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UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, warmly welcomes the announcement by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of the refugees who will compete as a team in the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. They include two Syrian swimmers, two judokas from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and six runners from Ethiopia and South Sudan. They all fled violence and persecution in their countries and sought refuge in places as wide-ranging as Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Kenya and Brazil.

On 1 June 2016, UNICEF goodwill ambassador Ricky Martin plays football with Syrian refugee children at Al-Hissa informal refugee settlement in northern Lebanon.

Sudanese refugee Amal Bakith cooks the first breakfast for her children a day after arriving in Ajuong Thok camp, South Sudan. During their long journey from South Kordofan, they had only rotten food to eat.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right), President François Hollande (centre) of France and French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has learned with great concern of recent collective expulsions from Sudan of Eritreans to Eritrea. At least 313 Eritreans were arrested on 6 May in the northern Sudanese town of Dongola. They were tried and convicted of “illegal entry” into Sudan under national immigration laws and were forcibly returned to Eritrea on 22 May. The Office has also learned of a previous collective expulsion of 129 Eritreans back to their country of origin a few days before the 22 May incident.

The influx of irregular migrants continues to pose a challenge to Europe. According to Frontex 13,800 people had to be rescued in the central Mediterranean over the last week alone. The EU is working on different ways to manage migration better. On Monday 30 May Parliament's civil liberties committee approved proposals concerning migration and cooperation with other countries, paving the way for a better management of the EU's borders.

Casting a ballot in the second round of senatorial and parliamentary elections and the first round for a new president in Haiti’s capital Port au Prince, 25 October 2015.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the Security Council on conflict-related sexual violence.

A girl uprooted by the ongoing conflict in Syria sits outside a shelter for displaced people in the city of Aleppo.

On 26 May 2016 in Viet Nam, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Katy Perry hugs Linh’s grandmother in Bac Ai district.