UNHCR launches Ramadan campaign for forcibly displaced persons

UNHCR launches Ramadan campaign for forcibly displaced persons
People stand by a building destroyed in recent earthquake in Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Feb. 27, 2023. (File/AP)
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Updated 28 March 2023
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UNHCR launches Ramadan campaign for forcibly displaced persons

UNHCR launches Ramadan campaign for forcibly displaced persons
  • Campaign comes amid an increase in humanitarian emergencies in Turkiye, Syria and Bangladesh

DUBAI: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is launching a Ramadan campaign to raise funds for the growing needs of people who have been forcibly displaced around the world. 

The campaign comes amid an increase in humanitarian emergencies, the UNHCR said on Tuesday..

Over 100 million people were forcibly displaced from their homes last year as a result of war, violence, persecution, and human rights violations. 

The devastating earthquakes that struck Turkiye and Syria in February affected 23.8 million people, including many Syrian refugees who had already been displaced by the country's long-running crisis. 

UNHCR is appealing for $201.3 million to meet the urgent needs of quake-impacted families.

Meanwhile, in Bangladesh, a 90 percent funding shortfall adds to the difficulties that 978,000 Rohingya refugees face regarding nutrition, shelter, sanitation, and livelihoods. 

“UNHCR is urgently calling for support to address the growing humanitarian needs of displaced people observing Ramadan facing increasing challenges across the world,” said Khaled Khalifa, UNHCR’ Representative to Gulf Cooperation Council countries. 

“We are working tirelessly to ensure that those affected by war and displacement are provided with immediate and long-term relief,” Khalifa added.

Since its inception in 2017, the UNHCR Refugee Zakat Fund has supported over six million people  in 26 countries.