Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, highlighted the significant contributions of refugees to their host communities, serving as workers, students, neighbors, artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, and leaders. “When given the opportunity, they rebuild their lives and help strengthen the communities around them,” Grandi stated.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a message calling for stronger support for displaced people and the communities that host them. “As divisions deepen in our world, new and protracted conflicts are forcing millions of women, children, and men to seek safety far from their homes,” Guterres said. He emphasized that these “turbulent times” require renewed solidarity and firm action to protect refugees.
Grandi shared a personal reflection: “Fleeing home and seeking safety is one of the hardest decisions a person can make. I know this from personal experience,” he said, recalling his own escape from repression in Iraq during his youth. The High Commissioner insisted, “While a person may be defined as a refugee for a time, being a refugee should not define a person’s life.” He warned that millions of refugees are “trapped in dependency, relying on dwindling assistance to survive on a daily basis.”
While humanitarian aid is crucial for saving lives during emergencies, many refugees face prolonged displacement for years, even decades. Grandi asserted, “Being a refugee should be a temporary situation, not a lifetime sentence.” He outlined an ambitious goal: “to halve the number of refugees living in protracted displacement and dependent on humanitarian assistance within a decade.” Efforts will concentrate on low and middle-income countries, which host the majority of refugees. “Achieving this goal… will dramatically improve the lives of millions. This is the path by which we can move from merely managing displacement to resolving it,” he added.
This year’s World Refugee Day also marks the 75th anniversary of the Refugee Convention. Adopted after World War II, the 1951 agreement ensures that anyone forced to flee war, conflict, or persecution has the right to seek safety and protection. “We must continue to live up to that promise. Until everyone is safe, none of us are safe,” Grandi stated. He concluded, “This is not just a statement of solidarity, but a call to action. Because the right to seek safety was made for times like these, and it is our duty to defend it.”
The High Commissioner leads UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, which is calling on young people to stand with refugees and defend the right to asylum, under this year’s World Refugee Day theme: “Hope Away From Home.” The campaign challenges stereotypes about refugees and highlights that the right to seek safety extends beyond escaping war or violence. It also complements UNHCR’s ’50 by 35′ vision to halve the number of long-term displaced refugees by 2035, first outlined in UNHCR’s latest Global Trends Report. The vision aims to increase access to job opportunities, national education, health, and social protection systems to foster refugee self-reliance and reduce dependency on aid.
