"The number of refugees worldwide is at a 25-year low, but a growing number of displaced people are suffering under tighter asylum restrictions and increased fears of terrorism, the UN Refugee Agency said Wednesday.
Fewer armed conflicts and large-scale repatriations to countries such as Afghanistan and Sierra Leone reduced the number of refugees to 9.2 million in 2004, compared with 18 million in 1992, according to the United Nations report "State of the World's Refugees: Human Displacement in the New Millennium."
But growing numbers of displaced people who fall outside the protections of the UN Refugee Convention -- an estimated 175 million -- are facing precarious futures amid increased security threats, growing intolerance and declines in donations, said Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees." [Full story]
"An overwhelming 94 per cent of Liberians said that the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) made them more secure in the aftermath of a bloody, decade-long civil war, and they gave high marks to the operation for its quick-impact projects and information outreach, according to a poll made public today." [More]
"A quarter century into the HIV/AIDS pandemic, researchers fear that a lack of preparedness for large-scale social changes, driven by factors like armed conflict and climate change, could lead to explosive new outbreaks affecting millions of people.
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Opinio Juris: "The United Nations Security Council has unanimously passed Resolution 1664, which calls for Kofi Annan to begin negotiating with the Lebanese government to establish an international tribunal to try the individuals responsible for the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and 22 others in May, 2005. Annan has suggested to the Security Council that the tribunal be modeled on the hybrid courts in Sierra Leone, East Timor, and Cambodia, although he recommends that the tribunal not be located in Lebanon because of "concerns of security, perceptions of objectivity." According to diplomatic sources, Cyprus is considering hosting the tribunal."
"[T]he decision by the government of Sudan to bar UN relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland from Darfur is as perverse as it is deplorable. It is not, however, atypical. The government appears to pursue a systematic policy of making life difficult for the NGOs and international organisations working to help the people of Darfur. Visa applications for humanitarian workers take weeks to process. Access to essential fuel is limited. Movement between regions is impeded. The obstruction and harassment is subtle but insidious and seriously affects the ability of the aid agencies to do their job....
"The U.N. undersecretary for humanitarian affairs, Jan Egeland, says northern Uganda's 20-year war, a lethal mix of religion and brutality, is the world's most neglected humanitarian crisis.... Last month, President Bush blamed the region's violence on a "barbaric rebel cult." Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., says Washington should demand "a rapid and organized international response to the humanitarian disaster" in northern Uganda." [Read more]
"The U.N. Security Council demanded that the Sudanese government and rebels reach agreement by April 30 to end the conflict in Darfur and reaffirmed its determination to hold accountable those blocking peace and violating human rights.