Mediterranean boat capsizing: deadliest incident on record
UNHCR has now interviewed most of the survivors of Saturday’s boat tragedy in the Mediterranean.
UNHCR – New Mediterranean boat tragedy may be biggest ever, urgent action is needed now
UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres today expressed his shock at the latest boat capsizing on the Mediterranean, and the hundreds of lives reported to have been lost.
Italian coastguard rescues thousands of migrants and refugees in Mediterranean
The UN refugee agency on Tuesday renewed its call for stepped up rescue operations in the Mediterranean after the Italian Coastguard saved some 8,500 migrants and refugees trying to cross the high seas by irregular routes to Europe from North Africa.
Beyond the tragedy – there is a story of hope
Dangerous sea journeys are taking the form of ‘Russian Roulette’, Adrian Edwards, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Head of News and Media, said in highlighting that 479 people have already died or have went missing in the first two months of the year in their attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea.
Asylum applications in industrialized world soar to almost 900,000 in 2014
The wars in Syria and Iraq, as well as armed conflicts, human rights violations and deteriorating security and humanitarian conditions in other countries, pushed the number of asylum applications in industrialized countries to a 22-year high last year, according to a UNHCR report released today.
Asylum claims in Southern Europe up by 95% in 2014
The number of newly registered asylum seekers in Southern Europe went up to 170,700 in 2014 – the highest on record (+95%), according to the 2014 UNHCR Asylum trends.