June 20: World Refugee Day

On December 4, 2000, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), under resolution 55/76, requested that World Refugee Day be commemorated from June 20, 2001; request that was approved on February 12, 2001 by the General Assembly.

For the UN, international days are created in order to raise people’s awareness about unresolved problems in human rights issues, and to draw media and government attention to encourage the creation of specific public policies.

In this case, the date represented a tribute to the 50 years of work of the UNHCR “in favor of returnees, stateless persons and internally displaced persons”, and to the purposes of the United Nations (UN) to promote “peace, human rights humans and development.

The UNHCR was created in 1950 to “help millions of Europeans who had fled or lost their homes” during World War II. On July 28, 1951, in Geneva, the UN established the Convention relating to the Status of Refugeeswhich indicates the “fundamental concepts for the international protection of refugees.”

On its website, UNHCR notes that 145 states are part of this Convention, which defines who is a refugee and raises the need for international cooperation to solve this situation. It also establishes a number of rights and obligations of refugees with the country that hosts them, which increase based on the length of time they live in those places.

Its ultimate principle is that “a refugee should not be returned to a country where he or she faces serious threats to his or her life or freedom.”

On October 4, 1967, a Protocol on the Status of Refugees was created to eliminate the “limitation of time and space” posed in the 1951 Convention, which only allowed European refugees to request asylum.

According to the UN, currently “civilians who are forced to flee their country due to active conflicts” and those who prove that they are being persecuted can request refuge.

The Catholic Church and its work with refugees

The Catholic Church has also spoken out on the problem of refugees, migrants and displaced people, and has called on the faithful to welcome them on numerous occasions.

In 2013, the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Emigrants and Itinerants noted that “migration has changed and is destined to increase in future decades.” Likewise, he affirmed that the commitment of the Catholic Church towards migrants and refugees is attributed to the love and compassion of Jesus, the Good Samaritan.

In that sense, he cited the last two pontiffs to explain that by attending to the spiritual and pastoral needs of migrants, their human dignity is promoted and the Gospel of love and peace is proclaimed.

In Benedict XVI’s first encyclical, entitled God is charity(God is Love) of December 25, 2005, the Pope affirmed that love transcends any type of border or distinction: “The Church is the family of God in the world. In this family there should be no one who suffers for lack of what is necessary. But, at the same time, the charity-agapé surpasses the confines of the Church; The parable of the Good Samaritan remains the criterion of behavior and shows the universality of love that is directed towards the needy found ‘by chance’, whoever they may be.

Likewise, Pope Francis related the topic to the Resurrection and personal attitude, exhorting us to let the force of Christ’s love transform our lives to be instruments of mercy that God uses to “make justice and peace flourish.”

This implies “changing hate into love, revenge into forgiveness, war into peace. Yes, Christ is our peace, and through Him let us implore peace for the entire world (…), and for all violence to definitively cease, and, above all, for the (…) population affected by the conflict and the many refugees who are waiting for help and comfort,” Pope Francis noted in his message The city and the world on March 31, 2013.

Peace for those who “are forced to leave their homes and still live in fear (…), so that differences can be overcome and a renewed spirit of reconciliation may mature,” he added.

In July of that same year, Pope Francis made his first pastoral visit outside Rome as Pontiff. The place chosen was the Italian island of Lampedusa, where he met with 50 immigrants, including young Somalis and Eritreans who, like so many others, cross the seas risking their lives to reach Europe.

This year, in your message for the 110th World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2024which the Catholic Church will celebrate on Sunday, September 29, Pope Francis writes that like the people of Israel who fled Egypt, “migrants often flee situations of oppression and abuse, insecurity and discrimination, lack of development projects. And just like the Hebrews in the desert, emigrants also encounter many obstacles on their way: they are tested by thirst and hunger; they are exhausted by work and illness;

In this journey, the Pope explains, “many emigrants experience God as a traveling companion, guide and anchor of salvation. They entrust themselves to Him before leaving and to Him they turn in situations of need. In Him they seek consolation in moments of despair. Thanks to Him, there are good Samaritans along the way.”

“Let us unite in prayer for all those who have had to leave their land in search of decent living conditions. Let us feel ourselves on the journey together with them, let us make a ‘synod’ together and let us commend them all,” the Holy Father asked, “to the intercession of “the Blessed Virgin Mary, a sign of sure hope and consolation on the path of the faithful People of God.”