https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Switzerland in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed The United Nations will hold a conference in Switzerland where countries will be asked to pledge resettlement places for people fleeing the Syrian conflict, the UN's new refugee chief announced on Thursday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20160107/un-summit-on-settling-syrians-set-for-geneva Thu, 07 Jan 2016 19:03:48 +0100 un-summit-on-settling-syrians-set-for-geneva The city of Zurich plans to house asylum seekers in 62 chipboard huts to replace Ikea refugee shelters that it rejected last week after they failed a fire test. https://www.thelocal.ch/20151223/wood-huts-to-replace-ikea-refufgee-shelters Wed, 23 Dec 2015 10:48:16 +0100 wood-huts-to-replace-ikea-refufgee-shelters A record 137,000 people made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe in the first half of 2015, most of them fleeing war, conflict and persecution, the Geneva-based United Nations Refugee Agency said on Wednesday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150701/record-numbers-of-refugees-cross-mediterranean Thu, 02 Jul 2015 00:55:49 +0200 record-numbers-of-refugees-cross-mediterranean More than 100,000 Burundians have fled to neighbouring countries since political violence erupted in April, the Geneva-based United Nations Refugee Agency said on Friday, as the country reeled from a foiled coup attempt. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150515/unrest-in-burundi-sparks-exodus-of-100000-un Fri, 15 May 2015 16:01:47 +0200 unrest-in-burundi-sparks-exodus-of-100000-un The Geneva-based United Nations Refugee Agency on Friday expressed concern at the latest round of xenophobic attacks in South Africa, saying the violence had displaced 5,000 people. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150417/un-decries-xenophobic-attacks-in-south-africa Fri, 17 Apr 2015 16:16:38 +0200 un-decries-xenophobic-attacks-in-south-africa The number of asylum-seekers in industrialized countries rose by nearly half last year, driven by the devastating conflicts in Syria and Iraq, with Germany the top destination, the Geneva-based UN refugee agency said on Thursday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150326/syria-and-iraq-conflicts-drive-surge-in-refugees-un Thu, 26 Mar 2015 10:26:21 +0100 syria-and-iraq-conflicts-drive-surge-in-refugees-un The Geneva-based UN refugee agency on Thursday urged the European Union to do far more to save migrant lives in the Mediterranean, saying its existing maritime border patrol is "woefully inadequate." https://www.thelocal.ch/20150212/eu-maritime-border-patrols-woefully-inadequate Thu, 12 Feb 2015 16:00:00 +0100 eu-maritime-border-patrols-woefully-inadequate Countries have more than doubled the number of Syrian refugees they are willing to resettle to over 100,000, the head of the UN refugee agency said on Tuesday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20141209/nations-in-geneva-vow-to-resettle-100000-syrians Tue, 09 Dec 2014 22:59:00 +0100 nations-in-geneva-vow-to-resettle-100000-syrians Up to 50 people were killed in an attack carried out by suspected Boko Haram Islamists in a northeast Nigeria border town this week, a Geneva-based United Nations agency said on Friday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20141128/refugee-agency-raises-alarm-over-nigeria-attacks Fri, 28 Nov 2014 15:08:00 +0100 refugee-agency-raises-alarm-over-nigeria-attacks Ten million people worldwide have no nationality, leaving them in a devastating legal limbo, the Geneva-based UN refugee agency said on Tuesday, launching a campaign to eradicate statelessness within a decade. https://www.thelocal.ch/20141104/unhcr-launches-campaign-to-end-statelessness Tue, 04 Nov 2014 12:23:00 +0100 unhcr-launches-campaign-to-end-statelessness Fighting in Ukraine has driven over half a million people from their homes, the Geneva-based UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday, warning that the real number could be double that, in a crisis threatening the entire region. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140902/ukraine-conflict-drives-500000-from-homesun Tue, 02 Sep 2014 17:15:00 +0200 ukraine-conflict-drives-500000-from-homesun Syria's refugee crisis is one of the biggest tragedies of our times, says the Geneva-based UN Refugee Agency, with more than two million Syrians, half of them children, fleeing their war-ravaged country and some 4.2 million displaced internally. https://www.thelocal.ch/20130903/syria-refugee-exodus-passes-two-million-mark Tue, 03 Sep 2013 16:59:14 +0200 syria-refugee-exodus-passes-two-million-mark