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
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.