20th of June: celebrating the World Refugee Day

According to the UN, forced displacement is a daily issue: every 20 minutes a person leaves everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror. These people have the right to seek safety and should be welcomed and protected regardless of age, culture, race, sexual orientation, etc. For this reason, the UN has established the 20th of June as the universal refugee day, with a clear message: dignity, welcoming and protection must be given to “whoever, wherever, whenever”.

Not only refugees, forcibly displaced people can also be asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons, stateless persons and returnees. The UN has been trying to address the situation of all these people since 1951, with the draft of the Refugee Convention and its 1967 additional protocol. The document targets those who escape their country of origin due to threats of life or freedom and aims at guaranteeing no pushbacks, as well as safeguarding minimum rights for these people at the host country, such as the rights to work, housing, education, access to court, freedom of religion, and so on.
According to the UN, the principle behind the concession of rights to refugees is temporal: “the longer they remain as refugees, the more rights they need”.

This year’s theme is “Hope Away from Home”. Find out more about this special day here.