A Kurdish-Iranian refugee who penned a book on a mobile phone while being held in an Australian detention camp said Friday he was celebrating life "as a free man" in New Zealand. Award-winning author Behrouz Boochani is in Christchurch to attend a literary festival and ...
Overwhelmed Bosnian officials plan to block migrant camps in bid to force their relocation
Authorities in northwestern Bosnia are threatening a curfew in two large local migrant camps to press the central government to relocate people to other parts of the country. The local government in the region bordering Croatia says a "full blockade" of the badly congested Bira ...
Hundreds of asylum-seekers storm U.N. refugee office in Pretoria, demanding protection
Hundreds of asylum-seekers who have staged a sit-in protest outside the UN refugee agency in Pretoria for five weeks on Thursday barged into the premises, the agency said. Several hundreds scaled the perimeter wall of the offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ...
Tokyo rally protests prolonged detention of foreign nationals at immigration facilities
A rally was held in Tokyo on Thursday calling for an end to the prolonged detention of foreign nationals at immigration facilities across the country, with a woman pleading for the immediate release of her detained husband, who is on a hunger strike. "My husband ...
Venezuelan migrants will cost host nations $1.35 billion in 2020, U.N. says
Health care, education, nutrition and other services will cost countries hosting Venezuelan migrants $1.35 billion next year, nongovernmental organizations said on Wednesday, as they called for increased donations from the international community. The request is the most recent of repeated appeals for help for the ...
Up to 4.8 million 'unauthorized' migrants in Europe in 2017, says Pew study
Between 3.9 million and 4.8 million unauthorized immigrants lived in Europe in 2017, mainly recently arrived young men, numbers slightly lower from the previous year, the U.S.-based Pew Research Center said Wednesday. The figures "accounted for less than one percent of Europe's total population of ...
Bosnian border police sound alarm over migration pressure as thousands flood in from Serbia
The chief of Bosnia's border police warned Tuesday that his guards cannot contain the migratory pressure along the country's eastern border with Serbia and that the situation could easily escalate and put in danger the overall stability of the politically fragile nation. Zoran Galic told ...
In Hungary, Erdogan threatens to 'open the gates' for millions of refugees fleeing to Europe
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on a visit to EU member Hungary repeated his threat Thursday to "open the gates" for millions of refugees eager to flee to Europe unless more international support was provided. Erdogan held talks with Hungarian nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban ...
Cyprus detains Syrian pair for alleged human trafficking over boat filled with 131 migrants
Cyprus police said Tuesday that they detained two Syrian men on suspicion of human trafficking following the arrival of a boat loaded with 131 Syrian migrants on the island nation's northeastern coast. Police said the two men were aboard another vessel that had shadowed the ...
Italian ship with 151 migrants rescued off Libya docks in Sicily
An Italian offshore supply vessel has brought 151 migrants to Sicily after rescuing them in waters off Libya a day earlier. The Asso Trenta docked Sunday at Pozzallo with the migrants. It wasn't immediately known if they would stay in Italy or be distributed among ...
U.N. chief urges Myanmar to resolve Rohingya crisis but skips referring to them by name
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed concern Sunday over the plight of the 730,000 Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar's Rakhine state, calling on Myanmar's government to take responsibility by dealing with the "root causes" of their flight to Bangladesh and working toward their safe repatriation. Guterres ...
U.S. pays tribute to former U.N. refugee chief and 'inspiration' Sadako Ogata
The U.S. State Department on Wednesday mourned the loss of Sadako Ogata, a former United Nations high commissioner for refugees, saying that her legacy as an advocate for displaced persons is an "inspiration" to humanitarian workers worldwide. Calling Ogata a "trailblazer," as she was the ...
