The two refugees are a 45-year-old man who died on May 13, and a 3-year-old boy who passed away last Sunday, after arriving at the health center at a late stage of the disease. Both were refugees in the Mangaize camp which hosts 15,000 in the Tillaberi region.

To date, 248 cases have been registered in the Tillaberi region, including with 31 cases among refugees in Mangaize and Tabareybarey camps.

Cholera is typically contracted by consuming contaminated water.

We are responding to the outbreak in the camps by implementing emergency health and sanitation measures, such as increasing the supply of clean water. The affected refugees are being treated in the Cholera Treatment Centres (CTC) run by Medecins Sans Frontieres (-Suisse). Together with our partners, we are also providing oral rehydration solutions, soap and aquatabs. However, more drugs are urgently needed in the centres to treat potential new cases.

We are working to spread public health messages in the camps through sensitization campaigns. The same measures are being put in place for the local community in the surrounding areas.

We are currently reinforcing our team with the arrival yesterday (Monday) of a regional health co-ordinator who will work with authorities and partners on additional measures to contain the epidemic. The implementation of a vaccination campaign for the population at risk, both inside and outside the refugee camps, is a measure under consideration.

Last year, a cholera epidemic affected 5,287 people and killed 110 throughout Niger. The region of Tillaberi was the most affected with 4,792 cases and 87 deaths. No refugee died at that time.

Cholera outbreaks are recurrent in Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world. Niger is currently hosting some 50,000 Malian refugees, including 31 000 in 3 camps in the Tillaberi region. They fled a conflict in the North of their country which started in early 2012.

The Malian conflict has forced 174,000 people to flee to Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Niger. It has also uprooted more than 300,000 Malians inside their country.

For more information on this topic, please contact:

• In Niger (on mission), Helene Caux (Regional) on mobile + 221 77 333 1291
• In Niger, Charlotte Arnaud on mobile + 227 92 19 19 03
• In Geneva, Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba on mobile +41 79 249 34 83

He told journalists in Geneva that the real number was probably much higher, adding that "this is due to concerns that some Syrians have regarding registration."

The widening gap between the needs and resources available is a growing challenge, McNorton stressed. UNHCR has registered close to 1 million refugees since the beginning of the year – this is about 250,000 people each month. Early next month, the UN and NGOs are due to announce a revised funding appeal for the Syria crisis.

"Refugees tell us the increased fighting and changing of control of towns and villages, in particular in conflict areas, results in more and more civilians deciding to leave. Over the past four months we have seen a rapid deterioration when compared to the previous 20 months of this conflict," McNorton said.

Inside Syria, meanwhile, UNHCR continued this week to follow up on the needs and situation of several hundred families displaced in the village of Zamarin, on the outskirts of Tartus, a city on the Mediterranean coast. They fled Banias district in Lattakia governorate, where clashes erupted in early May. Some families found shelter in a mosque and local schools, but the majority have been hosted by families in Zamarin.

These families received UNHCR emergency relief assistance last week, including blankets, mattresses, hygiene kits, children's nappies and sanitary napkins. Many families have reportedly returned to Banias, where children have to take their exams very soon.

The UNHCR aid, part of a UN inter-agency effort, benefitted 3,000 people and was distributed from May 4-11 by the refugee agency's partners. UNHCR has been present in Tartus since early April and is permanently present in five cities – the others are Damascus, Aleppo, Hassakeh and Homs. Overall in Syria, UNHCR's relief assistance has reached 860,000 displaced Syrians since the beginning of the year.

In Lebanon, UNHCR has stepped up its capacity to register refugees. "Every day over 4,200 people approach our offices for registration. In April, over 90,000 refugees were registered in our centres. This is more than a ten-fold increase when compared to the same month in 2012," McNorton noted.

Waiting periods for registration have also decreased with an average waiting time of 16-30 days throughout the country, apart from the south where UNHCR's registration centre has just become operational. But there too, each week the waiting period for refugees is decreasing.

The UNHCR Lebanon office is also reducing the backlog by more than 8,000 individuals per week. UNHCR has opened new registration centres. The agency is using enhanced registration mechanisms, ensuring that individual protection interviews still take place, providing transportation assistance to refugees and expanding the number of shifts.

The fact that more than 1.5 million people have registered or have appointments with UNHCR sadly means the actual number is much higher. This is due to concerns that some Syrians have regarding registration

The increasingly widening gap between the needs and resources available is a growing challenge. UNHCR has registered close to one million refugees since 1 January this year – this is about a quarter of a million people each month.

