On World Refugee Day, observed annually on 20 June, senior UN officials issued a call for renewed international solidarity with people forced to flee and the communities that have welcomed them. The appeal came as global displacement continues to rise, driven by new and protracted conflicts compelling millions to seek safety far from home.

Barham Salih, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, highlighted the contributions refugees make as workers, students, neighbours, artists, athletes, entrepreneurs and leaders. “Given the opportunity, they rebuild their lives and help strengthen the societies around them,” he said. Drawing on his own experience as a young man who fled repression in Iraq,  Salih insisted that “while a person may, for a time, be defined as a refugee, becoming a refugee should not define a person’s life.”

He warned, however, that millions of refugees find themselves trapped in dependency, relying on a dwindling amount of aid for their daily survival. Too many spend years, or even decades, in protracted displacement. “Being a refugee is meant to be a temporary condition, not a lifelong fate,” he said.

An Ambitious Target

Salih set out a goal to cut by half, within ten years, the number of refugees living in protracted displacement and reliant on humanitarian assistance, with efforts focused on low and middle-income countries that host the majority of refugees. “Achieving this target would vastly improve the lives of millions of people. It is how we can move from merely managing displacement to resolving it,” he said.

The target, first outlined in UNHCR’s recent Global Trends Report, is known as the 50 by 35 vision. It aims to expand refugees’ access to employment, national education, health care and social protection systems in order to foster self-reliance and reduce dependency on aid.

A Landmark Anniversary

This year’s World Refugee Day also marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, adopted in the aftermath of the Second World War. The treaty enshrined the right of anyone forced to flee war, conflict or persecution to seek safety and protection. “We must continue to uphold that promise. Until everyone is safe, none of us are safe,” Salih said. “This is not merely a statement of solidarity but a call to action. Because the right to seek safety was made for times like these, and it is up to all of us to defend it.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres echoed the call, stressing that these turbulent times demand renewed solidarity and robust action to protect refugees. UNHCR is rallying young people around the theme Until Everyone is Safe, a campaign that challenges stereotypes about refugees and emphasises that the right to seek safety extends beyond merely escaping war or violence.

 

Source: UN News, 20 June 2026