Middle East and North Africa offers a comprehensive, evidence-based analysis of one of the world’s most complex and dynamic mobility landscapes where labour migration, protracted displacement, environmental stressors and socioeconomic transitions converge.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life off the coast of Mahdia, Tunisia, where a boat carrying 70 migrants capsized shortly after departing the Tunisian village of Salakta. Forty people have died: nine women, 19 men, and 12 children under the age of five.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed the lifesaving contribution of JPY 500 million (US$3.3 million) from Japan to provide emergency food and nutrition assistance to Palestinians facing severe food insecurity due to the conflict in Gaza and also escalating violence in the West Bank.
The Government of Japan has contributed US$2 million (approximately 300 million Japanese Yen) to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), enabling life-saving food assistance at a time when millions in Yemen face deepening hunger.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has provided shelter assistance to nearly 3,400 displaced families and distributed essential household items to 14,000 families across Yemen in 2024, thanks to the generous $7 million USD contribution from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief).
As of February 13th, UNHCR estimates that approximately 279,620 Syrians have returned to Syria since December 8th, 2024. The figures derive from the triangulation of sources both inside and outside Syria, including UNHCR offices and Government sources in Türkiye, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said during a parliamentary session last week that the Japanese government was making an “earnest effort” to accept “ill or injured” people from Gaza as part of a “medical evacuation.”
