UN World Refugee Day

Did you know that every minute of the day 20 people leave their homes to escape war or terror? World Refugee Day is a day when we can support and celebrate the strength and courage of millions of refugees worldwide.

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Across the world there are currently over 65 million people who have had to leave their homes. Some have settled in new countries; many more are living in refugee camps, waiting for it to be safe enough to go home or to be resettled in a different country. The United Nations decided that refugees should have a special day, when we think of them and show our support. The first World Refugee Day was on 20 June 2001 and it’s been celebrated every year since then.

A refugee crisis

Sixty-five million people means that nearly one in 100 people in the world is a displaced person or refugee. We are now facing the worst refugee crisis in history. The number of refugees has doubled in the last twenty years. The situation is clearly worse in some countries than in others. Fifty-five per cent of refugees worldwide come from Syria, Afghanistan and South Sudan. Since the start of the war, more than 5.6 million Syrians have escaped the country and 6.1 million are still living in Syria but have had to leave their homes. Around half of these 11 million people are children.

The aim of World Refugee Day

A refugee crisis on this scale is difficult to deal with, but the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, reminds us that ‘the problems are war and hatred, not people who flee.’ World Refugee Day is about raising awareness of the situation and showing the refugees that together we can work to end the crisis and help displaced people to find safe and happy homes.

What happens on World Refugee Day?

There are a lot of events on 20 June in different countries. Many famous landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Empire State Building in New York, are covered in blue lights, the colour of the United Nations. In Glasgow, Scotland, people hold hands to form an enormous human chain around George Square, in the city centre, to ‘show the world that Scotland welcomes refugees’. In many places there are film showings, exhibitions and various fundraising events.

What you can do to help

A few years ago, the United Nations started a petition, #WithRefugees, for people worldwide to ask their governments to support refugees. So far nearly 2 million people have signed the petition. Many people also write letters to their governments or make a donation to a charity that supports refugees. So, what will you do?

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Average: 5 (2 votes)

Submitted by 1Enginner on Fri, 30/12/2022 - 12:36

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Hi everyone,
it is really a sadly situation. Especially Women, children survive in their counry because of war, famine, terror and a lots of reasons. We should be aware of situation becase this situation can be in your country, too. In last 20 years , Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and it non advenced counties like these still have exploited because of their fertile land and plenty underground sources.

Submitted by AHMED-star on Sun, 12/06/2022 - 09:27

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in my oppinion i thing to reduce some of refugee crisis each one can adobt a refugee child and consider him like one member of the family and to start that suppose to make initiative with name (adopt a refugee child)

Submitted by Thinthinmyoe on Sun, 04/07/2021 - 06:53

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I'm so sad reading about this article.Because, we are facing this war crisis because of the Military Coup.There are many thousands of people who have left from their homes in our country.Please help all the refugees in the world including our country.

Submitted by Stela Stoycheva on Tue, 15/06/2021 - 11:18

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That which I read for UN World Refugee Day was really interesting for me, I know in the world have many refugee, but I didn`t expect they`re like that number. I teach now about that Refugee Day... I really hope the world will be change it soon in better way for everyone.

Submitted by PARIMALA MADIAZHAKAN on Wed, 24/02/2021 - 03:58

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Yes definitely I learn more about refugees . There are million refugees were stayed in my country. In Malaysia almost 68% of refugees and asylum-seekers are men, while 32% are women. Refugees also have some rights to stay in other countries. We need to give them same level of respect because they also a human being that can be threated well. As a human we want against the conflicts and war around the world. It can help to reduction the number of refugeen around the world.

Submitted by Rad on Sat, 09/01/2021 - 14:22

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actually refugees all around the world go through hard times. So world refugee day has to be more glorified . besides, everyone must do Something to help the day get more famous ; at least by sharing some sort of clue about this real special day on thier own social media accounts. Because I beleive that the vast mojority of people do not even know it exists. Then the so-called letters that ppl send their Government mostly have no impact at all. However donations do.
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Submitted by danisep on Wed, 06/01/2021 - 16:57

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I even didn't know that exist one day about refugees, here in America we know that there is a terrible conflict in those countries but we cannot imagine how deep that situation is. This magazine helps me to be more conscious about the problems that are facing the world nowadays and looking for ways to help those people, like not contempt them or being reluctant instead give them a hand when someone needs it.

Submitted by cittàutopica on Sat, 26/12/2020 - 17:36

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Unfortunately the Refugee issue is one of the most serious question of our age; I think it's very difficult to find out a solution, because the reasons at the basis of this problem are numerous and various. Nevertheless each one of us can do something for raising awareness of this situation and helping the volunteers and the charities who work in this field.

Submitted by Min Htet Kaung on Sat, 18/07/2020 - 16:38

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As a country which has the longest civil war, there are a lot of refugees in our country, Myanmar, since getting independence from British. As a Myanmar citizen, I hope the civil government led by Aung San Suu Kyi can make the conflict between ethnic armed groups and military come to an end.

Submitted by kalyani perera on Sat, 04/07/2020 - 17:43

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I learned a lot about refugees about from where they come and the reason why they leave their own country I learned what they do on the world refugee day Most people write letters to the governments to make donations to the refugee fund.
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