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Flavours from Home : Eight restaurants, cafés and bistros bringing refugees’ recipes to Belgium, Luxembourg
If you’re out and about in Belgium and Luxembourg this Summer, why not grab a bite to eat at a refugee-led restaurant, cafe or bistro? For World Refugee Day 2023, UNHCR Brussels is bringing you just a selection of the many inspirational businesses around Belgium and Luxembourg built by or employing refugees. This is just a snapshot and if you visit or have been to another establishment we’ve missed, why not tag us on Twitter at @Refugees_EU and tell us more!
Belgium
Stella Specialty Coffee Bar
Bassel and his team serve up a variety of rare and interesting coffees at this popular breakfast spot in Brussels, while loveable sheepdog Stella greets human and canine café-goers alike. The usual cappuccinos and americanos feature alongside more unique inventions – try a lemongrass or rosewater latte. Teas, smoothies and a tantalizing selection of homemade pastries complete the picture. For the full experience, ask the barista what special coffees they have – these change week by week. Well-placed between the Saint-Gilles and Chatelain quarters, Stella is often abuzz with friendly chat as regulars and commuters stop by for breakfast or a caffeine fix. Bright but cosy, the relaxed atmosphere makes for a coffee break you’ll never want to end.

© Laura Benocci
We Exist
“Made by Syrians – for everyone” is the motto emblazoned on the windows of We Exist in Brussels- a unique restaurant, catering company and NGO rolled into one. The project was born when co-manager Obada first combined his mother’s timeless recipes with his own entrepreneurial streak, hosting a “Syrian Dinner” event at the Brussels Quaker House. ‘We Exist’ soon grew into not only a successful catering company with many local and international clients, but also a valuable hub for newcomers to access the labour market. On the back of their catering success, Obada and the team also opened the doors of a bright and welcoming restaurant space just a stone’s throw from Brussels’ Botanical Gardens. House favourites include, among others, the Syrian-style maklubeh and the variety of traditional homemade mezzes.

© UNHCR/Benjamin Mason
La Fourna
Located in Tour & Taxis to the north of Brussels, La Fourna serves up a unique, vegetarian blend of Middle-Eastern and African cuisine. The restaurant was opened by Belgian local Hilde in 2020, with the aim of employing and empowering women with migrant backgrounds, including refugees and asylum-seekers. The staple dish at La Fourna is their hand-stretched, hand-baked flatbread, cooked fresh on a searing hotplate. Bread lends itself to sharing, says Hilde, and every culture has its own techniques – La Fourna’s chefs contribute their own home recipes and flavours with a range of spreads and side dishes to accompany the flatbread. The team’s newest member Rachel hopes to see dishes from her home country Ethiopia on the menu soon, but for now highly recommends the baba-ganoush. The spacious inside terrace and leafy décor make La Fourna the perfect lunch spot, but for Rachel and others it represents much more than that: the chance to access to the labour market and forge friendships through a community of strong, supportive women.

© UNHCR/Benjamin Mason
Baalbeck
Located in the heart of Mons in southern Belgium, this classic Eastern-Mediterranean restaurant takes its name from the owner’s home town in Lebanon. Behind the elegant granite façade, a wide selection of mezze dishes cater for all tastes – vegetarians and meat-eaters alike will find plenty to choose from here. Among the chefs working their magic in the kitchen is Syrian refugee Kamal – his work at Baalbeck has been a source of stability and a great opportunity for integration. As much as Kamal enjoys cooking, outside the kitchen his true passion is football. Kamal will be representing Belgium in a team of refugees and locals at the 2023 Unity Euro Cup in Frankfurt this 28 June – proud to wear the badge of his adopted country.

