June 20 World Refugee Day

World Refugee Day:
Just as we all make a special effort to remember our mothers on Mother’s Day, World Refugee Day wants everyone to remember the world’s refugees on their special day. The day is a salute to the spirit and courage of the world’s many refugees, extending to them our encouragement, support and respect. In 2006, the world counted 20.8 million refugees. About a third of them are refugees who have fled their countries due to civil wars and ethnic, tribal and religious violence – they were forced to flee, they have lost everything and they can’t return home. Nevertheless, many of them refuse to give up hope. Celebrating their courage and showing them our support is what World refugee day is all about.


The refugee challenge in the 21st century is changing rapidly. People are forced to flee their homes for increasingly complicated and interlinked reasons. Some 40 million people worldwide are already uprooted by violence and persecution, and it is likely that the future will see more people on the run as a growing number of push factors compound one another to create conditions for further forced displacement.
Today people do not just flee persecution and war but also injustice, exclusion, environmental pressures, competition for scarce resources and all the miserable human consequences of dysfunctional states.

The task facing the international community in this new environment is to find ways to unlock the potential of refugees who have so much to offer if they are given the opportunity to regain control over their lives.

The Nigerian Experience is what interest s me.
Please tell us any experience of Nigerians who are refugees in foreign lands and there numerous stories.