Displacement

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warns violence against children in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) has reached unprecedented levels.  In a media briefing Friday, a UNICEF representative said there “are few worse places, if any, to be a child”, as more than 2.8 million girls and boys are bearing the brunt of the crisis in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), alongside 64 humanitarian and national civil society organizations, has appealed Monday for US$1 billion to provide essential humanitarian aid and protection to over 1.8 million people expected to arrive in five neighboring countries by the end of 2023, fleeing ongoing conflict in Sudan. One million refugees, returnees and foreign nationals have already crossed borders into the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

A combination of protracted armed conflict, internal displacement, and restricted humanitarian access risks pushing nearly one million children under the age of five in Mali into acute malnutrition by December 2023 – with at least 200,000 at risk of dying of hunger if life-saving aid fails to reach them, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned in a joined statement Friday.

The United Nations mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) has announced that it is working with local authorities in the Haut-Mbomou Prefecture, in the south-east of the country, to find a rapid solution to persisting insecurity.  The UN mission said Wednesday that clashes between armed groups and attacks against the Central African armed forces (FACA) have aggravated the humanitarian situation and led to massive displacements in the region. 

This week marks the sixth anniversary since over 700,000 Rohingya women, men and children fled Myanmar to Bangladesh, following coordinated attacks by the Myanmar military. They joined hundreds of thousands of other Rohingya who had previously sought refuge in the country. The United Nations (UN) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are calling this week for renewed commitment from the international community to sustain the humanitarian response for nearly one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

The ongoing political instability and armed conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo, DRC) have devastated food production and distribution systems, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Tuesday. Meanwhile, the non-governmental organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) warned today that extreme levels of violence, hunger, and displacement receive “scant funding, media apathy, and neglect”, as recent months have brought a dramatic deterioration in the situation in the eastern part of the country.

Between March 2022 and June 2023, Saudi border guards have killed at least hundreds of Ethiopian migrants, refugees and asylum seekers who tried to cross the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released Monday. The rights group states that these killings, which appear to be ongoing, would constitute a crime against humanity, if committed as part of a government policy to murder migrants.

The United Nations says that that armed group attacks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) have had an increasingly devastating impact on civilians, particularly in the eastern province of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu. This week, the UN Joint Human Rights Office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (UNJHRO) released a report on human rights violations and abuses during the first half of the year.

Four months into the war in Sudan, humanitarian leaders are highlighting the devastating impact the brutal conflict has had on millions of people whose lives have been destroyed and whose basic human rights have been violated. In a statement issued Tuesday, they called on the parties to the conflict to end the fighting, protect civilians and give humanitarian organizations unfettered access to all people in need in all areas of the country.

A senior United Nations official has called Wednesday for a negotiated solution to the conflict in Sudan, saying there is no alternative. Meanwhile, UN agencies warn health conditions are deteriorating in Sudan and neighboring countries as growing numbers of people flee escalating fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has raised a dire warning about the escalating food crisis in Sudan Wednesday as more than 20 million people are facing hunger and close to 4 million people have been displaced as a result of the conflict. Meanwhile, the international human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) said in a new report Thursday, that extensive war crimes are being committed in Sudan as the conflict between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) ravages the country.

As the number of migrants and refugees crossing the Darién jungle between Panama and Colombia reaches record levels, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) are calling for a comprehensive, regional, and collaborative approach to address the serious protection risks and urgent humanitarian needs of people on the move in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned on Thursday that health threats are surging as the war in Sudan escalates and millions of people, many sick and wounded, flee for safety within Sudan and across borders to neighboring countries where health services are fragile and hard to reach. The war, which erupted more than three months ago between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), is not contained within the country but has profound regional implications.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says a funding shortfall has forced it to cut by one-half food rations for more than 50,000 people in Malawi at the country's only refugee camp. The food cuts come at a time when refugees at the Dzaleka camp, who are mainly from the Great Lakes region, are already facing deteriorating food security.

Monday marks another grim milestone in the conflict in Sudan. Since the fighting started 100 days ago, thousands of civilians have been killed and injured, and millions displaced as a result of the nightmarish violence that broke out. UN agencies and international humanitarian organizations around the world today called attention to the plight of the people of Sudan and demanded action to end the war and improve the humanitarian response to the crisis.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) warned Friday that it may end operations in Sudan at a hospital in the capital, Khartoum, after 18 of its workers were “aggressively assaulted,” as the conflict entered its fourth month this week. MSF said the incident happened while the team was moving medical supplies from the organization’s warehouse to the Turkish Hospital in the Sudanese capital.

