Political Quotes

“Madam President, today on World Refugee Day, I am here to honor the tens of millions of people worldwide who have been forced to flee their homes. World Refugee Day was first held in June of 2001 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention and to shine a light on the needs and rights of refugees while giving voice to their aspirations. At that time, in 2001, the number of forcibly displaced persons globally was close to 20 million. Today that number stands at 120 million people, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency. This staggering figure, the highest in recorded history, means that 1.5 percent of the entire world's population has been forced to flee their homes as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, or natural disasters like drought, crop failures, or famine. In the past 10 years, the number of forcibly displaced persons has more than doubled as new conflicts have arisen and longstanding crises have gone unresolved, made worse by the impacts of climate change, food insecurity, and poverty. Of this 120 million, there are more than 31 million refugees who have crossed international borders to seek safety in another country--31 million people who are not safe from prosecution in their own country of origin. There are more than 68 million internally displaced persons, the majority of whom are women and children, forced from their homes but still within the country's borders.…”