UNHCR Slideshow

• 
  1953

  Refugees in Europe after World War II

  As World War II ended, millions of people were homeless, including these refugees from Eastern Europe in a camp in Germany. At the time of UNHCR’s creation in 1950, it was estimated that there were 1,250,000 refugees under its mandate, of whom some 300,000 to 400,000 were without a home and in need of assistance.

• 
  1951

  Resettlement of refugees through IRO

  Bremerhaven, Germany: UNHCR’s predecessor, the International Refugee Organisation (IRO) helped one million people to resettle overseas. Seen here are displaced persons from camps in Germany, Austria and Italy boarding an IRO-chartered ship on their way to start a new life in the United States of America.

• 
  1961

  Hungarian refugees in Austria

  UNHCR faced its first post-war emergency when it suddenly called to coordinate assistance activities for 203,000 Hungarians who fled the country’s October 1956 uprising. Many refugees were resettled abroad. Some chose to remain in Austria where UNHCR funded housing projects as the one seen above.

• 
  1961

  Algerian refugees in Tunisia

  UNHCR’s intervention on the African continent – and Africa’s first modern refugee crisis – took place in the late 1950s when it was asked to organize material assistance for 200,000 refugees, mostly older men, women and children who sought asylum in Tunisia and Morocco from Algeria’s war of independence against France.

• 
  1964

  Rwandese refugees in Uganda

  As the era of colonialism began to end in the 1960’s, conflict erupted in many parts of Africa. Until 1964, refugees from Rwanda accounted for the greater part of UNHCR’s activities in Africa. Seen above is a group of Rwandese waiting for the distribution of food rations at a refugee center in Uganda’s Oruchinga Valley.

• 
  1968

  Mozambican refugees in Tanzania

  One of the more successful operations UNHCR undertook during the 1960s was the rural integration of African refugees in countries of asylum. Seen here is Rutamba settlement for Mozambican refugees, which was built on government-donated land in Tanzania. By 1970, Rutumba’s 11,500 inhabitants had become self-supporting.

• 
  1971

  Bengali refugees in India

  The flight of 10 million Bengalis to India in 1971 ranks as the most dramatic exodus of the 20th century. UNHCR acted as a focal point for a vas relief operation which allowed millions of people to survive in camps despite monsoon rains and flooding. A massive repatriation program started when Bangladesh was created in Dec. 1971.

• 
  1976

  Displacement in Cyprus

  When clashes erupted between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities in 1974, 400,000 people became homeless throughout the island. UNHCR was asked by the U.H Secretary General to mobilize and coordinate assistance in the food, health and shelter sectors. International presence in Cyprus has had to be maintained to this day.

• 
  1978

  Vietnamese boat people in Malaysia

  The flight of vietnamese refugees began after the fall of Saigon in 1975. In spite of the dangers of unfriendly waters and piracy, tens of thousands took to the south China Sea, and by 1978 the exodus had grown to dramatic proportions. This group of 162 persons arrived on a small boat which sank a few meters from the shore.

• 
  1978

  Cambodian Refugees in Thailand

  In the late 1970’s, Thailand became the country of first asylum for refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. These Cambodian children at a camp in Aranyaprathet were among the tens of thousand who hurried towards Thailand, driven by famine and fear of the Khmer Rouge soldiers who were emptying the cities at gunpoint.

• 
  1991

  Somali Refugees in Ethiopia

  By late 1991, the number of refugees and returnees in Ethiopia had risen dramatically: Nearly 750,000 people were sheltered in 7 huge camps in Hararghe region, one of the most inhospitable parts of Africa. The refugees need for wood to build shelters and prepare food represented a serious burden on this fragile environment.

• 
  1982

  Guatemalan refugees in Mexico

  During the 1980’s, a vicious cycle of repression and violence began in countries in Central America. As terror gained ground, refugee camps multiplied. More than 300,000 people were assisted in the region, including this Guatemalan refugee in Mexico, where UNHCR organized agricultural and other self sufficiency projects.

• 
  1982

  Nicaraguan refugees in Honduras

  During the 1980’s, a vicious cycle of repression and violence began in countries in Central America. As terror gained ground, refugee camps multiplied. More than 300,000 people were assisted in the region, including these Miskito Indian refugees from Nicaragua, seen waiting for the distribution of food rations at Mocoron Camp.

• 
  1985

  Refugees from Ethiopia in Sudan

  In devastating drought, crop failure and war resulted in a massive influx of Ethiopian refugees into Sudan. Relief efforts could not keep pace with the number of new arrivals and many suffered terribly in the first weeks of the emergency. Gradually, the mortality rates declined and the situation in the camps stabilized.

• 
  1988

  Mozambican refugees in Malawi

  Fleeing the conflict between rebel and government forces, nearly 1.5 million Mozambicans sought Safety in six neighbouring countries during the 1980’s. In 1992, UNHCR started the largest repatriation exercise ever undertaken in Africa and provided assistance to returnees in their home country, devastated by 16 years of civil war.

• 
  1989

  Voluntary repatriation to Namibia

  A brief respite from the series of refugee emergencies in Africa came with the repatriation of the Namibians. After more than 15 years of exile in Angola, Zambia and other African countries, some 41,000 refugees went home in 1989. This group of returnees is about to leave Lubango, in southern Angola, on a UNHCR-chartered plane.

• 
  1991

  Displaced Iraqi Kurds return home

  The beginning of the 1990s was marked by war in the Persian Gulf, followed by the exodus of 1.5 million Iraqi Kurds. Thousands found themselves trapped on snow-covered peaks and many did not survive. A massive international aid effort allowed many of the displaced, including children to return home within weeks of their flight.

