Refugee World Day

World Refugee Day is on June 20. This date coincides with the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951 signed by 145 countries all around the world and helps to commemorate the strength, courage, and perseverance of millions of people obliged to flee from their homes.

The right of asylum is not only a humanitarian issue, but a fundamental right included in the Declaration of Human Rights. Every human being has the right to look for protection out of their countries when obliged to flee conflict or persecution because of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or political stance.

Nowadays, the principal causes of forced displacement are war, poverty and inequality. According to the last data offered by the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR), in 2019 118.264 people requested asylum in Spain. This amount doubles last year’s requests. However, only half of them were answered, and just 1 solicitant out of 20 received the protection they need to survive. At international level, The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has pointed out that in 2019 more than 70 million people flee their countries to save their lives.

Refugees are one of the most vulnerable groups. This year, in which the whole world is going through a sanitary crisis provoked by the coronavirus SARS-CoV2, invites us to think about all the people that are separated from their families because of forced migration. Similarly, we reflect on the conditions in the refugee camps, where the agglomerations make it impossible to maintain social distance and hygienic conditions.

There is no doubt that the fight for a fairer and more equitable society implies to eradicate the systematic human rights violation and to respond to the necessities of all those people that left everything to save their lives. Necessities that not only imply a right of asylum, but also the right to health, to work, to receive an education and, in essence, the right to live in dignity.