AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: World Refugee Day 2007

On World Refugee Day 2007, Amnesty International stands in solidarity with refugees around the world from countries such as Afghanistan, Burundi, Iraq, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Sudan who are awaiting a solution to their plight and sometimes have been for generations. ----Amnesty international calls on all governments to uphold their international obligations to respect and protect the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers. However, in many parts of the world, governments are portraying refugees and asylum-seekers as a threat to the societies in which they have sought protection. Such fears are being used and fuelled by the same governments that have legally committed themselves to protect refugees from the persecution they have escaped in their countries.