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World Refugee Day 2025: Date, theme, history, significance — all you need to know

World Refugee Day 2025 Date, History, and Theme: The global observance will fall on Friday, 20 June 2025, this year. It will focus on the theme "Solidarity with Refugees."

World Refugee Day 2025: All you need to know about the day. (Source: Freepik)

World Refugee Day 2025 Date, History, and Theme: World Refugee Day is a global observance established by the United Nations, dedicated to honouring the strength and resilience of refugees worldwide.

This day also emphasises the importance of advocating for their rights. According to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention, refugees are “individuals who fled their home and country due to ‘a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion’.

This day was first observed globally on 20 June 2001, to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees.

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Formerly known as Africa Refugee Day, it was changed to this day when the United Nations General Assembly declared it an international day in December 2000.

World Refugee Day falls on Friday, 20 June 2025, this year. It will focus on the theme “Solidarity with Refugees,” a call for action to move beyond mere words and take meaningful actions to support them.

“So let us choose solidarity. Let us choose courage. Let us choose humanity,” says UN Secretary-General António Guterres on World Refugee Day 2025. (Screenshot)

According to the UN, every minute, 20 people leave everything to flee conflict, persecution, or terror, and World Refugee Day serves as an opportunity to build empathy and understanding for their predicament, as well as to recognise their resilience in reconstructing their lives.

Together, we can fight for their right to safety, get support for their economic and social inclusion, and lobby for solutions to their problems.

Every person has the right to seek safety.

💙 Whoever they are.
💙 Wherever they come from.
💙 Whenever they are forced to flee.

This #WorldRefugeeDay — and every day — we stand with all refugees, everywhere. pic.twitter.com/vr3ar1SvnV

— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) June 17, 2025