• 
  1984

  Afghan refugees in Pakistan

  The exodus of more than 6 million Afghans started in 1979. The assistance provided to the refugees during their long – term presence in Iran and Pakistan represented one of the heaviest burdens ever shouldered by the international community. Shown above is Ghazi Refugee Village in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province.

• 
  1992

  Refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh

  Early 1991 saw the beginning of an influx of 250,000 Rohingya from Myanmar into Bangladesh. The great majority have since returned to their home country where UNHCR provides assistance through Monitoring and self-sufficiency projects benefiting both returnees and the local population.

• 
  1992

  Voluntary repatriation to Cambodia

  After years of exile and a 13-month repatriation operation completed in April 1993, Cambodians were starting a new life in their homeland. UNHCR’s integration package for returnees included food rations and household tools,as well as the choice between agricultural land, a cash grant, or a plot of land building materials.

• 
  1992

  Bhutanese refugees in Nepal

  After a 9-year stay, prospects for the voluntary return of 96,000 Bhutanese refugees sheltered in 7 crowded camps in Nepal remain uncertain. UNHCR is coordinating assistance to the refugees. One of its aims is to achieve, through self-reliance projects and literacy classes, greater participation of refugee women in camp activities.

• 
  1993

  IDPs and Sierra Leone refugees in Liberia

  West Africa was not spared: More than 800,000 Liberians were uprooted in the early 1990’s and 120,000 Sierra leonean refugees had sought refuge in Liberia’s upper Lofa region by mid 1995. Assistance provided by the international community included the supply of clean drinking water to prevent water borne diseases.

• 
  1996

  IDPs in Bosnia and Herzegovina

  6,000 women and children from the Muslim enclave of Srebenica assembled in Tuzla one year afer their fathers, husbands and sons had disappeared during one of the most appalling chapters of the war in the former Yugoslavia. They carried banners embroidered with the names of their loved ones.

• 
  1995

  Rwandan refugees in Tanzania

  In April 1994, the Rwandan genocide triggered a massive exodus into Tanzania: Within 24 hous, nearly 250,000 refugees arrived in the Ngara area, seen here in 1995. Worse followed in July 1994, when more than one million Rwandans arrived in Goma, Zaire, within four days. As many as 50,000 people died of cholera.

• 
  1994

  Rwandan refugees in Burundi

  The refugee crisis in the Great Lakes region of Africa also involved Burndi, where some 270,000 Rwandans had sought safet, including this group in Mugano camp. Many were forcibly returned before international pressure could halt the refoulement. The remaining Rwandans repatriated with the help of UNHCR.

• 
  1995

  Refugees from Tajikistan in Afghanistan

  When civil war was erupted in Tajikistan in May 1992, at least 20,000 people lost their lives, half a million displaced and a further 60,000 fled to Afghanistan, including this medical doctor and patient at Sahki camp near Mazar-i-Sharif. Thanks to an innovative UNHCR program, most IDPs and refugees had returned home by mid 1995.

• 
  1996

  Russian federation: IDPs from North Ossetia

  Since the collapse of the USSR in 1991, a number of CIS states have been troubled by armed conflict and refugee movements. In 1996, the tiny Republic of Ingushieta in the North Caucasus was host to some 40,000 Chechen IDPs and 30,000 ethnic Ingush IDPs from North Ossetia, including this group at a collective center in Plievo.

• 
  1999

  Refugees from Kosovoin F.Y.R Macedonia

  Within 3 days of the beginning of NATO’s air war on March 1999, huge numbers of Kosovars began to arrive in neighbouring Albania and Macedonia. Like thousands of others, these civilians were expelled from towns, such as Pristina, on a special “refugee train” and dumped near the border crossing at Blace, Macedonia.

• 
  1999

  Returnees in Kosovo, Fed Rep. Yougoslavia

  Returnees at Sopi, Suva Reka region, Despite appeals for patience by the humanitarian agencies, 600,000 Kosovars had returned to their shattered province within three weeks of the signature of the peace plan. A survey showed that in some areas nearly two thirds of all homes had suffered severe damage or complete destruction.

• 
  1999

  IDPs in West Timor, Indonesia

  The end of the century was marked by a refugee exodus from East Timor when militias opposed to independence made hundreds of thousands run for their lives. An international force restores order and many of the displaced were able to go home with the help of UNHCR, including this family at Kupang, West Timor.

• 
  2004

  Chad/Sudanese refugees from the Darfur region in Bahai.

  The first rain of the season flooded the temporary shelters of refugees camped in a waddi running along the Chad-Sudan border. All were forced to find new shelter.

• 
  1961

  Austria / Hungarian refugees

  For refugee teenagers, life in the refugee camp was not very different from the live of their Austrian peers in less prosperous neighbourhoods.

• 
  1971

  India / Bengali refugees

  Some 10 million Bengali refugees who fled to India in 1971 were accommodated in one of the 800 camps. The majority returned to Bangladesh within a year.

• 
  2002

  Pakistan / Voluntary repatriation / Afghan refugees

  Takhta Baig Centre for organising returnees to Afghanistan, nr Peshawar.

• 
  2009

  Kenya

  New Somali refugee arrivals wait for registration at Hagadera camp, Dadaab. These camps are under immense population pressure as Somalis continue to flood into Kenya to escape violence. There is limited land, housing, schools, and health care for the nearly 300,000 refugees living in an area originally intended to house 90,000 refugees.