World Refugee Day, 20t June

Until Everyone Is Safe

The promise we must keep: 75 years ago, after World War II, the world made a promise through the 1951 Refugee Convention: people forced to flee danger should not be sent back to harm. They deserve to live in safety and dignity while away from home. That promise wasn’t made for one country or one time. It was made for all of humanity.

Today that promise is being tested. More than 117 million people worldwide have been forced to leave their homes by war, violence, persecution, and disaster. Families from Sudan, DR Congo, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, Myanmar, and many other places are on the move.

When refugees are denied protection, everyone loses. Families take dangerous routes. Children miss years of school. Women and girls face more risk. Host communities struggle without support. Protecting refugees isn’t just kindness. It’s how we keep communities stable and peaceful.

This year’s message: Until Everyone Is Safe
It’s a call to action:  
1. Governments: Keep asylum systems fair and open  
2. Donors: Keep funding food, shelter, health care, and education  
3. Communities: Welcome people forced to flee. Safety is not about nationality, wealth, race, religion, gender, or politics  
4. All of us: Defend the idea that no one should be sent back to danger

Protection is real when refugees can live without fear, rebuild their lives, contribute to new communities, and return home safely when it’s possible.

Who are forcibly displaced people?
- Refugees: People who crossed a border because of fear of persecution for race, religion, nationality, social group, or political opinion  
- Asylum seekers: People asking another country to recognize them as refugees  
- Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs): People forced to move inside their own country, not across borders  
- Stateless persons: People with no recognized nationality. Without ID, they often can’t get health care, school, or jobs  
- Returnees: Refugees who go back home and need help rebuilding their lives

Key facts
1. Every minute, 20 people flee their homes because of war, persecution, or terror  
2. By mid-2025: 117.3 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide  
3. 71% of refugees are hosted by low- and middle-income countries. 25% are hosted by the world’s poorest countries  
4. Sudan has the largest displacement crisis: 13.4 million people displaced  
5. 3 in 4 refugees live in places with high climate risk like floods, drought, and heat

The 1951 Refugee Convention: 5 rights that matter most 
Refugees deserve basic rights in their host country:  
1. No return to danger - “Non-refoulement” means you can’t be sent back where your life is threatened  
2. Right to work, housing, and education - so people can rebuild, not just survive  
3. Right to freedom of movement and religion 
4. Right to identity papers and travel documents
5. Right to access courts and public assistance

The longer someone stays displaced, the more rights they need to live fully.

What you can do today
1. Learn a refugee’s story. Listen without judgment  
2. Challenge stereotypes. Refugees are doctors, teachers, farmers, students — people like us  
3. Support local groups helping refugees with food, jobs, or language classes  
4. Speak up when you hear hate or misinformation

World Refugee Day isn’t just about their courage. It’s about our choice to keep the promise of safety alive.

Because until everyone is safe, none of us truly are.

#WorldRefugeeDay #UntilEveryoneIsSafe #StandWithRefugees