, the UN Refugee Agency, has appointed South Sudanese track and field athlete Yiech Pur Biel as their newest Goodwill Ambassador. A refugee, Pur was forced to flee the conflict in South Sudan in 2005, journeying alone to Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya when he was only ten years old. Growing up in Kakuma, Pur devoted himself to athletic training despite the intense heat and basic facilities in the camp. He trained at the Tegla Loroupe camp in Nairobi, and began running competitively in 2015, before being part of the first Refugee Olympic Team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. “It is a huge honour for me to be able to use my status as an athlete to help refugees and displaced people, to share my own story and those of other refugees like me and make sure that refugees all over the world have a voice," he says.
Displaced Persons and Refugees
While the situation is worrying, so far the number of identified COVID-19 cases amongst the Rohingya refugee population is relatively low at just 62 cases as of July. The community health volunteers’ role has become even more important since humanitarian workers have scaled back their work in the camps to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus. has worked with to train the volunteers on how to identify symptoms and make referrals for testing. But they must contend with the fear and rumours that have discouraged many people from approaching health facilities.
Despite having cancer, Olena Miryasheva was denied access to health care: she could not be registered at the outpatient clinic, could not obtain a prescription, and could not even undergo a medical examination which would have been free for a Ukrainian citizen. A new statelessness determination procedure in Ukraine gives people without identity documents the right to work, study and access health care.
asked youth to draw in solidarity with refugees amid the pandemic. They received 2,000 drawings from 100 countries, chose seven and brought them to life.
Actress and Good Will Ambassador Cate Blanchett explains the causes and consequences of statelessness. She outlines what barriers a stateless person may experience, even without any displacement, to leading a normal life.
The presents Nabil Attard, a refugee chef from Syria, lived through a crisis in his home country. Now living in France, he delivers for those on the frontlines during a crisis in his new country.
The brings us the story of Salwa Atoo, a mother of seven with a no-nonsense attitude, who is the neighbourhood’s conflict mediator. It all began when she deescalated an argument at a water pump at a site for Internally Displaced Persons in Juba, South Sudan, where long lines in the hot sun often lead to short tempers and jostling. Then she staged an intervention for an alcoholic neighbour and helped a woman access medical care following a sexual assault.
UNHCR is alarmed at the increasing number of violent attacks on displaced civilians by armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). UNHCR is calling on the authorities to strengthen the presence of police, military forces with support of to improve the security situation. Over five million people have been uprooted by insecurity within the country’s borders, while nearly a million Congolese have sought safety in neighbouring countries as refugees.
Cate Blanchett was inspired and impassioned by her work and experiences as a Goodwill Ambassador for , the UN Refugee Agency, to shine a light on what loss of identity can mean.
Behind the counter of her small convenience store in a rundown neighbourhood of Tripoli, northern Lebanon, 35-year-old Kawkab Mustafa keeps a list of debts owed to her by customers she has allowed to buy goods on credit. In recent months, the list has grown so long she needs four separate notebooks to record all the entries. shows us how the arrival of COVID-19 and restrictions to contain its spread in March have brought further misery to both Lebanese locals and Syrian refugees, leaving many unable to work and pushing them closer to the brink of destitution.
Refugees feel uncertainty every day
After surviving fourteen months living in fear and hunger during the siege of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, Wafaa Hashim and her family were grateful just to escape with their lives when they fled the siege and made their way to Lebanon as refugees in 2014. After five years, struggling to survive there, they were scheduled for relocation to Norway, but the lockdown measures introduced in mid-March to prevent the spread of COVID-19 meant the family’s flights were cancelled and their resettlement put on hold.
Tens of millions of migrant workers, forced to return home after losing their jobs due to the COVID-19 lockdown, face unemployment and poverty in their home countries, warned the . Millions of migrant workers may be required to return home where labour markets, are now further weakened by the additional strain of high levels of unemployment and serious business disruptions. In addition, their families will suffer from the loss of the remittances normally sent to them.
‘Safe in Malawi, now we must escape the coronavirus’
Migration has been the focus of intense political debate in recent years. While most people have positive perceptions about immigrants, there are still misconceptions and concerns. For instance, some think that migrants are a burden on economies. In the ’s new study, looks at the economic impact of migration on recipient countries and finds that migration generally improves economic growth and productivity in host countries.