The "Illegal Migration Bill", which has now been passed by Parliament in the United Kingdom (UK), is “at variance with the country’s obligations under international human rights and refugee law” and will have profound consequences for people in need of international protection, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi warned today. In order for the Bill to come into force, it requires the approval – royal assent - of King Charles III. 

The United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF) said Friday that in the first six months of this year, approximately 11,600 children are believed to have made the dangerous journey across the Central Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe and nearly 300 have died. Both figures are double those from the same time last year.

The bodies of at least 87 ethnic Masalit and others allegedly killed last month by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied militia in Sudan’s West Darfur state have been buried in a mass grave outside the capital El-Geneina, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said Thursday. Volker Türk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, has called on the RSF leadership immediately and unequivocally to condemn and stop the killing of people, and to end violence and hate speech against people on the basis of their ethnicity.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned the air strike in the Sudanese city of Omdurman on Saturday, which reportedly killed at least 22 people, and left dozens injured. Guterres “remains deeply concerned that the ongoing war between the armed forces has pushed Sudan to the brink of a full-scale civil war, potentially destabilizing the entire region”, according to his spokesman.

The European Union (EU) says it is gravely concerned by the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo, DRC), which recently led to an immediate system-wide scale-up by the United Nations of humanitarian operations in the eastern part of the country. In a statement Friday by its High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, the EU also expressed outrage at the levels of violence and atrocities that continue to be perpetrated by armed groups with impunity against civilians. 

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on the leadership of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to immediately condemn and stop the killing of people fleeing El-Geneina in Sudan’s West Darfur state. The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said it was gravely concerned at reports of “wanton killings” by “Arab” militia backed by the paramilitary RSF, primarily targeting men from the Masalit community.

Greece is under growing pressure to launch an independent investigation into the June 13 sinking of a vessel that was carrying up to 750 migrants - including migrant workers, refugees and asylum seekers - amid accusations from survivors that the actions of the Greek coast guard came too late and may have contributed to the shipwreck. Greek authorities strongly deny the claim.

The top United Nations official in South Sudan on Tuesday urged leaders in the east-central African country to accelerate implementation of the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement, including holding elections late next year. Since mid-April 2023, over 117,000 women and children and men have crossed over into South Sudan from Sudan along the border areas. 93 percent of these are South Sudanese returnees.

As the current hostilities in Sudan are entering the third month, the humanitarian situation across the country continues to deteriorate and a catastrophic food crisis looms, if fighting does not stop.  Since the clashes started on April 15, more than 2.1 million people have been displaced, including nearly 1.7 million within the country and about half a million to neighboring countries. Among the displaced are more than 1 million children.

At least 78 migrants, including refugees and asylum seekers, have drowned and hundreds more remain missing and feared dead after their battered and overloaded boat capsized off the coast of Greece early Wednesday. Just over 100 migrants have been rescued and a massive operation to find more continues. The events have raised the question, though, of whether the tragedy, one of Europe's worst migrant disasters, could have been averted. 

The full-scale war in Ukraine, alongside conflict elsewhere around the world, meant more people than ever remained uprooted from their homes last year, heightening the urgency for immediate, collective action to alleviate the causes and impact of displacement, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said today. Further fighting in 2023, especially in Sudan, has now pushed the global total of displaced women, men, and children to more than 110 million.

At least 46 people, half of them children, were killed early Monday in a militia attack on a camp for displaced people in the northeastern province of Ituri - the latest in a series of attacks by non-state armed groups on forcibly displaced people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo, DRC). United Nations agencies have condemned the attack and expressed shock and horror at its brutality.

The humanitarian situation in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) has reached devastating levels as cyclical violence perpetrated by armed groups and subsequent displacement continues to impact millions of vulnerable civilians, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned Saturday. The UN agency also expresses deep concern for the dire living conditions and human rights violations, including gender-based violence (GBV), faced by over 6.2 million internally displaced people (IDPs).

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned today that intense fighting and hostilities continues to uproot thousands of civilians monthly in the front-line community of Kupiansk, in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, where constant bombardment has destroyed homes and other civilian infrastructure. According to local authorities and humanitarians on the ground, those who remain in the area in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection.