Refugees tell us the increased fighting and changing of control of towns and villages, in particular in conflict areas, results in more and more civilians deciding to leave. Over the past four months we have seen a rapid deterioration when compared to the previous 20 months of this conflict.

UNHCR continues to respond to the emergency needs of those in desperate need inside Syria and in neighbouring countries.

Syria

On the outskirts of Tartous inside Syria, UNHCR continued this week to follow up on the needs and situation of several hundred families displaced in the village of Zamarin.

They fled Banias district in Lattakia Governorate where clashes erupted in early May. Some families found shelter in a mosque and local schools, but the majority have been hosted by families in Zamarin.

These families received UNHCR emergency relief assistance last week. Follow-up of the situation with partners in Zamarin show that many families have returned to Banias, where children have to take their exams very soon.

This assistance was part of a collaborative UN inter-agency effort. UNHCR aid benefitted 3,000 people and was distributed between the 4th to 11th May by partners. The items included blankets, mattresses, hygiene kits, children's diapers and sanitary napkins.

UNHCR has been present in Tartous since early April and is permanently present in five cities – the others are Damascus, Aleppo, Hassakeh and Homs.

Overall in Syria UNHCR's relief assistance (non-food items only) has reached 860,000 displaced Syrians since the beginning of the year.

Lebanon

UNHCR's registration operation in Lebanon is one of the largest and most complex urban registration programmes in the world. In Lebanon, UNHCR has now stepped up its capacity to register refugees.

Every day over 4,200 people approach our offices for registration. In April, over 90,000 refugees were registered in our centres. This is more than a ten-fold increase when compared to the same month in 2012.

Waiting periods for registration have also decreased with an average waiting time of between 16-30 days throughout the country, apart from the south where our registration centre has just become operational. But there too, each week the waiting period for refugees is decreasing.

The UNHCR Lebanon office is also reducing the backlog by over 8,000 individuals per week.

UNHCR has opened new registration centres, is using enhanced registration mechanisms, ensuring that individual protection interviews still take place, providing transportation assistance to refugees, aswell as expanding the number of shifts we operate.

Latest regional figures:

REGIONAL number of Syrians registered and pending registration: 1,515,639

JORDAN as of 15 May

Number of Syrians registered and pending registration with UNHCR: 473,587

Registered / Pending registration: 390,371 / 83,216

LEBANON as of 15 May

Number of Syrians registered and pending registration with UNHCR: 470,457

Registered / Pending registration: 375,624 / 94,833

TURKEY based on Government of Turkey figures as of 15 May

Total number of Syrians registered in camps and in urban areas and Syrians awaiting registration in urban areas: 347,157

Registered / Pending registration: 316,772 / 30,385

IRAQ as of 15 May

Number of Syrians registered with UNHCR: 147,464

EGYPT as of 14 May

Number of Syrians registered and pending registration with UNHCR: 66,922

Registered / Pending registration: 48,429 / 18,493

North Africa as of 15 April

Number of Syrians registered with UNHCR: 10,052

For more information, please check the Syria Refugee Response portal: http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/regional.php

For further information on this topic, please contact:

• In Beirut: Reem Alsalem on mobile + 961 71 911 388
• In Amman: Tala Kattan on mobile: +962 79 978 3186
• In Baghdad: Natalia Prokopchuk on mobile +964 780 921 7341
• In Abu Dhabi: Mohammed Abu Asaker (Arabic) on mobile + 971 50 621 3552
• In Geneva: Daniel McNorton on mobile +41 79 217 30 11

A first wave of Sudanese refugees started arriving in Tissi in eastern Chad between January and March when clashes over goldmines in Jabel Amer, North Darfur, turned into ethnic violence (between the Ben Hissein and the Rizeigat.) A second group began arriving in early April due to tribal conflicts (opposing Misseriya and Salamat tribes) around the Um Dhukun area of West Darfur. In addition to the Darfur refugees, the violence also forced almost 20,000 Chadians to cross into Tissi, as well as 458 refugees from Central African Republic (CAR) who had been in Darfur for years.

Tissi is in a remote and volatile Chadian border area straddling troubled parts of northern CAR and Darfur. Roads to the area become impassable during the rainy season lasting from May to November and the first rains have already started. The region has little infrastructure and new arrivals' presence is a strain on the local communities.

To date, UNHCR has registered 28,278 Sudanese refugees in the Tissi area. They are settled across 16 sites within a 100 km radius. Most are herders moving frequently in search of pasture land and water for their livestock and this makes it extremely challenging to register and assist them.

To ensure UNHCR is able to offer protection and assistance to the refugees until the next dry season, we have prepositioned enough aid in the area to cover the needs of 3,000 refugee families. Aid distribution will start on the weekend. Additional supplies are due to arrive from our regional stockpile in Douala, Cameroon, to cover the needs of another 4,000 families.

