More than one million people around the world took part in marking World Refugee Day on 20th June, remembering the 42 million people who are currently displaced from their homes.
In his keynote speech, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said that many more millions had been displaced in the past 18 months from Cote d’lvoire, Libya, Mali, Somalia, Sudan and Syria.
Ban Ki-Moon said,
“These numbers represent far more than statistics; they are individuals and families whose lives have been upended, whose communities have been destroyed, and whose future remains uncertain."
"World Refugee Day is a moment to remember all those affected, and a time to intensify our support, despite budget constraints everywhere, we must not turn away from those in need. Refugees leave because they have no choice. We must choose to help.”
According to UNHCR, currently one out of every four refugees is from Afghanistan and 95 percent of them are currently living in Iran and Pakistan.
In a statement, U.S Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs, Reuben Brigety - who had gathered to mark World Refugee Day in Jacksonville Florida - said,
“These common human values - that every individual life has worth – have led the U.S. to respond generously to people fleeing violence in Africa and around the world. We have a “humanitarian imperative” to act - and we have.”
Sri Lankan state run media Daily News claims there are currently 136,605 Sri Lankan refugees around the world while 8,634 are Sri Lankan asylum-seekers.
World Refugee Day was instigated by the United Nations in order to bring attention to the millions of people who have been forced to leave their homes due to natural or human caused disasters.