Addressing the commemoration ceremonies of the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, held in Geneva on July 28, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih insisted that the principles of that convention be upheld as the “moral compass but also a practical framework for action.” Salih, a former president of Iraq who had himself been a refugee, forced to flee his home, restated those principles: that “no person forced to flee persecution, violence or war should ever be without protection; that human dignity does not stop at a border; and that the international community has a shared responsibility to protect the vulnerable.”
He argued, as has Pope Leo XIV, that the world is responsible for changing the conditions which force so many to leave their home. “Displacement often reflects the international community’s failure to resolve conflict and sustain peace. Too often, we mobilize only after people have fled. Too rarely do we invest enough diplomatic energy and political will to prevent the crises that force people to flee in the first place.
“Humanitarian action saves lives. Protection saves lives. But only peace addresses the root causes of displacement…. We must move from managing displacement indefinitely to resolving it, collectively,” he repeated.
“Too often, people forced to flee become scapegoats for wider social, economic and political anxieties. Too often, refugees are portrayed as burdens or threats rather than as fellow human beings. We must have the courage to confront such narratives,” he urged. “The Refugee Convention reminds us of a deeper truth: refugees are first and foremost fellow human beings.” We must focus on their potential that they can realize if they are “given a chance to rebuild their lives.”
