High Commissioner for Refugees at the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), inclusion is the greatest strategy to help refugees in exile, According to Filippo Grandi.
Grandi said in his message for World Refugee Day 2023 on Tuesday that inclusion would prepare them to help rebuild their countries if conditions allowed them to return, or to prosper if they were placed elsewhere.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), World Refugee Day is observed each year on June 20 to honor refugees all around the world.
According to Grandi, host countries cannot care for refugees on their own, and the rest of the international community must step up and offer the financial resources to allow progressive policies to be implemented.
“We have seen enormous progress in this area over the past years, with outstanding donor generosity, innovative approaches to financing, and huge investments by the World Bank, regional development banks, and other international financial institutions. But clearly, more must be done.
“It is time for us all to commit to including refugees in our communities at all levels – in our schools, workplaces, healthcare systems, and beyond, as the Kenyan government is doing, so that refugees can regain hope away from home.”
Grandi said that he was marking the 2023 occasion in Kenya, meeting refugees brimming with strength and ambition despite escaping conflict, drought, and other horrors.
He said Kenya and Kenyans had generously hosted refugees for over 30 years and he had seen the impact of the many positive and concrete steps to improve conditions for refugees and host communities.
“I am using this particular visit to highlight to the rest of the world that we can – and must – do more to offer such hope, opportunities, and solutions to refugees, wherever they are and whatever the context. Kenya shows that it is possible.
“Including refugees in the communities where they have found safety is the most effective way to help them restart their lives and contribute to the countries hosting them.
“In real terms, this means ensuring that refugees can apply for jobs, enroll in schools, and access services like housing and health care. It also means fostering a sense of belonging and welcome that gives hope to refugees uprooted from their homes.
“The government here is poised to roll out innovative and inclusive policies that will allow many of the half a million refugees and asylum-seekers to work and live side by side with Kenyans. This will encourage self-reliance, grow the economy, and reduce dependence on humanitarian aid,” he said.
He went on to say that the difficulties that host countries face in a world devoid of peace must be acknowledged.
According to Grandi, it is frequently border villages that continue to receive and welcome people fleeing conflict.
Countries bordering Sudan, he claims, are an example of this unity.
“Many refugee-hosting countries like Sudan have the will to welcome and include refugees,but need far more investment and support to do so. Unfortunately, in today’s divided world, long-term solutions for people forced to flee remain pitifully scarce, leaving many of the world’s 35 million refugees in limbo.”
He called on leaders to live up to their responsibility to broker peace and stop violence ,so that refugees could return home safely and voluntarily.
He also urged governments to increase resettlement opportunities for refugees desperately in need.
“I call on states to embrace policies that harness the enormous potential refugees have to contribute to the social, economic and political life of the countries hosting them.
“We know too well the cost of inaction: a world with the highest forced displacement in recorded history. We cannot let this continue,” Grandi said.
