The definition of a refugee is someone who:
"owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it"
At the end of June 2024, 122.6 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced from their homes due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order.
Among those were 43.7 million refugees, (32 million refugees under UNHCR's mandate, and 6 million Palestine refugees under UNRWA's mandate). There were also 72.1 million internally displaced people and 8 million asylum seekers.
In the first half of 2024, the primary factors driving the increase in refugee numbers were ongoing displacements from Sudan and Ukraine. As of mid-2024, just over one-third of all refugees under the UNHCR's mandate, along with others in need of international protection, are hosted in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Türkiye, Colombia, Germany, and Uganda.
New internal displacements occurred in 16 countries, with six of them – Sudan, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ukraine, Haiti and Mozambique – accounting for 90 per cent of people who were forced to flee within their own country in 2024.
There are diminishing prospects for refugees when it comes to hopes of any quick end to their plight. In the 1990s, on average 1.5 million refugees were able to return home each year. Over the past decade that number has fallen to around 385,000, meaning that growth in displacement is today far outstripping solutions.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
People fleeing persecution and conflict have been granted asylum in foreign lands for thousands of years. The UN agency that helps refugees is UNHCR (also known as the UN Refugee Agency), which emerged in the wake of World War II to help Europeans displaced by that conflict.
UNHCR was established on December 14, 1950 by the UN General Assembly with a three-year mandate to complete its work and then disband. The following year, on July 28, the legal foundation of helping refugees and the basic statute guiding UNHCR's work, the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, was adopted. So instead of ending its work after three years, UNHCR has been working ever since to help refugees.
In the 1960s, the decolonization of Africa produced the first of that continent's numerous refugee crises needing UNHCR intervention. Over the following two decades, UNHCR had to help with displacement crises in Asia and Latin America. By the end of the century there were fresh refugee problems in Africa and, turning full circle, new waves of refugees in Europe from the series of wars in the Balkans.
UNHCR in the field
The UN Refugee Agency has its Headquarters in Geneva, but about 89 per cent of staff are in the field. Today, our staff provides protection and assistance to millions of refugees, returnees, internally displaced and stateless people in 136 countries. The largest portion of UNHCR staff are based in countries in Asia and Africa, the continents that both host and generate the most refugees and internally displaced people. Many are in isolated locations where staff work in difficult - and often dangerous - conditions.
Nansen Refugee Award
The UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award is given to individuals, groups, and organizations that demonstrate exceptional commitment to protecting refugees, displaced and stateless people.
The award was established in 1954 to honor the legacy of Fridtjof Nansen, a Norwegian scientist, polar explorer, diplomat, and the first High Commissioner for Refugees for the League of Nations.
The first Nansen Refugee Award was presented in 1954 to Eleanor Roosevelt, the first Chair of the UN Human Rights Commission and First Lady of the United States alongside President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Since then, over 60 individuals, organizations or groups have been honored with the Award, for their exceptional work and service towards people who are compelled to leave their homes.
Global Compact on Refugees
On 17 December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly approved the Global Compact on Refugees, a framework for more predictable and equitable responsibility-sharing, recognizing that a sustainable solution to refugee situations cannot be achieved without international cooperation.
The four key objectives of the Global Compact are:
- Ease the pressures on host countries
- Enhance refugee self-reliance.
- Expand access to third-country solutions.
- Support conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity.
The 2023 Global Refugee Forum, an event designed to support the practical implementation of the four objectives and the world’s largest international gathering on refugees, resulted in more than 1,600 pledges in support of refugees and their host communities, including 43 multi-partner commitments led by governments.
An estimated $2.2 billion in new financial commitments were announced by States and other actors, with some $250 million pledged by the private sector. These outcomes offer a source of hope for the more than 36 million refugees displaced worldwide.
UNRWA
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), was mandated by the UN General Assembly in 1949 to provide services to registered Palestine refugees in the Middle East. When the Agency began operations in 1950, it was responding to the needs of about 750,000 Palestine refugees.
UNRWA is a direct service provider, delivering primary and secondary education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance, and emergency aid to Palestine refugees, now numbering almost 6 million, in the Agency’s five mandated areas of operation: the Gaza Strip, West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
UNRWA mandate
Definitions of refugees under the 1951 Refugee Convention and of Palestine refugees per the UN General Assembly are complementary.
