On World Refugee Day (June 20, 2025), VIVAT International, Franciscans International, and Jesuit Refugee Service co-hosted a vital panel discussion, “Pilgrims of Hope, Hidden Faces of refugees and internally displaced persons.” The event shifted focus from overwhelming statistics to the lived experiences of forcibly displaced people in West Papua, South Sudan, and Myanmar.
The Global Crisis and the Human Cost
The world is witnessing an unprecedented scale of forced displacement, with 122 million people worldwide displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations, according to the UNHCR. This includes 43.4 million refugees and 63.3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Despite these staggering figures—which include, for example, over 3.5 million IDPs in Myanmar, nearly 2 million IDPs in South Sudan, and 97,000 IDPs in West Papua—global attention is dwindling, buried under competing crises.
As one panelist powerfully expressed, “behind every statistic is a human story, a child who cannot go to school, a mother who cannot feed her baby, a community that just wants to live in peace.” The event served as a critical reminder that these are not just numbers; they are individuals with faces, names, and stories that demand to be heard.
Life-Threatening Challenges
Panelists from South Sudan, West Papua, and Myanmar painted a harrowing picture of the dangers faced by refugees and IDPs:
- Military Pressure and Violence: Survivors face life under constant military intimidation, with severe air strikes destroying civilian infrastructure like hospitals and schools.
- Humanitarian Blockades: Access to necessities is severely limited, with critical food, health services, and education often out of reach.
- Widespread Human Rights Violations: Reports of unlawful arrests, sexual abuse, torture, forced labor, and extrajudicial killings are common. As highlighted by one panelist, “Many displaced people died in forests, rivers, and caves.”
Richard Towle, former UNHCR Deputy Director and a keynote speaker, highlighted the profound challenges in the global context, including the fracturing of humanitarian support, declining international collaboration, and the diversion of funding to military expenditures instead of addressing root causes. With 59 state-led conflicts ongoing, 1 in 67 people worldwide is now forcibly displaced.
Our Demands: A Call for Action and Solidarity
Displacement is a temporary status, not an inherent part of the human condition. We must recognize the remarkable resilience and potential of refugees and IDPs, who should be viewed not as a burden, but as individuals with the ability to enrich humanity.
Therefore, we issue the following urgent calls to action:
To Local and National Governments:
- Protect Civilians and Aid Workers: Ensure the safety of all civilians, including social and humanitarian workers, and allow unrestricted cross-border humanitarian access.
- Provide Essential Support: Ensure displaced people’s right to access health care, food, housing, and education.
- Pursue Peace: Withdraw military and police forces from conflict zones and commit to peace dialogue and negotiations.
To the International Community:
- Address Root Causes: Focus on armed conflict across the globe as the primary driver of displacement.
- Renew Compassion and Funding: Mobilize international solidarity and increase funding for essential health, education, and food services.
- Amplify Voices: Work with local organizations in a spirit of equality and non-paternalistic partnership to amplify refugee voices and invest in durable solutions that allow them to build a hopeful future.
We must endeavour to create pathways for human dignity and rights, building a bridge of understanding, compassion, and solidarity at home and globally.
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