Christian Groups to Commemorate Sixth World Refugee Day
Christian Groups will join in commemorating World Refugee Day to recognize and celebrate the contribution of refugees around the world next Tuesday.
Christian Groups will join in commemorating World Refugee Day to recognize and celebrate the contribution of refugees around the world next Tuesday.
The United Nation General Assembly designated June 20 as the annual day where over a hundred countries will observe the situation of refugees. The High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will commemorate the Day with the inspirational theme “Hope,” in order to draw the public’s attention to the millions of refugees worldwide who are forced to flee their homes.
Among the U.N. member activity list are Church World Service and World Relief. Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program (CWS/IRP) and member denominations provide help and homes to refugees and to build a community in the United States for “uprooted” people.
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CWS/IRP encourages congregations and other groups to take time on or around June 20 to remember the some 33 million people around the world who are forcibly uprooted from their homes and encourage people to work so that refugees can return home or find new homes safe from persecution and violence.
Since 1946, CWS has helped more than 450,000 refugees begin new lives in the United States and continues to resettle about 8,000 refugees and Cuban and Haitian entrants each year. In refugee camps in Africa and Asia, CWS provides health care and post-primary education through its Durable Solutions for Displaced People program, and spiritual care for immigrant detainees through its Religious Services Program.
World Relief and a network of evangelical church partners have also worked extensively with refugees, greeting them at airports, arranging accommodations, and teaching them English, American culture, and how to find employment for example. WR has helped more than 90,000 refugees begin new lives in 27 communities across America since 1979.
In Liberia, where the U.N. High Commissioner Antonio Guterres will end his eight-day mission, hundreds of thousands of people are making their return to their devastated homelands in hope of rebuilding their lives.
Some 6 million other refugees worldwide have also made the same decision to repatriate over the past four year, contributing to a 31 percent decline in the number of global refugees.
