UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi concluded his visit to Syria and Jordan with a pledge to maintain assistance to the most vulnerable as the situation in Syria continues to be extremely difficult for Syrian and refugee populations. Following a recent spike in COVID-19 infections in Syria and Jordan, including the first six confirmed cases in Jordan’s two main Syrian refugee camps, UNHCR continues to ramp up measures to confront and contain the spread of COVID-19 among UNHCR’s persons of concern.

In a press release, UNHCR urged more support for refugee higher education to withstand the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. UNHCR published its annual DAFI report on 28 September highlighting data on refugee tertiary enrolment.

As part of the annual NGO consultations, UNHCR and some 100 NGOs called on global leaders to ensure that refugees are included in social safety nets and support services for COVID-19 and stressed the need for stronger integration of refugees and refugee-led organisations, their skills and knowledge, in humanitarian responses.

During UNHCR’s annual Executive Committee, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, highlighted that maintaining levels of humanitarian aid is a comparatively inexpensive way to save lives and protect refugees and their host communities facing a “pandemic of poverty” resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a key annual address to UNHCR’s annual Executive Committee meeting in Geneva, UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs, warned that COVID-19 is severely testing refugee protection.

After a seven-month suspension due to COVID-19, UNHCR's life-saving flights from Libya have resumed. A group of 153 vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers have been evacuated from Libya to the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) in Niger.

In a press release on the eve of the donor conference for Rohingya refugees, UNHCR called for solidarity, support and solutions for this stateless and displaced population as the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has added layers of new challenges and needs to an already complex and massive refugee emergency.