are hosting them. A total of 178,000...
UNHCR opens new Iraq camp amid Mosul displacement
Hasansham camp opens following largest displacement since start of Mosul offensive, as 8,000 men, women and children flee frontlines in past 24 hours. HASANSHAM, Iraq – UNHCR opened a new camp in Hasansham in northern Iraq on Friday to help accommodate the largest...
Families fleeing Mosul assault find safety in Iraq, Syria
Across the region, UNHCR is stepping up its preparations to receive those displaced by the fighting to retake Iraq’s second city. ZELIKAN CAMP, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraqi grandfather Majid* says he and his family “lived for two years in hell” after their village...
New ‘Protection Desks’ help South Sudan’s vulnerable
Protection Desks, available in most in most POC sites in South Sudan, offer tailored advice and assistance. JUBA, South Sudan – Taphisa Nyaboul felt she had nowhere to turn for help after her husband was killed, leaving her a widow with four children living in a...
UN refugee chief warns Syria displacement set to rise
With neighbouring countries feeling the strain of the refugee crisis, Filippo Grandi says more Syrians may become trapped within their country’s borders. AMMAN, Jordan – With no end in sight to the fighting in Syria, displacement inside the country is likely to rise...
Mediterranean death toll soars, 2016 is deadliest year yet
With two months still to go in 2016, deaths of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean hit all-time high. GENEVA – With two months still to go, deaths of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean so far this year have hit a record high, the UN Refugee...
UN refugee chief warns of “forgotten population” in Egypt
Filippo Grandi met African refugees in Egypt, many of whom are becoming increasingly vulnerable. Two years ago in Ethiopia, Sayida’s husband left to buy something for the family. He never returned. Sayida thinks he was arrested, and now she thinks he is dead....
Syrian student flees guns, earns study place in Turkey
Would-be chemical engineer Rawan Batal learned Turkish and gained a university place in the central Anatolia province of Konya. The armed men knocking at the door said they just wanted to talk about a problem. Rawan Batal, then 16, opened hesitantly. They pushed into...