Middle East & North Africa

The Global Compact on Refugees: What Can We Expect?

Responding to the current global refugee crisis, the UN General Assembly in September 2016 convened a special meeting to examine the effectiveness of the international community’s response to mass movements of people. That meeting lead to two important outcomes, with the third – the Global Compact on Migration – still pending. Jeff Crisp argues that the formulation of a Global Compact represents an invaluable opportunity to reassess, revise and reinvigorate the international community’s efforts to protect and find solutions for the world’s refugees.

The Horror in Syria Continues

In October, a Refugees International (RI) colleague and I traveled to Turkey to revisit the issue of work permits and livelihood access for the 3.5 million refugees now living there – 3.2 million of whom are Syrians. As in previous missions, we interviewed Syrian refugees who had recently fled their war-torn homeland.

Turkey’s Forgotten Refugees

Turkey faces a long list of challenges that come with hosting 3.5 million refugees, the highest number for any refugee-hosting country, but the Turkish authorities and international and humanitarian actors should not treat people differently based on the country from which they fled.

The Blockade of Yemen Must End

Refugees International calls on the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen and on the United States government to do everything in their power to open entry points into Yemen and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.