EU Statement on the occasion of World Refugee Day

On World Refugee Day, the EU and its Member States commemorate the strength and resilience of refugees, and forcibly displaced people who have left their homes due to conflict, violence, persecution or human rights violations. We also pay tribute to the humanitarian workers who often risk their lives to operate in remote and insecure environments, and acknowledge the vital work of international organisations providing valuable assistance to those on the move, including the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). We recall that this year’s World Refugee Day comes at a time when a record of more than 122 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide. We reiterate the EU’s commitment to uphold refugees’ rights, in line with EU and international law, including the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the 1951 Refugee Convention on the right to seek and enjoy asylum and the principle of non-refoulement. In this regard, we recall the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which strengthens the EU framework for migration and asylum through work on the external dimension of migration, the pursuit of comprehensive partnerships with partner countries, as well as facilitating the identification of statelessness. The EU and its Member States support millions of refugees and people forced to flee their homes. From those having fled the conflict in Syria, to hosting almost 4,3 million people from Ukraine under Temporary Protection due...