UN Refugee Agency opposes UK-Rwanda plan to export asylum
14/4/2022: The UN Refugee Agency opposes the UK-Rwanda plan as shifting asylum responsibilities and evading international obligations of the Refugee Convention. The Agency maintains that developed countries host only a fraction of the world’s refugees and have the capacity to manage asylum claims themselves.
Source: UN Refugee Agency
Poland has worked a refugee miracle
6/4/2022: About one in 10 people in Poland is now Ukrainian. In six weeks, 2.5 million Ukrainians (along with thousands of pets) have arrived in the country. As war grinds on, some fear the ‘full’ sign must go up soon.
Source: The Guardian
UN Refugee Agency calls for sustained funding for Rohingya refugees
29/3/2022: As global displacement continues to rise, the UN Refugee Agency and partners are emphasizing the need to ensure that the Rohingya situation does not become a forgotten crisis. The 2022 appeal for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis seeks more than US$881 million to support approximately 1.4 million people.
Source: UN Refugee Agency
Refugees deserve language of humanity, not crisis
29/3/2022: The current outpouring of support for Ukrainian refugees may be jeopardised by the many human rights groups, aid organisations, and media outlets that are using inappropriate crisis headlines. The language of fear leaves the door open to divisive politicians who scapegoat refugees.
Source: The New Humanitarian
Lessons to learn from EU’s generous response to Ukraine refugees
9/3/2022: The European Union as a bloc moved quickly to grant temporary protection to all Ukrainians without the delays and bureaucracy of the normal asylum procedure. Geopolitical considerations and proximity do not fully explain the contrast with Europe's harsh response to people fleeing other wars and crises.
Source: Human Rights Watch
UNHCR calls on UK to amend Nationality and Borders Bill
2/3/2022: The UN Refugee Agency calls on the UK government to back amendments made to the Nationality and Borders Bill which have been passed in the House of Lords. The Bill threatened to remove the rights of refugees claiming asylum in direct breach of the Refugee Convention.
Source: UN Refugee Agency
Ukraine exodus triggers refugee movement through Europe
1/3/2022: Around 660,000 refugees have now fled Ukraine to neighboring countries in the past six days according to the latest government data compiled by the UN Refugee Agency. At this rate the situation looks set to become Europe's largest refugee crisis this century.
Source: UN Refugee Agency
Standing with Ukrainian refugees should extend to all refugees
1/3/2022: European Union member states have relaxed cross-border controls in response to the movement of displaced Ukrainians. Why have borders not been opened or visas waived for Syrian and Kurdish refugees also victims of Russian military action? Why is solidarity reserved for white Europeans?
Source: African Arguments
Is Biden living up to his refugee and asylum promises?
24/1/2022: US President Joe Biden entered the White House vowing to take a fair and human approach to immigration policy and reassert America's commitment to asylum seekers and refugees. A year later his record on the issues is deeply mixed.
Source: The New Humanitarian
Armed conflict, climate change fan Africa’s refugee crisis
21/1/2022: Eastern Africa continues to be the origin of most African refugees, with the region producing more than five million displaced people in 2020, a new report by the International Organisation for Migration has revealed. Terrorism, armed conflict and extreme weather events have caused large displacements of people.
Source: The East African