News Stories

“We welcome this development to recognize foundlings as citizens of the Philippines. The country has a strong humanitarian tradition of international protection in support of those at risk of being stateless.”

We are at an exceptionally difficult moment internationally, when the consequences of the refugee crisis seem to be outstripping our will and capacity and even our courage to respond to it. It is not wrong to feel unsettled faced by a crisis of such complexity and such magnitude. But we must not let fears get the better of us.

Syria is the biggest humanitarian and refugee crisis of our time, a continuing cause of suffering for millions which should be garnering a groundswell of support around the world.

After years of living in legal limbo, a first group of over 660 people in Southern Philippines had their citizenship confirmed.

After five years of a brutal and senseless conflict, over a quarter of a million Syrians have been killed and over half the population forced from their homes out of fear and want.

We are running out of time; strong leadership and vision are urgently needed from European leaders. This is as much a crisis of European solidarity as it is a refugee crisis.

Some of the most intense fighting in the ongoing conflict in Yemen, now in its tenth month, has been centered in Taizz city where more than 200,000 people are cut-off from regular access to humanitarian aid.

Refugee and migrant women and girls on the move in Europe face grave risks of sexual and gender-based violence.

They call it the ‘Winter Cell.’ A small conference room in the bowels of the UNHCR HQ in Geneva. It has no windows, but computers and walls draped in screens and maps with handwritten and ever-changing numbers.

The majority of refugees are insufficiently dressed for the weather, have no winter boots, and many already have health problems due to cold weather elsewhere.