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Refugee agency turns 60

For more than six decades the United Nations refugee agency has been helping the world’s uprooted peoples.

The agency’s first task was to help an estimated one million people, mainly European civilians displaced in the aftermath of the Second World War.

But during the 1950s the refugee crisis spread to Africa, later to Asia and then back to Europe, becoming a global problem. At the end of 2009, on the eve of UNHCR’s 60th birthday, more than 26 million forcibly displaced people were receiving protection or assistance from UNHCR. (pictures: UNHCR)





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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR