Ottawa, Canada – Once again, on 20 June, World Refugee Day, Canadians will come together and join with the world to highlight the courage and perseverance shown by refugees in overcoming enormous odds to rebuild their lives.

Several events are planned across the country to mark World Refugee Day 2012.

Leading up to World Refugee Day, UNHCR released on June 18 the Global Trends Report 2011. The numbers released in this report sadly show a multiplication of new crisis which has led to the highest number of new refugees, 800,000, since the beginning of the century.

“Every year at this time of the year, UNHCR releases the Global Trends report. The report this year is a stark reminder of the imperative of addressing in a comprehensive way the increasingly complex challenges that push so many people from their homes,” said Furio De Angelis, UNHCR Representative in Canada.

While the figures show the persistence of displacement as well as its dramatic impacts in the lives of refugees, the 2011 Global Trends also highlights the need to finding solutions to refugee problems. 7.1 million refugees are stuck for years on end in camps or living precariously in cities.

“Canada should be proud of its longstanding hospitable tradition of receiving and allowing hundreds of thousands of refugees from different parts of the world to reestablish their hopes in this country,” added De Angelis.

Worldwide, Canada ranks second largest resettlement country in 2011 with more than 12,000 resettled refugees having found protection in Canada.

The Global Trends report is UNHCR’s main annual report on refugees, internally displaced people, asylum seekers, and stateless people. It is released every year ahead of World Refugee Day (20th June).

June 20 is World Refugee Day and this year UNHCR is marking the occasion by launching a new global campaign aimed at building empathy and understanding toward refugees, the campaign asks the public to contemplate the horrific dilemmas faced by victims of war or persecution.

The Global Trends Report 2011 is available at http://www.unhcr.org/globaltrends2011/.

A listing of all World Refugee Day events planned across Canada can also be found on http://www.unhcr.ca/wrd

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