Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

A reference tool which serves to reinforce a common understanding among the many key actors in emergency situations.

This report summarizes patterns and trends in the number of individual asylum claims submitted in Europe and selected non-European countries during 2010. The data in this report is based on information as of 9 March 2011 unless otherwise indicated. Figures are based on official asylum statistics, reflecting national laws and procedures. The 44 industrialized countries tracked include 27 member states of the European Union, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montegegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey, as well as Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and the United States. These 44 countries received and estimated 358,8000 asylum applications in 2010.

Registration of refugees and asylum-seekers is, first and foremost, a key protection tool. It can help to protect refugees from refoulement and forcible recruitment. It can ensure access to basic rights and family reunification, help to identify persons in need of special assistance, and provide information crucial to finding appropriate durable solutions. Registration is also a primary source of information about persons of concern to UNHCR: who and where they are, their problems, needs and strengths.

Persons compelled to flee their country of origin principally to escape threats to their life, liberty, freedom or physical integrity must be able to call upon, and to receive, the protection and assistance of the international community. UNHCR's humanitarian action in pursuit of lasting solutions to refugee problems is therefore oriented, first and foremost, in favour of enabling a refugee to exercise the right to return home in safety and with dignity. The Handbook deals primarily with large-scale refugee situations. The term "refugee", as used in this Handbook, denotes all persons outside their country of origin for reasons of feared persecution, armed conflict, generalized violence or gross violations of human rights and who, as a result, need international protection.

Bosnia, Iraq, Rwanda, Tajikistan, Somalia... During the past few years, the world has witnessed a succession of massive refugee movements and humanitarian emergencies. The number of people uprooted by war, social conflict and persecution terror now stands at some 50 million and is increasing every day. Humanitarian organizations are struggling to keep pace with the demands of each new exodus, while governments around the world are becoming increasingly reluctant to offer refuge to these victims of violence. What can be done to resolve the global refugee problems? That is the question posed in this important report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The book examines the origins of the current crisis and provides a comprehensive account of the way in which approaches to the problem of human displacement have changed since the end of the Cold War. While the right of asylum must be scrupulously maintained, the book argues, greater efforts must also be made to tackle refugee problems at their source, by restoring peace and prosperity to countries where large numbers of people have been forced to abandon their homes. And to achieve this objective, concerted international action will be required to protect human rights, establish effective peacekeeping operations, promote sustainable development and manage migratory movements. . As well as providing a detailed analysis of these major policy issues, the book provides a set of statistical tables, graphs and maps, describing the state of the world's refugees. The report also includes 25 care studies, examining key refugee situations around the world and showing how new approaches to the problem of human displacement are being put into practice.

This manual is intended to support staff in implementing a communitybased approach in UNHCR operations to ensure that people of concern are placed at the centre of all decisions affecting their lives.

comic book for children.

"Approximately twenty-five years after the Battle of Yavin, the galaxy has been rid of the evil Empire, and a New Republic has been formed. Jedi Master Luke Skywalker is rebuilding the Jedi Order, and has formed a Jedi Academy to train new students as Jedi Knights, protectors of the weak and upholders of peace. Still, not all is right in the galaxy. While the Sith are no longer a threat, there are other things to fear."

"These databases, containing Country of Origin Information (COI) and Legal Information, have been compiled by UNHCR and consist of carefully selected reports and documents. The information in them is focused on the needs of UNHCR staff (protection officers, field officers, legal officers), non-governmental organizations, government asylum officers involved in the status determination process, judges, lawyers and academics."

Site presents information on all aspect of the UNHCR. links to basic facts, news, protecting refugees, donors/partners, publications, statistics, research/evaluation, executive committee, administration, special events, and how you can help are presented. The "Refworld" database is accessible through this site.

"Recent years have seen a decline in the number of refugees, partly due to large-scale returns to Afghanistan and Angola, among others. Nonetheless, the majority of refugee situations remain protracted with no prospects for durable solutions in sight, such as the Bhutanese in Nepal, the Western Saharans in Algeria and the Somalis in various host countries. While the number of refugees has declined, the number of people displaced within the borders of their own country has dramatically risen, for example as is the case in Colombia and Sudan. At the same time, the provision of international protection to refugees has been undermined by responses to the ever more complex nexus between asylum and migration." "This book critically examines the changing dynamics of forced displacement and the challenges faced by affected states and the international community. More specifically, it analyses key developments in asylum policy and practice; it searches for practical solutions to protracted refugees situations; it re-examines the debates around durable solutions; and it assesses responses to internal displacement." "As well as analyzing policy issues related to refugees, returnees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons and stateless populations, the book provides a wealth of statistical tables, graphs and maps."--BOOK JACKET

Site contains full text access to UNHCR's State of the world's refugees series. Reports provide detailed, in-depth analysis of the plight of the world's millions of displaced people. The authors examine the major crises and challenges faced by the refugee agency over the past fifty years.