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‘A world where the most vulnerable are unsafe is a world where no one is truly safe’

19/06/2026 Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation

World Refugee Day
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On the eve of World Refugee Day (20 June), Sandra Zampa (Italy, SOC), Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation, made the following statement:

“This year’s World Refugee Day is special. It is 75 years since the signature of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the foundation of our system of international protection, when the countries of the world pledged to uphold every person’s right to seek protection from war and persecution. It is needed still – UNHCR tells us that over 117 million people are still forcibly displaced worldwide.

Yet today, that historic pledge is beginning to crumble before our eyes. Populists use migration to whip up discontent. Towers of barbed wire confront those on the move.

The essential function of asylum — humanity’s outstretched helping hand to itself — is increasingly being shifted away from direct responsibility, rather than being preserved within accessible territories where protection can be sought. At the same time, people fleeing desperate situations risk being denied entry or subjected to collective expulsions at borders, undermining access to territory and the right to seek international protection.

This has to stop. A world where the most vulnerable are unsafe is a world where no one is truly safe. On this Refugee Day, here are some essential things I am calling on Council of Europe member states to do:

  • Access to territory, fair and effective asylum procedures must be ensured – and every asylum request must be assessed on its merits.
  • International protection means ensuring the right to reach a place of refuge. Too many people have gone missing or died along their migration journeys, never reaching safe environments. States have a duty to stop this from happening, and to clarify the fate of those who have been lost.
  • Expand resettlement and complementary pathways.

On this 75th anniversary of the Refugee Convention, I pay tribute to all those who have been forced to leave everything behind. The promise we made to you in 1951 to guarantee your right to international protection is a responsibility we all share. We will do our best to keep that promise.”