Press Releases

The Gift of Safety at the Heart of World Refugee Day

"How do you save someone's life?" asks Johan Ketelers, Secretary General of the International Catholic Migration Commission. "One way is to simply open a door."

Opening a door, even for a temporary period, means safety -and life- for someone who has been forced to leave their own home and land because of persecution, or because life has become impossible in his home country. He or she has no choice but to move to another, "safer" area in his or her home country or to seek refuge abroad.

Together with the United Nations and other international organizations, ICMC has worked since 1951 to help open doors for men, women and children fleeing for their lives. One door at a time, ICMC has helped millions of refugees over the decades, including large numbers fleeing war-related persecution and displacement in Europe, Southeast Asia and the former Yugoslavia.

On the occasion of World Refugee Day 2007, ICMC commends in particular the governments and people of Jordan and Syria, and others in the region and internationally, including Lebanon, Egypt and Sweden, for welcoming and offering safety this year to so many refugees from Iraq during their moment of need.

Today, ICMC is one of the most active organizations responding to refugees from Iraq. There are currently 2.2 million refugees from Iraq in Jordan, Syria and other neighboring countries, a number that UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres describes as "the biggest urban caseload ever dealt with." ICMC underscores its call for a comprehensive political solution that includes an immediate and massive increase in humanitarian assistance from countries outside the region to these refugees, and to the 6 million other men, women and children inside Iraq that the International Red Cross has termed "in urgent need," lacking food and access to clean water.

As a result of the Iraqi conflict, the worldwide number of refugees of concern to UNHCR has climbed from 8.4 million last year to 9.9 million currently. Three out of four refugees is a woman or child.

Like millions of Afghan refugees these past five years, most refugees are expected to be able to return home one day, many assisted by the UN and organizations like ICMC and its members in countries to and from which refugees flee. A smaller number of refugees will be permitted by the country to which they fled to stay permanently. Less than 1% of all refugees are actually resettled. Countries of resettlement are: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. One of ICMC's major activities is a resettlement program that helps to prepare thousands of refugees for resettlement to the United States each year.