Today's date:
News stories 2009
News stories in English published on UNHCR regional website.
21.12.2009
Nordic Press trip 2009:
Every morning hundreds of newly-arrived Somalis gather outside the registration
center in Dadaab refugee camp, Kenya. At registration all the children
are measured, weighed and given essential vaccinations. The families are
interviewed and ration cards are handed out, but when it comes to the part
where a plot of land usually is allocated to the newcomers the news is
bad: There is no more land to give.
16.12.2009
This week, at the the UNFCCC Conference in Copenhagen (‘COP 15’),
High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres will impress upon the negotiating
teams how climate change adds to the scale and complexity of human mobility
and displacement. Climate change is not just a scientific issue. More work
is needed to analyze the likely human displacement scenarios which climate
change will cause, and to identify and fill any legal and operational gaps.
04.12.2009
Refugees find safe haven, not home in Sweden:
Sweden is a pioneer resettlement country, known for accepting a large
share of quota refugees and for ambitious integration programs. However,
after living in Sweden for several years, many quota
refugees feel that finding work is difficult and lack a sense of social
inclusion.
06-11-2009
Volker Türk, Director of UNHCR’s Division for International
Protection Services, called for improving the European Union’s
asylum system in a UNHCR / Red Cross co-organised seminar in Stockholm
on 3-4 November. Türk encouraged the EU to strenghten its common
structures, to ensure better protection is available at entry points,
and to help at the source to solve the problems generating refugees.
28.10.200
Is domestic violence a valid ground for an application for asylum? What is
the difference between gender-related and gender-specific persecution? What
does gender-sensitivity within the asylum process mean?
19.10.2009
The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DSB)
signed an Emergency Stand-by Agreement with UNHCR in Geneva last week. This
marks the official collaboration of the two agencies in swiftly responding
to worldwide humanitarian emergencies.
05.10.2009
UNHCR Honorary Goodwill Ambassador Barbara Hendricks has received the
Save the Children “Friend of Children”- award for her work
for refugee children.
1.10. 2009
Sweden, the newly appointed chair of the Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement and the Working Group (ATCR/WGR), is preparing for its 10-month chairmanship’s first Working Group meeting in Geneva on 14 October. Sweden as the chair of the body will focus on increasing both the number of states willing to resettle refugees globally, as well as the number of refugees resettled in existing programmes.
23.09.2009
When we say 'refugee', do you think 'camp'?
True, many displaced live in refugee camps. But an increasing
number live in towns and cities. UNHCR statistics show that almost
half of the world’s 10.5 million refugees now reside in cities and towns, compared to one third who
live in camps.
15.09.2009
The 2009 Nansen Refugee Award will go to the late Senator Edward Kennedy for his achievements as an unparalleled champion of refugee protection and assistance for more than 45 years.
20.08.2009
We are very pleased and grateful that the Postcode Lottery has chosen UNHCR as their new beneficiary. The support from the Lottery will help many of the world’s refugees, and we are looking forward to a long and prosperous partnership, says Hans ten Feld, regional representative UNHCR Stockholm.
17.08.2009
Six years ago, on 19th August 2003, the United Nations Office in Baghdad
was bombed and 22 persons lost their lives. While there
have been many other fatal incidents involving humanitarian personnel – since
1997 more than 750 have lost their lives in the cause of duty – the
General Assembly of the United Nations decided to use the anniversary of
this incident to introduce World Humanitarian Day.
05.08.2009
UNHCR's Regional Office for the Baltic and the Nordic Countries launches www.unhcr-eu.se.
04.08.2009
Tens of thousands of proud persons have celebrated diversity and respect in Baltic and Nordic capitals this summer. In addition to the annual pride festivals, last week Copenhagen hosted the World Outgames 2009, which is a major sports event for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons.
04.06.2009
I am visiting Palestinian Sawsan (42) in her new home since nine months, the small fishing town of Akranes (pop 6600), Iceland. Here she has started a new life with her son Yehya (5), after fleeing the bloody streets of Baghdad and spending a year of desperation in the Al-Waleed camp on the border with Syria.
25.05.2009
The online refugee game for teenagers, 'Against All Odds', saw its tenth
language version last week when www.flotti.org was launched in Reykjavik,
Iceland.
25.05.2009
Bringing the refugee reality closer to home
Finland's largest cultural event, the Helsinki World Village Festival organised
23-24 May 2009, this year featured an exhibition by Hufvudstadsbladet photographer
Tor Wennström, in cooperation with UNHCR.
04.05.2009
While the Somali pirates have garnered a lot of media attention lately, there
is another more important story to be told - that of the Somali people.
The security and human rights situation in Somalia was the focus of a April
2009 seminar in Stockholm organized by UNHCR, the Red Cross, Amnesty and the
Swedish Refugee Advice Centre for decision makers on different levels in the
Nordic asylum systems.
06.04.2009
GENEVA, April 5 (UNHCR) – John Solecki, the head of the UNHCR office
in the Pakistani city of Quetta, was released on Saturday night more than two
months after he was abducted and has left Pakistan to be reunited as soon as
possible with his family in the United States.
20.03.2009
UNHCR launches article competition for journalism students
“Illegal migrants from Africa arrive on the shores of Europe, many
are feared drowned”. A news headline of our times. But are they all ‘illegal
migrants’?
UNHCR is now launching an article competition for journalism students in the
Baltic and Nordic countries.
11.03.2009
23-year-old Fatbardhe Hetemaj was named Refugee Woman of the Year by the
Finnish Refugee Council FRC on 5 March 2009. Hetemaj was recognized for
her efforts to counteract racism in Finland.
11.02.2009
The number of unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in the Nordic countries
rose steeply in 2008. Refugees from Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan were the
largest groups of asylum-seekers to arrive in the region.
11.02.2009
The number of asylum applications almost doubled in Lithuania in comparison
to the year 2007. 215 applications for asylum were registered by the authorities
during the year, compared to 124 in 2007.
09.01.2009
“Now I know what the difference is between a refugee and an irregular
migrant!”
This comment was made by one of the judges who participated in a regional seminar
for judges and legal practitioners in Tallinn in November 2008. The participants
came from all of the Baltic countries, and the seminar was organised by the UNHCR
Regional Office for the Baltic and Nordics.
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