For UNRWA’s mandate, ‘Palestine refugee’ relates to people whose normal place of residence was Palestine between 1 June 1946 and 15 May 1948 and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict. Palestine refugees and their descendants can register with UNRWA to receive services in UNRWA’s mandated areas of operation.
The Member States, through the UN General Assembly, have tasked UNRWA to provide assistance and protection to Palestine refugees until a just and lasting political solution is found that addresses their plight.
Aftermath of 7 October 2023 attack
Since the beginning of the Israeli military operation in Gaza in response to the attack on Israel by Palestinian armed groups, almost two million people have been internally displaced in Gaza and 92% of the housing units have been either destroyed, or partially damaged preventing people from returning home
Following allegations that 12 UNRWA staff were involved in the attacks, the Secretary-General opened an investigation, the results of which were made public later in the year. The decision by various Member States to suspend funding to UNRWA over the allegations prompted a statement by the heads of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, the UN System’s highest-level humanitarian coordination forum, warning that “pausing funds from UNRWA will have catastrophic consequences for the people of Gaza”.
Descendants of refugees retain refugee status
Under international law and the principle of family unity, the children of refugees and their descendants are also considered refugees until a durable solution is found. Both UNRWA and UNHCR recognize descendants as refugees on this basis, a practice that has been widely accepted by the international community, including both donors and refugee hosting countries.
Palestine refugees are not distinct from other protracted refugee situations such as those from Afghanistan or Somalia, where there are multiple generations of refugees, considered by UNHCR as refugees and supported as such. Protracted refugee situations are the result of the failure to find political solutions to their underlying political crises.
Support for refugee camps
UN peacekeepers are often there to protect the camps in which refugees must live. When they are left without access to such basic necessities as food, water, sanitation and health care, the UN family provides it. Much of this support is provided through the United Nations humanitarian action machinery. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), through its “cluster approach”, brings together all major humanitarian agencies, both within and outside the UN system, for coordinated action.
UNHCR is the lead agency with respect to the protection of refugees and the internally displaced. Along with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), it is the lead agency for camp coordination and management. And it shares the lead with respect to emergency shelter with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has twice been the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize — in 1954 and most recently in 1981.
Climate change, natural disasters and displacement
In addition to persecution and conflict, in the 21st century, natural disaster (sometimes due to climate change) can also force people to seek refuge in other countries. Such disasters – floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, mudslides – are increasing in frequency and intensity. While most of the displacement caused by these events is internal, they can also cause people to cross borders. None of the existing international and regional refugee law instruments, however, specifically addresses the plight of such people.
Displacement caused by the slow-onset effects of climate change is largely internal as well. But through its acceleration of drought, desertification, the salinization of ground water and soil, and rising sea levels, climate change, too, can contribute to the displacement of people across international frontiers.
Other human-made calamities, such as severe socio-economic deprivation, can also cause people to flee across borders. While some may be escaping persecution, most leave because they lack any meaningful option to remain. The lack of food, water, education, health care and a livelihood would not ordinarily and by themselves sustain a refugee claim under the 1951 Convention. Nevertheless, some of these people may need some form of protection.
All of these circumstances - conflict, natural disasters, and climate change - pose enormous challenges for the international humanitarian community.
Climate change and conflict
An increasing numbers of people fleeing persecution, violence and human rights violations linked to the adverse effects of climate change and disasters require international protection.
In 2022, 84% of refugees and asylum seekers fled from countries highly vulnerable to climate change, whereas it was only 61% in 2010. The possibility of finding long-term solutions for these refugees is becoming increasingly limited. In 2020, only 1% of refugees were able to return home, which is a worrying trend, as the impact of climate change worsens the living conditions and opportunities for development in their countries of origin.
Moreover, a considerable percentage of forcibly displaced and stateless people are currently living in the most climate-vulnerable environments across the world. These people, along with their host communities, lack the resources and resilience necessary to cope with the impacts of climate change.
Women, girls, and other groups with specific needs often face greater challenges and burdens from the effects of climate change, due to existing cultural norms, roles, and responsibilities.
Events
As proclaimed by the General Assembly, World Refugee Day is observed annually on 20 June.
The UN General Assembly hosted a high-level meeting on 19 September 2016 to address large movements of refugees and migrants, with the aim of bringing countries together behind a more humane and coordinated approach.