refugees

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Syria&#39;s Refugee Tally: 1M
 Syria's Refugee Tally: 1M 
Mar 6, 2013 4:04 AM CST

Syria's Refugee Tally: 1M

And half of them are children, according to UN report

(Newser) - A million people have now fled Syria to avoid the war raging there—and half of them are children, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported today . "Syria is spiraling towards full-scale disaster," commissioner António Guterres said. "We are doing everything we can to help, but...

5K Syrians Fleeing Every Day
 5K Syrians Flee Every Day 
Feb 8, 2013 4:35 PM CST

5K Syrians Flee Every Day

It's a 'full-on crisis,' says UN official

(Newser) - The number of Syrian residents fleeing their country is rising fast, says the UN refugee agency. It puts the number at 5,000 day, bringing the total who have fled so far to nearly 800,000, reports Reuters . That's a 25% increase in January alone, reports the New York ...

Rape a &#39;Weapon of War&#39; in Syria
 Rape a 'Weapon of War' in Syria 
Jan 14, 2013 7:32 AM CST

Rape a 'Weapon of War' in Syria

And a main reason people are fleeing the country, activist group says

(Newser) - Rape is "a significant and disturbing feature of the Syrian civil war," and a major reason refugees are fleeing the country, according to a report released today by a US-based activist group. The International Rescue Committee interviewed refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, and found that many identified rape...

130 Saved in Another Christmas Island Sinking

Tragedy marks 2nd capsizing in one week

(Newser) - For the second time in a week, a boat crowded with asylum seekers sank off Christmas Island—but this time, at least 130 of the estimated 150 on board have been rescued, the AP reports. In Thursday's capsizing , which happened in the same area—a popular destination for refugees...

Afghan Asylum Seekers Reach 10-Year High

Human smuggling in Afghanistan, Pakistan worth $1B annually

(Newser) - In the tenth year since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, more Afghans sought asylum abroad last year than any time since the war began, reports the AP . A UN report says that more than 30,000 Afghans applied for political asylum around the world from January to November, a 25%...

As People Try to Flee, Syria Plants Mines Along Border

Exodus to Lebanon an embarrassment for Bashar Assad, notes AP

(Newser) - Syria is burying landmines along its border with Lebanon in what one official says is an effort to deter arms trafficking—but which the AP notes comes amidst an exodus of refugees fleeing the country to avoid the regime's violent crackdown on dissent. "Syria has undertaken many measures...

Kenya Can Help Stop 'Mass Rape' of Somali Refugees Fleeing Famine
 Kenya: Help Stop 
 Rape of Somali Refugees 
Nicholas Kristof
Sep 25, 2011 1:45 PM CDT

Kenya: Help Stop Rape of Somali Refugees

Donor fatigue no excuse for giving up: Kristof

(Newser) - The severe famine gripping Somalia is not only starving millions of people, it's creating "an instance of mass rape" for refugees fleeing into Kenya, writes Nicholas Kristof at the New York Times . About 1,000 a day are forced to trek 50 miles from the border to a...

Nicaragua Quake Survivors Get Homes—40 Years Later

Government relocates hundreds of refugees from 1972 quake

(Newser) - In the aftermath of a 1972 earthquake that leveled 50,000 buildings and killed 10,000 in Nicaragua's capital city of Managua, many of the country's poor had no place to go. While 250,000 of their middle- and upper-class counterparts migrated to safer, more habitable locales, the...

Angelina Jolie Visits Syrian Refugees

Actress visits Turkish border amid more violence in Syria

(Newser) - Syrian security forces fired on thousands of protesters today, killing a teenage boy and at least 15 other civilians as more accounts emerged of summary executions by the autocratic regime of President Bashar Assad, activists said. The renewed violence came as UN envoy Angelina Jolie visited the Turkish border to...

