2023-06-20 00:17:40
The United Nations designates June 20 of each year as world refugee day, to honor refugees and displaced people around the world. Being an occasion to promote understanding and empathy with those who have been forced to leave their home to escape conflict or persecution. And this time it is faced with the motto hope away from home.
Every minute, twenty-four people leave everything to flee war, persecution or terror.
Over the course of the ten years that I served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, I witnessed the resilience and contribution of refugees from all walks of life.
His perseverance in the face of adversity continues to inspire him day after day.
Refugees represent the best of the human spirit.
They need and deserve support and solidarity, not closed borders and summary returns.
Today, World Refugee Day, we have to face the alarming fact that more than 100 million people living in countries ravaged by conflict, persecution, famine and climate chaos have been forced to flee their homes. .
They are not a number on a piece of paper: they are women, girls, boys and men who walk a hard road where they are often subjected to violence, exploitation, discrimination and abuse.
This Day reminds us that we have a duty to protect and help refugees and an obligation to open more channels of support, which includes solutions to resettle refugees and help them rebuild their lives with dignity.
As called for in the Global Compact for Refugees, host countries need more international support to boost access to quality education, decent work, health care, housing and social protection.
And a much stronger political will is needed to achieve peace so that refugees can return home safely.
This year’s theme is “Hope Far From Home”.
I ask everyone to embrace the hope that refugees carry with them.
Let’s respond to their courage with the opportunities they need every step of the way.
Antonio Guterres. United Nations Secretary General
Rohingya refugees fleeing conflict and persecution towards the Kutupalong refugee settlement. PHOTO:© UNHCR Bangladesh
Refugees. Any person who, due to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, belonging to a certain social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, due to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of his country; or who lacking nationality and being, as a result of such events, outside the country where they previously had their habitual residence, cannot or, due to said fears, does not want to return to it.
Asylum Seekers. Who requests recognition of refugee status and whose application has not yet been definitively evaluated. On average, around 1 million people individually apply for asylum each year.
Internally Displaced. Internally displaced persons who have not crossed the borders of their countries to seek safety. Unlike refugees, their flight is within their own country. Although they may have fled for reasons similar to those of refugees, internally displaced persons remain under the protection of their government, even in cases where the government itself becomes one of the causes of their flight. As a result, they are some of the most vulnerable people in the world.
stateless persons. People who do not have a nationality and may have difficulties accessing basic human rights. Millions of people around the world are trapped in a legal limbo and are not considered as nationals by any country, affecting the enjoyment of their basic rights.
returnees or repatriates. Who manage to come home. The return home concludes an often traumatic time in exile. It can be months, years or even decades after they had to flee, and sometimes it doesn’t happen at all.
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