Making a difference in refugees’ lives through education
News Stories, 5 October 2015 ISLAMABAD, Sept 30, Pakistan (UNHCR) – Life tests student Abdul Khalil, a 30-year-old refugee from Afghanistan, to the limits. Each day, he works between 18 to 19 hours. He starts at 8:00 a.m. from the university where he studies and...
UNHCR presents Nansen Refugee Award to Afghan refugee teacher
News Stories, 5 October 2015 GENEVA, Oct 5 (UNHCR) – The courageous work of an Afghan refugee teacher took centre stage Monday night as Aqeela Asifi was presented with the 2015 Nansen Refugee Award by UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres. In an...
Speakers pay rich tributes to Aqeela Asifi – winner of Nansen Refugee Award
Press Release ISLAMABAD, Sep 29 (UNHCR) – Speakers at a reception Tuesday paid rich tributes to Aqeela Asifi, winner of the prestigious 2015 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award for her extraordinary humanitarian work on behalf of refugees. Afghan refugee teacher Aqeela Asifi...
50,000 Afghan refugees from Pakistan returned this year under UNHCR voluntary return programme
Press Release ISLAMABAD: The UN refugee agency has facilitated the return of over 50,000 registered Afghan refugees from Pakistan so far this year under the agency’s largest and longest running voluntary repatriation programme. As part of its facilitated group return...
A refugee separated from his mother but uniting a community
Human story 10 August 2015 ATTOCK, Pakistan, Aug 10 (UNHCR) – Abdur Rehman was just four years old when his father died and he found himself separated from his mother. As years went by, he lost all hope of ever seeing her again. But while living with foster parents,...
UNHCR’s lifesaving initiatives: Balochistan hospital gets first-ever centralized oxygen system
News Story QUETTA, 22 July 2015, Pakistan (UNHCR) – Abdul Waheed’s father could not breathe and urgently needed oxygen to stay alive. Waheed erupted into cries, knowing how serious his father’s condition was. The doctor, too, knew he was critical. But despite...
UNHCR calls for international push to end Afghanistan refugee situation
News Stories, 25 June 2015 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 25 (UNHCR) – The head of the UN refugee agency has called on the international community to redouble its engagement with Afghanistan to help bring an end to the world’s largest protracted refugee situation. UN...
UNHCR, SAFRON issues joint communique
24 June, 2015 Joint Communique issued by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. António Guterres and Minister for States and Frontier Regions, Lt. Gen. (Retired) Abdul Qadir Baloch on the occasion of the UN High Commissioner’s Ramadan Solidarity Visit to Pakistan...
UNHCR Chief inaugurates new Emergency Assessment Unit at Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Peshawar
Press Release PESHAWAR – 23 June, 2015: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Mr. António Guterres inaugurated the newly constructed Emergency Assessment Unit (EAU) at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital (SKMCH) in Peshawar on Tuesday. The...