According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 2.75 million migrants have been stranded globally due to mobility restrictions imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
UN refugee chief Filipp Grandi has called on countries to be more generous in taking in people in need of protection. Grandi also lambasted governments for their xenophobic tendencies, which he said must not dominate asylum policy.
The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR has urged more support for refugees accessing higher education in order to withstand the impact of COVID-19.
The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the vulnerability of refugees and migrants worldwide. That's a key message of this year's World Risk Report (WRR), whose focus is on "Forced Displacement & Migration".
In a new report, Save the Children says little has changed for more than 200,000 unaccompanied children who have sought asylum in Europe over the past five years. They "continue to drown on the EU's watch," the NGO said.
The UN refugee agency has organized its first art competition, the Youth with Refugees Art Contest. The contest was aimed at young designers from all over the world and inspired by the theme "everyone counts in the fight against the virus, including refugees."
A human rights activist and former immigration detainee has warned that Europe is trying to copy Australia’s harsh asylum system. He says asylum seekers held in Australia's offshore processing centers suffer psychological abuse, trauma and racism.
Will irregular migration to Europe increase again once COVID-19 related travel restrictions are lifted? Europol thinks so. In a new report, the European Union's policing agency also said the coronavirus pandemic is already changing migrant smuggling and trafficking.
Nearly two dozen young migrants were taken to Switzerland from overcrowded camps on Greek Aegean islands on Saturday, according to Greek authorities. However, more than 5,000 unaccompanied minors remain in Greece.
States have pledged more than $3 billion to support refugees and about 50,000 resettlement places, the United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday at the end of the inaugural Refugee Forum in Geneva. Yet asylum rights remain "under threat," UNHCR's Grandi said.
A global summit in Geneva is hoping to address a series of issues relating to global migration trends reaching from forcible displacement to the energy and infrastructure needs of refugees. The event, however, might also be hijacked by politicians pursuing their own agendas.
The H&M Group, known in many parts of the world for its fast-fashion clothing, has pledged to promote the ethical recruitment and protection of migrant workers in global supply chains. The multinational company last week signed a memorandum of understanding with UN agency International Organization for Migration (IOM).