IOM

Amid the ongoing humanitarian and human rights crisis in Afghanistan, United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are urgently calling for international support as the country faces one of the largest return movements in recent history. According to the latest UN figures, more than 2.2 million Afghans returned or were forced to return from Iran and Pakistan in 2025 alone. Over 1.8 million came from Iran and nearly 400,000 arrived from Pakistan.

As the flames of war continue to engulf Sudan, the United Nations Security Council was urged Monday to prevent the horrors of this conflict from recurring and to stop those enabling the violence from spreading instability further across the region. Escalating violence in Sudan is placing civilians at extreme risk and triggering new waves of displacement, particularly in the Kordofan region.

Gang violence in Haiti continues to have a devastating impact on the country's population, according to a new human rights report by the United Nations political mission in Haiti (BINUH). Tuesday's report, which covers the last quarter of 2024, says at least 1,732 people were killed and 411 injured as a result of direct gang violence, as well as self-defense groups and police operations.

The United Nations expressed its concern today over the deteriorating human rights situation in some regions of Ethiopia. In Amhara region, following a flare-up in clashes between the Ethiopian military and the regional Fano militia, and the declaration of a state of emergency in early August, the situation has worsened considerably. According to information gathered by the UN Human Rights Office, at least 183 people have been killed in clashes since July.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that ongoing armed violence in Somalia's Hiraan and Gedo regions has displaced more than 100,000 people over the past two months. The recent escalation of clashes has severely impacted parts of Hirshabelle State in the center, as well as Jubaland State in the south, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation.

Haiti's government has declared a 72-hour state of emergency following a fierce battle between the country's police and powerful armed gangs over the weekend. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry were unknown Monday, three days after he signed a bilateral agreement in Kenya to pave the way for a possible multinational force to help restore security in the troubled Caribbean nation.

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.

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.

As Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory continue, more and more civilians are being killed, injured and displaced. More than 2,100 people have died and more than 10,000 have been wounded in fighting in Lebanon over the past year, including hundreds of women and children. Most of them since September 23 this year. While an estimated 1.2 million people are internally displaced, more than 400,000 Lebanese and Syrians have reportedly fled to Syria.

Interim authorities in Ethiopia's war-torn Tigray region are warning of a looming famine due to drought and the enduring effects of the devastating two-year war in the north of the country. In a statement Friday, Getachew Reda, leader of the interim regional authority in Tigray, said more than 91 percent of the population was "at risk of starvation and death" and called on the Ethiopian Federal Government and the international community to help.

The United Nations, its humanitarian partners, and the Bangladeshi government are calling for renewed international support to address the urgent needs of Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar camps and on Bhasan Char in Bangladesh, as well as those of local host communities. Wednesday’s appeal comes amid growing global instability and rising humanitarian pressures, which have forced difficult prioritization and threatened essential services for vulnerable people.

South Kordofan State is now the epicenter of the war in Sudan, which has caused the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, warned the international humanitarian organization Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) on Monday. Civilians in this part of southern Sudan face intensified hostilities and a nearly total blockade of humanitarian supplies after a year of starvation and bombardment, said NRC Secretary General Jan Egeland at the end of his visit to South Kordofan.

A report presented Thursday to the United Nations Human Rights Council accuses all parties to the conflict in northern Ethiopia of widespread atrocities, many amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, despite a peace agreement signed nearly a year ago. The report from the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia documents wide-ranging atrocities committed since the conflict between the government and the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) erupted November 3, 2020.

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.

Despite signs of political progress, Haiti remains gripped by insecurity, with international support seen as critical to enabling long-delayed elections, the United Nations Security Council was told Thursday. As the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) begins its phased deployment and the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission prepares to leave at the end of April, officials warned that whether recent gains can hold depends on how security conditions evolve.

The United Nations says Sudan's warring parties appear headed for major clashes in the North Darfur city of El Fasher, where hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) have sought refuge. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are reportedly encircling El Fasher, suggesting that a coordinated move to attack the city may be imminent. At the same time, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) appear to be positioning themselves.

Ceasefire talks seeking to end Sudan's 16-month civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began in Geneva on Wednesday, but neither warring side entered the negotiating room. The talks, which also aim to address the world's largest humanitarian crisis, took place without the presence of the rival military factions.

The United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) reports that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have carried out brutal attacks on the besieged city of El Fasher and the Abu Shouk camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Sudan’s North Darfur State which hosts some 25,000 children, women, and men. These attacks resulted in the killing of at least 89 civilians over a ten-day period until Wednesday.

While civilians are being targeted or indiscriminately attacked in several regions of Sudan, with hundreds reportedly killed, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that Sudan's humanitarian crisis continues to intensify as cholera spreads throughout the country, flooding displaces communities, and thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) return to areas with little to no support.