Refugees

In Mozambique, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is gravely concerned about intensifying attacks on villages and the rapid spillover into districts considered safe, with nearly 100,000 people displaced in the past fortnight alone. The violence, which began in Cabo Delgado in 2017, has displaced over 1.3 million people.

In Ukraine, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that the city and region of Kyiv were hit by large-scale drone and missile strikes, killing and injuring several civilians. Up to 500,000 families in Kyiv lost electricity, with water and heating services disrupted. In Dnipro, an attack also killed and injured civilians.

In Cyrus, the Greek Cypriot leader, Nikos Christodoulides, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Tufan Erhürman, met for the first time as leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. The meeting took place in the UN protected area and was facilitated by the Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).

In southern Syria, despite the $3.2 billion Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan being only one-quarter funded, the UN and its humanitarian partners continue to support response efforts. Aid is reaching over 350,000 people every month.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and its partners launched an initiative to halve food waste by 2030 and cut up to seven per cent of methane emissions, as part of efforts to slow climate change. The world wastes more than 1 billion tons of food every year, contributing up to 10 per cent of global greenhouse-gas emissions.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the Jesuit Refugee Service USA’s forty-fifth anniversary dinner, in New York today:

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are deeply saddened over the tragic capsizing of a boat off the coast of Malaysia and Thailand carrying up to 70 people from Myanmar, including Rohingya. Some 13 people were brought ashore by Malaysian authorities; at least 21 people died.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that this year, more than 42,000 refugees have returned home voluntarily in the West and Central Africa region, bringing the total to more than 272,000 since 2021. The majority have returned to Nigeria and the Central African Republic.

Led by Resident Coordinator Pauline Tamesis, the UN is supporting Viet Nam’s efforts to respond to one of the most damaging typhoon seasons in decades. Between May and early October, 11 typhoons and tropical depressions, including Bualoi and Matmo, struck within days of each other, affecting over a million people across six provinces.

In Chad, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator has allocated $1 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund for an urgent response to the deadly cholera outbreak in the country. The funding aims to contain the spread of the disease — mainly by improving access to water and sanitation, and providing medical support.