June 20 is a day to come together and commemorate the strength and resilience that refugees possess and continue to exhibit despite the hindrances in their lives. On December 4, 2000, the UN named June 20 World Refugee Day in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

The 1951 Convention not only defined the term “refugee”, but also outlined the rights of displaced people and the legal obligations of states to protect those displaced by conflict. The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) serves as the institution that defends these protocols and guidelines, protecting and aiding refugees at the request of governments and the UN, and assisting in voluntary repatriation and resettlement efforts for refugee populations around the world.

Although today is called World Refugee Day, there are varying terms to describe displaced people. The Canadian organization Humanitarian Coalition defines a refugee as a person who is outside their country of nationality “owing to a well-rounded fear of being persecuted.” Once deemed a refugee, a person is entitled to the protections outlined in the Refugee Convention, including international protection and assistance. Despite that presumed security, there are many pitfalls and flaws that vary country to country, depending on inequities among refugees from different nationalities, outdated qualities of the 1951 Convention, and the evident struggles of simply moving to a new country with the ‘refugee’ stigma. An internally displaced person (often called IDP for short) is someone who has fled their home but has not left their country of origin. In 2015, there were around 38.2 million people who, after being forced out of their homes, met this definition. Asylum seekers are individuals who are seeking protection as a refugee but have not yet been legally granted refugee status. Without refugee-specific protections, they may be forced to return to their country, where persecution awaits them. Finally, stateless people are those who are not considered nationals of any state. The UNHCR estimates about 10 million people worldwide are stateless due to discrimination by other groups, flaws in nationality laws, and differences in country borders.

Last year, the United Nations created a #WithRefugees petition to garner support of refugees and encourage governments to do their part in protecting and assisting our world’s refugees. As European countries and other states such as Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey are inundated with refugees they do not have the capacity to fully support, we call on other governments, such as the United States, to do their part to alleviate the crisis – by supporting refugees in the region, accepting more refugees into the U.S., and by investing in conflict mitigation and prevention efforts to prevent future refugee crises from occurring.

Here are three ways you can take action for World Refugee Day:

1. Sign the #WithRefugees petition.
2. Call your Senators and Representatives and express the need for them to support U.S. refugee resettlement.
     
3. Attend an event near you! Look at this map to find your closest community event.

In order to send a message to the Trump Administration that we, as Americans, support refugees and resettlement programs in the U.S., we are co-sponsoring a rally at the White House today. Our message is clear – “No hate. No fear. Refugees are welcome here.” By standing with a variety of allies, from faith communities to business leaders, advocacy groups to individual committed citizens, we will urge the President and Congress to commit to resettling 75,000 refugees in 2018. Please join us, or participate in an event near you, to stand with our refugees and make a message.

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Ashley Morefield is a rising senior at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She majors in International Studies with a concentration in Sub-Saharan Africa and French & Francophone Studies. After spending a year studying abroad in Toulouse, France, she’s excited to intern at STAND’s office in Washington, D.C. this summer.

Featured Image: (c) Wikipedia. 2013.

Today is World Refugee Day, the 62nd anniversary of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, which defined the term “refugee” as well as the rights and the responsibilities of states to refugees. According to the UN, every minute 8 people leave their country to escape persecution or terror. At the end of 2011, an estimated 43 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced, and 46% of refugees were children.

As crises such as that in Syria continue, the issue of refugees is an aspect of conflict not to be forgotten. Currently, over 1.6 million Syrians are being hosted by foreign countries. The flow of refugees has wildly escalated in recent months, as over 1 million of these refugees have been displaced since January 2013. Over 75% of the Syrian refugees are women and children. To learn more about the refugee situation in Syria, visit the UNHCR website.

This refugee crisis is not unique to Syria. In the Jonglei state of South Sudan, 120,000 refugees are being denied aid by the authorities as the government says it is difficult to separate the civilians from the rebels. Over 250,000 Darfuris are still living in refugee camps in Chad.

All refugees face a difficult situation, but Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) refugees face added challenges. Many refugees who flee persecution go to countries where homosexuality is not generally accepted, such as Uganda. As of August 2012, Uganda holds over 190,000 refugees. This is the same nation that has threatened since 2009 to pass a law that makes a consenual hoomosexual relationship punishable with life in prison.

On Monday, the Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration (ORAM) held an event detailing the struggles of LGBTI refugees and asylum seekers. Victor Mukasa, a Ugandan human rights defender, told his powerful story of activism and his fight for safety. As a transgendered open lesbian, Mukasa has faced discrimination and harassment for many years. After becoming an LGBTI activist, Mukasa was threatened, but did not want to leave his home country of Uganda. Said Mukasa, “I felt like a prisoner in my own country.” After his house was raided by the government and his family was endangered due to his activism, he sought asylum in the United States. His family continues to be unsafe. Mukasa is angry about his experience as a refugee in the United States. While he waited for asylum approval, he could not afford to eat and was not allowed to work. Mukasa spoke of feeling a loss of his dignity – he lost everything when he became a refugee. “I am a human rights defender. That is my passion. Forced to leave Uganda – I feel useless to my people,” he says. Read more of Mukasa’s story here.

To be officially labeled as a refugee, a person must first go through “refugee status determination.” This includes being interviewed by a government employee or police officer and explaining why he/she should be considered a refugee. Many LGBTI refugees either have not accepted themselves as LGBTI or are afraid to share the truth with a foreign official. For this reason, many tell a fabricated story and then are denied refugee status. Others encounter unsympathetic officials.

Once accepted as a refugee, some LGBTI people face issues in refugee camps, such as hostile communities that don’t accept homosexuality. People are forced to become refugees because they are fleeing persecution or terror, and LGBTI refugees often have the added struggle of dealing with being LGBTI in an unwelcoming community. The majority of LGBTI asylum seekers seek temporary relocation – they do not wish to become refugees, but are fleeing threats to themselves or their families.

Neil Grungras of ORAM spoke of a spot of hope on this issue – the international dialogue has shifted, now acknowledging LGBTI issues as human rights issues, not only social issues. On World Refugee Day, it is important to remember its relevance not only in the context of current conflicts like Syria, but to remember the added struggle that LGBTI refugees face in their quest for safety.