News and press

23th December 2005

English church leaders launch gift appeal for asylum seekers and refugees

Amidst a media climate sometimes hostile towards refugees and asylum seekers, churchgoers from across England's Midlands are reaching out to exiles over the festive season by delivering gifts to those forced to seek protection in the United Kingdom.

27th October 2005

Asylum study finds UK making progress
A UN report on the UK’s first instance asylum determination found that the Home Office is improving its processing of asylum claims but notes areas where the government can make further efforts to enhance the quality and processing of its asylum decisions.

17th October 2005

First UNHCR relief flights and convoys arrive in Pakistan
The first of tonnes of tents, blankets and other relief items for Pakistan's earthquake victims has arrived from the UN refugee agency's warehouses around the world, including neighbouring Afghanistan.

Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie accepts Global Humanitarian Award UN refugee agency Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie has been honored with the 2005 Global Humanitarian Action Award for her work with UNHCR and with refugees.

UNHCR relief supplies bound for earthquake victims trucked to affected areas
Urgently needed relief supplies for earthquake victims in Pakistan are being trucked from the UN refugee agency's warehouse in Peshawar to the badly affected area of Mansehra in North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Reports of refugee casualties and damage in the area remain sketchy and a UNHCR doctor and field assistant have been dispatched to assess the situation in the camps.

UNHCR providing urgent assistance for quake disaster victims
The UN refugee agency is making available tonnes of urgently needed family tents, blankets, stoves and other basic relief items for tens of thousands of Afghan refugees and Pakistanis made homeless by Saturday's south Asian earthquake.

UN struggling to protect millions of refugees amidst hostility and waning generosi ty, says top official
The UN refugee agency is struggling to protect millions of refugees and displaced people in an increasingly hostile environment marked by violence, endemic human rights abuses and waning generosity among traditionally hospitable nations, UNHCR's chief of international protection said Wednesday.

"Not the Ideal Home Show" awarded "Best Stand" at Labour Party Conference
Prime Minister Tony Blair awarded the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) "Best Stand: Space Only Category" at a ceremony Wednesday night during the Labour Party's annual meeting.

UNHCR issues new guidelines on Iraqi asylum seekers

Noting that the security situation in much of Iraq has shown no improvement, indeed has actually deteriorated in many places, the UN refugee agency said on Tuesday it is concerned that some states are considering withdrawing the protection previously afforded to all Iraqi asylum seekers.

Asylum applications continue to tumble in industrialized countries
The number of asylum applications in industrialized countries has continued to fall during the first half of 2005, maintaining the sharp downward trend that began in 2002, according to the latest figures released on Tuesday by the UN refugee agency.

5th September 2005

EMI Releases 'Voices for Darfur' DVD with the UN refugee agency for the people of Darfur
International artists are fronting a release today by EMI of a new DVD, "Voices for Darfur" in support of the United Nations refugee agency's work to bring assistance and protection to the victims of the ongoing tragedy in Sudan's western region. The DVD is released in the UK on Monday 5 September, followed by other European countries, Australia, Japan and the USA.

First willing refugees could return to South Sudan after rainy season, says Guterres

UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres promised Tuesday that the first refugees will go home to South Sudan in October, and he urged them to work with the new South Sudanese authorities to consolidate peace in their homeland.

"No one will force you to return," Guterres tells displaced Darfurians
UN refugee agency chief António Guterres today told displaced Darfurians they would never be forced to go back to the villages they fled under armed attack over the last two years.

London Salutes Local Coverage of Refugees
In an effort to turn around some of the hostile coverage and highlight good practices by sections of London's press, Mayor Ken Livingstone recently launched the London Local Press Awards to draw positive attention to the contributions made by refugees and asylum seekers to London's thriving ethnic mosaic.

Glastonbury Events To Celebrate Refugee Courage
Programmes celebrating the courage and spirit of the millions of people forced to flee their homes will take place at this year's Glastonbury festival (25-27 June) as the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) again joins music lovers on the vast fields outside Somerset.

UNHCR Thanks Danish Ship for Rescuing Asylum Seekers Stranded at Sea
Adrift in the rolling waves after their small boat's engine sputtered and failed, a boatful of men and boys gazed at the sea rise and fall as they floated on the Mediterranean watching cargo ships steam past without heeding their pleas for help.