© Baalbeck
Knit & Drink
When Anna fled the war in Ukraine and arrived in Belgium in March 2022, little did she know that a year later she would be combining her passions for mixology and knitting in her own unique pop-up bar. When the town of Puurs-Sint-Amands in the province of Antwerp made a high-street building available for a one-year pop-up venue, Anna didn’t hesitate for a second to apply – « I am fearless ever since the war broke out, » she says. Knit & Drink opened its pastel-pink doors in April, and while you won’t find the standard soft drink or beer on the menu, the choice is yours between bespoke cocktails, homemade lemonades and pastries, Ukrainian red berry teas, and unique coffees such as the iced banana latte. In addition, knitting enthusiasts are encouraged to work on their projects over coffee and a slice of cake, or browse Anna’s own line of textile products. Everything Anna does for her pop-up bar, she does with love: « I’ve had a tough year, but thanks to Knit and Drink, I have something to look forward to every day again. »

© UNHCR/Benjamin Mason
Safari
As a young girl in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Sandra inherited her passion for cooking from her mother and grandmother, and learned from a young age that food brings people together. When she arrived in Belgium in 2005 as a refugee from DRC, cooking and food remained a common thread – with the aromas of Sandra’s family recipes captivating her neighbours at the reception-centre and helping her forge new friendships in her new home. In March 2023, she was able to fulfill her dream and open the first African restaurant in Limburg, just a stone’s throw from Hasselt train station. With specialties such as grilled goat, cassava leaves, grilled fish and fried plantains, Sandra brings authentic Congolese cuisine to your plate in Safari restaurant.

© UNHCR/Angèle Bertrand
Frozen Art
Antwerp’s newest ice cream shop, Frozen Art, brings shiryakh – traditional Afghan ice cream made of cream, milk and fresh cardamom – to Belgium. Its owner Assadullah fled his country over a decade ago and arrived in Belgium as an unaccompanied child refugee. “Belgium has given me so much and I wanted to give something back,” Assadullah reflected. Each morning, Assadullah’s day begins with a labour of love to prepare the ice cream mixture which he whips up in front of his customers in a deep, cooled iron pot, until the ice cream takes shape. An array of toppings – from blueberries, chocolate chips to a crunch of almonds – transform each scoop into a masterpiece of flavor. Assadullah’s favorite topping? A combination of qaimaq (condensed milk), pistachio and mango.

© Julieta Hisi/UNHCR
Luxembourg
Chiche!
Tucked beneath an ordinary-looking apartment block in the Limpertsberg quarter of Luxembourg City, this vibrant restaurant fosters social inclusion while serving up authentic Lebanese cuisine. A social project launched by Luxembourger Marianne Donven in 2017, Chiche! provides a foothold for refugees and migrants, facilitating access to employment, education and integration. Long-serving staff member Ihab reflects on the diversity which keeps Chiche! in business: “In Chiche! you get refugees from many countries, from many cultures.” Since opening its doors, Chiche! has proved a success on all fronts, with three more locations opening up in addition to the sizeable flagship branch. Up-cycled décor, artwork and antique furniture create a cozy and convivial atmosphere, as locals and expats alike flock to sample house favourites such as the falafel and chiche taouk.

© UNHCR/Frederik Bordon
Bamyan
Taking its name from a historic city and province in the snow-capped mountains of central Afghanistan, Bamyan is a family-run restaurant bringing authentic Afghan cuisine to the banks of the Alzette river in Luxembourg. An attractive south-facing terrace offers idyllic views of Luxembourg’s skyline, the river and a nearby viaduct – perfect for warmer evenings. Indoors, the rustic brick archways and contemporary artwork combine in a trendy, welcoming ambiance. Luxembourg’s first Afghan restaurant, Bamyan was opened in 2022 by two couples – the Modasir’s and Etemadi’s – with the aim of introducing the diverse local population to real Afghan delicacies. Specialities include the Ashak – vegetable dumplings topped with lentil sauce – and the Qabuli – an aromatic rice dish with marinated beef and caramelized carrots.
Culled from UNHCR website
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Global powers fuel war as civilians die under drones, barrel bombs
The question in Sudan is no longer whether the war has crossed every red line. It crossed them long ago.
The real question now is brutal and urgent: How many more crimes, how many more bodies must the world see before Sudanese blood is worth an independent international investigation?
The Chemical Bombs Dossier That Shook The World
In September 2026, the most damning case yet exploded into the open.
The Washington Post revealed it had reviewed about 150 documents, photographs, videos and audio recordings, plus thousands of messages, detailing alleged chemical weapons use by the Sudanese army.
The newspaper did not act alone. It enlisted more than 20 former intelligence officials and experts in chemical weapons and human rights to assess the material.
