Media Center

Press Release

Statement of the OAS General Secretariat on World Refugee Day

On World Refugee Day, the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) wants to shed light on the situation of forced displacement faced by millions of people in the world and their host communities.

Today it is even more necessary that we show our solidarity, awareness of and responsibility to all refugees.

Climate change and natural disasters, increasing levels of violence and insecurity, high poverty rates and low levels of economic development, the breakdown of democracy and the violation of human rights in some countries are some of the factors that compel people to leave their homes and start from scratch in new countries with the hope of living with protection, security and better living conditions.

UNHCR's 2023 annual Global Trends report noted that by the end of 2022, worldwide, the number of people displaced by persecution, armed conflict, violence and human rights violations amounted to 108.4 million, which also meant the largest annual increase recorded. In the Americas, 2022 ended with more than 6 million refugees and people in need of international protection, most of them Venezuelans, which represents an increase of 17 percent since the end of 2021.

In our hemisphere, countries like Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador opened their doors and welcomed more than 4 million refugees and people in need of protection in 2022 alone.

In addition, in 2022 the highest number of new asylum applications ever recorded was reported, approximately 2.6 million. More than 2 out of 5 new applications were filed by nationals of Latin American and Caribbean countries.

At the OAS General Secretariat, we believe that meeting the humanitarian needs of people who are forced to leave their countries of origin is our collective responsibility. It is also important to guarantee their protection and full inclusion in the societies that receive them. We will continue to work closely with Member states and international organizations such as UNHCR to protect the human rights of refugees, through lasting solutions.

Among these, for example, we celebrate the implementation of six projects that will benefit more than 100,000 displaced people in Central America and Mexico.

We call on the international community, States and other actors to join the regional migration and protection mechanisms already established in the region in order to strengthen international cooperation and not duplicate efforts, using the Commission on Migration Issues (CAM) of the OAS to support the articulation of those efforts.

The General Secretariat of the OAS calls on States, the private sector, civil society, and multilateral organizations to continue working together to provide shelter, protection, support, and hope to all refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced persons in the Americas.

Reference: E-029/23