NEWSWORTHY
'Massive confusion and fear': Rohingya flee Bangladesh camps fearing forcible return to Myanmar
Rohingya Muslims were fleeing Bangladeshi refugee camps to avoid being repatriated to Myanmar later this week, community leaders said Monday. Authorities plan to begin returning Rohingya refugees, who have fled what the UN has called ethnic cleansing, to the Buddhist majority country from Thursday. But the ...
UNHCR credits Japan for 'small steps' but calls on nation to accept more refugees
Japan is making progress toward opening its doors to refugees in “small steps” but could do more to support displaced people in areas of conflict, including the Rohingya, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in Tokyo on Friday. As Japan prepares to accept ...
Japan considers doubling number of refugees to 60 starting in 2020
The government will review its policy of receiving refugees only from Myanmar under the program led by the UNHCR, while also promoting their settlement in areas beyond Tokyo.
Migrants and asylum-seekers rescued while trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe should not be sent back to Libya, where they risk "serious abuses," the U.N.'s human rights agency has warned. In an update to its official position on returns to Libya, the UNHCR warned ...
Even as the number of migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean to Europe has fallen sharply, the likelihood of dying during the dangerous voyage has risen significantly, the U.N. said Monday. Between January and July, more than 58,000 asylum seekers and migrants reached Europe's shores ...
U.N. readies to send teams to Myanmar's Rakhine after Rohingya return deal: official
The United Nations is preparing to send teams of experts into Myanmar's Rakhine state to begin work aimed at eventually repatriating Rohingya Muslims who fled violence last year, the regional head of the U.N. development agency said on Thursday. The U.N. agencies for development and ...
Russian jets pound south Syria as U.N. urges Jordan to open border to displaced thousands
Syrian army troops came closer to the Jordanian border on Thursday as the opposition and Russia agreed to resume suspended talks on a deal to end fighting that has sparked one of the fastest displacements in the course of the conflict. Dark smoke rose over ...
Mediterranean 'disembarkation platforms' no quick fix to ease EU migration crisis: U.N. agency
Planned new centers around the Mediterranean to handle migrants will be no silver bullet solution to the European Union's immigration challenge, says a U.N. agency of the idea it will be asked to implement. Irregular migration across the sea has been dramatically reduced, and only ...
Kansai University to accept refugee student under United Nations program
Kansai University will begin accepting applications from refugees through a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees program and plans to admit one student for the 2019 academic year starting in April. The Refugee Higher Education Program, which was launched in 2007 at Kwansei Gakuin University, ...
U.N. body offers Tokyo youth a glimpse of life in camps on World Refugee Day
On most weekends, the plaza surrounding the famous Hachiko dog statue outside Shibuya Station is thronged with people. However, the popular Tokyo rendezvous point last Saturday hosted an emergency tent where people in bright blue T-shirts tried to raise awareness ahead of June 20 ...
In Iraq, UNHCR envoy Angelina Jolie calls for focus on conflict prevention
Hollywood star Angelina Jolie called Sunday for a larger focus on conflict prevention rather than responding to its repercussions, during a visit to Iraq with the U.N. refugee agency. "I hope that we can find the strength to find a better way forward together: so ...
At least 40,000 pregnant Rohingya refugees face monsoon as donor funds run dry: U.N.
Setara had already gone into labor when armed men arrived at her village in Myanmar's Rakhine State last September. "I was scared — I saw them killing two people — one of them was my uncle and the other was my neighbor," she recalled. Setara ...