According to PMNewsnigeria.com, what they found was chilling: a programme to assemble chlorine-filled bombs, tests conducted in remote desert areas, a stockpile that reportedly reached 290 chemical munitions, messages referring to hundreds of bombs stored at Merowe Air Base and 106 of them already used.
Experts who examined the cache said the indications were strongly consistent with a chemical weapons programme, while stressing that definitive proof requires independent investigators to gain access to sites and witnesses.
That is precisely where international action should have started, not where the debate ended.
Sudan has been a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention since 1999. Developing, stockpiling or using such weapons is not a footnote in a civil war. It is a violation of one of the clearest prohibitions in international law.
If the allegations are false, an investigation will expose that. If they are true, the Sudanese people and the world have the right to know who ordered, who manufactured, who stockpiled and who dropped these bombs.
Why has evidence of this scale not immediately triggered an independent international investigation under the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and other relevant institutions?
Why the silence?
El Fasher Is Not Beyond Justice
But chemical weapons are not the only horror demanding answers reports PMNewsnigeria.com.
El Fasher and Darfur have become the graveyard of civilian protection.
The region is under sustained, indiscriminate aerial bombardment involving advanced Turkish drones and barrel bombs dropped by Sudanese army transport aircraft on civilians without distinction.
These crimes cannot be mitigated or justified under any circumstances or by any party to the conflict.
The Sudanese Armed Forces themselves have used aircraft, aerial bombardment and drones in civilian areas, while human rights organisations have documented the bombing of residential and commercial areas in Darfur with unguided aerial bombs.
Sudan has witnessed a massive escalation in drone warfare. According to the United Nations, more than 1,000 civilians were killed by drone strikes between January and May 2026 alone, making such strikes one of the largest sources of civilian deaths in the war.
In Darfur, Antonov aircraft have been used in aerial bombardment operations, while UN and human rights documents reveal widespread use of weapons and barrel bombs in populated areas.
Drones have fundamentally altered the nature of the war. Research reports indicate that the Sudanese army possesses Iranian and Turkish systems, including the Iranian Mohajer-6 and Ababil, as well as Turkish Bayraktar systems, in addition to Turkish-Pakistani types, allowing air operations to extend over greater distances.
The problem is not the nationality of the weapon alone, but how it is used and who bears the cost of its continued flow.
A bomb is still a war crime when it falls on a market, whether it was built in Ankara or Tehran.
Who Is Arming This War?
Here, international silence becomes even more perplexing, even criminal.
The Sudanese war is no longer a purely Sudanese war. It has become an arena where regional and international networks of support and arms supplies intersect, fueling the slaughter.
International reports indicate that the army has received military and technical support from countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Iran.
This is not a call to hold one side accountable while exempting the other. Quite the opposite.
If foreign weapons reaching parties to the conflict and being used against civilians warrant investigation and accountability, then the weapons reaching the army must be subject to the same standard, added PMNewsnigeria.com.
There is no morally acceptable bomb because it was dropped by a side we favour, nor is there a legitimate drone because it came from an allied country.
When markets, hospitals and residential neighbourhoods are struck, the legal question is who targeted civilians and who provided them with the capacity to do so, not which political camp they belong to. Justice that pursues one crime while ignoring another is not justice.
A law that criminalises an adversary’s weapon while turning a blind eye to an ally’s weapon loses its meaning.
What Do Cairo, Ankara And Riyadh Know?
This is where the responsibility of countries with close ties to the Sudanese army comes into sharp focus.
Egypt has deep military and security cooperation with the army. Türkiye is linked by reports to the provision of technology and drone systems to it, while Saudi Arabia maintains close ties with the army leadership, although it took a notable position in April 2026 when it asked Pakistan to halt a $1.5 billion arms deal with Sudan and refused to finance it, following what was said to be US advice and warnings to Riyadh.
Does this mean that these countries are legally responsible for the army’s crimes? No.
But it imposes a question that cannot be evaded: What are these governments doing now that allegations of chemical weapons use have become public, and violations resulting from airstrikes and drone attacks have been internationally documented?
Moral and political responsibility does not begin only when a state’s involvement in a particular crime is proven. It also begins when an ally knows that weapons flowing into a war zone could be used amid civilians, yet support continues without guarantees, oversight or accountability.
If you know your drones may be used to bomb a hospital in Nyala and you keep supplying them, at what point do you share the guilt?
