World Refugee Day: EU commits to be a leading global donor to support refugees worldwide

On World Refugee Day, the European Union has reaffirmed its commitment to be a “leading global donor to support refugees worldwide”.

“We are committed to strengthening our efforts to ensure the EU remains a place where refugees find protection and safety,” the European Commission and EU High Representative Josep Borrell said in a statement, recalling that more than 120 million people are forcibly displaced worldwide today.

Concretely, the EU is actively following through on its pledge made at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum to improve the situation of millions of refugees and forcibly displaced persons caught up in conflicts and major humanitarian crises across the world such as Gaza, Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Venezuela, Yemen, Sudan, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

The EU also said that its focus is on durable solutions, working alongside national and local authorities to address the needs and resilience of refugees and the communities hosting them. 

The EU also hosts an increasing number of refugees and people forced to flee their homes. For example, because of Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine, EU member states are now hosting almost 4.2 million people from Ukraine under temporary protection, among whom one third are children.

On 13 June, the Council of the European Union welcomed the European Commission’s proposal to extend until March 2026 the temporary protection for more than 4 million Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s war of aggression. 

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Press release