© UNHCR/Andrew McConnell
Silent Emergencies
Refugees trapped in silent emergencies have been enduring incredible hardship for months, or even years. They need your help.
Refugees trapped in silent emergencies have been enduring incredible hardship for months, or even years. They need your help.
“There was nothing to do but leave. The fighting was everywhere. I packed some bags and ran with my neighbours. We stayed two days in the bush and it was so scary.”
- Eliza, 41, mother of four
Millions of refugees are trapped in silent emergencies that no longer make the news.
After almost a decade of conflict, 75 per cent of the Yemeni population needs humanitarian aid. In Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Rohingya refugees face crisis after crisis, including floods and fires that ravage vulnerable camps. Meanwhile, in Sudan, armed conflict has forced more than seven million people to flee for their lives.
With the number of people displaced by conflict, disaster or persecution at record highs, resources are stretched far too thin. Those in silent emergencies are at greatest risk of missing out on life-saving aid.
UNHCR responds to a new crisis every 10 days – but you don't hear about all of them.
Please donate now to send emergency aid to refugees, wherever and whenever they're forced to flee.
Hana lost her two children after they fell ill in a refugee camp in White Nile State. Both suffered from diarrhoea and malnutrition. The camp's population has almost doubled since the conflict began.
Since fighting broke out in Sudan in April 2023, homes, schools and hospitals have come under attack. Health facilities are struggling to cope with a life-threatening shortage of staff and supplies. The number of unaccompanied or separated children is also rising.
Yemen’s conflict has wrecked the economy. Soaring food and fuel prices are a disaster for everyday families. The health system has also crumbled. At the same time, UNHCR is the only agency protecting refugees and asylum seekers in Yemen, who are mostly from Somalia and Ethiopia.
The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority who have faced decades of persecution in Myanmar. Almost one million refugees now live in camps in Cox’s Bazar. Their long-term prospects are grim. Children are unable to get a formal education in Bangladesh, while their parents don’t have work rights. Though many wish to return home, it’s still unsafe to do so.
With your help, UNHCR can meet refugees at border crossings, set up camps in safe zones, distribute relief items such as tents and blankets, and provide healthcare and psychological support.
You can help set up refugee camps in safe zones, provide tents and housing, and help families repair their homes.
You can help to equip health clinics, deliver immunisation campaigns, and improve hygiene and sanitation in camps.
You can provide a cash grant to help a displaced family pay for rent, food, medicine, clothing, education and transport.
Displaced Yemenis like Khatema are facing severe hunger and poverty. The country has one of the highest rates of child malnutrition in the world, with 2.2 million children under five acutely malnourished.
The majority of funds raised by Australia for UNHCR are directed to UNHCR’s emergency operations, providing the ready funds and resources to respond quickly and effectively in situations of crisis and disaster.