Justice For All commemorates 75th anniversary of World Refugee Day, Calls World to do More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK (June 19, 2026)

On World Refugee Day, Justice For All commemorates the 75th anniversary of the global promise that people forced to flee have the right to seek safety and protection. This year’s theme is  the right to seek safety as a common safeguard for all of us. It reminds us that no one is safe until the most vulnerable among us are.

Today, more than 123 million people are forcibly displaced across 37 countries, including Palestine, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burma/Myanmar, Syria, Afghanistan and Iran. Thirty-six million of these have UNHCR status, and nearly 1.2 million Rohingya are prima facie refugees. The recent Israeli-U.S. war on Iran has triggered new waves of population displacement, overwhelming regional humanitarian systems.

In addition, there are countless others excluded by the official numbers: victims of human trafficking and white slavery, people displaced by climate disasters without legal refugee status and those fleeing persecution who never reach a registration point. These uncounted millions also deserve safety.

The global humanitarian system is buckling. UNHCR faces a 40% budget shortfall for 2026, leaving millions without shelter or protection. UNICEF has been forced to cut refugee education programs. The U.S. has lost its humanitarian leadership. The ongoing detention and deportation of asylum seekers by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) violates the very right to seek safety this day commemorates.

Justice For All calls on: wealthy nations to finance fully the work of UNHCR and other U.N. agencies. True solidarity means sharing responsibility, not leaving low-income countries hosting 70% of the world’s refugees to bear the burden alone.

We call on the U.S. to restore and strengthen USAID funding for global refugee protection, and to end ICE detention and deportation of asylum seekers. The right to seek safety means nothing if people are jailed and returned to harm.

We call on the global community to recognize climate refugees under international law and provide dedicated protection pathways.

On this World Refugee Day, Justice For All reaffirms that refugees are not statistics. They are human beings entitled to dignity, protection, justice and hope.

Contact Information: Imam Saffet Catovic, Director of U.N. Operations

Email: saffet@justiceforall.org.  Phone: 202-908-JUST. Website: https://www.justiceforall.org

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