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Massive UNHCR airlift gets underway for tsunami victims
2 Jan 2005 A giant Antonov 124 cargo plane loaded with 100 tonnes of urgent relief supplies leaves Denmark to spearhead a massive UNHCR airlift operation aimed at providing vital aid to 100,000 people in Indonesia's tsunami-battered Aceh province. The three-day airlift operation will deliver 400 tonnes of aid from UNHCR stockpiles in Denmark and Dubai. On the ground, meanwhile, UNHCR's logistics and supply teams set up advance bases in northern Sumatra, while the refugee agency continues round-the-clock relief operations in Sri Lanka. -
No holding back on emergency aid to tsunami victims, says UNHCR
28 Dec 2004 The UN refugee agency is considering putting at the disposal of the UN country team in Sri Lanka more relief supplies from its warehouses in other regions for the tens of thousands of people affected by Sunday's earthquake and tidal waves. UNHCR staff in the region are also helping in the UN-wide relief effort. -
Sri Lanka's tidal wave victims to receive UNHCR aid
27 Dec 2004 The UN refugee agency in Sri Lanka is opening up its local relief stockpiles to deliver immediate emergency assistance to victims of Sunday's devastating tsunami, which left thousands of dead, injured and displaced on the island. Dutch NGO Stichting Vluchteling has agreed to help with the cost of relief items. -
Former embassy now home to desperate Somalis in Rome
16 Nov 2004 The Association of Emigrant Somali Women in Rome recently organised a party to celebrate the end of Ramadan with some 50 Somali asylum seekers living in their run-down former embassy. Many of them have been sent back to Italy from other European countries and now live in desperate conditions. -
Feature: Sri Lanka makes citizens out of stateless tea pickers
7 Oct 2004 Some 200,000 stateless people - descendants of Indians imported to work on tea estates - have received citizenship in Sri Lanka under a law passed last year. Generations of tea pickers who had been denied of the right to own property or work officially can now enjoy more choices for a better life. -
Ukraine, Sri Lanka provide models for solving statelessness
6 Oct 2004 UN refugee agency chief Ruud Lubbers has reminded states that there are several million stateless people in the world today and introduced Ukraine and Sri Lanka as positive examples of countries that had found resolutions for the huge and hidden problem. -
Handling of Cap Anamur asylum claims was flawed, says UNHCR
23 Jul 2004 The UN refugee agency has written to the Italian authorities criticizing the process that led up to the expulsion from Italy of a group of asylum seekers at the centre of an international furore. -
UNHCR calls for renewed attention to plight of displaced Sri Lankans
29 Apr 2004 Some 360,000 uprooted Sri Lankans have returned home since a cease-fire between Tamil Tiger rebels and the Colombo government took effect two years ago. As the nation awaits the resumption of the stalled peace talks, UNHCR is urging renewed focus on the plight of hundreds of thousands of people who remain displaced in their country. -
Sri Lankans displaced in rebel fighting return home
13 Apr 2004 Several thousand displaced Sri Lankans return home after factional fighting among rebels of the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) eased. The UN refugee agency expresses hopes that negotiations to end two decades of civil strife in Sri Lanka will continue between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government.