UN Secretary-General António Guterres
2023 Theme: Hope Away from Home
World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honour refugees around the globe. It falls each year on June 20 and celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution. World Refugee Day is an occasion to build empathy and understanding for their plight and to recognize their resilience in rebuilding their lives.
Background
Every minute 20 people leave everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror. There are several types of forcibly displaced persons:
Refugees
A refugee is someone who fled his or her home and country owing to “a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion”, according to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention. Many refugees are in exile to escape the effects of natural or human-made disasters.
Asylum Seekers
Asylum seekers say they are refugees and have fled their homes as refugees do, but their claim to refugee status is not yet definitively evaluated in the country to which they fled.
Internally Displaced Persons
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are people who have not crossed an international border but have moved to a different region than the one they call home within their own country.
Stateless Persons
Stateless persons do not have a recognized nationality and do not belong to any country.
Statelessness situations are usually caused by discrimination against certain groups. Their lack of identification — a citizenship certificate — can exclude them from access to important government services, including health care, education or employment.
Returnees
Returnees are former refugees who return to their own countries or regions of origin after time in exile. Returnees need continuous support and reintegration assistance to ensure that they can rebuild their lives at home.
UN Action
1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol
Refugees are among the most vulnerable people in the world. The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol help protect them. They are the only global legal instruments explicitly covering the most important aspects of a refugee’s life. According to their provisions, refugees deserve, as a minimum, the same standards of treatment enjoyed by other foreign nationals in a given country and, in many cases, the same treatment as nationals.
The 1951 Convention contains a number of rights and also highlights the obligations of refugees towards their host country. The cornerstone of the 1951 Convention is the principle of non-refoulement. According to this principle, a refugee should not be returned to a country where he or she faces serious threats to his or her life or freedom. This protection may not be claimed by refugees who are reasonably regarded as a danger to the security of the country, or having been convicted of a particularly serious crime, are considered a danger to the community.
The rights contained in the 1951 Convention include:
- The right not to be expelled, except under certain, strictly defined conditions;
- The right not to be punished for illegal entry into the territory of a contracting State;
- The right to work;
- The right to housing;
- The right to education;
- The right to public relief and assistance;
- The right to freedom of religion;
- The right to access the courts;
- The right to freedom of movement within the territory;
- The right to be issued identity and travel documents.
Some basic rights, including the right to be protected from refoulement, apply to all refugees. A refugee becomes entitled to other rights the longer they remain in the host country, which is based on the recognition that the longer they remain as refugees, the more rights they need.
Get involved!
Add your photo to show solidarity #WithRefugees!
This year, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency has launched a special campaign to create a global movement of solidarity with refugees. We ask everyone to upload their photo with our solidarity ribbon to show that they stand #WithRefugees around the world. Join us!
We have created a digital platform where you can upload your picture with a blue solidarity ribbon to show that you stand #withrefugees around the world.
Resources
Documents
- General Assembly Resolution 55/76 on World Refugee Day
- Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees
UN System Websites
- Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
- Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
- Relief Web
- Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
- Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC)
- World Food Programme (WFP)
- UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
Other Resources
The world is witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record. An unprecedented 70.8 million people around the world have been forced from home by conflict and persecution at the end of 2018. Among them are nearly 30 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18. There are also millions of stateless people, who have been denied a nationality and access to basic rights such as education, healthcare, employment and freedom of movement.
Related Observances
- World Day of Social Justice
- International Day of Living Together in Peace
- World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
- World Humanitarian Day
- International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief
- International Day for Tolerance
- International Migrants Day
- International Human Solidarity Day
International days and weeks are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. We also mark other UN observances.
