Even as the world struggles with multiple crises that have forced tens of millions of people from their homes—a scale unseen since World War II—the humanitarian response system designed to help them is broken, says Paul Spiegel, author of an article in a Lancet …
A new UNICEF report paints a tragic portrait of the growing number of unaccompanied child refugees—more than 300,000 in 80 countries in 2015-16—and their increasing victimization at the hands of human traffickers.
“It’s like the United Nations,” Rashid Chotani, MD, MPH, executive director of the Muslim Community Clinic in Silver Spring, Maryland jokes of the sunny, high-ceilinged waiting room. On any given day, it seats patients from places like Kenya, New Guinea, Colombia or Egypt.…
Increasingly, Syria’s displaced are seeking refuge in cities—a phenomenon that poses new risks to health security, writes Gavi CEO Seth Berkley. Many unvaccinated people are crowded into close quarters, with limited access to clean water and sanitation, creating the ideal…
Migrant and refugee children in Greece are being exposed to physical, psychological and sexual violence and exploitation, according to a recent Harvard University study. Researchers interviewed 24 people, including pediatricians and lawyers, who work closely with migrant…
Changing how we refer to individuals in a group can significantly influence how we empathize with them, says psychologist Kurt Gray. In a recent paper, Gray tested his theory of language-related empathy. The results showed that individuals had less sympathy towards “a…
Since the early 2000s, hundreds of refugee children in Sweden have developed a baffling condition known as uppgivenhetssyndrom, or resignation syndrome. When faced with impending deportation, patients fall into a coma-like state. So far, the most effective treatment has…
US President Trump’s revised travel and refugee ban last week rolled back some features—like the indefinite ban on Syrian refugees entering the US—but keeps plenty of troubling provisions, including a 50,000 cap on refugees, argue Leonard Rubenstein of the Johns Hopkins…
The world has failed the people of Syria, writes Paul Spiegel, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health. To help the 11 million displaced there, and the 65 million forcibly displaced globally, we need to shake up the system, he says. He offers an Rx with…
President Trump issued a new executive order yesterday placing the US refugee resettlement program in limbo for 120 days—and blocking people from 6 Middle Eastern and North African countries from traveling to the US for 90 days. Trump removed Iraq from the list in the…
