Political Quotes

“this Sunday, June 20, is World Refugee Day. On June 20, 2001, we recognized World Refugee Day for the first time, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. At the end of the last century, war and ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia left many people without a home or the protection of their country of origin. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 and the subsequent wars in the Democratic Republic of Congo forced refugees to flee to Tanzania and other neighboring states. As of last fall, over 300,000 individuals in Tanzania were still waiting for safe, third country resettlement. The dissolution of the former Soviet Union, followed by war and ethnic strife in Chechnya, the Caucasus, and Central Asian successor states, created millions of refugees and internally displaced persons. Some of these former Soviet citizens were left stateless and remain so, unable to claim the rights or protection of any nation. Despite these tragic events, the first World Refugee Day was an occasion of great hope. It provided an opportunity to celebrate the perseverance of refugees as they begin new lives in foreign lands, join new communities, learn new languages, and help their families adjust. The inaugural World Refugee Day celebrated the hard work of organizations such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other voluntary agencies dedicated to serving refugees.”