Amid assessments of a somewhat improved security situation in some parts of Somalia, UNHCR is scaling up its presence in Somalia’s border regions and in Mogadishu. Yesterday, a UNHCR team undertook a mission to Liboi (Kenya) and Dobley (Lower Juba), which is the main transit point on the route to Da...

DADAAB, Kenya, Sept 9 (UNHCR) – Muhioadin Ahmed Aden stares out at the horizon, knowing that the second most important journey of his life will begin today. A struggle within his heart, between despair and a desperate enduring hope, has finally come to a conclusion. <p>His family sits by his side...

DOLLO ADO, Ethiopia, September 16 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency said Friday that as Somali refugees continue to arrive daily in Ethiopia, the health and nutrition situation is improving in the camps they are heading for. <p>In a related development, the World Bank announced in Washington, DC, o...

IFO EXTENSION, Kenya, September 19 (UNHCR) – In a windy desert camp, two women vigorously insult each other over who will be the first to fill their plastic can with water. Either side of a standpipe, they hurl epithets. For much of their lives, the women have been accustomed to travelling several k...

The head of UNHCR’s Executive Committee, Ambassador Hisham Badr of Egypt, will be visiting refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya starting this Sunday week to see for himself the situation there amid the ongoing crisis in the Horn of Africa. <p>The visit follows High Commissioner António Guterres’ m...

DOLLO ADO, Ethiopia, September 30 (UNHCR) – When Hassen Ibrahim arrived recently in Ethiopia, the teenager had not seen his parents for more than two years. "As the eldest son, I stayed behind to take care of my grandmother, who was too sick to travel," explained the 15-year-old, shortly after cross...

GENEVA, 03 October, 2011- UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres warned today that an increasingly complex international environment is making it harder to find solutions for the world’s more than 43 million refugees, internally displaced and stateless people. <p>Speaking at the openi...

At least 55 people have been killed by a huge suspected suicide blast near government buildings in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, say officials. <p>Eyewitnesses said a truck carrying explosives was driven into a gate near a government ministry and detonated. <p>A spokesman for the Islamist mil...

UNHCR is very concerned by the latest escalation of violence in southern Somalia. The renewed clashes are between opposing armed groups and are further exacerbating the already severe humanitarian situation. We urge all armed groups and forces in Somalia to avoid targeting civilian areas and to ensu...

GENEVA, October 4 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency said on Tuesday it is "very concerned" by the latest escalation of violence in southern Somalia. The renewed clashes between opposing armed groups are further exacerbating the already severe humanitarian situation. <P>"We urge all armed groups and...