TEL AVIV, Israel — An Israeli document obtained Monday spelled out allegations against a dozen U.N. employees the country says took part in Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault — claiming seven stormed into Israeli territory, including one who participated in a kidnapping and another who helped to steal a soldier’s body. The allegations against staffers with … Read more
Israel’s allegations that 12 employees of a United Nations agency were involved in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack have led several Western countries to cut off funding and reignited debate over Gaza’s biggest humanitarian aid provider. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, employs thousands of staffers and provides vital aid and services to … Read more
WELLINGTON — New Zealand’s first refugee lawmaker resigned after local media aired allegations she had shoplifted several times at local high-end boutiques. Without referring to the specific allegations, Golriz Ghahraman, a member of New Zealand’s Green Party and its justice and foreign affairs spokesperson, resigned with immediate effect, saying that “stresses relating to my work” … Read more
NAKIVALE, Uganda — Enock Twagirayesu was seeking sanctuary when he and his family fled violence in Burundi, and they found it in Uganda, the small East African nation that has absorbed thousands of refugees from unsettled neighbors. Twagirayesu’s family has grown from two children when they arrived more than a decade ago to eight now, … Read more
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — A group of Rohingya refugees living in Sri Lanka staged a protest outside the office of the U.N. refugee agency Tuesday, saying they fear losing their living allowance once the agency’s office in the island nation closes at the end of this year. The protesters also want to be resettled in … Read more
MEDAN, Indonesia — Nearly 150 Rohingya refugees, mostly hungry and weak women and children, have reached a beach in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province after weeks at sea, officials said Sunday. The group of 53 men, 39 women and 55 children arrived on Karang Gadih beach in Langkat district late Saturday, said the village head, Muhammad … Read more
TORKHAM, Afghanistan — The barren desert plain among the mountains of eastern Afghanistan is filled with hundreds of thousands of people. Some live in tents. Others live out in the open, among the piles of the few belongings they managed to take as they were forced from neighboring Pakistan. The sprawling camp of people returning … Read more
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Students in Indonesia’s Aceh province rallied on Wednesday, demanding the government drive away Rohingya refugees who have been arriving by sea in growing numbers. The protest came as police named more suspects in human trafficking of refugees. Over 1,500 Rohingya — who fled violent attacks in Myanmar to subsequently leave overcrowded … Read more
PIDIE, Indonesia — Their screams and sobs could be heard from the ailing boat soon after it emerged into view amid the vastness of the Andaman Sea. Crowded on board were tiny babies and children, alongside mothers and fathers begging to be saved. The passengers were ethnic Rohingya Muslims who had fled surging gang violence … Read more
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — Indonesian authorities detected at least five boats packed tight with refugees approaching shores of Aceh province, officials said Thursday. The boats are the latest in a surge of vessels that have arrived in Aceh, most carrying Rohingya refugees from southern Bangladesh, where the persecuted Muslim minority fled in 2017 following attacks … Read more