2023 has been another record-breaking year of forced displacement. This year, World Refugee Day focuses on the power of inclusion and solutions for refugees. The 2023 theme of World Refugee Day is “hope away from home.”
People walk past tents on their way to board a train after crossing the border from Ukraine to Poland, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the border checkpoint in Medyka, Poland, March 9, 2022. Credit: REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/
Including refugees in the communities where they have found safety after fleeing conflict and persecution is the most effective way to support them in restarting their lives and enable them to contribute to the countries hosting them.
It’s also the best way to prepare them to return home and rebuild their countries, when conditions allow them to do so safely and voluntarily, or to thrive if they are resettled to another country.
Credit: Razieh Gholami, from Afghanistan, painted in 2019
What can you do?
GIVE
Support the refugees families by donating to International Rescue Committee
CREATE
Join the Youth with Refugees Art Contest, which will launch on 20 June, and get a chance to design shirts that will raise funds for refugees.