(UNHCR)

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
established Jan., 1951, by the General Assembly. It superseded the International Refugee Organization. It seeks permanent solutions to refugee problems, offers international protection to refugees, coordinates the activities of voluntary agencies, and assists the most needy refugee groups. It was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1954 and 1981. In the late 1950s the office of UNHCR aided refugees from Hungary, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, and Chinese refugees in Hong Kong. Since the 1960s most of its economic assistance has gone to refugees created by tribal and political conflicts and civil wars. In the 1980s and 90s such conflicts have taken it to the Horn of Africa, Central America, Pakistan, Southeast Asia, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and the former Yugoslavia.

Bibliography: See L. Holborn, Refugees, a Problem for Our Time: The Work of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 1950-1970 (1974).

Who we are

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established by the U.N. General Assembly in 1950, one of several attempts by the international community during the 20th century to provide protection and assistance to refugees. The League of Nations, the forerunner of the U.N., had named Norwegian scientist and explorer Fridtjof Nansen to the post of High Commissioner as early as 1921. World War II provided the impetus for several new organizations, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency, the International Refugee Organization and subsequently UNHCR.

The new agency was given a limited three-year mandate to help resettle 1.2 million European refugees left homeless by the global conflict. But as refugee crises mushroomed around the globe, its mandate was extended every five years. Today, UNHCR is one of the world's principal humanitarian agencies, its staff of more than 5,000 personnel helping 19.8 million people in more than 120 countries. During its half century of work, the agency provided assistance to at least 50 million people, earning two Nobel Peace Prizes in 1954 and 1981.

UNHCR's programmes, its protection and other policy guidelines, are approved by an Executive Committee of 61 member states which meets annually in Geneva. A second 'working group' or Standing Committee meets several times a year. The High Commissioner reports on the results of the agency's work annually to the U.N. General Assembly through the Economic and Social Council.

UNHCR at work

Refugees are legally defined as people who are outside their countries because of a well-founded fear of persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group, and who cannot or do not want to return home. As a humanitarian, non-political organization, UNHCR has two basic and closely related aims – to protect refugees and to seek ways to help them restart their lives in a normal environment.

International protection is the cornerstone of the agency's work. In practice that means ensuring respect for a refugee's basic human rights and ensuring that no person will be returned involuntarily to a country where he or she has reason to fear persecution – a process known as refoulement.

UNHCR promotes international refugee agreements and monitors government compliance with international refugee law. Its staff work in a variety of locations ranging from capital cities to remote camps and border areas, attempting to provide the above mentioned protection and to minimize the threat of violence, including sexual assault, which many refugees are subject to, even in countries of asylum.

The organization seeks long-term or 'durable' solutions by helping refugees repatriate to their homeland if conditions warrant, by helping them to integrate in their countries of asylum or to resettle in third countries.

The Refugee Story in Statistics

The complex world of refugees and the work of UNHCR can often be best told through statistics. This page covers the latest developments as well as changes over time in more than 150 countries among millions of refugees and other people 'of concern' to the agency, including asylum-seekers, refugees returning home, and people uprooted within their own countries – so-called internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The information helps track implementation of international refugee conventions, progress toward achieving lasting solutions for refugees, new refugee outflows, and beneficiaries of UNHCR's assistance programmes.

The data, graphs and charts cover topics such as asylum applications, refugee status determination, recognition rates, refugee populations and movements, demographic characteristics (age and sex) as well as major refugee locations (camps, centers, urban areas, etc.). Conceptual and analytical papers are also available. In short, forced migration is covered globally, regionally and thematically.

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