The World Refugee Day is observed on June 20 to highlight the plight of refugees across the globe. According to the United Nations (UN) every minute, around 25 people have to leave everything in search of a better and safer life. The British Red Cross latest figures suggest that almost 120,000 refugees are living in the UK. In 2018, the UN suggested that the UK offered protection to approx 15,891 people. And of all these more than two in five were children.
As per the UNHCR(United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), among the forcibly displaced, there are 25.9 million refugees, 41.3 million people displaced in their own country, and 3.5 million asylum-seekers awaiting determination on refugee status.
Theme of World Refugee Day 2020:
This year the theme for World Refugee Day 2020 is Step With Refugees. As per the UN, in a world where violence forces thousands of families to flee for their lives each day, the time is now to show that the global public stands with refugees.
History of the World Refugee Day:
The first World Refugee Day was designated on June 20, 2001, by United Nations General Assembly. On this day, people all over the world will join together to express their support for and empathy with the world’s refugees. The worldwide commemoration is an opportunity to recognize the contributions that refugees make to their new countries or their homelands, if and when they can return.
June 20 was selected because of its significance as Africa Refugee Day, which has been celebrated by the Organization of African Unity every June 20 since 1975. African nations have a long tradition of generosity and welcome towards refugees.
What are the rights of refugees?
According to UNHCR, the 1951 Geneva Convention is the main international instrument of refugee law. The Convention spells out who a refugee is and the kind of legal protection, other assistance, and social rights he or she should receive from the countries who have signed the document. The Convention also defines a refugee’s obligations to host governments and certain categories of people, such as war criminals, who do not qualify for refugee status. The Convention was limited to protecting mainly European refugees in the aftermath of World War II, but another document, the 1967 Protocol, expanded the scope of the Convention as the problem of displacement spread around the world.
