(Washington, D.C.) – The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) today praised the announcement by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to allow Syrian nationals in the United States to stay beyond their visas and avoid the risk of returning to their violence-torn country. On Friday, Napolitano said in a statement that, in light of deteriorating conditions in Syria, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will designate temporary protected status (TPS) for Syrians currently in the United States.

"From a distance, the camps look amazing. You just see hills covered in lush greenery and bamboo roof huts peeking through the trees," said American nonprofit worker Jessica Hansen, recalling her first impression of the cluster of refugee camps along the Thailand-Burma border. "I was awestruck by the natural beauty of the scenery."

But come closer and you see a different picture. You see deforestation, which causes flash floods. You see people

But after two decades of living in relative peace, trying to rebuild their lives in their adopted country, Mukiza's family had to flee again -- this time from the Rwandan genocide of 1994 that took hundreds of thousands of lives. They set out on foot

• The Thai navy dragged disabled boats full of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar out to sea and abandoned them to the sun and sea.
• Xenophobic mob attacks in South Africa killed dozens of foreigners and drove tens of thousands from their homes.
• Hamas rocket attacks launched from Gaza

In Swahili, amani means peace, which

Over the past few weeks, several boats have been rescued off the coasts of Indonesia and the Andaman Islands of India. Survivors tell of having been detained in Thailand, beaten, and towed out to sea on boats without engines or sufficient food and water. Several hundred remain missing and are feared dead.

On the western Thai border, about 140,000 refugees from Myanmar have languished in camps for decades, unable to return home, but also unable to live freely in Thailand. The first refugees arrived in the mid-1980s. Most are warehoused in camps where they are denied such basic freedoms as being able to secure standard housing, seek employment,

Dear Sirs,

On the 5th anniversary of the start of allied action in Iraq, we write to express our deep concern that so little has been done by your governments to address the desperate plight of Iraqis who have been forced to flee their homes as a result of the on-going conflict.

The movement of refugees is on a scale not seen in the Middle East since 1948, and although more international

As humanitarian organizations deeply concerned with the welfare of the people of the Middle East, we are greatly encouraged by your upcoming visit that aims to bolster efforts towards peace and prosperity in the region. As such we would like to call your attention to an issue of great strategic importance to the United States: the humanitarian conditions of Iraq's displaced civilians.

Over 4.5 million Iraqis have been displaced since 2003, with nearly 2.5 million Iraqi civilians fleeing to neighboring