World Refugee Day and the Years of Exile
June 20 is recognized as “World Refugee Day”, a day designated by the United Nations (UN) Refugee Agency, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to focus global attention on the plight of people fleeing conflict or persecution. It is an international day designated to honour refugees around the globe. It celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution.
Nearly 21 years ago, the United Nations founded World Refugee Day as an opportunity for everyone to experience, understand and recognise the strength of the refugees who had fled the conflict and persecution of their country with the hope of finding sanctuary and living a better life. World Refugee Day was first observed on June 20, 2001, to recognise the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
It was adopted by the United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons on July 28, 1951, and entered into force on April 22, 1954. The convention, along with its 1967 Protocol, forms the cornerstone of international refugee protection. The 1951 Refugee Convention acknowledges a refugee as an individual who is unable to return to their country of origin owing to the founded fear of being affected by their race, religion, participation of a social group or in different political opinions. The 1967 Protocol,
