From Australasia to the Americas, UNHCR is leading celebrations of the lives of men, women and children finding new hope after escaping danger.
GENEVA – Chefs, muralists, cyclists and even a pop-up orchestra led millions of people around the world in celebratory events to mark World Refugee Day, at a time when the number of men, women and children uprooted by wars and persecution has broken records.
The event, which falls each year on June 20, salutes the courage and endurance of those who have been forced to flee their homes. Many are also showing they stand #WithRefugees by signing UNHCR’s petition. Check back here throughout the day for updates.
Sydney, Australia
Supporters of UNHCR Australia got together for a World Refugee Day breakfast at hotel in downtown Sydney. About 400 people were expected at the white tablecloth event to show solidarity with refugees.
Seoul, South Korea
A video featuring UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Jung Woo-sung on a mission in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq plays on a large screen outside Seoul City Hall. The video featuring the model, actor and director will run there through June 30.
In Korea, UNHCR’s public service announcement for World Refugee Day 2017 featuring Goodwill Ambassador Jung Woo-sung and UNHCR’s work in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, is showing on the large screen outside the Seoul City Hall. © UNHCR/Kim Jae Yoon
Lalitpur, Nepal
About 500 cyclists put on helmets and pedalled through the streets of Lalitpur, Nepal, on Saturday in solidarity with refugees. The Himalayan kingdom has itself suffered massive displacement, after more than half a million people lost their homes in an eqrthquake in April 2015.
Some 500 participants gathered for the ‘Ride for Refugees’ event in Lalitpur, Nepal on Saturday, June 17, 2017. © UNHCR/Deepesh Das Shrestha
Duhok, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, Iraq
In a dazzling display of support for World Refugee Day in Iraq, artists, forcibly displaced youngsters and their host communities got together to paint murals in celebration of a shared humanity. They included a bear and its cub emerging from a waterfall in Sulaymaniyah, a shimmering peacock in Duhok and a flower-daubed deer in Erbil.
Celebrations to mark World Refugee Day got off to a brisk start in Chad, with a game of wheelchair basketball. Chad hosted more than 391,000 refugees at the end of last year.
Mariupol, Ukraine
Ukrainians dancers and musicians showed their support for refugees at an outdoor concert in Mariupol at the weekend. Some two million people have been displaced by conflict in eastern Ukraine since 2014. The city recently faced rocket attacks and electricity cuts that left thousands without vital services in freezing temperatures.
Paris, France
Eighty-four restaurants are taking part in this year’s much expanded Refugee Food Festival, now being held in 13 European cities across six countries. Running through June 30, it gives refugee chefs from countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Somalia, Syria and Ukraine the chance to tempt European diners with dishes from home. Last year the festival took place in Paris and Strasbourg.
Syrian refugee Chef Nabil Attar and French chef Walid Sahed show their joint creation at Les Pantins restaurant in Paris on June 16, 2017. © UNHCR/Benjamin Loyseau
Stockholm, Sweden
As a prelude to World Refugee Day in Sweden, UNHCR organized a pop-up philharmonic concert for passers-by in central Stockholm. The concert was performed by the El Sistema Sweden Dream Orchestra, an NGO that works with newly arrived asylum-seeking children and uses music as a way of helping them to integrate. Most of the youngsters had never played an instrument before joining the orchestra.
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