Due to the rains, we are in a race against time. Road transport between Doula and Tissi takes 20 days – to speed up the delivery of aid- UNHCR plans to hire a helicopter.

After the rains, UNHCR plans to relocate refugees to safety further inland once available water sources are located in sites given to UNHCR by the government. In the meantime, we are working with our partners on rehabilitating some existing water pumps while we drill boreholes. Refugees currently drink from a river, and so put themselves at risk of contracting waterborne diseases.

Meanwhile, we have managed to relocate about 1,500 refugees to Goz Amir a camp located around 250 kilometres north of Tissi. We provided the relocated refugees with shelter, food and household items. We halted the transfers due to heavy rains. An average of 300 refugees a day continues to cross into Tissi as communal tensions persit in Darfur. The new arrivals say that many more are on their way to Chad but that armed groups are preventing them from crossing.

Before the latest influx, there were some 300,000 Darfur refugees in Chad.

For further information on this topic, please contact:

• In Geneva, Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba on mobile +41 79 249 34 83

They led a happy and relatively comfortable life running a small village shop in northern Syria until the war broke out more than two years ago. Today, the 40-year-old Leilah lives in a dilapidated apartment in Athens with her children, two of whom were out looking for work when UNHCR visited. Her husband remained in Syria and she has no idea if he is safe or not.

Leilah, who asked that her name be changed, is among several thousand Syrian civilians who made their way to Greece in search of safety. Many of them thought that their ordeal would end when they reached Europe. But they got a rude shock – the Syrians were regarded as irregular entrants in Greece.

Until recently, they were detained in substandard conditions, following the issuance of deportation orders. "Administration detention for the purpose of removal was ordered in cases of irregular entry and stay in a systematic manner, irrespective of the fact that returns are impossible to implement [because of the continuing conflict in Syria]," said Giorgos Tsarbopoulos, who heads UNHCR's office in Greece.

When released, Syrians have to fend for themselves. They receive no welfare, nor legal documentation that would provide them with a chance for a decent living in the country.

Things have been no different for Leilah during her nine-month ordeal in Athens. One of the most difficult times for the family was when the Greek police arrested Leilah's two eldest sons for lacking documentation. "It felt as if one of my limbs was torn off. I was at a loss," she recalls.

"I used to visit the police station where they were detained almost every day and asked for my sons. But every single day I was turned away, without being given any specific information about the fate of my boys." Leilah's sons were eventually released after 33 days in detention.

Following UNHCR requests for an improvement in the treatment of Syrian refugees, the police last month issued a directive suspending the execution of expulsion or return orders for six months, renewable for as long as the situation in Syria remains unchanged. As a result, Syrians are being released from detention once their nationality is identified. The development was welcomed by UNHCR.

Today, Leilah is happy that she is reunited with all her children. She is also relieved that, thanks to assistance provided by fellow Syrians in Greece, she was able to find better accommodation than her former damp basement in the red-light district of Athens. The family had to share a few square metres with 16 other people.

Maarouf, a Syrian doctor who has lived in Greece for the past 28 years, is one of the few people offering assistance to needy Syrians. He knows their problems from experience. "Syrians arriving in Greece, mostly families with children, live under dramatic conditions," he says. "They have no means to survive and depend on help offered by other Syrians or non-governmental organizations. But their needs are huge."

As she looks at the photos of her husband and other relatives still in Syria, Leilah wonders whether she will ever see them again. "Leaving my country, my home, was like death for me," she says. "What keeps me going are my children and the hope that one day, when peace comes back to my country, I will be able to return home and feel alive again."

Until then, UNHCR believes that Syrians in Greece, like Leilah and her children, deserve appropriate levels of protection that allow them to live in dignity and safety.

By Stella Nanou in Athens, Greece

Rakhine state is home to up to 140,000 people who were displaced in inter-communal violence last year. The UN estimates that some 70,000 of them in and around Sittwe, Pauktaw and Myebon are especially vulnerable to the cyclone's impact as they are encamped near the coast, in low-lying areas or in flimsy makeshift shelters.

Emergency evacuation started on Monday, led by the Rakhine state government. More than 35,000 displaced people had been moved to public buildings, temporary shelters or higher ground by Wednesday. The relocations continued into Thursday amid heavy rains and strong winds.

"The authorities have assured us that everyone at risk will be relocated and assisted without discrimination," said Hans ten Feld, UNHCR's representative in Myanmar. "UNHCR and other agencies have been monitoring the process to ensure that there is consultation, that vulnerable individuals are prioritized, that families are not separated in the process, that rights are respected."

