World Refugee Day commemorates the strength, courage and perseverance of millions of forcibly displaced refugees around the world. According to UNHCR, as of May 2025, 122.6 million people have been forced to leave their homes due to conflict, violence, human rights violations, and persecution. Of these, half are children.
World Refugee Day
Credit: UNHCR Used with permission
This showcase of films includes experimental voices that take us deeper into compassion for the plight of refugees.
5400 Children
Morgen Arguelles
A strong statement about child separation at the U.S. / Mexico border and its impact on knowledgeable youth that are watching its government's policies in action.
New Together
Produced by:Max Landwirth
For World Refugee Day, let's face the new together and stand with refugees.
Noisia - Mantra
Sil van der Woerd
This expressionistic film offers the point of view of the refugees in crisis. Mantra chronicles the dangerous obstacles refugees face on their journeys to reach safer harbors.
NOW I AM A REFUGEE
Produced by:Dir. Christian Als & Kristoffer Juel
Knowing they may never be able to return home, many refugees have decided to set out on the dangerous and perilous journey for a new life in Europe.
HIAS - For the Refugee
Moth
This film was produced for World Refugee Day, to publicize and spread awareness on HIAS' mission and values for the last 130 years.
No exit: Jordan’s most vulnerable refugees -
Produced by:Liz Mermin | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Jayne Fleming is the leader of the Reed Smith Refugee Protection Project, a mobile legal clinic offering legal and psychosocial support to some of Jordan’s most vulnerable refugees – mostly from Syria, Iraq, and Sudan.
The Refugee Protection Project
Produced by:Plan Rwanda / Directed by Ramon Sanchez Orense
Contributing to the well-being of nearly 75,000 refugees
SYRIA REFUGEES CHILDREN VOICES
Produced by:Unicef Television
Families who are innocent victims of the civil war in Syria seek refuge in an alien country.
An Ordinary Day At Zaatari Refugee Camp
Produced by:Produced by: WFP / Directed by: WFP
An Ordinary Day At Zaatari Refugee Camp
Yasmine Sherif is the Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), the UN's global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises. A lawyer specializing in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law (LL.M), she has over 30 years of experience with the United Nations and international NGOs.
Yasmine Sherif: Global Educator and Champion for Youth
By: Shannon Luders-Manuel
Yasmine Sherif, who leads Education Cannot Wait, is an activist working for the rights of all children and the winner of MY HERO's 2020 Global Educator Award.
Yasmine Sherif in Conversation with Mohamed Sidibay - Eva Haller Salon
By: The MY HERO Project for Eva Haller Salon Series - Edited by Katie Graubart
Watch this Salon featuring five short talks about how the arts help the world overcome today’s grand challenges featuring Joyce DiDonato, Werner Binnenstein-Bachstein, Anis Barnat, Yazmany Arboleda and Csaba Manyai.
Eva Haller Salon - Community Arts and Social Change
By: Eva Haller
The following stories show the impact of displacement on refugees and the strength needed to overcome numerous obstacles.
Hyeonseo Lee
By: Eva Gravin
North Korean Hyeonseo Lee hid in China for 10 years before guiding her family and herself to South Korea for asylum.
Grandfather
By: Rejina Rai
Rejina's Nepalese grandfather was forced to leave Butan with only the clothes on his back.
MY HERO Suggested Video
"Malala Yousafzai - Helping Refugee Girls with “We Are Displaced” & Malala Fund | The Daily Show" (2019) by TrevorNoahShowUSA
Malala Yousafzai discusses her efforts to humanize refugees by sharing their stories and explains why Malala Fund stresses education.
Dr. Hawa Abdi - The Mother of Hope Village
By: Nicole
Dr. Hawa Abdi turned her family's land into a hospital to serve displaced Somalians during the civil war.
Nadia Murad
By: Shannon Luders-Manuel
Nadia Murad is a Nobel Prize-winning activist and sex slave survivor from Kojo, Iraq.
