World Refugee Day

World Refugee Day

All persons, including children and adolescents, undertake mobility processes motivated by different causes linked to both individual or personal elements, as well as structural factors related to the precariousness of life in their places of origin. Thus, they move due to cultural circumstances, such as the search for better education, economic circumstances in search of better job opportunities, or family circumstances in search of reuniting with their loved ones.

When we talk about refugees, we refer to those who flee their countries because they feel threatened or because they are subject to persecution or when there are serious human rights violations in their places of origin, resulting in a lack of protection at the national level that forces them to to seek protection at the international level.

According to UNHCR, almost half of the world’s refugees are children and adolescents. On many occasions they travel in the company of relatives, and many also do so without any accompaniment.

This situation of vulnerability given by the combination of age, human mobility condition and need for international protection, demands specific and adequate protection by the States, of origin, transit and destination.

On this World Refugee Day, it is important to remember that:

-Seeking asylum is a human right: everyone has the right to seek protection.

-Borders must be open to all people who have been forced to flee

-The principle of non-refoulement must be complied with: no person should be forced to return to the country where their life or freedom is in danger.

-Refugee applicants may not be discriminated against based on factors such as religion, gender or country of origin.

-People who have been forced to flee deserve to be treated with dignity. This is linked to protecting the family unit and avoiding arbitrary arrests.