Historic return of displaced Syrians presents opportunity and urgent challenges
8/12/2025: According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 1.2 million Syrians have voluntarily returned from neighbouring countries in the year since the fall of the Assad regime. Approximately 4.5 million Syrian refugees remain in neighbouring countries, most living below the poverty line.
Source: UN Refugee Agency
Uganda stops granting refugee status for Eritreans, Somalis and Ethiopians
4/12/2025: Citing severe funding shortfalls, Uganda has announced that it will no longer grant refugee status to new arrivals from countries “not experiencing war”. This will impact on Uganda's progressive migration policies which have taken account of forced conscription, political and religious persecution.
Source: The Guardian
Myanmar is safe?
24/11/2025: Almost 4,000 people from Myanmar now in the US may become subject to deportation to a country wracked by atrocities and targeted ethnic violence, including crimes against humanity. The Trump administration has terminated the Temporary Protective Status for people from Myanmar.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Think twice before copying Denmark’s asylum policies
14/11/2025: The British government has recently announced its plan to emulate Denmark’s asylum and immigration system. Denmark has become a pioneer in restrictive immigration policies but this has come with serious legal, ethical and moral challenges.
Source: The Conversation
Conflict and climate change displace millions in Sahel region
10/10/2025: Nearly four million people across Africa’s vast semi-arid Sahel region have been uprooted by a volatile mix of conflict, hunger and climate change. The UN Refugee Agency reports that entire communities have been emptied in Burkina Faso, northern Mali and western Niger as violence spreads.
Source: UN News
UN Refugee Agency faces even deeper budget cuts
6/10/2025: The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has revealed that the Agency must contend with a 25% reduction in its budget due to cuts in foreign aid. He warned that any attempt to undermine the principle of asylum enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention and its subsequent Protocol would be “a catastrophic error”.
Source: UN Refugee Agency
Rohingya repatriation ‘catastrophic’ under existing conditions in Myanmar
29/9/2025: Amnesty International has warned against premature decisions to repatriate Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh. Conditions in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine State are unsafe for return, due to forced labour, food and health crises, and escalating armed conflict.
Source: Amnesty International
Outsourcing cruelty: Trump’s mass deportation machine
19/9/2025: About 200,000 people who live in the USA but lack proper legal documentation have been deported since President Trump's inauguration. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is applying diplomatic pressure to compel states to accept US deportees, rather than adhere to countries of origin, in violation of core principles of international law.
Source: Inter Press Service
Thousands of Afghans return under adverse circumstances from Pakistan
12/9/2025: As Pakistan resumes implementation of its “Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan,” nearly 100,000 Afghans crossed back from Pakistan in the first week of September alone. Many are arriving in areas where local communities are struggling to recover from a devastating earthquake.
Source: UN Refugee Agency
Uganda welcomes refugees despite diminishing funds
9/9/2025: Since the start of 2025, an average of 600 people, mostly from Sudan, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have been arriving in Uganda each day. The East African country currently hosts nearly 2 million refugees, over half of them children. Resources are stretched with crowded schools, inadequate shelter, and limited access to food and health care.
Source: UN Refugee Agency