Tag Archives: refugees

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday the international community has not done enough to support Lebanon, grappling with a dire economic crisis and home to over 1 million Syrian refugees. The U.N. leader urged more support at the start of a three-day visit to the small country. Guterres …

The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Phillippe Lazzarini, just ended a three-day visit in Lebanon where he met with UNRWA staff and refugees in Bourj al-Barajneh camp near Beirut. Lazzarini’s visit comes amid an unprecedented economic and financial …

Free Patriotic Movement head Jebran Bassil tweeted Thursday that the decision by the labor minister to allow Palestinians and the unregistered individuals to practice dozens of professions is “illegal.” “The decision violates the Labor Law and the Constitution,” Bassil said. “It is veiled naturalization and it is rejected,” the MP …

Pope Francis arrived on the divided island of Cyprus Thursday as part of a landmark trip to push two of his priorities: the plight of migrants and inter-confessional dialogue. The pontiff, 84, landed at Larnaca airport on the Mediterranean island where he will stay until early Saturday before travelling to …

The UN agency helping Palestinian refugees is facing an “existential” budget crisis and appealing for urgent funding of $120 million to keep essential education, health care and other services running, the agency’s chief said. “We keep struggling, running after cash,” Philippe Lazzarini said. “The financial situation is a real existential …

Doctors in Daraa have warned of the outbreak of the coronavirus throughout most of the province, saying that the southern Syrian region was witnessing an unprecedented rise in the number of infections. Speaking on condition of anonymity for security considerations, a doctor in Daraa told Asharq Al-Awsat that the province …

Tarek Saad is keen to help other Syrian refugees who have fled the war in their homeland to make a new home in Germany and he sees the federal election on Sept. 26 as an opportunity to do just that. Saad is campaigning in his adopted state of Schleswig-Holstein on …

 Qatar is working to facilitate the opening of humanitarian corridors to get aid into Afghanistan, a Qatari foreign ministry official said on Friday. Qatar was engaging with the Taliban to ensure a peaceful transition of power to an inclusive and effective government, special envoy Mutlaq bin Majed Al Qahtani said …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday he would travel to Qatar on Sunday to meet with the country’s leaders and thank them for their help during the evacuation from Afghanistan, and later proceed to Germany where he will hold a ministerial meeting. Blinken told a news conference …

President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that France was holding preliminary talks with the Taliban on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and the possible evacuation of more people from the country. Macron, who spoke in Baghdad where he was attending a summit with several Middle East leaders, said France was …

The United Arab Emirates has agreed to host 5,000 Afghan nationals to be evacuated from their country for 10 days on their way to a third country at the request of the United States, the Gulf Arab state’s foreign ministry said on Friday. “The evacuees will travel to the UAE …

President Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday urged European countries to take responsibility for migrants coming from Afghanistan, adding Turkey had no intention of becoming “Europe’s migrant storage unit” amid turmoil in the country after the Taliban’s takeover. Since the Taliban entered Kabul over the weekend, scenes of chaos have unfolded as …

 A draft UN Security Council resolution circulated Friday would authorize the delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria across the borders of Turkey and Iraq, but Syria’s close ally Russia holds the key to its adoption. Russia has come under intense pressure from the UN, US and others who warn of …

There has been condemnation in Italy of reporters being wiretapped during an investigation into migrant trafficking and humanitarian rescue groups. At least 15 reporters who were covering stories of people trying to reach Italy from Libya had their conversations intercepted. According to daily newspaper Domani, hundreds of pages of phone …

Tareq Alaows, a refugee who fled military conscription in Syria, is withdrawing his bid to win a seat in Germany’s parliament due to security concerns after his candidacy prompted a wave of racist insults, his Greens party said on Tuesday. “The high level of threat to me, and especially to …

Pope Francis has called for the war in Syria to end, noting that 2021 marks its 10th anniversary. In an audience with the diplomatic corps accredited to the Vatican, the leader of the Catholic Church also confirmed that his visit to Iraq, beginning on March 5, will mark the restart …

The administration of President Joe Biden on Friday extended deportation relief for several thousand Syrian immigrants living in the United States, an early move that aligns with his broader pro-immigrant platform. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that acting Secretary David Pekoske would extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for …

An arson attack that destroyed a Syrian refugee camp in northern Lebanon has led to widespread criticism of the Assad regime for failing to help or repatriate its displaced citizens. In the wake of the attack that forced 370 people to flee the camp late on Saturday, Lebanese political leaders …

Sudan has taken control of most of the land it accuses Ethiopians of encroaching upon near the border between the two countries, the Sudanese information minister said on Saturday. Tensions in the border region have flared since the outbreak of conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region in early November and …

Last month, Iraqi authorities gave families displaced by the war against Islamic State just 48 hours to pack up and leave the Al-Ishaki camp before it was closed. When the deadline expired, pick-up trucks and military vehicles arrived to take about 200 people back to their hometown. Taama al-Owaisi and …

Uzbekistan plans to repatriate another group of its citizens, mostly women and children, from Syria where they are staying at crowded camps with other families of Islamic State fighters, an Uzbek government source told Reuters on Friday. A government delegation from Tashkent has visited the Al-Hol and Roj camps in …

The leader of Ethiopia’s Tigray region told Reuters on Sunday that his forces bombed the airport in Eritrea’s capital Asmara on Saturday evening, confirming earlier reports from diplomats of a major escalation in a 12-day old conflict in Ethiopia. Tigray’s President Debretsion Gebremichael also said that his forces have been …

