NEWSWORTHY
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 ...
Refugee trips across Mediterranean fall but risks surging: U.N. agency
The U.N. refugee agency says people smugglers are taking greater risks to ferry their human cargo toward Europe as Libya's coast guard intercepts more and more boats carrying migrants, increasing the likelihood that those on board may die during the Mediterranean journeys. That's one of ...
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 ...
Japan's refugee-screening system sets high bar
Last year, Japan granted refugee status to just 20 out of a record-high 19,629 applicants. After the figure was released in February, global and domestic coverage was noticeably polarized. Some slammed Japan's strict asylum policy, saying that the world's third-largest economy has failed to meet ...
In Lebanon camp for years, hundreds of refugees return to Syria area recaptured by regime
Several hundred Syrians who have lived for years as refugees in Lebanon left for their home country on Wednesday in a rare case of a mass return of those who left the country since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. Nearly 500 people, including ...
