World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honour refugees around the globe. It falls each year on 20 June and honours the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution. One in every 70 people, or 1.4 per cent of the entire world’s population, is now forcibly displaced
World Refugee Day was held globally for the first time on 20 June 2001 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. Throughout 2026, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is embarking on a series of national, regional, and global dialogues to mark the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention.
At the end of 2025, there were 41.6 million refugees with 5.4 million people were forced to flee and seek safety in other countries during 2025.
