Protect
“Our obligation to protect vulnerable migrants may be understood as a series of steps intended to defend their rights and dignity, independent of their legal status. This can occur not only through legislation or policy priority, but also how we engage migrants living in our communities.”
Pope Francis, 2018 World Day of Migrants and Refugees Message
World Refugee Day 2023
“Be a Friend to Refugees in your Community”
On June 20, 2023, we celebrate World Refugee Day, and its timing cannot be more pertinent to all of those who care for vulnerable migrant populations. During the last decade the number of people displaced from their homes because of persecution, human rights violations, and various forms of conflict has more than doubled. In 2011 there were an estimated 38 million people forcibly displaced. As of 2021 that number had increased to an astounding 89 million people. Men, woman, and children suddenly homeless, fleeing for their lives and in search of a new start.
Data produced by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees provides a startling reminder of the work that needs to be done on behalf of forcibly displaced migrants. There were more than 27 million refugees at the end of 2021, which does not even include the number of Ukrainians who fled following the invasion of Russia, 53.2 million internally displaced persons, and 4.6 million asylum seekers. It is imperative that political leaders around the world work together to address forcible displacement and provide support to those who are its victims, and for communities to welcome migrants and help them start a new life.
To learn more about the situation confronting forced migrants around the world and the conditions confronting these populations, please be sure to read UNHCR’s most recent Global Trends Report: Forced Displacement in 2021. Please let us know what you are doing for World Refugee Day 2023, by email Todd Scribner at TScribner@usccb.org and let us know how we can help you with these plans.