Why Is The World Silent?
This is the real question that haunts every Sudanese today.
How can the world speak of protecting civilians and then allow Sudan to become a laboratory for weapons and drones?
How can evidence on this scale emerge concerning the possible manufacture and use of a chemical weapon, while a comprehensive international investigation remains a demand rather than a reality?
And how can bombs fall on markets, hospitals and residential areas while arms and financing channels and political relationships continue as though nothing has happened?
Sudan does not need another local committee through which the authorities investigate themselves. It has had enough of that theatre.
Nor does it need more statements of concern from Geneva and New York. It needs action.
The Price Of Selective Justice
It needs an independent international investigation into the chemical weapons file, transparent investigations into air attacks, drone strikes and violations against civilians, and accountability for every party proven to be involved, regardless of its name, allies or supporters.
Scrutiny must also extend to the states, companies and intermediary networks supplying the parties to the war with weapons when there is evidence that they may be used in grave violations of international law.
The civilian killed in El Fasher, Nyala or Khartoum does not care whether the drone that killed him was Turkish or Iranian, nor whether the bomb was dropped by an Antonov or launched by another force.
What matters to him is that someone killed him, that someone armed the killer, and that there was a world watching the war expand and knowing the scale of the violations, yet failing to do enough to stop it.
That is justice at a price in Sudan: the problem is not merely the absence of evidence, but that the value of the evidence itself sometimes appears to be tied to the name of the accused, the identity of his allies, and the political cost of holding him accountable.
That is why the investigation must begin now, not against one side, nor in the service of one camp against another, but because the Sudanese person killed by chemical weapons, aerial bombardment or drones deserves the same standard of justice, regardless of the name of the person who pulled the trigger and regardless of the capital from which the aircraft, bomb or money came.
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Les autorités italiennes immobilisent un navire de sauvetage après avoir secouru 20 personnes
Les autorités italiennes ont immobilisé pendant 15 jours le navire de recherche et de sauvetage Sea Punk I et lui ont infligé une amende de 7 500 euros après le sauvetage de 20 personnes dans les eaux internationales.
L’opération de sauvetage a eu lieu le jeudi 10 septembre 2026, près de la plateforme pétrolière de Bouri. L’équipage du navire a déclaré que l’opération avait été menée en coordination avec les autorités italiennes et conformément aux conventions applicables et aux réglementations internationales.
Les autorités ont invoqué le décret dit Piantedosi et accusé le capitaine de ne pas avoir suivi les instructions des garde-côtes libyens dits « garde-côtes libyens ». Le Sea Punk I est partenaire de l’alliance Justice Fleet, une coalition d’organisations civiles de recherche et de sauvetage et de leurs soutiens.
Selon Justice Fleet, cette immobilisation porte à plus de 310 le nombre total de jours pendant lesquels les autorités italiennes ont bloqué ses navires depuis la création de l’alliance, en novembre 2025. Le Sea Punk I est le 11e navire de Justice Fleet à être immobilisé.
Selon Justice Fleet, les organisations civiles de recherche et de sauvetage ont recensé près de 80 incidents de violences extrêmes commises par des milices libyennes depuis 2016, dont la plupart seraient attribués aux garde-côtes libyens dits « garde-côtes libyens ». Le groupe affirme également que plus de 27 000 personnes ayant fui la Libye y ont été renvoyées de force l’an dernier, en violation du droit international. Il indique que les réfugiés et les migrants présents dans le pays sont confrontés à une recrudescence des violences et à des menaces de mort.
« Alors que des violences extrêmes contre les personnes en déplacement sont actuellement en cours en Libye, les autorités italiennes veulent nous contraindre à coopérer avec les garde-côtes libyens dits “garde-côtes libyens”. Pas question ! », a déclaré Giulia Messmer, porte-parole de Justice Fleet, appelant à mettre fin à la coopération européenne avec cette force.
Justice Fleet a été fondée en novembre 2025 par 13 organisations de recherche et de sauvetage, avec le soutien de groupes de la société civile. L’alliance indique notamment vouloir contester l’immobilisation des navires de sauvetage en Italie et s’opposer à la sous-traitance du contrôle migratoire à des acteurs libyens.
