World Refugee Day
Educate yourself and others about the plights of refugees around the world, and foster empathy and care for those who need our help in these times.
Amplify refugee advocacy and humanitarian impact through awareness campaigns that drive donations, volunteering, and policy engagement.
- Share refugee success stories and resilience narratives to humanize the crisis
- Partner with NGOs to highlight urgent needs and donation opportunities
- Host virtual or in-person awareness events featuring refugee voices and expert panels
- Create educational content on refugee rights and how to support UNHCR/UNRWA initiatives
The concept of seeking refuge, often in a holy place, dates as far back as Ancient Egypt, but international efforts to protect refugees only began in the early 20th century when the High Commission for Refugees was founded by the League of Nations in 1921.
While the Commission was originally intended to help people escaping the Russian Revolution, over time it came to care for refugees from various other countries as well.
In 1950 the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was set up in Switzerland – it’s the main organization responsible for supporting and safeguarding refugees to this day.
Only those Palestinian refugees who fled the 1948 war with Israel are cared for by another body, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
Over the course of the past century, people have fled terror and oppression all over the world, from places such as Armenia and Germany, Spain and Turkey.
In recent decades, many refugees have come from countries such as Afghanistan, Somalia, South Sudan and Syria, with Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon and Iran hosting the most refugees.
There are currently around 70 million displaced people across the globe, which equates to just under 1 in every 100 people. Sadly, over half of these are children, many of whom are alone and separated from their families.
World Refugee Day was founded by the UN General Assembly on 4 December 2000 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The Convention established various rights for refugees, including the right to work, the right to education and the right to travel.
20 June was picked in order to coincide with the already established Africa Refugee Day, which was organized by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and celebrated on this date prior to 2001.
Each year has a different theme such as hope, perseverance, tolerance and respect, and the occasion is marked via a whole host of events in over 100 countries. The day aims to raise awareness of and take action in support of the plight of refugees, as well as honor their bravery and perseverance.
While there is no one definition for the term ‘refugee’, it generally means someone who has had to leave their home and seek refuge in a different country.
Refugees may be escaping from a variety of threats, including war and persecution, and they have the right not to be returned to the place from which they fled, known as the right to non-refoulment.
Until an individual has been granted refugee status, either by their host country or by the UNHCR, they are known as an asylum seeker, and people fleeing their homes but remaining in the same country are called internally displaced persons (IDPs).
The ultimate goal for refugees is to return to their home country once it’s safe for them to do so; however, sadly in many cases this isn’t possible, at least for a number of years. In the meantime, the aim is for refugees to integrate into their host nation, or if needed to be resettled in a different safe country.
The integration process in any new country can be a difficult and lengthy process, with short-term, basic needs such as food and shelter met first, often by way of a refugee camp, and social and cultural integration occurring later, for example once the refugee has a place in the country’s workforce commensurate to their previous career and qualifications.
Refugees can face many challenges even after escaping the situation at home. Refugee camps in particular can be overcrowded and underequipped, often with poor sanitary conditions, disease outbreaks, conflict and violence.
And in wider society refugees may encounter stigma, hostility and xenophobia from other citizens, struggle in education due to language barriers and suffer from various mental health issues such as PTSD, depression and homesickness.
Yet despite these difficulties refugees can also make incredibly valuable contributions to their host country, whether it be the skills and expertise they add to the workforce, the support they give to their local community or the new culture they share with society.