UN chief visits Iraq, Afghan refugees on World Refugee Day; 'Everyone has right to safety'

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday reflected on the courage and resilience of those fleeing war, violence, and persecution, as he observed World Refugee Day on 20 June. Guterres, in a statement on Monday, said that the UN recognizes the compassion of those states who welcome the refugees fleeing the atrocities in their homelands. To date, the global refugee population is at a record high, he informed. 

Guterres invoked the ongoing war in Ukraine that he said has triggered the largest and fastest displacement in Europe since World War II.  Women and children have been fleeing conflict elsewhere in the world, and figures of those that have been forcibly displaced people have reached 100 million. Guterres went on and termed the refugee crisis “a grim indictment of our times.”

“People escaping violence or persecution must be able to cross borders safely,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “They must not face discrimination at borders or be unfairly denied refugee status or asylum due to their race, religion, gender or country of origin,” he added. 

The UN chief further reiterated that the lives and freedom of those fleeing atrocities would be at risk if they weren’t accepted elsewhere and that like every human being, the refugees should be treated with respect. “Let us pledge to do more for refugees everywhere — and for the countries that host them while themselves facing a cascade of challenges,” Guterres appealed. 

UN chief visits refugees from Iraq & Afghanistan

Guterres’ first stop was in Brooklyn on World Refugee Day, where he visited Suzan Al Shammari, an Iraqi refugee who in 2010 fled with her family from Baghdad to Cairo, Egypt. Those fleeing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were able to settle in the US with the help of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. Several others were also resettled in California. Al Shammari told the Secretary-General that while she witnessed war for the most part of her life, she wants to be able to support other refugees to find a life elsewhere. The latter is currently a caseworker with a non-governmental organization (NGO) – having recently graduated with a university master’s degree. 

“Every day you think it is going to be the last. And it is not just one of those things... it literally could be your last. When I went to Egypt with my family it was also hard being there as a refugee in limbo. So, moving to the US, as big a blessing as it was, it took me some years to adjust that ‘I am not going to die tomorrow’,”  Al Shammari told Guterres. 

UN data suggest that currently, an estimated 1.2 million are internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Iraq from among more than six million initially displaced by violence involving the ISIL terror network from 2014 to 2017. Iraq has been hosting more than 290,000 refugees from Syria and other countries – mostly in the Kurdistan region, which in early 2020, housed 25 of the country’s 26 camps. UN chief visited Queens where he met an Afghan refugee couple, Shafi Alif and Rohina Sofizada, who welcomed him with spiced green tea and traditional Afghan treats. The couple had registered with UNHCR, and the agency provided them with financial support as they settled back in Kabul, including transportation and a cash stipend.

“My family was rejected at the border two times, even having all [the necessary] visas and documents,” said Sofizada. “We are relieved to be here, but we still worry about our relatives”.

According to the UN, there are an estimated 2.6 million registered Afghan refugees that are displaced to countries worldwide. Of these, 2.2 million are registered in Iran and Pakistan alone. And another 3.5 million are internally displaced.