Migration

17/1/2025: Country members of OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) are allowed to classify costs relating to asylum seekers within their own borders as foreign aid. In 2023 14.6% of all DAC foreign aid was spent on domestic refugee costs, despite calls to limit this offset.

Source: Devex

10/12/2024: Following the collapse of the regime in Damascus, a number of European states have suspended asylum decision-making on Syrian claims for international protection. The UN Refugee Agency has reminded governments that Syrians should continue to be granted the same rights as all other asylum-seekers, and that no asylum-seeker should be forcibly returned.

Source: UN Refugee Agency

26/11/2024: Africa hosts 35 million internally displaced people, nearly half of the global total, according to a new report from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Most displacement is driven by rising levels of conflict and violence,  concentrated in just five countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan.

Source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre

8/11/2024: The continuing bloodshed in Sudan has created the world's worst civilian protection crisis in decades – and the world is not paying any attention. Since the war broke out 19 months ago, over 3 million people have been forced to flee Sudan. In October alone, some 60,000 Sudanese arrived in Chad following an escalation of fighting in Darfur.

Source: UN Refugee Agency

5/6/2024: The UN Refugee Agency estimates that more than 2.9 million refugees worldwide will need resettlement next year, the rising number driven by mass displacement situations and the emergence of new conflicts. In 2023 96,311 refugees were resettled by states, an increase of 65 per cent compared with the year before.

Source: The UN Refugee Agency

27/5/2024: Lebanon has announced sweeping new measures against Syrian refugees, raising awkward questions about a one billion Euro aid package to Lebanon granted by the European Commission. Reports by the UN and EU have all concluded that Syria remains unsafe for return of refugees.

Source: Amnesty International

14/5/2024: Conflict in Sudan, the Palestinian territories, and beyond drove the number of internally displaced people to 75.9 million by the end of 2023, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Of these, 68.3 million were forced to flee their homes due to conflict, the remainder due to disasters.

Source: Devex

7/5/2024: There are now an estimated 281 million international migrants worldwide, according to the latest annual report by the International Organization for Migration. This includes 117 million displaced due to conflict or disaster, the highest level in modern-day records. Remittances sent by migrants to low– and middle-income countries reached $647 billion, surpassing foreign direct investment in those countries.

Source: International Organization for Migration

23/4/2024: Following the passage of the “Safety of Rwanda” Bill by the UK Parliament, the UN High Commissioners for Refugees and for Human Rights point out that it changes nothing about conditions in Rwanda. They fear that the Bill will restrict the UK courts from proper scrutiny of removal decisions, leaving asylum-seekers with limited room to appeal.

Source: The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

11/4/2024: The European Parliament has approved a fundamental reform of asylum policy which aims to reduce the number of new arrivals, speed up asylum procedures and establish centers for doing this at the European Union's external borders. Critics have said the pact undermines the fundamental right to asylum in the EU, and fear people in need of protection will be rejected. 

Source: DW