UNHCR teams on the ground are also helping to ease the concerns of some IDPs who refuse to move to government-designated relocation sites. In rural Sittwe, displaced people in Hmanzi Junction decided on Thursday that they wanted to move after all, prompting aid workers to seek trucks to transport them to nearby schools. The authorities have given verbal assurances that they will be able to return to Hmanzi Junction after the storm passes.

Another group of 7,000 displaced people in Nget Chaung in Pauktaw township declined to move to a government site and preferred to move elsewhere by boat. After a tragic accident on Monday night in which more than 50 people are still missing, the authorities started providing boats and escorts to the group's alternative location. This continued until the waters became too rough to navigate. The remaining 1,000 people are now moving to a nearby mosque, which risks overcrowding.

UNHCR has deployed a senior shelter coordinator to help assess the relocation sites. Together with other experts, he is advising the government on whether the shelters, facilities and services are adequate for the large numbers of evacuees.

"The government and humanitarian community are pulling all the stops to relocate as many people as possible before the storm," said ten Feld. "With the storm expected later today, we will need to shift the focus quickly to relief and recovery work."

UNHCR has mobilized its stocks of tents, plastic sheets and other relief items to support any post-cyclone needs among the displaced population in Rakhine state.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh government has ordered the evacuation of 1 million people from townships that are at risk in the south. There are an estimated 230,000 people of concern to UNHCR in that area, including 30,000 Rohingya refugees in two camps, and more than 200,000 undocumented Rohingya from Rakhine state. UNHCR has made preparations in the refugee camps, identifying buildings that can serve as shelters and pre-positioning relief supplies. The government has given assurances that assistance will be provided to all cyclone-affected people without discrimination.

"I'm here to listen to what you have to say so that I can help raise awareness in my country about your needs," the UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador told refugees on Tuesday in Za'atri camp, which is home to more than 100,000 people.

"Even though the people of Spain are suffering from an economic crisis, they understand the drastic conditions you have been forced to endure," he said. "In Spain we have a crisis. Here the definition of crisis is life and death."

During a two-day trip to Jordan, Vázquez also visited the Jordanian capital Amman, where he met with urban refugees and heard about the particular challenges they face. In Za'atri camp, which continues to grow, he met refugee families and aid workers in the camp's medical sector, spoke with new arrivals and talked with UNHCR staff about their vital work.

"I'm particularly concerned about the children, who have lost two years of their lives and suffered endless trauma," Vázquez said. "They've seen the worst that humanity has to offer. We need to show them the best we have to offer."

Vázquez said his visit would help generate specific ideas for fund-raising for UNHCR projects in Za'atri and urban areas. On returning to Spain, he will participate in television and radio programmes to call for solidarity and funds.

The popular Spaniard also praised the Jordanian government and people for hosting so many Syrians. "By keeping the borders open and extending a helping hand to Syrian refugees they have literally saved their lives," he said.

Since the conflict erupted in Syria in March 2011, more than 1.4 million Syrians have fled to countries in the region. Jordan has accepted over 460,000 of them – a staggering amount which is straining the country's resources.

The majority of the refugees are women and children. UNHCR is seeking millions of dollars in funding to provide protection and to meet their basic needs, including shelter, water, health care and education. The appeal has been about 50 per cent funded.

Vázquez has been working with UNHCR since 2006, using his media access and public influence to raise funds and awareness in the Spanish-speaking world about the suffering and needs of refugees. He has met refugees in Kenya and Tunisia as well as internally displaced populations in Colombia.

This is not his first visit to Jordan. In 2008, the year he was appointed as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, he participated in a concert held in ancient Petra in memory of Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti. This raised funds for Afghan refugee returnees.

By Greg Beals in Za'atri Refugee Camp, Jordan

Arsen and his wife Sanela, who met in Germany, had received official declarations of birth from the Frankfurt hospital where their four little girls – seven, six, four and three years – were born. But arriving back in Gracanica, his original town in Kosovo, the 34-year-old Roma man discovered that was not enough.

In Kosovo, without proof of birth, it is very hard to establish a legal identity and it is therefore impossible to access any assistance, even enrolment in school. This issue in particular affects Kosovo's Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities – long-established groups in the Balkans claiming ancient origins outside the region.

UNHCR is trying to prevent this by incessantly advocating for removing any obstacle to obtaining a birth certificate.

The problem becomes evident with children repatriated under readmission agreements with various countries since a birth certificate is required to register births that occurred abroad. Children who were not born in Kosovo very often do not have acceptable documents and are not recognized before the law.

