Briefing ambassadors in the Security Council, Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA), renewed the call for an immediate ceasefire and a return to diplomacy to end the devastation. “Ukrainian people have endured nearly three-and-a-half years of unimaginable horrors, death, devastation and...
“The thousands of people seeking to return home are driven by hope, resilience and an enduring connection to their country,” said Othman Belbeisi, regional director of the International Organization of Migration (IOM). While this development does offer hope, many of these people are returning to states and cities whose...
These abuses include threats, cases of torture, mistreatment and arbitrary arrest and detention, according to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The report said these violations were committed against Afghans “based on their profile” and targeted women,...
The agency is calling for calm and cooperation to provide a dignified path forward for millions of displaced Afghans. More than 1.6 million Afghans have returned from both neighbouring countries in 2024 alone, according to UNHCR – a figure that has already surpassed earlier forecasts for the entire year. ‘From...
In a statement on Monday, the UN agency said it is supporting Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) – not deportation – for those who decide to leave the US. At the request of the US Government, IOM is helping people who register to go back to their countries of origin voluntarily....
Special Representative María Isabel Salvador told ambassadors in the Security Council that a “deliberate and coordinated” campaign is being waged by organized crime groups to expand territorial control and paralyse the capital, Port-au-Prince. Recent gang attacks have targeted previously unaffected areas such as Delmas and Pétion-Ville, while the storming...
UNICEF’s Rosalia Bollen, who’s on the ground there, said that hundreds of children had been killed and injured – some with severe burns, shrapnel lodged in their bodies, fractures and amputations. “Even on 18 March with that very heavy, intense bombing, children still kept hope because they thought maybe it’s...
The “current trajectory is deeply concerning,” he told ambassadors, updating them on the latest political developments in the country, where Houthi rebels – formally known as Ansar Allah – have been battling Government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition, for more than a decade. He spoke alongside UN Emergency Relief...
According to UN refugee agency, UNHCR, 600,000 people could be on the move in the next six months, according to its latest survey. UNHCR spokesperson Celine Schmitt said on Friday that people will need “housing, jobs, schools, hospitals, electricity and clean water” – all of which are lacking after 14...
“We must avoid at all costs the resumption of hostilities in Gaza that would lead to an immense tragedy,” said the UN chief, in a statement relayed to journalists by UN Geneva spokesperson Rolando Gomez. “I appeal to Hamas to proceed with the planned liberation of hostages next Saturday. Both...
Following the coup, President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were detained and the country was plunged into a humanitarian and human rights crisis that has only worsened amid an intensifying civil conflict. “Secretary-General António Guterres condemns all forms of violence and calls on all parties to...
Leading calls for the international community to “move from words to action” to help the country’s most vulnerable returnees urgently, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said that many families have little shelter and few economic prospects. “In recent weeks, there has been talk in high-level international circles of the need...