For the first time, Burkina Faso tops the list of the world’s ten most neglected displacement crises, according to a new report from the humanitarian organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Releasing the analysis today, the nongovernmental organization (NGO) warned that redirection of aid and attention towards Ukraine has increased neglect of some of the world’s most vulnerable people. 

Just weeks after thousands of Rohingya refugees lost their homes to Cyclone Mocha, they face another blow as funding shortages force the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to cut food vouchers in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar to just US$ 8, or less than 9 cents per meal. The UN agency said Friday that funding shortfalls had already led to a cut in food aid earlier this year.

The United Nations says that close to 1.4 million people have been displaced due to the conflict in Sudan since clashes erupted in mid-April. More than 1,042,000 people have fled their homes and are internally displaced within Sudan, while over 345,000 men, women, and children have crossed the borders to neighboring countries.

A toxic mix of conflict, severe drought and devastating floods has forced more than 1 million people in Somalia to flee their homes since the beginning of this year – a record rate of displacement for the country, reported the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) on Wednesday.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has called for an urgent and significant scale-up of interventions and funding to respond to the escalating number of cases of sexual violence reported against children and women in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo). Gender-based violence (GBV) against girls and women in North Kivu province increased by 37 percent during the first three months of 2023 compared to the same period a year ago, UNICEF said on Thursday.

The passage of Tropical Cyclone Mocha across western and northern Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh on Sunday and Monday has caused widespread damage, leaving at least 500 people dead and hundreds injured, according to initial reports. While some 100,000 people were evacuated, 5.4 million people in Myanmar were in the cyclone's path, with estimates suggesting nearly 3.2 million of the country's most vulnerable are in need of humanitarian assistance.

The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) around the world reached 71.1 million across 110 countries and territories at the end of 2022, a sharp increase of 20 percent from the previous year, according to a new report released Thursday. The Global Report on Internal Displacement 2023 (GRID 2023) by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) says rapidly escalating conflict and violence in countries such as Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and climate related disasters such as flooding in Pakistan forced millions of people to flee in the past year.

United Nations agencies report at least 850,000 people have been displaced by the fighting between the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that started on April 15. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday, more than 700,000 people are now internally displaced by the fighting. At least 150,000 women, men, and children have fled to neighboring countries, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) is extremely concerned about the devastating consequences for displaced people of recurring attacks by armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) and is calling for humanitarian efforts to be urgently supported. With 7.5 million displaced women, children, and men, the situation in the DRC is one of the world’s most complex and protracted humanitarian crises. 

The United Nations humanitarian chief is calling on Sudan's rival military leaders to publicly commit themselves to the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance to millions of people struggling to survive amid escalating fighting. At the end of a visit to the region, Martin Griffiths, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said Wednesday the Sudanese people face a humanitarian catastrophe.

Millions of Sudanese face acute hunger, increased health risks, and death from recoverable injuries because UN agencies have been forced to suspend lifesaving activities in Sudan, where fighting has it made it too dangerous for them to operate in many regions. Clashes between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) continued for 15 consecutive days since 15 April, despite the announcement of an extension of the ceasefire for an additional 72 hours from the evening of 27 April.

The United Nations is deeply worried about the impact of the fighting on the humanitarian situation in Sudan. After ten days of clashes, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says there are acute shortages of food, water, medicines and fuel, and limited access to communications and electricity while the prices of essential items are skyrocketing. Meanwhile, thousands of Sudanese are fleeing the violence to South Sudan, Chad and Egypt as foreigners are evacuated to their home countries.

The United Nations Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region has told the UN Security Council Wednesday that the fragile ceasefire between the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) and the Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) rebels in North Kivu Province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo) seems to be holding. Meanwhile, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the security situation in neighboring Ituri Province remains extremely concerning due to ongoing attacks against civilians. 

The World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have warned in a joined statement Friday that WFP will be forced to make additional cuts to already reduced food assistance to refugees in Chad in April and may have to completely suspend assistance by May without immediate and sustained funding. WFP is appealing for $142.7 million over the next six months to maintain its refugee support program. 

Renewed violent clashes involving non-state armed groups are exacerbating the hunger and protection crises in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo), leaving 10 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, the international humanitarian organizations Oxfam, CARE International and the Danish Refugee Council have warned in a joined statement Tuesday.

The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have been displaced last week following clashes between the Congolese armed forces and the Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) rebel group in North Kivu province in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo). Since early March, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group has reportedly killed at least 97 civilians in the Beni territory, also in North Kivu Province.