This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 24 November 2015, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. On Friday last week, UNHCR, together with our partners IOM and Unicef, expressed our shared concern at...

LESVOS, Greece, Nov 20 (UNHCR) – Amena Yusufi, a 21-year-old woman from Afghanistan, stepped out of a medical tent on Lesvos' busy Moria reception and registration centre and called for the next patient. A mother and her baby stepped forward. Amena listened patiently as the mother explained the b...

GENEVA, Dec 8, (UNHCR) – The Mediterranean crossing is treacherous, the risk of drowning is constant. But still they come, day after day, in a fleet of dinghies spilling them onto the shores of Greek Islands near Turkey, almost 800,000 so far in 2015 alone. Most are fleeing the conflict in Syria....

ATHENS, Greece, Dec 14 (UNHCR) – The UN Refugee Agency and the European Commission have launched a programme to provide 20,000 additional reception places for asylum seekers in Greece through subsidies for private sector housing. The Commission is providing 80 million euros from the 2016 EU budge...

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 26 January 2016, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. As continuing conflict in the Middle East and elsewhere drives people to seek refuge in Europe, UNHCR, ...

Joint UNHCR, UNICEF, IOM Press Release GENEVA, 16 February 2016 – An average of two children have drowned every day since September 2015 as their families try to cross the eastern Mediterranean, and the number of child deaths is growing said IOM, UNHCR, and UNICEF. The agencies are calling for enha...

ATHENS, Greece, Feb 25, 2016 – Border closures in the Balkans may create an enormous and potentially critical refugee bottleneck in Greece, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has warned. Grandi spent most of Wednesday (February 24) in Athens. meeting the Greek prime minister Alexis ...

Kos – 27.02.2016 UNHCR’s Representation in Greece expanded yesterday its support to the temporary accommodation of new arrivals in Kalymnos, by installing new hygiene facilities at the island’s port. In nearby Kos, the local office of the UN Refugee Agency furthered its support to the registration ...

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...

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...