Displacement

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. 

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has expressed great alarm today as violent clashes between non-state armed groups and government forces drive hundreds of thousands to flee their homes in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo). In February alone, nearly 300,000 people fled across Rutshuru and Masisi territories in North Kivu Province, UNHCR said.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has expressed its profound concern over the new asylum bill introduced by the United Kingdom (UK) Government to the House of Commons. In a strong worded statement released Tuesday, the UN agency also said the bill would be a “clear breach of the Refugee Convention”, if passed.

A ceasefire between the Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) rebel group and the Congolese army has come into effect today in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo). The truce in the eastern part of the country was agreed and announced on Friday after talks between the armed group and Angolan President and African Union mediator João Lourenço.

A massive fire broke out Sunday in the middle of a refugee camp occupied by Myanmar Rohingya refugees in southeastern Bangladesh, leaving thousands homeless under the open sky. The number of casualties remains unknown although local officials said they managed to take many people away to safety while some refugees said they had missing family members.

Fighting in the area of Laascaanood (Las Anod), in the breakaway Somaliland republic, has escalated, with medical sources now saying at least 105 people have been killed in three weeks of clashes. According to the United Nations, more than 245,000 Somalis have been forced to flee their homes so far due to the ongoing violence in Somalia's Sool region.

United Nations human rights experts have warned Thursday about catastrophic consequences for Myanmar Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh if life-saving food aid is slashed, and issued an urgent plea for donations to the Rohingya Refugee Response. The warning comes as the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced this week it will have to cut food assistance to Rohingya refugees for the first time since they fled Myanmar six years ago.

More than 60,000 Somalis, mainly women and children, have fled to Ethiopia’s Somali region in the past few weeks to escape violent clashes and insecurity in the city of Laascaanood (Laas Caanood), in Somalia’s Sool region, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports. More than half of them arrived earlier this week, UNHCR spokesperson Olga Sarrado Mur said Friday at a news conference in Geneva.

East African head of states have renewed their call for an immediate ceasefire by all parties in the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, DR Congo). The call came at an extra-ordinary summit in Burundi’s capital Bujumbura on Saturday. The leaders of the East African Community (EAC) also demanded the withdrawal of all foreign armed troops.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director, David Beasley, has appealed to the world to invest in the Syrian people and communities to get them on their feet and off food assistance. During a visit to Syria on Friday, Beasley said that 12 million people in the country do not know where their next meal is coming from, while an additional 2.9 million are at risk of sliding into hunger.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has expressed deep concern about the escalation of brutal attacks on civilians in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, DR Congo). Attacks by non-state armed groups have killed hundreds of civilians and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes in search of safety. In a press briefing today in Geneva, UNHCR also said that humanitarian actors and civilians should not be targeted in armed conflict and called on all warring parties to respect the civilian and humanitarian character of sites for displaced people.

Mass graves containing the bodies of 49 civilians have been discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, DRC), according to the United Nations (UN). The graves were found in two villages in Ituri province in the eastern part of the country by peacekeepers of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO), a United Nations spokesperson in New York said on Wednesday.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has recorded an alarming rise in the death toll of Rohingya refugees while attempting dangerous sea journeys in the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal in 2022. UNHCR said Tuesday at least 348 people died or disappeared while fleeing Myanmar or Bangladesh by sea last year, making it one of the deadliest years since 2014.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has praised Germany's commitment to international refugee protection. According to the UN agency, Germany made its largest financial contribution ever to UNHCR's global work last year, contributing nearly $537 million (504 million euros), and remains the second largest donor country.

An estimated 30,000 people have been reportedly displaced following violent clashes by armed groups in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area of South Sudan. Both the country's humanitarian community and the international community are calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says in a statement released today that on 24 December armed young men from Jonglei State attacked communities in parts of the Greater Pibor Area.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says it is deeply dismayed that repeated calls to rescue and safely disembark people stranded on boats in the Andaman Sea and Strait of Malacca are not being heeded. UNHCR warned in a statement Friday that inaction from states to save lives is resulting in more human misery and tragedies, each and every passing day.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has expressed concern over the escalation of armed conflict in South Sudan's Upper Nile state, which has displaced at least 20,000 people since August, some of whom have been forced to flee for their lives up to four times. In a statement Wednesday, the UN agency warned that at least 3,000 people have already fled to neighboring Sudan, further exacerbating the refugee crisis in South Sudan, the largest in Africa.

More than 50,000 people worldwide have lost their lives during their migration since 2014, according to a new report published today by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The United Nations agency says despite the increasing loss of life, little action has been taken by governments in countries of origin, transit, and destination to address the ongoing global crisis of missing migrants.

Over 200,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Rutshuru Territory in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s North-Kivu province, since renewed fighting between the Congolese army and the “Mouvement du 23 mars” (M23) armed group broke out on 20 October, the United Nations report this week.  While at least 188,000 men, women and children are now internally displaced, more than 16,500 others have sought refuge in Uganda.

The number of people displaced by gang-related violence in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, has tripled in the past five months, according to a report published this week by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The assessment, conducted between June and August 2022, identified over 113,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Haiti. Of these, 96,000 men, women and children fled insecurity in the capital, due to inter-gang violence and social unrest.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is warning of surging needs for more than 3.4 million displaced people and their hosts communities in the face of recent destructive flooding in Africa’s Sahel region and beyond. In Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Cameroon above-average rain falls and flooding have killed hundreds, displaced thousands and affected millions.