Help protect the right to seek safety
Around the world, the right to seek safety from war, violence and persecution is under threat. Too many people are forced to make life-threatening journeys as they try to find safety.
We cannot stand by and watch this happen. Can you?
Act now, call on world leaders to protect people seeking asylum and their rights.
No one should have to pay with their lives or freedom to reach safety.
This film is a dramatization of the journey of a refugee. The cast are actors.
Becoming a refugee is not a choice. But how we act towards them, is.
Do you look the other way when you see discrimination, injustice and violations of human rights?
Or do you take action?
110 million
people are forcibly displaced around the world.
live in low or middle income countries.
34.6 million
people were forced to flee their homes and cross international borders by end of 2022. Most, over 70% are hosted in neighbouring countries.
The need for solidarity with people seeking safety has never been greater
Today, a record number of people have been forced to flee their homes due to wars, violence and persecution. The total number of refugees worldwide rose by a record 35 per cent to reach 34.6 million at the end of 2022.
We are witnessing rising hostility and xenophobia. The politicization of refugees and asylum seekers in many parts of the world is leading to more negative sentiment and harmful consequences for refugees and asylum seekers.
Together we must challenge this narrative and promote a more compassionate world towards refugees and people seeking safety from wars, violence and persecution.
We cannot do it alone. You too can make a difference. Urge global leaders to uphold their moral and legal obligations to help ensure people seeking asylum from war, violence or persecution, can do so without discrimination.
© UNHCR/Mercury Transformations
ACT NOW Call for urgent action to protect the rights of people fleeing war, violence and persecution
Everyone has the right to seek and enjoy asylum. But for many people in many parts of the world this right is under threat. Solidarity with all refugees, everywhere, is needed more than ever to defend and uphold this right.
We are UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. And we ask you to stand in solidarity with people forced to flee and take action to give hope, protection and safeguard their rights.
This December sees a chance to advocate for change as world leaders will come together at the Global Refugee Forum in Switzerland to find solutions for refugees and people displaced from their homes. It’s not just a meeting for them: it’s a chance for all of society and you, too, to show your solidarity and urge leaders to uphold their legal and moral obligations for everyone forced to flee their homes.
Sign our petition now so that we can take your message to world leaders at December’s Global Refugee Forum and show them that compassion and humanity are stronger than fear and suspicion. With your voice added in solidarity, change is more possible.
Read the full petition
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to seek and enjoy asylum, without discrimination. This means that no matter who you are or where you are from, you have a right to seek and enjoy safety from war, violence and persecution. To find sanctuary and hope away from home.
However, not everyone seeking safety around the globe is currently able to find it. Far from being able to find the shelter so desperately needed, many men, women and children today face dangerous, life-threatening journeys and unacceptable harm. They find themselves pushed back towards danger, unwelcomed, vulnerable and left in limbo for years without hope or help.
We are witnessing increased hostility, unfair treatment and injustice that is putting the lives of many at risk and threatening the right to seek safety for too many people around the world.
We cannot stand by and watch this happen.
As the world’s leading organization protecting the rights of those forced to flee, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency is calling for urgent action now to help ensure that people fleeing war, violence and persecution can access safe territory, can be swiftly granted refugee status where needed, can live with dignity and can enjoy their rights like healthcare, education and jobs – together with the communities hosting them.
We call on world leaders to honor their legal and moral obligations to help ensure people seeking asylum from war, violence or persecution, can do so without discrimination. We call on world leaders to act together. We call on world leaders to share responsibility so that countries hosting the vast majority of the world’s refugees are supported in fulfilling their longstanding commitments to protect, include and help refugees. These are largely countries with low and middle incomes that despite facing economic challenges of their own, have been honoring the right to seek asylum for decades, keeping their borders open to those who have been forced to flee. They need increased support and solidarity.
UNHCR’s Hope Away from Home Campaign is calling for world leaders to act together and with solidarity to prioritize:
- Access to safe territory and preventing people from facing violence or dying along the routes.
- Adequate conditions and treatment for refugees in line with human rights, dignity and inclusion.
- Accession to the Refugee Convention, lifting reservations and establishing efficient asylum procedures.
- Increased access to durable solutions, including resettlement.
- Solidarity and support to countries and communities hosting large refugee populations.
Join our movement of solidarity to give hope to all those seeking safety across the world and UNHCR will deliver your urgent message to world leaders and decision makers at the Global Refugee Forum in December, a key moment where the international community will come together to pledge support for refugees and the countries and communities that host them.
UNHCR’s five key asks of States
The Hope Away from Home campaign establishes five key asks of States with support from UNHCR and partners, to amend policies and introduce new practices so that all people fleeing war, violence and persecution can find and live in safety, without discrimination.
1
Access to safe territory and preventing people from facing violence or dying along the routes.
2
Adequate conditions and treatment for refugees in line with human rights, dignity and inclusion.
3
Accession to the Refugee Convention, lifting reservations and establishing efficient asylum procedures.
4
Increased access to durable solutions, including resettlement.
5
Solidarity and support to countries and communities hosting large refugee populations.
Sign the petition to call for urgent action now to help ensure that people fleeing war, violence and persecution can access safe territory, can be swiftly granted refugee status where needed, can live with dignity and can enjoy their rights like healthcare, education and jobs – together with the communities hosting them.