United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Inhabitants of the island of Lesvos have gathered in several places, some preventing arriving migrants from disembarking and others preventing buses carrying migrants from reaching the Moria camp.

Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias on Thursday announced a legislative initiative to facilitate the immediate hiring of medical staff at the hospitals on the eastern Aegean islands that bear the brunt of migration influx.
Speaking on Alpha TV, Kikilias said that the hospitals needed to be supported because they were originally designed to serve the needs of the local population.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) urged Greece on Feb. 7 to increase efforts to address "alarming" overcrowding and precarious conditions for asylum seekers and migrants staying on the five Aegean islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Kos and Leros.

On Easter Sunday 2010, Angelina Jolie came to the eastern Bosnian town of Rogatica and performed a miracle. The Hollywood star had been touring the country in her off-screen role as ambassador for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. At a makeshift shelter in a former school building, she was introduced to Lena Babic, an elderly woman who had lost her home in the Bosnian war 18 years previously.

As pressure on migrant reception centers on the Aegean islands grows amid constant arrivals from Turkey, a new report claims that the overwhelming majority of asylum seekers have no access to information about their legal rights.

Turkish foreign minister on Dec. 17 discussed the voluntary return of Syrians with his counterparts from Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan.

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met with Iraq's Mohamed Ali Alhakim, Jordan's Ayman Safadi and Lebanon's Gebran Bassil in Geneva, Switzerland where he attended the three-day Global Refugee Forum.

The first-ever Global Refugee Forum in Geneva is a chance for the world to build a "more equitable response" to the refugee crisis, the UN chief said on Dec. 17.

Turkey and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) discussed voluntary repatriation of Syrians to their home country on Nov. 11, Turkish Foreign Ministry has said.

The United Nations refugees agency UNHCR expressed concern on Thursday about Greek proposals to overhaul laws affecting asylum seekers, saying they could weaken the protection of refugees.

Greek authorities moved more refugees and migrants from overcrowded island camps to the mainland on Tuesday as the government, facing a surge in new arrivals, said it would take a hardline on those who did not qualify for asylum.