s Syria's war reaches another grim milestone today, refugees fleeing the 5-year conflict face greater hurdles to finding safety while international solidarity with its victims is failing to match and reflect the scale and seriousness of the humanitarian tragedy. "Syria is the biggest humanitarian...

Press Releases, 16 March 2016 UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie Pitt is visiting Greece today on behalf of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. The Special Envoy's mission will concentrate on the humanitarian situation of thousands of refugee families in Greece, most of whom...

News Stories, 16 March 2016 A Syrian refugee hugs her daughter moments after reaching the shores of Lesvos island in an inflatable boat earlier this year. GENEVA, March 16 (UNHCR) – The UN Refugee Agency said today that more than one million people, mostly refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanist...

UNHCR Press Releases, 18 March 2016 UNHCR notes today's agreement between the European Union and Turkey on the situation of refugees and migrants seeking to make their way to Europe. We recognize the shared need of countries to find properly managed solutions to this situation. Indeed UNHCR ha...

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 22 March 2016, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. This past Sunday, the provisions agreed between the EU and Turkey to stem the large-scale arrival of ref...

GENEVA, April 1 (UNHCR) – Urging caution, the UN Refugee Agency today called on all parties to the recent agreement between the European Union and Turkey on refugees and migrants to ensure all "safeguards" are in place before any returns from Greece to Turkey begin, UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fle...

LESVOS, Greece, April 4 (UNHCR) – It was in the early hours of a March morning when Monzir's rubber dinghy bumped against the shores of Lesvos, but it was already too late. At midnight that day (March 20), the status of arrivals like Monzir, who have fled war and spent their life savings to chanc...

Yesterday's violence at the Greece-Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia border near Eidomeni and the extensive scenes we have all seen of teargas in use are a matter of great worry to UNHCR. It should be too for all who are concerned with Europe's response to the situation of refugees and migrants....

Geneva, 16 April 2016 UNHCR lauds Pope's solidarity with refugees UNHCR welcomes the Pope's demonstration of solidarity with the world's refugees today on his visit to the Greek island of Lesvos and by offering a home to three Syrian families. Pope Francis travelled back to Rome from Lesv...

Press Releases, 20 April 2016 On Tuesday, a UNHCR team interviewed survivors of what could be one of the worst tragedies involving refugees and migrants in the last 12 months. If confirmed, as many as 500 people may have lost their lives when a large ship went down in the Mediterranean Sea at an ...