World Refugee Day 2026

Friday June 20 is World Refugee Day.

World Refugee Day is an international day designated by the United Nations to honour refugees around the globe. It falls each year on June 20 and celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution.

According to the UN, at the end of June 2024, 122.6 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced from their homes due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order.

Glebe Road United Church, in collaboration with Northlea United Church, has raised more than $78,000 of the $96,000 needed to sponsor a family of nine Afghan refugees to move to Canada – seven children and two parents. The family are Hazara – a persecuted ethnic and religious minority – and are currently stateless living in fear for their safety.

For over a century, the Hazara community has suffered from targeted discrimination, persecution, and massacres because of their ethnicity and Shi’ite faith in a predominantly Sunni-Muslim country. In the 1890s, 60 per cent of the Hazara population was killed, and those who survived were dispossessed of their land, displaced from their homes and sold as slaves.

UNHCR

No one should live in fear because of who they are. We ask for your assistance in bringing this family home to Canada as soon as possible. Please help us raise the $18,000 needed to meet our $96,000 goal. You may give directly to our refugee fund by clicking the button below.

We are grateful for your response to God’s generosity. Please continue to give as you can, within your means.