Aid Inside Syria: A Step in the Right Direction?

Providing humanitarian aid in a conflict zone is a challenge all over the world. But perhaps no situation has proved more complex than that of Syria. Every day, millions of vulnerable people across the country live with food and fuel shortages, homelessness, and an absence of vital medical care. Almost 5 million of those people are in places that are difficult for humanitarians to access. Syrian groups working inside the country have been able to offer some support in hard-to-reach areas and to a lesser degree in besieged areas where the United Nations and international non-governmental organizations do not send their staff. But there needs to be far more focus on getting more and better humanitarian assistance inside Syria. Read the field report.

Darfuri Refugees Falling Through The Cracks in Chad

Twelve years after they first fled, refugees from Sudan's Darfur region are still stuck in eastern Chad. Chad is one of the poorest countries on earth, and the 360,000 Sudanese refugees live in some of its least developed regions.

View the photo report.

RI in the News

PBS Newshour: Sarnata Reynolds is interviewed on the plight of the Rohingya recently stranded in the Andaman Sea
NPR On Point: Daryl Grisgraber discusses challenges facing displaced people in Iraq
Associated Press: Actor & RI Board Member Matt Dillon puts rare celebrity spotlight on Rohingya
Al Jazeera: An Op-Ed by Sarnata Reynolds on how Syria's passport rules leave refugees stranded

Advocates in Action

Watch For!

On Friday, June 5th at 11:00am ET, RI's Alice Thomas will be giving a back-from-the-field webinar on an ongoing but little known displacement crisis in the Philippines. Register here.

Alice Thomas attended an experts' meeting in Italy to draft international guidance for protecting people displaced by disasters and climate change through planned relocation. Alice contributed a case study from the Philippines in advance of the meeting highlighting the need to better protect those displaced by disasters whom governments decide to relocate.

Sarnata Reynolds traveled to Oslo, Norway to present RI's findings on the situation of the Rohingya in Myanmar and participate in a closed-door strategy session with Rohingya leaders who traveled from 11 countries of exile for the meeting. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Laureate José Ramos-Horta, and George Soros also participated in the conference.

RI President Michel Gabaudan spoke about the Syrian refugee crisis and its particular impact on Turkey as part of a panel for the UN Association of the National Capitol Area at the Institute for Diplomacy. His co-panelists were Shelly Pitterman of the UN Refugee Agency and Nader Al Suhaim from the Embassy of Jordan.