Executive summary

UNHCR’s 2011 emergency operation in North Africa, which followed the outbreak of civil war in Libya, addressed one of the largest mixed migration crises that the organization has ever encountered. The unanticipated emergency generated a massive influx of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Tunisia and Egypt, two countries which themselves had only recently experienced major political upheavals. As a result of these considerations, little contingency planning had taken place.

TRIPOLI, Libya, March 28 (UNHCR) – The one anchor and light in Marian's* hard life was her love for her husband, Hassan. So when the migrant worker went missing in Libya in 2011, she decided to leave her in-laws on the Red Sea coast of Sudan and cross the Sahara with their young son to search for him.

Two years on, Marian stills hopes to find her missing spouse as she struggles to make a go of things in Tripoli. But while she worries about the future, she at least has her beloved young son, Omar – and the 10-year-old also offers them both a chance for a better life.

REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

• 1.1 million Syrian refugees are registered or pending registration as of 13 March, 2013, exceeding the June population planning figure in the Regional Response Plan. Two years on, humanitarian response partners are grappling with limited funding to bring aid to growing numbers of people in need.

• The regional refugee response is a coordinated effort with host Governments and over 60 national and international implementing and operating partners in five countries.

Refugees and asylum seekers

Refugees and asylum seekers

CHOUCHA REFUGEE CAMP, Tunisia, January 10 (UNHCR) – Jewellery making is helping teenage refugee Abdel* cope with life in a Tunisian refugee camp, get over a tragic past and prepare for a future that is starting to look rosier to him.

Refugees and asylum seekers

Refugees and asylum seekers

Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme

Sixty-second session

Geneva, 1-5 October 2012

A. Situational analysis including new developments