Information for prospective interns.

The legal unit informs government officials, attorneys, and nongovernmental organizations in the U.S. and the Caribbean about international standards of refugee protection.

News, speakers, information and materials about refugees and UNHCR are available to organizations and educators, free of charge or at cost, through the PI section.

Information on resettlement for refugees from abroad. 

Current vacancies open for external recruitment.

World Refugee Day
Marked each year on June 20. Find out all about World Refugee Day here.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is the UN agency charged with protecting and assisting the world's refugees and finding long-term solutions to their problems. Currently, UNHCR is responsible for 36 million people. This includes 10.4 million refugees, 15.6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), 6.6 million stateless people, 1 million asylum seekers, and 250,000 returnees.

UNHCR’s Washington Office opened in 1979. In 1997, it became the regional office covering the U.S., Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. In 2007, the office began covering the French overseas territories of Martinique and Guadeloupe, as well as the British overseas territories of Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos, and Montserrat.

The head of the office is
Regional Representative Vincent Cochetel
Deputy Regional Representative Buti Kale

Contact Information

UNHCR
1775 K Street N.W.
Suite 300
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: (202)296-5191
Fax: (202)296-5660
Email: usawa@unhcr.org