World Refugee Day
Whoever. Wherever. Whenever. Everyone has the right to seek safety.
June 20, 2022
World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honour refugees around the globe. It falls each year on June 20 and celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution. World Refugee Day is an occasion to build empathy and understanding for their plight and to recognize their resilience in rebuilding their lives.
This year, the focus will be on the right to seek safety. Every person on this planet has a right to seek safety – whoever they are, wherever they come from and whenever they are forced to flee.
Whoever they are, people forced to flee should be treated with dignity. Anyone can seek protection, regardless of who they are or what they believe. It is non-negotiable: seeking safety is a human right.
Wherever they come from, people forced to flee should be welcomed. Refugees come from all over the globe. To get out of harm’s way, they might take a plane, a boat, or travel on foot. What remains universal is the right to seek safety.
Whenever people are forced to flee, they have a right to be protected. Whatever the threat – war, violence, persecution – everyone deserves protection. Everyone has a right to be safe.
To learn more, visit UNHCR – World Refugee Day
How can you help?
Volunteers are matched with a newcomer and participate in social activities together, such as conversation circles, informal ESL tutoring, cooking classes, doing homework together, attending sports events, going on community tours, meeting for coffee, and attending a community or cultural events. You and the newcomer will mutually decide on the nature of the activity, and when, where and how frequently to meet.
Targeted Matching Program: as a mentor, you will be matched with a newcomer family for a period of one year to help newcomers participate in the community. With your support newcomers will be able to improve their language skills, build social and professional networks, learn about life in Canada and Regina, and prepare for work in Canada.
To learn more and get involved contact Deborah at volunteer@rods.sk.ca
The Refugee Sponsorship Training Program (RSTP) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is hosting a webinar that addresses The Global Refugee Crisis and the Impact of COVID-19 on Refugees and Resettlement.
They will discuss how Canadians can sponsor refugees through a program that identifies those in the most dire need of resettlement. This is called the BVOR program. They will also review the services that RSTP offers to sponsors.
Globally, 107,800 refugees were resettled in 2019. Just over half of all UNHCR resettlement submissions concerned children. Other groups included survivors of torture and/or violence, people with legal and physical protection needs, LGBTQI refugees and particularly vulnerable women and girls.
The full Global Trends report, which includes data on individual countries, demographics, numbers of people returning to their countries, and available estimates of stateless populations is available here.
A refugee is someone who fled his or her home and country owing to “a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion”, according to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention. Many refugees are in exile to escape the effects of natural or human-made disasters.
Asylum seekers say they are refugees and have fled their homes as refugees do, but their claim to refugee status is not yet definitively evaluated in the country to which they fled.
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are people who have not crossed an international border but have moved to a different region than the one they call home within their own country.
Stateless persons do not have a recognized nationality and do not belong to any country.
Stateless situations are usually caused by discrimination against certain groups. Their lack of identification — a citizenship certificate — can exclude them from access to important government services, including health care, education or employment.
Returnees are former refugees who return to their own countries or regions of origin after time in exile. Returnees need continuous support and reintegration assistance to ensure that they can rebuild their lives at home.
The Regina Open Door Society (RODS) is a non-profit organization that provides settlement and integration services to refugees and immigrants in Regina. RODS is committed to meeting the needs of newcomers by offering programs and services that enable them to achieve their goals and participate fully in the larger community.
Charitable Registration #: 119114205RR0001
2314 11th Avenue
Regina , SK S4P 0K1
Media inquiries/requests send to media@rods.sk.ca
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