How UNHCR protects people forced to flee
How UNHCR protects people forced to flee
Sudanese refugee Khadija Mahamat Ali, 72, receives help from UNHCR staff at the Madjigilta site in Chad's Ouaddaï region, on the border with Sudan.
People usually look to their own governments to keep them safe and guarantee their rights, but when a war breaks out, violence takes hold or abuses multiply, they may have no choice but to look for safety and protection elsewhere.
Under international law, people forced to flee conflict, violence or persecution who seek safety in another country are refugees. They differ from migrants because they cannot return to their countries without risking serious harm or even death. The country to which they flee is responsible for protecting them.
Hosting large numbers of refugees can place a huge strain on governments and communities, particularly in countries that lack fair and efficient asylum systems to recognize them or the resources to assist them. This is where UNHCR’s support is so vital. We have been helping governments to protect the rights and well-being of people forced to flee since our creation 75 years ago.
Based on our long experience and expertise in protecting refugees worldwide, UNHCR has also been authorized by governments to protect and find solutions for people displaced in their own countries and those who are stateless.
Where does protection begin?
It begins when refugees arrive at a border in fear for their lives and freedoms. Under international law, they have a right to seek safety in another country and not be refused entry, detained, or sent back to a place where they could face harm.
When a crisis unfolds, State authorities, UNHCR and partners are present at borders to ensure people can reach safety. We advocate with authorities to admit refugees and to respect their rights. We also help verify and register new arrivals so they can be issued with documentation that will allow them to prove their status and get access to the necessary support. Our presence at borders helps governments to manage their borders and prevent a crisis from spreading.
A young woman from Ukraine carries her baby and toddler across the border into Hungary on 27 February 2022.
After securing refugees’ physical safety, the next priority is meeting their urgent needs for food, shelter and health care.
“Protection is first and foremost about granting refugees access to safe territory. But it is also about ensuring that refugees can benefit from those very basic things that all of us need as human beings,” explains Patrick Eba, deputy director in UNHCR’s Division of International Protection. “Ensuring that refugees have access to food, shelter and health care is a matter of life and death.”
How does UNHCR protect the most vulnerable?
Anyone forced to flee their home and leave behind their family, belongings, jobs, schools and everything familiar is vulnerable. But certain groups of refugees and internally displaced people are especially at risk and in need of protection.
Children who have experienced violence, abuse, exploitation or trafficking need special help and protection, especially those who have become separated from their families during the chaos of conflict and displacement. UNHCR works with national authorities and other organizations to make sure they are cared for while their families are traced. In 2024, for example, we supported authorities in Spain to provide care and support to some 6,000 children who arrived by boat to the Canary Islands without parents or guardians.
Schools not only provide education but a safe and stable environment for children and young people forced to flee, protecting them from exploitation, early marriage and child labour. UNHCR advocates for refugee children to be included in national education systems and together with partners, provides support to schools with refugee students, such as teacher training, educational supplies and help repairing or expanding buildings.
Mohammad Hassan, a 13-year-old Syrian refugee with hearing and speaking impairments, receives special education from a specialist at Jordan's Za'atari camp.
Other groups that are particularly at risk and in need of special services after being forced to flee are those with disabilities, older people, minority groups and survivors of sexual violence, trauma and trafficking.
UNHCR works with local partners, particularly women- and refugee-led organizations, to support survivors of sexual violence and to protect them from further harm. We set up safe spaces for displaced women and girls where they can overcome trauma, connect with other women and learn skills to improve their lives. Where funding is available, we run programmes to prevent violence against women, including by running sessions with men and boys aimed at challenging harmful behaviours and beliefs.
How does UNHCR work towards long-term solutions for people forced to flee?
The hope is that when conditions are safe enough, those forced to flee will be able to return to their countries or places of origin. UNHCR monitors conditions and helps people decide when it is safe for them to return, often by providing information on home areas or facilitating visits for individual family members to check conditions for themselves; however, the decision must be theirs, and no one should be forced to return against their will. We have helped millions of refugees to return to their home countries, including 1.1 million in 2023 alone. Some refugees also receive help from UNHCR to resettle in other countries that have agreed to admit them. Although only available to a limited number, resettlement is a life-saving, long-term solution that enables refugees to make a fresh start.
With support from UNHCR and partner HIAS, José Sánchez, who fled Venezuela six years ago, was able to open a small barbershop in the Ecuadorian city of Tulcán.
But for as long as refugees are not able to return home or be resettled, they need protection in the countries where they remain. Working closely with refugees themselves, as well as the authorities and partners, UNHCR continuously monitors local conditions and any emerging risks. We also encourage and assist governments to enact national laws and policies that keep refugees safe, to provide them with documents, and to allow them to earn a living and benefit from key services such as education and health care. Some refugees eventually get the right to remain in their host country for good, enabling them to contribute even more substantially to the countries that offer them protection.
“Protection is about living in dignity, about fulfilling one's own potential,” say Eba. “It's about having access to education; it's about being able to work and fend for one's family. These are very essential things to ensure that refugees can live a full and dignified life.”
What happens if we cannot provide protection to people forced to flee?
When those forced to flee are unable to reach safety, be registered and legally recognized, or access basic assistance and support, they are at risk from violence, hunger, exploitation, and even death.
The current funding cuts affecting the entire humanitarian sector are already having devastating impacts on the protection of people forced to flee. UNHCR has had to suspend biometric registration of new asylum-seekers in several countries – a vital step in ensuring they can get access to rights and services – and distribution of emergency aid in others. Support services for survivors of sexual violence and vulnerable women and children have been reduced and many programmes to prevent violence against women halted. Thousands of refugee children are no longer receiving help to enrol in school. Resettlement places are limited and less support is available to refugees who want to return home when conditions are safe to do so.
“Protection saves lives,” says Eba. “It ensures that people can be safe. It ensures they can live in dignity.
“But to do this important protection work, UNHCR needs the continued support of the whole international community … This is what global solidarity is about.”
