“At sea, a frightening number of refugees and migrants are dying each year. On land, people fleeing war are finding their way blocked by closed borders. Closing borders does not solve the problem.”
– UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi
The UNHCR Global Trends Forced Displacement in 2015 Report finds that over 65 million people were displaced from their homes by conflict and persecution in 2015. This is more people that at any time since UNHCR records began.
This means that on average, 24 people were forced to flee each MINUTE in 2015, four times more than a decade earlier. (UNHCR Global Trends 2015).
One in every 113 people globally is now either an asylum-seeker, internally displaced or a refugee.
Many make treacherous journeys across land and sea, often having to risk their lives to find safety elsewhere. Along these journeys, refugees face many challenges, including risks to their physical and mental health. Women and children are often particularly at risk and children accounted for 51% of the world’s refugees in 2015, according to available UNHCR data. Many were separated from their parents or travelling alone.
“The willingness of nations to work together not just for refugees but for the collective human interest is what’s being tested today, and it’s this spirit of unity that badly needs to prevail.”
– UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi
No matter how many walls are built, no matter how many camps are torn down, no matter if borders are closed, the refugee crisis desperately needs a unified international response.
It is now up to all of us, to unite across borders and put pressure on Governments globally to respond and to address this humanitarian crisis.
It is time for us to stand together.
Wear your Tree-Tee as a symbol of unity. Tell the world you too, stand #WithRefugees #RefuTree