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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?