the un refugee agency

Hungary has implemented new restrictions on state-sponsored shelter for Ukrainian refugees, limiting accommodation only to those coming from war-affected areas as of August 21. This change leaves between two and three thousand Ukrainian refugees homeless, including vulnerable groups such as families with specific needs, pregnant women, the elderly, and households with many young children.

Three bodies have been recovered near the site of a migrant shipwreck between Italy and Greece from which more than 60 people were reported missing, a spokesperson for the Italian coast guard said on Tuesday.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, in collaboration with partners, is launching today the Compass Bulgaria Network of Protection and Inclusion Centres, a joint initiative in six refugee-hosting cities in Bulgaria spanning Sofia, Plovdiv, Burgas, Varna, Dobrich, and Ruse.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is scheduled to meet with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, on Monday at 5 p.m. at Maximos Mansion.

The meeting comes amidst humanitarian concerns regarding Israel's full-scale military operations in Gaza.

About 150,000 Palestinians have been forced to leave areas in the central part of the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli forces' offensive against the refugee camps in this area continues. The number of victims of the conflict is growing, reports from the Palestinian side.

In a devastating maritime tragedy, 61 migrants, including women and children, lost their lives in a shipwreck off Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Libya confirmed.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid announced today that due to fuel shortages, aid packages stored in warehouses in the southern part of the Strip cannot be transported and reach the Palestinian population, DPA reported.

The National Palace of Culture (NDK), in Sofia will be lit in the colour blue on the evening of 20 June to mark World Refugee Day. The initiative is part of UNHCR's, the UN Refugee Agency, marking of the international day to honour people who have been forced to flee.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) issued a joint statement on Friday calling for "urgent and decisive action to prevent further deaths at sea following the latest tragedy in the Mediterranean, the worst in several years," the organizations pointed out.

Adi Mulahalilovic, the former pianist of the popular Yugoslav-era band Hari Mata Hari, has joined an initiative bringing together musicians from 50 countries to record an original composition in support of Ukraine.