Mayyu Ali is one of the tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees who now live in camps along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border.
Welcoming and Offering Support to Refugees in the Washington, D.C. Area
In this blog, part of the “Welcoming Communities” series, Jessica Thea writes about the organization Northern Virginia Friends of Refugees, which is comprised of 640 members representing faith communities, NGOs, elected government officials, refugee communities, businesses, and schools in the D.C. area. The community-based group is dedicated to mobilizing communities in support of refugees who…
For Refugees in Niger, Relief at Being Rescued from Libya and Fear for Those Left Behind
In this blog, Senior Advocate Izza Leghtas write about refugees who have been evacuated from Libya to Niger under a UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) emergency program. At a time when the world’s richest nations are closing their doors to people fleeing conflict and persecution, Niger has agreed to host some 900 refugees evacuated from Libya. But at the end of the day, Leghtas writes, EU member states and other wealthy countries must offer resettlement opportunities for these refugees if the evacuation system is to work.
Embracing Refugees by Cultivating New Connections
In an age of travel bans and closing borders, communities across the United States continue to welcome recently arrived refugees into their neighborhoods. As a student at Washington University in St. Louis, a city troubled by economic disparity and home to an often isolated resettled refugee population, it was hard not to notice how insulated my campus was from its surrounding neighborhoods. I wanted to change that.
A Simple But Powerful Message on Human Rights Day
While brutal attacks against the Rohingya Muslims continue, the minority ethnic Kachin people in northern Myanmar also live under severe human rights abuses at the hands of Myanmar’s government and military. One displaced woman, Aye Hkine, sends a simple message on Human Rights Day.
Displacement and Violence in the Northern Triangle
Following a recent mission to the Northern Triangle region of Central American, Refugees International finds that current conditions require that the United States government not deport Temporary Protective Status beneficiaries from Honduras and El Salvador. Rather, the U.S. should provide alternatives for Honduran and Salvadoran women, men and children to remain in the United States legally.
Lest we forget: Assisting ISIS survivors in Iraq
This month marks the three-year anniversary of the withdrawal of an 11,000-strong Peshmerga force from Sinjar in northern Iraq. The withdrawal left Sinjar’s Yazidi minority community besieged by Islamic State (ISIS) fighters. For one displaced Yazidi family with whom I recently met in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, there is both reason to grieve and to celebrate. The head of family told me that dozens of extended family members were kidnapped by ISIS during the siege. But this anniversary also marks the first that his now 15-year-old daughter, Vian, is home.
Haitians Displaced by Hurricane Matthew Left Even More Vulnerable to the Next Storm
A Refugees International (RI) team recently returned from Haiti, where they traveled to Les Cayes and Jérémie to assess humanitarian and protection needs stemming from Hurricane Matthew, which devastated parts of the country in October 2016.
Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Turkey: A Photo Essay
In December 2016 Refugees International (RI) carried out a mission to Turkey, visiting refugees and asylum-seekers in several cities including Istanbul, Denizli, Konya, Aksaray, and Kayseri. Pictured here is a family of Afghan refugees living in Denizli.
Uganda Embraces South Sudanese Refugees, For Now
It may be the fastest-growing refugee crisis in the world. Almost every day for the last four months, an average of 2,000 South Sudanese refugees have made their way to neighboring Uganda. They come on buses and on foot, along dirt roads and through the bush. Day after day more arrive, with no end to…