Tell us about your hero
Credit: MH
Listen & Read Along
Click on the Listen and Read Along icon in the following stories so you can hear the audio as you read.
Great for ESL students and the visually impaired!
Mohamed Sidibay
By: Annie Merkley
Mohamed Sidibay
speaks out to give a name and a face behind the stories of child soldiers.
Judith Ann Mayotte
By: Monica Olson
Judith Ann Mayotte is a former Catholic nun, television producer and humanitarian who wrote "Disposable People? The Plight of Refugees" in 1992.
Art created by world refugees in different parts of the globe to illustrate the hopes and dreams of settling into a new life
The Global Refugee Mural
By: Joel Bergner
The Global Refugee Mural created by Joel Bergner with Action Ashe! Global Mural Project is in Maryland.
A Cross-Cultural Festival of Japanese Students and Palestinian Refugees in Syria
By: Sherry's English School in Japan and UNRWA Schools in Syria
Celebrating refugees' hopes and dreams, students paint a mural depicting a Cross-Cultural Festival.
Klimt's Adele Bloch-Bauer tapestry by refugee artists from Burundi, Ruwanda and the DRC
By: Refugee Social Services / Umcebo - South Africa
Our Dreams and Treasures
By: Okazakijosei High School in Japan and Iraqi/Palestinian Refugee Team in Jord...
How a Sudanese refugee in Uganda is keeping his homeland alive through food
By: Sophie Neiman
October 25, 2024 - In a refugee camp in Uganda, one restaurant owner is trying to resurrect his homeland with food. [CSM Story]
As Israel takes in Ukrainian Jews, some ask: Should it do more?
Credit: Dina Kraft
Refugee Children
Credit: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters
Confronting war, young Ukrainians find new purpose
By: Scott Peterson CSM Staff writer @peterson__scott
How to help Ukraine? A sampling of charitable efforts.
By: David Clark Scott, Audience Engagement Editor @davidclarkscott
Christian Science Monitor recommendations for how to help in Ukraine.
'We want to keep Ukraine free.’ Why women rise in Ukraine army
By: Martin Kuz CSM Correspondent • Dominique Soguel Special correspondent E
Gender roles have been evolving fast in the Ukrainian army – even as stereotypes persist.
Ukraine’s example for other bullied democracies
By: the Monitor's Editorial Board
The civic unity of Ukrainians may inspire countries like Taiwan, South Korea, and Iraq in resisting dictators nearby.
Why a region that voted against Zelenskyy now embraces him
By: Martin Kuz Special correspondent @MartinKuz
Today Zelenskyy is the moral conscience of a nation, whose daily speeches inspire his people.
Ukrainian refugees push westward, feeling both relief and sorrow
By: Martin Kuz CSM Correspondent @MartinKuz
In Lviv, the last major city before the Polish border, a crush of Ukrainian refugees is relieved to be safe but anguished about all they’ve left behind as they rush toward the unknown
Supporting Relief Efforts for Ukraine
By: Abigail Richardson
Learn more and how to help...
Finding the heart of a people’s resistance
By: Clayton Collins Director of Editorial Innovation @ClayCollinsCSM
The help-a-refugee way to save Ukraine
By: CSM Editorial Board
Generosity toward the war’s refugees, especially nonUkrainians, helps counter Russia’s excuse for the invasion.
Ukraine refugees met with outpouring of compassion
By: Stephen McGrath Associated Press
Sunflowers and poppies
Credit: Flickr
Ukraine Global compassion
Credit: Bernadett Szabo/Reuters
External Links
USA for UNHCR The UN Refugee Agency
Credit: UNHCR.org
Leonid Nevidomiy
By: Abigail Richardson
In September 2022, Leonid Nevidomiy a teacher from Yelanetskyi the Mykolavyiv region, Ukraine encouraged students to submit 10 pieces of work to the MY HERO Project.
Organizer created on 6/17/2015 7:08:45 AM by Jeanne Meyers
Last edited 4/15/2025 9:22:48 AM by Abigail Richardson