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20 000 enfants arrivent en Europe sans parent ni tuteur
De nouvelles données de l’ONU révèlent que, sur les 31 100 enfants qui ont atteint l’Europe l’an dernier en empruntant des routes migratoires mixtes, plus de 20 000 sont arrivés sans parent ni tuteur.
La Directrice générale de l’Organisation internationale pour les migrations (OIM), Amy Pope, a appelé à une coopération plus étroite entre les États européens et les pays situés le long des routes migratoires afin de protéger les enfants qui voyagent seuls et de lutter contre les réseaux de passeurs et les réseaux criminels qui s’en prennent à eux.
Les conclusions indiquent que la réduction des possibilités de déplacement sûr et tenant compte des besoins de protection le long de ces routes pourrait pousser les jeunes à entreprendre des voyages plus risqués, à dépendre davantage des passeurs et à être davantage exposés à la violence, à l’exploitation et aux mauvais traitements.
« Des enfants entreprennent des voyages difficiles et dangereux sans parent ni tuteur à leurs côtés, a déclaré Amy Pope, Directrice générale de l’OIM. Ce rapport montre à quel point ils sont exposés à la violence et à l’exploitation lorsque les voies sûres sont limitées et qu’ils doivent compter sur des passeurs. Aucun enfant ne devrait avoir à affronter ces risques seul. Nous avons la responsabilité commune d’agir par-delà les frontières pour les protéger, défendre leurs droits et leur apporter les soins et le soutien dont ils ont besoin. »
Le nombre total d’enfants arrivés par voie maritime ou terrestre en Bulgarie, à Chypre, en Grèce, en Italie, à Malte et en Espagne a diminué de 25 % par rapport à 2024. Parmi les enfants arrivés, 78 % étaient des garçons et 22 % des filles. Toutefois, la proportion d’enfants recensés comme non accompagnés est passée à 67 %, contre 51 % l’année précédente. Les proportions les plus élevées ont été enregistrées en Italie et en Espagne, où 86 % des enfants sont arrivés seuls.
L’Italie a fait exception à la tendance à la baisse. Le nombre total d’arrivées y est resté stable, mais celui des enfants a augmenté de 12 %, pour atteindre près de 14 100. La plupart venaient d’Égypte, d’Érythrée, de Somalie, du Bangladesh et d’Éthiopie.
Ces voyages sont dangereux. L’OIM a interrogé plus de 4 600 adolescents et jeunes adultes âgés de 15 à 24 ans le long des routes de la Méditerranée, de l’Atlantique ouest-africain et des Balkans occidentaux. Près de la moitié des personnes interrogées au sujet de leur expérience ont déclaré avoir subi des violences physiques. Sur la route de la Méditerranée centrale, 28 % ont indiqué avoir été retenues contre leur gré et 17 % avoir été contraintes de travailler. La Libye est restée le pays le plus souvent cité comme lieu de ces mauvais traitements.
Dans le même temps, les solutions de remplacement sûres se sont raréfiées. Les enfants représentaient la moitié des 6 800 personnes engagées dans des procédures de réinstallation de réfugiés vers l’Europe en 2025 : 3 400 enfants, contre 8 900 un an plus tôt. Par ailleurs, seuls 199 enfants ont été relocalisés entre États européens dans le cadre du mécanisme de solidarité volontaire, soit une baisse de 67 %, et aucun n’était non accompagné.
Au total, 214 600 enfants ont demandé une protection internationale en Europe en 2025, dont 79 % étaient des primo-demandeurs. Environ 71 % des premières demandes ont été déposées dans seulement quatre pays : l’Allemagne (30 %), la France (19 %), l’Espagne (15 %) et la Grèce (7 %). Sur les 210 900 décisions rendues en première instance concernant des demandes d’enfants, 56 % étaient positives, tandis que les rejets ont augmenté de 25 %.
L’OIM exhorte les États membres de l’Union européenne à placer l’intérêt supérieur de l’enfant au cœur de chaque décision, à garantir un accès rapide aux services et à ne jamais placer des enfants en détention pour des motifs liés à l’immigration. Les enfants non accompagnés et séparés de leur famille devraient avoir immédiatement accès à une représentation juridique. Les évaluations de l’âge devraient rester rares, être adaptées aux enfants et pouvoir faire l’objet d’un recours.
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