On World Refugee Day, Queen Rania expressed her solidarity with refugees through her twitter account stating that “In the face of fear and unimaginable loss, refugees make the forced choice of running for their lives and seeking security far from home. On World Refugee Day, it is not too late to recommit to meeting these vulnerable people with open arms, not closed doors.”

Held annually on June 20th, the UN holiday honours the strength and courage of refugees and encourages the support of refugees through public awareness. This year, World Refugee Day also marks a key moment for us to show support for families forced to flee.

UN statistics show that 85 percent of the world’s refugees are hosted in developing countries, where two-thirds of all refugees come from five countries; Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia.

In 2017 alone, 16.2 million people have been forced to seek refuge, averaging 44,400 each day, due to a conflict, persecution and violence, mostly in poorer countries.

Numbers are not expected to decrease as long as wars and persecution are prevalent, but it is imperative that refugees, 52 percent of whom are children, need to receive protection, rather than being neglected or shunned.

In a world where wars force thousands of people to flee for their lives searching for a better, safer future for their families, their story is one of resilience, perseverance and courage.