The Unfolding Global Displacement Crisis: A Call for Collective Action
Nairobi, Kenya – June 17, 2025 – As the world approaches World Refugee Day 2025, the global displacement crisis continues to escalate, reaching unprecedented levels. With over 122 million people forcibly displaced worldwide by early 2025, the sheer scale of human suffering demands urgent attention and a fundamental shift in how the international community addresses this complex challenge. This year’s World Refugee Day, observed on June 20th, carries the poignant theme of “Solidarity with Refugees”, emphasizing the critical need for action-oriented support and inclusive communities.
The figures paint a grim picture: more than 122 million individuals have been forced from their homes due to conflict, violence, persecution, and increasingly, climate change. This number has nearly doubled in the last decade, highlighting a bleak global reality as humanitarian aid funding faces severe cuts.
Hotspots of Displacement and Shrinking Aid
A significant portion of the forcibly displaced originate from just four war-torn countries: Afghanistan, Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine. Regions grappling with extreme hunger and malnutrition, such as the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, are also experiencing massive levels of displacement. The situation in Sudan, for instance, remains a critical focus, with ongoing conflict driving vast numbers of people from their homes.
Compounding this crisis is a concerning decline in international funding. In January 2025, the United States announced a 90-day pause in its foreign aid, further straining already limited resources and impacting millions who rely on humanitarian services. This dwindling support comes at a time when 73% of refugees are hosted by low- and middle-income countries, nations often struggling with their own challenges, such as Chad, which hosts 1.3 million forcibly displaced people, including 800,000 Sudanese who fled a brutal civil war and that healthy societies leave no one behind.
Challenges Beyond Displacement: A Multi-faceted Crisis
The challenges faced by refugees extend far beyond the initial displacement. Once uprooted, they often face:
- Disrupted access to essential services: This includes severely limited access to clean water, healthcare, and education in overcrowded camps and informal settlements.
- Exacerbated chronic illnesses and elevated mental health needs: The trauma of displacement, coupled with poor living conditions, takes a heavy toll on physical and mental well-being as health systems often fail to adapt to their mobile needs.
- Discrimination and isolation: Refugees often face social tensions and xenophobia within host communities, alongside linguistic and cultural barriers to services.
- Lack of livelihood opportunities: Job opportunities are almost nonexistent for many, leading to dependence on dwindling aid and a loss of dignity.
- Legal and policy barriers: Many individuals displaced by climate change, for example, lack formal legal status or protections, leaving them vulnerable and unprotected in the face of increasing climate-related displacement.
The Growing Shadow of Climate Change
Climate change is increasingly recognized as a significant driver of displacement, creating a “triple threat” alongside conflict and inequality. Extreme weather events, desertification, rising sea levels, and resource scarcity are forcing millions to leave their homes, often leading to internal displacement within their own countries. The World Bank projects that by 2050, up to 216 million people could become internal climate migrants if global warming continues unabated according to their 2021 Groundswell Report.
Pathways to Solutions: Integration and Empowerment
Despite the immense challenges, there are ongoing efforts and emerging models that offer a glimmer of hope for more sustainable solutions.
Kenya, for example, launched the Shirika Plan in March 2025.This groundbreaking initiative aims to foster the socioeconomic inclusion of refugees, shifting from aid dependency to long-term development. While facing criticism regarding consultation and implementation, the Shirika Plan represents a significant policy shift towards integration, opportunity, and shared prosperity, particularly for the over 843,000 refugees in the country, more than half of whom are children residing in camps like Dadaab and Kakuma, as well as urban areas.
Furthermore, the emphasis is growing on empowering refugees themselves. Refugee-led organizations (RLOs) are increasingly filling critical gaps in service delivery, demonstrating that refugees are not merely recipients of aid but are “architects of solutions” with unique skills and resilience.
World Refugee Day 2025: A Call to Action
World Refugee Day 2025, with its theme of “Solidarity with Refugees,” calls for a renewed global commitment to protecting the rights, strength, and contributions of displaced people. This means:
- Listening to refugee voices: Ensuring their inclusion in decisions that affect their lives.
- Advocating for their right to seek safety: Challenging policies that restrict movement and deny fundamental human rights.
- Promoting inclusive communities: Fostering environments where refugees can rebuild their lives with dignity and opportunity.
- Investing in long-term solutions: Shifting from reactive emergency responses to proactive development and integration strategies.
On June 20th, events around the world will highlight these urgent issues. UNESCO, for instance, is hosting a webinar focused on “Solidarity through recognition,” exploring pathways to recognize refugee skills and qualifications to enhance access to higher education and support inclusion as only 7% of refugees currently have access to higher education globally. The World Health Organization (WHO) will also reaffirm its commitment to ensuring refugees’ right to health, emphasizing that “Health is a human right, regardless of race, religion, age, nationality or sex” and that healthy societies leave no one behind.
As we reflect on World Refugee Day 2025, it is a potent reminder that the global displacement crisis is not just a statistic; it represents millions of individual stories of courage, loss, and an unwavering hope for a brighter future. True solidarity demands not only empathy but concrete action to ensure that those forced to flee are not forgotten or left behind.
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