Libyan Rape Accuser at Romanian Refugee Center

But UN rep won't say where Iman al-Obeidi will eventually end up

(Newser) - Iman al-Obeidi, the Libyan woman who made headlines when she claimed Moammar Gadhafi's troops raped her, is at a UN refugee center in Romania. Al-Obeidi had gone from Libya to Tunisia to Qatar, but was expelled from Qatar back to Benghazi on Thursday. A UN spokesperson confirmed that al-Obeidi...

Lebanon Turns Back Fleeing Syrians

Security forces round up refugees

(Newser) - Syrians fleeing across the border into Lebanon this weekend got a rude awakening: Lebanese security forces rounded them up and sent them right back. Hundreds of residents of the town of Tell Kalakh—including some wounded in Bashar al-Assad’s violent crackdown—came across the border hoping for refuge from...

Libya Refugee Ship Sinks, Hundreds Feared Dead

Vessel had 600 crammed aboard

(Newser) - A ship carrying 600 refugees fleeing from war-ravaged Libya has sank outside Tripoli, the BBC reports, and several hundred are feared to have drowned. The overcrowded boat, one of thousands of questionable vessels currently evacuating refugees, broke apart Friday, and the UN's refugee agency said today that 16 bodies...

Migrant Boat Survivors: NATO Left Us to Starve

Of 72 passengers, only nine are left

(Newser) - Despite issuing multiple distress calls, dozens of African migrants died as their boat drifted in the Mediterranean for 16 days, seemingly ignored by NATO and other potential rescuers. The boat, carrying 72 passengers including women, children, and political refugees, set out from Tripoli on March 25. En route to the...

250 Migrants Fleeing Libya Missing at Sea

Their boat capsized off the coast of Italy

(Newser) - Unintended casualties of the fighting in Libya: About 250 African refugees fleeing the violence remain missing at sea after their boat capsized near Italy. Authorities managed to rescue about 50 people off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa, reports the BBC , but they estimate that 300 people were...

Humanitarian Crisis Unfolds on Libya's Borders

Nearly 100,000 people have fled fighting to Egypt, Tunisia

(Newser) - The violence and unrest gripping Libya is creating a humanitarian crisis, as almost 100,000 people have fled the fighting for Egypt and Tunisia, reports the New York Times . About half of the refugees are Egyptians, but those fleeing includes Libyans, Chinese, and others, mostly poorer laborers. "We call...

20,000 Flee Pakistani Border Offensive

Army cracks down on Mohmand province al-Qaeda fighters

(Newser) - A huge Pakistani army offensive against militants in the tribal region of Mohmand near the Afghan border has forced 20,000 to 25,000 people to flee their homes, officials and witnesses tell the BBC . The assault has been going on for a week now, and has killed 60 to...

As Flood Toll Hits 25, Chavez Opens Palace to Refugees

State of emergency has left 5K homeless

(Newser) - Hugo Chavez is letting dozens of people made homeless by Venezuelan flooding crash at his palace, and he told them yesterday—as the death toll hit 25—that they can stay there until the government finds them new homes. Visiting a slum, the AP reports that Chavez urged other residents...

Iraqi Refugees Who Returned Now Leaving Again

Country is still far from stable

(Newser) - Nearly 100,000 refugees have returned to Iraq since 2008, but many are leaving again—and for some, this may be the last time. “I was near a female suicide bomber a couple months ago. Then I was in my brother’s truck when insurgents opened fire on a...

Britain Paves Way for Gay Refugees

Ruling hailed as victory for LGBT rights

(Newser) - Gay refugees have a right to asylum in Britain, a high court has ruled. The decision, which cites "rampant homophobic teaching" in parts of Africa and "the ultra-conservative interpretation of Islamic law" in Iran, will stop those fearing imprisonment, torture or execution from being shipped back to their...

Haiti Quake Survivors Stuck in US Immigrant Jails

Hurriedly evacuated, they now await an impossible deportation

(Newser) - At least 30 Haitians who were rescued from the earthquake by US Marines now find themselves stuck in immigration detention centers in Florida. Some were pulled from the wreckage, while others were hurried onto planes during hasty evacuations when the aftershock hit, the New York Times reports. There was no...

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