Turmoil and tragedy in Lesvos as sea arrivals surge, urgent support needed to rapidly improve reception
Briefing Notes, 16 October 2015
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 16 October 2015, at ...
GENEVA, Oct 16 (UNHCR) – Authorities in Greece have reported up to seven people were killed – four of them children – in a collision between a smuggling boat and a Greek Coast Guard vessel off the coast of Lesvos, the UN refugee agency said today.
It added that UNHCR staff had also had to be evac...
LESBOS, Greece (UNHCR) – In a weekend mission to the main EU entry point for nearly 450,000 refugees and migrants so far this year, UNHCR chief António Guterres witnessed the improved humanitarian response mounted by Greek local authorities and civil society while lamenting the continued lack of a l...
GENEVA, Oct 9 (UNHCR) – UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres today appealed to the European Union to provide "massive support" to Greece to meet the needs of up to 6,000 refugees arriving each day as winter looms across Europe.
He stressed that Greek authorities alone were not able ...
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 9 October 2015, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
High Commissioner António Guterres is scheduled to begin a two and a half-day mission to Greece tomorro...
ROME, Italy, Oct 9 (UNHCR) – A first group of 19 asylum seekers was relocated from Italy to Sweden today under an EU relocation scheme.
The asylum seekers who arrived in Sicily by boat over the last few weeks were registered in Lampedusa and accepted to take part in the relocation scheme that wil...
This year, over half a million people, the majority of them refugees, have crossed the Mediterranean Sea in search of safety in Europe. European countries have been struggling to deal with this influx of refugees and migrants. To respond to this emergency, UNHCR established a Special Mediterranean I...
GENEVA, Sept 24, (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency today welcomed a decision by European Union leaders to boost resources for humanitarian assistance to countries neighbouring war-torn Syria.
UNHCR, in a statement issued after the European Council decision, also welcomed a parallel decision to relo...
BAPSKA, Croatia-Serbia border, Sept 23 (UNHCR) – More than a thousand refugees and migrants waited under the searing sun all Wednesday at the newly blocked Serbia-Croatia border crossing near Bapska -- hot, distressed and increasingly worried that their trek to safety had been halted in its tracks.
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