Ten Issues Reshaping the Humanitarian Landscape By Will Evans, Policy Analyst Over one month into the conflict, a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis is emerging in Iran and the surrounding region. The Iran war that began on February 28, 2026, has created the largest energy supply disruption in modern history, which is having cascading humanitarian impacts far beyond the […]
Category: Policy and Advocacy
From the Archives – Never Again, Still a Broken Promise
By Alexia Gardner, Policy Analyst, and Benjamin Leong, International Programs Intern (Fall and Winter 2026) Despite clear evidence of genocide in Rwanda, the United States failed to act. Today, this failure echoes. Content Note: This piece includes descriptions of violence and atrocities related to the Rwandan Genocide, including firsthand accounts from a former staff member who was in Rwanda for […]
Statement – One Year On: Advancing the Promise of Kenya’s Shirika Plan
One year ago, Kenya took a bold and necessary step toward transforming its refugee response through the launch of the Shirika Plan. This landmark initiative signaled a shift away from encampment toward inclusion, resilience, and shared prosperity, recognizing that refugees are not passive beneficiaries of aid but active contributors to a country and its communities. The protracted displacement crisis in Kenya requires an inclusive and […]
Policy and Advocacy Newsletter: VOLUME 9 | ISSUE NO.7 March 26, 2026
Featured Brief On June 4, 2025, the Trump administration issued a travel ban suspending the entry of nationals from 19 countries. Unlike travel bans during the first Trump administration, this travel ban barred the entry of follow-to-join asylee families, many of whom have spent years apart under the stress of uncertainty. When we realized that […]
No Shelter: India’s Selective Abandonment of its Refugees
By: Anum Merchant, USCRI Policy Intern (Winter 2026) Edited by Alexia Gardner, Policy Analyst In 1947, millions of people crossed the borders between the newly independent India and newly formed state of Pakistan. The Partition would become the largest mass migration in human history, and one of the most violent as well. On both […]
Indefinite Separation – What Asylee Families Are Facing
In this policy brief, we share with you the experiences of 25 families from Afghanistan, Venezuela, and Cuba. They represent countless children, spouses, and parents. They are fathers who have yet to meet their sons in person. They are wives who face gender apartheid who have lived as a de facto single parent for years. [...]
Country Conditions: Ukraine February 2026
On February 24, 2026, Ukraine enters its fifth year of war after a full-scale Russian invasion of the country began in 2022. As war rages on, civilian casualties and mass displacement continue to impact people both in and from Ukraine. USCRI’s situation update will cover the mass displacement crisis, the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, and […]
Policy and Advocacy Newsletter: VOLUME 9 | ISSUE NO.6 February 20, 2026
Featured Brief Double displacement occurs when people who have already been uprooted once are forced to flee again. As extreme heat, rising sea levels, and intensifying storms reshape the planet, millions will find themselves displaced multiple times over. Refugees are among the most vulnerable to climate shocks. By 2050, the United Nations predicts that many […]
Refugees Twice Over: Climate Migration and ‘Double Displacement’
By: Alexia Gardner, USCRI Policy Analyst, and Anum Merchant, USCRI Policy Intern Extreme weather continues to drive new large-scale displacement, with 2024 ranked among the highest years recorded. From typhoons to droughts, climate-related disasters threaten people’s ability to sustain themselves in their homeland, forcing them to seek safety elsewhere. Marginalized communities, despite contributing little to the burning of fossil fuels, will disproportionately face the devastating effects […]
SITUATION UPDATE: MYANMAR (BURMA) FEBRUARY 2026
photo by Aung Khant Si Thu Five Years After the Coup: Why are Displacement and Suffering on the Rise in Myanmar? Myanmar is facing one of the most complex humanitarian crises in the world. Five years since the junta seized power from democratically elected members of the country’s previous ruling party, the situation continues […]