"When we arrived in Kosovo, we approached the municipality to apply for social assistance. But we were told that, without identity cards and birth certificates issued by Kosovo institutions, we were not eligible. The German documents were not enough," said Arsen, who had fled Kosovo in 1999 because of the war there.

As everywhere in the world, the procedure in Kosovo for getting personal documentation can be complicated and costly: UNHCR is working closely with the authorities and international agencies to address this problem.

Since 2006, UNHCR has assisted more than 14,000 people to receive documents through civil status registration and civil registration programmes implemented by Civil Rights Programme Kosovo. By providing free legal aid, the local NGO helps families overcome language, procedural or bureaucratic barriers.

In particular, the authorities charged a fee for late registrations, a serious obstacle for some families. But in March 2013, the authorities for a second consecutive year waived penalties and fees for civil status services for Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities. Arsen's family, who were assisted by UNHCR, could benefit.

"Luckily, UNHCR put us in contact with a very kind lawyer from Civil Rights Program Kosovo," said Arsen. "He helped us and we could obtain all needed documents for free [which Arsen has neatly archived in a folder] and we receive now a monthly social assistance."

UNHCR estimates that each year nearly 4,000 Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians face the same problems as Arsen. The population consists mainly of voluntary returnee children from the region and readmitted children, all born in displacement and lacking evidence of birth meeting Kosovo regulations.

"A significant percentage of these communities is without either civil status registration or personal identity documentation," said UNHCR Chief of Mission Jo Hegenauer. "This is why we welcome the decision to exempt these communities from the payment of a fee: an enormous help which relieves these already vulnerable communities from an additional financial burden."

He said that offering free legal aid services and advocating to prevent statelessness and protect people at risk of statelessness remained part of UNHCR's daily commitment. In Kosovo, as everywhere, people like those in Arsen's family are entitled to have an identity and a nationality; it is a fundamental human right.

By Elisabetta Iurcev in Pristina, Kosovo

* Any reference to Kosovo is intended under UN Security Council resolution 1244/99

Like other children in South Sudan, Takwa was required to sit exams to complete her primary education. But unlike the majority of those children, Takwa and her family have faced life-changing challenges, fleeing their home in Sudan and restarting their lives in a refugee camp.

Undaunted, Takwa went on to achieve the fourth highest exam results in South Sudan's Upper Nile state. And she was not the only refugee to do well. Twenty-seven other children in the Gendrassa camp also passed the exam.

"I still cannot believe it," Takwa says as she works at her domestic chores in the refugee camp that has been her family's home since July 2012.

Her mother also cannot conceal her delight at her daughter's achievement. "I have always taught my children, especially my daughters, never to fear education but to embrace it," says Nawal Umer, a kindergarten teacher. The value the family places on learning has allowed Takwa and her sisters to attend classes at an age when most of their peers have married and become mothers.

"I will support and defend my children's right to education with every fibre of my being, especially that of my daughters," says Umer. "Now we need to ensure that Takwa can attend secondary school."

Umer and her children were forced to flee their home in Sudan's Blue Nile state in March 2011 when they became trapped in a conflict between the Sudanese armed forces and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army-North. The family first made their way to Ethiopia and then walked to South Sudan, where they were reunited with Takwa's father. He had become separated from his family in the fighting and was living in another refugee camp.

After enrolling in one of the camp's schools, Takwa confronted a significant challenge. Classes in South Sudan are taught in English, a language then unfamiliar to the Arabic-speaking teen. It will be an opportunity to learn a new language, she told herself.

With dreams of becoming a broadcast journalist – a career choice reluctantly supported by her mother – Takwa must now find a means of continuing her education. Resources limit the education available in refugee camps to primary school. Secondary school places are available in the local community, but many classes are filled to capacity.

As an interim measure, UNHCR is implementing community-based informal classes for those refugee children who have passed their primary school exams.

"We want to ensure that students with such potential do not get sidetracked by issues they should not be focusing on, such as early marriage," says Jockshan Foryoh, an education officer with the refugee agency. "We are encouraging primary school leavers to enrol and participate in informal education classes where they are productively engaged in ongoing learning."

UNHCR and partner agencies have also begun addressing the gaps that need to be resolved before secondary education can begin in Upper Nile's refugee camps. These include a lack of qualified teachers as well as shortages of text and exercise books and structures in which to locate the schools.

By Pumla Rulashe in Gendrassa, South Sudan

He condemned these despicable attacks on civilians, stating that these terrorist activities targeted both the Turkish people and Syrian refugees who have received protection in Turkey. UNHCR supports Turkey at this difficult time and extends its heartfelt condolences to the families of those impacted.