Following general election in the Central African Republic, over 12,000 people fled into the provinces of Bas Uele and North Ubangi.

UNHCR finalized the construction of almost 1,500 emergency shelters in Ituri Province.

Over 5,300 refugees from the Central African Republic were biometrically registered in Bas Uele Province.

UNHCR distributed core relief items to over 4,500 displaced households in North Kivu Province.

In 2021, UNHCR will work to maintain the same levels of responsiveness, adaptability and flexibility in response to COVID-19, whilst strengthening resilience as staff and people of concern adjust to living and working with COVID-19 in the medium term. UNHCR published a supplementary appeal to respond to these needs.

In a recently published study, the World Bank and UNHCR estimate that 4.4 million people in host communities and 1.1 million refugees or internally displaced persons in Lebanon, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and three governorates in Jordan have been newly pushed into poverty by the pandemic.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are deeply distressed by the death or disappearance at sea of up to 25 refugees and migrants from Venezuela, including children, after their boat capsized en route to Trinidad and Tobago. According to reports, between 14 and 21 bodies were found over the weekend floating in waters near the Venezuelan coastal town of Guiria. Search and rescue efforts continue as there may be others still missing at sea.

ACNUR, la Agencia de la ONU para los Refugiados, y la Organización Internacional para las Migraciones (OIM) se encuentran profundamente consternados por la muerte o desaparición en alta mar de hasta 25 personas refugiadas y migrantes de Venezuela, incluyendo niños y niñas, después de que su embarcación volcara camino a Trinidad y Tobago. Según informes, entre 14 y 21 cuerpos fueron encontrados durante el fin de semana flotando en aguas cercanas al pueblo costeño de Güiria en Venezuela. Esfuerzos de búsqueda y rescate continúan ya que podría haber otras personas desparecidas en el mar.

In a joint press release, IOM and UNHCR chiefs stressed that COVID-19 underlines the urgent need for universal health coverage that includes migrants, refugees and internally displaced and stateless people.

UNHCR and IOM jointly launched a USD 1.44 billion regional plan to respond to the growing needs of refugees and migrants from Venezuela and the communities hosting them. The onset of COVID-19 has dangerously strained national and local capacities across the region. Many refugees and migrants and their host communities now face a myriad of new challenges that worsen their already precarious conditions.