Jennifer Pagonis Quotes (14 Quotes)

Local Chadian residents throughout the region are now telling our staff on the ground that they are very frightened, and that if humanitarian agencies were ever forced to withdraw from the area, they too would have to move in search of a safer haven.

She takes her work for us extremely seriously and that means a lot to her and the staff. She's a terrific goodwill ambassador who can help people understand the difficult life of a refugee.

We would like to be sure that the humanitarian character of the refugee camps is respected.

Some 3,500 Burundians have crossed the border since the start of the year and the numbers keep growing at an average rate of 100 new arrivals a day.

This really is a race against time and the weather. If we lose, people are going to suffer even more.

They are feeling increasingly trapped, and for security reasons, many have stopped going to work and have taken their children out of school.

This is even more worrying in the absence of any clear indications as to what might be the nature of the envisaged offshore processing arrangement. If it is not one that meets the same high standards Australia sets for its own processes, this could be tantamount to penalizing for illegal entry.

This is not the opening of the floodgates, but it is a start. It is quite a significant move since some of these people have been out of their country for 20 years.

As media and the humanitarian community focus on the spreading drought in the Horn of Africa, UN humanitarian agencies are concerned that more attention is needed to highlight the persistent problems faced by the world's refugees most of them in Africa.

On Thursday, we heard from the Palestinian community in Baghdad that reportedly over 100 families had received written death threats and that many are in a state of shock and panic.

There are visible cases of malnutrition among the new arrivals. A toddler died last week on arrival suffering from dehydration and three young children died in January from acute respiratory infection.

In total, about half a million Angolans are estimated to have repatriated, with or without UNHCR assistance, since the April 2002 cease-fire that brought to an end Angola's 27-year civil war.

Chad has been very generous in accepting the refugees and working with us ... We certainly hope that good cooperation will continue.

We certainly hope that good cooperation (over refugees) will continue.