UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasised on World Refugee Day the urgent need for global solidarity to support refugees, stressing the importance of security and the opportunity to rebuild their lives with dignity.
The theme for 2024 is “For a World Where Refugees Are Welcomed.”
Guterres said:
Refugees need our solidarity now more than ever. Solidarity means keeping our doors open, celebrating their strengths and achievements, and reflecting on the challenges they face.
He also added solidarity with those forced to flee also involves finding solutions to their plight, such as ending conflicts so they can return home safely, ensuring they have opportunities to thrive in host communities, and providing countries with the resources needed to house and support refugees. Guterres urged:
On World Refugee Day, let’s reaffirm the world’s collective responsibility in assisting and welcoming refugees, upholding their human rights—including the right to seek asylum—and ultimately resolving conflicts so that those forced from their communities can return home.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement on its website X that more than half a million people have been forced to return from Pakistan to Afghanistan since October last year. The UN agency noted that some of these people have now been forced to flee their homes again due to the worsening climate crisis in the country.
Afghanistan remains one of the countries with the largest number of refugees in the world.
