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 on Saturday urged US President Donald Trump to continue his country's "long tradition" of welcoming refugees and to ensure their equal treatment, regardless of race, nationality or religion. https://www.thelocal.ch/20170128/un-calls-on-trump-to-keep Sat, 28 Jan 2017 14:10:51 +0100 un-calls-on-trump-to-keep 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 Border guards in crisp blue uniforms rush onto the train as it grinds to a halt, quickly rounding up around a dozen African men and herding them into a nearby hall. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150923/swiss-brace-for-refugee-trickle-to-turn-into-flood Wed, 23 Sep 2015 12:15:25 +0200 swiss-brace-for-refugee-trickle-to-turn-into-flood 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 Conflicts and violence raging around the world sent the number of people forced to flee their homes soaring to a record 60 million last year, the Geneva-based United Nations Refugee Agency said on Thursday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150618/violence-forces-60-million-to-flee-homes-un Thu, 18 Jun 2015 13:05:47 +0200 violence-forces-60-million-to-flee-homes-un 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 Conflicts and violence in places like Syria and Ukraine have displaced a record 38 million people inside their own countries, equivalent to the total populations of New York, London and Beijing, a Swiss watchdog group said on Wednesday. https://www.thelocal.ch/20150506/conflicts-displace-38-million-people-ngo-report Wed, 06 May 2015 13:54:18 +0200 conflicts-displace-38-million-people-ngo-report 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 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 The Geneva-based UN refugee agency on Tuesday accused Sri Lanka of breaking international law in its growing campaign to kick out Pakistani asylum seekers without a fair hearing. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140812/refugee Tue, 12 Aug 2014 19:16:00 +0200 refugee Israel's military actions in the Gaza Strip could amount to war crimes, UN rights chief Navi Pillay said in Geneva on Wednesday, while also condemning indiscriminate rocket attacks by Palestinian militants Hamas. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140723/israels-actions-may-be-war-crimes Wed, 23 Jul 2014 13:38:00 +0200 israels-actions-may-be-war-crimes Geneva-based UN human rights chief Navi Pillay on Tuesday called on China to release dozens of activists detained ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown on democracy protests. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140603/pillay-urges-end-to-tiananmen-square-crackdown Wed, 04 Jun 2014 01:06:00 +0200 pillay-urges-end-to-tiananmen-square-crackdown The UN's human rights chief in Geneva condemned on Monday the "routine" use of torture in Syrian detention facilities, as a new report said victims were raped, beaten and had their teeth and toenails pulled out. https://www.thelocal.ch/20140415/humans-rights-chief-decries-syrian-torture Tue, 15 Apr 2014 12:52:00 +0200 humans-rights-chief-decries-syrian-torture The UN said in Geneva on Tuesday that it would for the first time begin airlifting food and other aid items across the border from Iraq to Syria after receiving the go-ahead from both governments. https://www.thelocal.ch/20131210/un-announces-airlifted-aid-to-syria Tue, 10 Dec 2013 14:54:00 +0100 un-announces-airlifted-aid-to-syria 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