Edited News | UNHCR , UNITED NATIONS
UN Refugee Agency condemns attack on Toumour, a town in south-east Niger
In a four-hour attack on December 12th, claimed by Boko Haram, assailants destroyed much of the town of Toumour in Niger, in the vicinity of the border with Nigeria. The attackers killed at least 28 people, burned the market to the ground, and slaughtered more than a thousand cattle, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), who vigorously condemned the attack.
“UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, condemns an attack by armed assailants on Toumour, a town in south-east Niger, that killed 28 people and injured hundreds more,” said Babar Baloch, a spokesperson UNHCR at a news conference at the United Nations in Geneva. He added that “UNHCR is gravely concerned for the safety of over 30,000 refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) who have been sheltering in Toumour”.
Toumour, a town located in the south-east of Niger, 14 kilometers from neighbouring Nigeria, hosts 20,000 Nigerian refugees, more than 8,300 IDP’s, and 3,600 returnees – all in need of humanitarian assistance.
“As of Monday morning, 14 December, our teams and partners reported that people were on the move from Toumour toward Diffa, a town some 100 kilometres away”, the UNHCR spokesperson said.
“This town is already host to 46,000 refugees, asylum seekers, displaced people, including returnees. Together with humanitarian partners and local authorities, we are organizing emergency shelter, food, water, and health support to the affected communities,” Baloch said.
UNHCR and its partners are currently providing protection and humanitarian aid to more than 265,000 forcibly displaced people including nearly 130,000 Nigerian refugees and asylum seekers, 102,726 internally displaced Nigeriens, and 34,324 returnees in the Diffa region.
The COVID-19 pandemic, so UNHCR, further complicates the response as most of the displaced are sheltering in crowded urban areas where social distancing is impossible, according to the refugee agency.
“Diffa region in south-east Niger has been hard hit by increasing extremist violence on the Lake Chad Basin that has forced hundreds of thousands into the region”, Babar Baloch said. “In the first nine months of this year, over 450 acts of killing, kidnapping, sexual and gender-based violence, and other serious incidents were reported”.
According to UNHCR, Niger continues to show generosity towards people fleeing violence in the Lake Chad and Sahel regions.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the UN Human Rights Office have today released a report detailing the evolution of violent gang incidents beyond the capital Port-au-Prince since October 2024 up to June 2025, and the resulting loss of life and mass displacement.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , OHCHR
Gaza: ‘Unacceptable’ choice between getting shot or getting fed – UN humanitarians
Following the deaths of several children in an Israeli strike on Palestinians waiting in line for nutritional supplements in central Gaza on Thursday, UN humanitarians have once again condemned the killings of people at aid distribution sites in the enclave.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the United Nations bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights made the following comments on the recent violence in Kenya.
1
1
1
Edited News | ITC
US tariffs uncertainty hurts world economy, with poorest countries hit hardest – top UN economist
A new US decision to further delay the end of a 90-day pause on tariffs is bad for business, a top UN economist said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , OHCHR
Gaza aid site horror continues as more starving people shot trying to get food
Amid intensifying hopes for a new Gaza ceasefire, UN humanitarians confirmed disturbing details on Friday of continued killings and injuries of Palestinians desperately seeking food at aid sites.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
A clearer picture of needs across Iran is beginning to emerge after the conflict this month with Israel, which left hundreds dead, several hospitals hit and a spike in Afghan refugees returning home, the UN’s top official in Tehran said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO
The blistering early-summer heatwave that’s brought life-threatening temperatures across much of the northern hemisphere is a worrying sign of things to come, UN weather experts said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Human Rights Council annual panel on adverse impacts of climate change.
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO
The first meagre midweek delivery of urgently needed medical goods to enter Gaza in months will provide scant relief to the enclave’s people, who continue to be shot and killed as they search for food, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
2
1
2
Statements , Edited News | HRC
Enhanced interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s report on Myanmar presented by Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and oral update by Thomas Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
The conflict-impacted people of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) urgently need much more international assistance than they are getting today, the UN’s top aid official said on Thursday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNOG
Violence in Myanmar is spiralling as the military junta increases its attacks on monasteries, schools and camps sheltering people uprooted by the civil war, a top independent human rights investigator warned on Wednesday.