Refugees

The United Nations and partner agencies renewed a call Tuesday for countries to immediately suspend mass deportations of Afghan nationals, citing the onset of a harsh winter and the worsening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. The call comes amid reports that Iran and Pakistan have collectively forced out more than 500,000 Afghans over the past two months, with the number of deportees growing by the day.

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.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns that the humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) remains critical with the population continuing to face insecurity, while the ongoing conflict in Sudan is exacerbating the situation in CAR’s northern region. 

Senior United Nations officials today voiced shock and condemnation at increasing reports of gender-based violence (GBV) in Sudan – including conflict-related sexual violence against internally displaced and refugee women and girls – since clashes erupted in the country in mid-April. Fighting in Sudan has now entered its 12th week, with no end in sight after multiple failed ceasefire attempts.

More than 11,600 children crossed the Central Mediterranean Sea to Italy without their parents or legal guardians between January and mid-September 2023, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reports. This is an increase of 60 percent compared to the same period last year, where around 7,200 unaccompanied or separated children made the perilous crossing, UNICEF said in a statement on Friday.

An even deeper humanitarian crisis is looming in Afghanistan as hundreds of thousands of Afghans are forced to return from neighboring countries and the global humanitarian funding crisis takes a heavy toll on the country. Numerous United Nations agencies have announced drastic cost-cutting measures in response to massive shortfalls in funding, following brutal cuts by the new US administration in Washington.

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.

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.

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. 

A devastating drought in Somalia has reached unprecedented levels, as the one millionth person displaced by the drought was registered this week, according to displacement figures released jointly today by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). More than 755,000 people have been internally displaced in Somalia because of the severe drought this year, bringing the total figure to 1 million people since January 2021 when the drought began.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has passed a landmark resolution on Myanmar Wednesday, demanding the military government immediately end violence in the Southeast Asian nation and release all arbitrarily detained prisoners, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. The resolution was adopted with 12 votes in favor and three abstentions, from China, India, and the Russian Federation.

More than a year after the start of the war in Sudan, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Friday it remains extremely concerned about shocking levels of violence and devastating risks as many areas across the country remain beyond the reach of aid organizations. Among these areas is Sudan's North Darfur state, where intensifying clashes between the warring parties are preventing aid deliveries to the wider Darfur region.

The historic power shift in Syria is raising hopes for an end to nearly 14 years of brutal war and one of the world's largest and worst humanitarian crises. Since the fall of the Assad government on Sunday, senior United Nations officials have highlighted the opportunities of the watershed moment, but also reminded of the realities - that more than 16 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and at least 13.6 million Syrians have been displaced by the war.

The United Nations humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, and the Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami, on Thursday welcomed the news that the crucial Adre crossing between eastern Chad and the western region of Darfur in Sudan will remain open for the movement of humanitarian personnel and life-saving supplies. Since its reopening eight months ago, the Adre crossing has been a vital lifeline for millions of people in dire need in the region.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Tuesday it will be forced to end food assistance to 2.5 million Syrians next month if it does not receive at least $180 million in donations to fund programs through the end of this year. The announcement came as the European Union (EU) gears up to host the seventh Brussels Conference on “Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region” on Wednesday and Thursday.

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.

Nearly a year after the outbreak of war in Sudan, the conflict continues to rage, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes every day and creating one of the largest and most challenging humanitarian emergencies and displacement crises in the world. The number of displaced people has now surpassed 8.8 million, with more than 2 million of them having crossed borders.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says it is gravely concerned at the latest developments in Sudan as fighting escalates in the Darfur region. UNHCR warned Friday it was receiving deeply alarming reports of continued sexual violence, torture, arbitrary killings, extortion of civilians and targeting of specific ethnic groups in the region.