refugee camp news stories on Newser

Kenya: Help Stop Rape of Somali Refugees

Mark Russell — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 13:45:05 CDT

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 refugee camp...

Tunisia Furious After Libya Battle Crosses Border

Kevin Spak — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:57:05 CDT

Tunisia was not pleased today when a battle between Libya’s warring factions spilled across the border today, after Moammar Gadhafi’s forces attacked a rebel-held frontier crossing. The incursion was brief and limited, and Gadhafi’s forces even apologized locally, Reuters reports. But Tunisia’s foreign ministry still issued a statement expressing “extreme...

Rush Laughs at Japanese Refugees

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 08:58:10 CDT

Leave it to Rush Limbaugh to find some levity in the plight of Japanese refugees. Specifically, the radio show host is amused by the fact that one refugee camp is still recycling. A caller on yesterday’s show—after hearing a clip Limbaugh played of a Diane Sawyer report on said...

Angelina Tours Iraqi Camps

Nick McMaster — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:45:02 CDT

Angelina Jolie visited a refugee camp near Baghdad today, part of her duties as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency, People reports. While visiting one displaced family, she asked if they wished to return to their home. "No way," said one daughter, in a reminder of the violence...

Refugee Crisis Opens Doors for Pakistan's Secluded Women

Rob Quinn — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:30:00 CDT

Women's leaders in Pakistan have found an unexpected silver lining in the country's refugee crisis, the Globe & Mail reports. A million women have been forced from their homes by the fighting, upending the Pashtun code of honor that forces women to spend almost all their time secluded in family...

Refugee Tally Hits 1.3M as Pakistan Plans Ground Strike

Neal Colgrass — Sun, 10 May 2009 19:13:00 CDT

Pakistani forces told more residents of Swat Valley to flee during a 9-hour lull in fighting today, sparking an even greater migration that is snarling roads and deepening a humanitarian crisis, the Guardian reports. A quarter million refugees have now registered for help, bringing the homeless tally to 1.3...

As Pakistan Shells Taliban, 500K Flee Swat

Jason Farago — Thu, 07 May 2009 06:55:19 CDT

Refugees continue to flee the Swat Valley in Pakistan, reports the Guardian, where government forces battling resurgent Taliban militants have been conducting airstrikes in heavily populated areas. The government is preparing for up to 500,000 refugees in what the UN warns is becoming a humanitarian crisis. The Washington Post...

Darfur Crisis Will Worsen in Weeks: US Envoy

Harry Kimball — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 11:22:46 CDT

The humanitarian situation in Darfur will worsen significantly in just a few weeks if aid organizations do not move quickly, says the new American envoy. Scott Gration said groups expelled by President Omar Bashir last month for allegedly colluding with the International Criminal Court to indict him on war crimes...

Anarchy Rules Desperate Congo

Jason Farago — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:55:45 CST

Bewildered residents in eastern Congo talk of the "front line" separating rebel territory from areas controlled by the army. But no such line exists—only a jumble of unstable, chaotic territories with no checkpoints or fortifications, reports the New York Times . While a ceasefire between the two sides seems to...