World Refugee Day

World Refugee Day is an annual observance on June 20th that honors the courage, resilience, and strength of millions of refugees around the world. It serves as a reminder to raise awareness about the challenges faced by refugees, promote empathy, and advocate for their rights and well-being. Study this vocabulary list to learn the important words that you can use to help raise awareness about refugees.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. asylum
    a shelter from danger or hardship
    “We would have been stuck in Pakistan without the chance for asylum. We would be a family without a country. There was no way we could go back to Afghanistan.” Shooting Kabul
  2. displace
    cause to move, usually with force or pressure
    Colonial governments, and later the United States, frequently deployed rangers to quash Indigenous resistance and displace Indigenous nations. An Indigenous People’s History of the United States
  3. exile
    the act of expelling a person from their native land
    “And you know that’s why many in our community came to live in exile so far from our original homeland?” Habibi
  4. immigration
    movement of people into a country or area
    When we arrived at the United States-Mexico border, Papá told us that we had to cross the barbed-wire fence without being seen by la migra, the immigration officers dressed in green uniforms. Breaking Through
  5. integration
    incorporating a racial or religious group into a community
    In an effort to demonstrate their commitment to a genuinely multiracial, working-class movement against white elites, the Populists made strides toward racial integration, a symbol of their commitment to class-based unity. The New Jim Crow
  6. non-refoulement
    refusal to forcibly relocate refugees to unsafe countries
    “Thailand remains committed and will continue to uphold its long-held humanitarian tradition, including the principle of non-refoulement, in assisting those in need.”
    – Seattle Times
  7. persecution
    causing someone to suffer
    Anti-Semitism, the persecution of Jews, did not only happen in Germany. Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow
  8. protection
    the activity of shielding someone or something
    But the place was so packed with refugees seeking protection, we couldn’t all stay there. Before We Were Free
  9. refoulement
    forced relocation of refugees to unsafe countries
    The forcible return of the migrants, a practice known as refoulement, has also put many of them in lethal danger on land, because of Libya’s civil war.
    – New York Times
  10. refuge
    a shelter from danger or hardship
    I was sure my son had managed to escape abroad by crossing some border pass or had taken refuge in some embassy, on the assumption that he was being looked for. The House of the Spirits: A Novel
  11. refugee
    an exile who flees for safety
    At the time, we were living as refugees, driven from our home in the Democratic Republic of the Congo because we belonged to a minority tribe, the Banyamulenge. How Dare the Sun Rise
  12. repatriation
    the act of returning to one's country of origin
    When the day of my repatriation finally came, I packed my few belongings in a plastic bag. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
  13. resettlement
    the transportation of people to a new place to live
    Against all odds and after countless interviews with UN personnel, she learned that she and her boys had been accepted for resettlement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference
  14. migration
    the movement of persons from one locality to another
    The neighborhood experienced a dramatic population influx in the 1840s, when the Irish potato famine led to a great migration to America, as tens of thousands of Irish immigrants landed in Boston. 1919 The Year That Changed America
  15. migrate
    move from one country or region to another and settle there
    Now, to our right are dozens of families, migrating in droves—as if they’re all partaking in some kind of divine pilgrimage. Dry
  16. humanitarian
    marked by devotion to popular welfare
    Those who are fortunate enough to secure asylum status receive humanitarian aid and assistance with establishing a new life in Europe. Without Refuge
  17. flee
    run away quickly
    During a radio interview in Fort Lauderdale, one caller told him, referring to the boats of Haitian refugees fleeing the violence and poverty, “We can’t have Haitians coming into our country.” Mountains Beyond Mountains
  18. haven
    a shelter serving as a place of safety or sanctuary
    She had always thought of Boston as a safe place, a haven, for runaway slaves, just like Philadelphia. Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad
  19. crisis
    an unstable situation of extreme danger or difficulty
    He had covered a lot of conflicts—including the Iran-Iraq war and the crises in Cambodia, Rwanda, and the Congo—and he had followed the plight of refugees in Sudan, Iran, India, and Pakistan. Shooting Kabul
Created on Tue Jun 20 18:13:10 EDT 2023 (updated Fri Jul 07 16:13:54 EDT 2023)

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