The United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention clearly articulates the rights of refugees, including protection from expulsion or punishment for illegal entry into other territories, and access to work, housing, education, relief, freedom of religion, and freedom of movement.
World Refugee Day, observed annually on June 20, honors the strength and courage of individuals forced to flee their home countries to escape conflict or persecution. This day aims to foster empathy, awareness, and understanding of their struggles, and to recognize their resilience in rebuilding their lives.
This year, World Refugee Day is celebrated under the theme “Solidarity with Refugees.” In line with this theme, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for “A World Where Refugees are Welcomed,” emphasizing the need for solidarity, open doors, and meeting refugees’ basic needs.
According to the United Nations, every minute, 20 people are forced to leave everything behind to escape war, persecution, or terror. This is exemplified by the situation in the Gaza Strip, where around 2.3 million people have become Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) with no shelters and nowhere to go, under full siege and continuous bombardment.
As of mid-2023, the UN Refugee Agency estimated that 110 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced due to wars, insecurity, droughts, floods, and prolonged humanitarian crises. In Gaza, 610,000 children are currently trapped in Rafah with no safe place to go, and under current restrictions, they lack access to basic necessities for survival.
On World Refugee Day, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics revealed that over 6 million refugees are registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Palestine and the diaspora, highlighting the ongoing plight of those forcibly displaced during the 1948 Nakba. Of these, around 2.5 million reside in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, making up approximately 42 percent of the total Palestinian refugee population (15 percent in the West Bank and 27 percent in Gaza).
Forcibly displacing people from Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli occupation forces, while further disrupting the aid response, threatens the lives of many children and the entire population, who are suffering under full siege and military control. Israel’s air and ground campaign in Gaza has resulted in unprecedented casualties, including hundreds of family members from the same bloodline, primarily refugees and their descendants.
The ongoing war on Gaza has proven even deadlier than the displacement from Israel in 1948, said Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian-American historian at Columbia University, when 20,000 were killed in what is known as the Nakbah, or Catastrophe.