UNHCR helps 100,000 Afghans to repatriate this year
More than 100,000 Afghan refugees have returned from Pakistan since UNHCR's voluntary repatriation programme for 2005 started in March. The pace of returns is expected to increase, with camp closures planned in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

UNHCR Welcomes Sheffield Acceptance of Resettled Refugees
More than 50 refugees from Myanmar have arrived in the UK as part of a joint Government/UNHCR resettlement initiative aimed at helping long term refugees with protection problems in their country of first asylum.

Pre-election asylum debate worries exiles
In the run-up to this week’s general elections that saw the ruling Labour party maintain a diminished governing majority, some asylum seekers and refugees in the UK said they were concerned about the heightened focus on immigration and asylum during the campaigning.

UK must share, not shift asylum burden
As campaigning for UK elections gets underway the UN refugee agency country representative Anne Dawson-Shepherd has urged political parties to stick to facts and not propagate asylum myths during the pre-election period.

Beachcroft Wansbroughs Raises Funds for Refugees
Beachcroft Wansbroughs, the national commercial law firm, recently hosted a charity event at Somerset House to raise awareness of and funds for the thousands of people forced to flee their homes in the Darfur region of the Sudan.

UNHCR Issues UK Asylum Report as Numbers Plummet
The UN refugee agency today portrayed the government's asylum process as a mixed picture and recommended use of better evaluation and research tools, meanwhile, the number of asylum seekers coming to the UK has plummeted by 61 percent in the last two years and is back at the level of the mid-1990s.

7th February
2005

UNHCR's response to the Government's five year strategy on immigration and asylum
The United Nations refugee agency has welcomed the international leadership the Government of the United Kingdom has shown in reaffirming its commitment to the 1951 Refugee Convention, but has expressed concern about the state of the debate on asylum in the UK.

25th January
2005

UNHCR calls for the UK to continue to show leadership
The UN refugee agency has condemned proposals to withdraw from the 1951 Refugee Convention and replace the right to seek asylum with a 'quota' for refugees.

Getting aid from the warehouse to the homeless in Sri Lanka
Overcoming bumpy roads, broken bridges, security checkpoints and other logistical logjams, UNHCR in Sri Lanka brings shelter and non-food relief items to the displaced people who need them most.

More than 16,000 Congolese flee into Uganda
More than 16,000 Congolese refugees have fled into Uganda in the last several days following fighting in some areas of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to MONUC, the United Nations Peacekeeping mission in Congo, there has been a recent surge of fighting in eastern Congo between two rival militia groups, the FNI and UPC-L.

UNHCR steps up aid to tsunami victims as U.N. urges donor governments to be generous
GENEVA, Jan. 11 (UNHCR) – As the U.N. urged donor governments to donate nearly $1 billion to tsunami disaster relief Tuesday, the U.N. refugee agency stepped up its delivery of aid supplies to hard-hit areas of Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Switzerland offers UNHCR helicopters for relief operation
In a humanitarian gesture on Friday, the Swiss government offered the U.N. refugee agency three Super Puma military helicopters for a period of three months to help deliver relief and shelter materials in the tsunami-devastated Indonesian province of Aceh. The helicopters will be available early next week, significantly boosting UNHCR's logistical capacity to operate in remote areas of the western Aceh coast.

5th January
2005

UNHCR London tsunami aid update
Four UNHCR-chartered aid flights reached Jakarta today carrying relief items from stockpiles in Denmark and Dubai, including 2,000 tents, 20,000 jerry cans, 20,000 kitchen sets, 100,000 blankets, thousands of plastic tarpaulins and telecommunications equipment.

4th January
2005

UNHCR airlift arrives in Indonesia as agency plans unprecedented tsunami response operation
The UN refugee agency's (UNHCR) first airlift flight arrived in Jakarta today, carrying emergency relief supplies for the tsunami-battered Indonesian province of Aceh. The Antonov 124 jet freighter ferried 2,025 bales of blankets and telecommunications equipment from UNHCR's central warehouse in Denmark.

UNHCR on the ground with more personnel and airlifts on the way
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is on the ground throughout much of the Tsunami-affected region, where our staff are already distributing relief items. Includes contact details of our media staff in the region.