Ahead of the informal meeting of the European Council in Valletta tomorrow, we call on European leaders to take decisive action to address the tragic loss of life on the Central Mediterranean route and the deplorable conditions for migrants and refugees in Libya. To better protect refugees and migr...

Tunis, Tunisia – 1 February 2017. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is conducting a two-week course on human rights and refugee law for the Libyan Coastguard and Navy. The training is being held on an Italian ship crossing the Mediterranean Sea. “This training represents an important opportunity t...

The Republic of Malta and the Republic of Estonia will successively hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) in 2017 in a challenging context. In 2015, over one million refugees and migrants undertook dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea in search of safety. The capa...

With the onset of winter, improving living conditions for asylum-seekers and migrants continues to be the number one priority for humanitarian actors in Greece. It is also still a major challenge. People living in tents out in the open have been moved to alternative accommodation and UNHCR’s accommo...

Speech by Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, at the European Policy Centre, Brussels Mr Van Rompuy, Ladies and gentlemen, A year has passed since the peak of what has been called – though I am not sure the terminology is correct – the “European refugee crisis”. A...

The informal camp for refugees and migrants in Calais known as “the Jungle” is not an environment fit for human habitation. UNHCR has long recommended its closure and its replacement by proper accommodation for asylum seekers and migrants. Yesterday, the French authorities transferred some 1,900 peo...

UNHCR is alarmed at the high death toll being seen this year among refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean. Already, and with two months of 2016 still to go, at least 3,740 lives are reported lost – just short of the 3,771 deaths reported for the whole of 2015. This is the worst we have see...

Earlier this month France’s President Francois Hollande announced that the informal camp for refugees and migrants in Calais, the so-called “Jungle,” will be closed in the coming days, with the camp population to be moved to centres where better help can be provided. This is welcome. The Calais ...

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. By: William Spindler | 20 September 2016 The number of refugees and migrants reaching European shores this year ...

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. By: William Spindler | 20 September 2016 On Monday evening, a fire broke out at the Moria reception centre on th...