Tag Archives: UNHCR

An Iranian dissident who fled his country fearing arrest has fallen foul of politics and COVID-19 restrictions in ethnically split Cyprus. Since mid-September, Omid Tootian has been living in a small tent in Cyprus’s buffer zone, a United Nations-controlled slice of territory carved out after a war split Cyprus in …

The U.N. human rights office voiced concern on Monday about more than a dozen countries that have declared states of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic where police have arrested or detained hundreds of thousands of people and killed others. “Emergency powers should not be a weapon governments can wield …

Russia has welcomed the United States’ pullout from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), saying the body has lost nothing and can operate more freely now. “I cannot say that the council lost anything,” Russia’s permanent representative at the UN office and other international organizations in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, …

With an aim to financially aid 60,000 Syrian refugee families living in Jordan and Lebanon, the UNHCR – the UN Refugee Agency – in partnership with Tabah Foundation announced on Tuesday the launching of its global zakat platform, with the donated money going straight to the families in need. Leading …

Myanmar’s “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya Muslims is continuing, a senior U.N. human rights official said on Tuesday, more than six months after insurgent attacks sparked a security response that has driven nearly 700,000 people into Bangladesh. Andrew Gilmour, the U.N. assistant secretary-general for human rights, made the comment after a …

Human rights groups called on Friday for international agencies to be allowed to monitor the planned repatriation of hundreds of thousands Rohingya Muslim from Bangladesh to the homes they fled in Myanmar during the past three months. The two governments signed a pact on Thursday settling terms for the repatriation …

THE LEVANT NEWS — LESBOS, GREECE | BY KAROLINA TAGARIS FOR REUTERS — The United Nations refugee agency said on Monday it would not operate in “detention centers” on the Greek island of Lesbos for migrants and refugees arriving from Turkey, dealing a blow to the European Union’s agreement with …

THE LEVANT EXCLUSIVE – Israel Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has virulently slammed the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for suggesting that Israel might have committing war crimes when willingly and knowingly targeting a UN school on Thursday. The school which acted a refuge for civilians – mainly women and …