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, is experiencing a financial crisis that could force it to halt some services to an already impoverished population of more than 5 million people, the head of the agency said on Wednesday. Philippe Lazzarini also warned in an interview with The Associated …

The majority of displaced Syrians want to go home but unless conditions improve, few will risk returning to their war-torn country, a grassroots civil rights organisation says. In a report released on July 21, the Syrian Association for Citizens’ Dignity said the longer Syrians felt unable to return, the more …

Syria held a parliamentary election on Sunday, gripped by a collapsing economy and new U.S. sanctions after President Bashar al-Assad clawed back control of most of the country. People voted across government territory at more than 7,000 polling stations, including for the first time in former rebel bastions that the …

Standing in colourful hula hoops carefully spaced to illustrate social distancing, young children in a camp in war-torn Syria give an enthusiastic welcome to a puppet show staged to teach them about the coronavirus. Volunteers visited the camp for displaced Syrians in the northwestern town of Maarat Masrin, where they …

Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad discussed ensuring a lasting ceasefire in the Idlib region during talks in Syria, the Russian defense ministry said on Monday. The two talked about Russia providing humanitarian aid to Syria and enabling the country’s economic recovery with the help of …

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday that fortified rebel positions in Syria’s Idlib province had merged with Turkish observation posts, and that artillery attacks on nearby civilian areas and Russia’s air base in Syria had become daily. The allegations, made by Major-General Igor Konashenkov, are likely to increase tensions …

Turkey shot down two Syrian warplanes over Idlib on Sunday and struck a military airport well beyond its frontlines in a sharp escalation of its military operations following the death of dozens of Turkish soldiers last week. Ankara has ramped up its attacks, including drone strikes, against the Russian-backed Syrian …

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called a meeting of the country’s national security council for early Sunday evening as migrants headed to the Greek borders after Turkey relaxed restrictions. Source: Reuters

Dubai – “Refugee and other vulnerable children have the human right to a good education”, said Rudayna Abdo the founder of Thaki a social impact non-profit association. Abdo and her dedicated team are calling on companies in the UAE to donate their used laptops for reuse “It makes a huge difference to …

The leaders of Germany and France called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday to express their concern about the humanitarian situation in Syria’s Idlib region, urging an end to the conflict there, a German spokesman said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke together by phone with …

Interview with Turkish journalist, political scientist and publicist Musa Ozugurlu. In 2010, he started working as TRT Turk’s representative in Syria. He is one of the few foreign journalists in Syria to follow the process, which began in 2011, on-site until 2016. He currently presents the weekly program “Media critical” …

Lebanon will not be lured by a U.S. plan to invest billions in the country in return for settling Palestinian refugees, its parliament speaker Nabih Berri said on Sunday. U.S. President Donald Trump’s blueprint for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, set to be presented by his son-in-law Jared Kushner at a conference …

World Refugee Day, which falls on 20th June, is an annual reminder of pressing questions dealing with the reality and future of the 68 million people who have fled their homes to escape war, prosecution or terror. Every minute of every day, the staggering number continues to grow. This international …

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that a U.S. military attack on Iran would be a catastrophe for the Middle East that would trigger a surge in violence and a possible refugee exodus. Putin, speaking during his annual televised question and answer session, said Moscow believed Tehran was in …

by Areej Zaher*   They fled their homeland escaping terror, violence and raging fire, seeking a better life and affording a safe shelter for their families. However, these Syrian refugees seemed to go from the frying pan into the fire! Things didn’t go well for them as they had planned, …

Using social media to create awareness of social issues was brought to focus on the second day of the ‘Investing in the Future’ (IIFMENA 2018) conference, in Sharjah. The first panel discussion titled ‘Youth, Social Media and Creating Positive Change,’ which was organised in partnership with UNHCR, focused on the …

Fifty thousand Syrians have returned home from Lebanon so far in 2018 and the number could reach 200,000 in a year’s time if it continues at this rate, a top Lebanese official said on Tuesday. Major General Abbas Ibrahim, head of Lebanon’s General Security directorate, told Reuters his security agency …

As a large-scale military campaign in Syria’s last rebel stronghold looms, Syrians on both sides of the divide are bracing for a bloody battle. In the rebel-held province of Idlib, millions of residents are caught between the bombs of Russian and Syrian aircraft and the militants who have blocked their …

By Yousef Munayyer*   Since the early days of his administration, President Donald Trump has led US policy toward Palestine/Israel on a steady lurch, from overwhelming support of Israel to full adoption of its positions. Instead of a thoughtful strategy, he seems to pursue a tactical approach to force the Palestinians …

Military officials are sounding the alarm inside the Trump administration about the sharp drop in admission to the United States of Iraqi refugees who have helped American troops in battle, said two US officials aware of the internal discussions. The Pentagon is concerned that not providing safe haven to more …

Hala hugged her 10-month-old baby close as she sat in the front seat of the pickup truck piled with the family’s few possessions — thin mattresses, blankets, a small suitcase — as she waited to cross into Syria. She had dressed neatly for the journey, in a carefully pinned maroon …

More than 120,000 civilians have been uprooted by a Syrian army offensive in the south-west since it began last week, a war monitor has said, and a senior UN official warned of catastrophe as they risked being trapped between warring sides. Key points: The offensive has killed at least 98 …