On World Refugee Day, a commitment to safety for all

On June 20, World Refugee Day, the world marks the courage and resilience of people forced to flee their homes. This year's theme, "Until Everyone is Safe," is both a reminder and a demand.

The scale of forced displacement has never been greater. By the end of 2025, more than 117 million people had been forcibly displaced by conflict, persecution, climate change and economic insecurity.

That is one in every 70 people on the planet, or 1.4 per cent of the entire global population. Among them are 41.6 million refugees and 9 million asylum seekers who have left everything behind in search of safety beyond their own borders.

Instead of meeting this moment with compassion, too many governments are closing their doors.

The global trend toward tightening borders falls hardest on those already most at risk, including LGBTQ+ people, women fleeing gender-based violence, labour and human rights activists, and ethno-racial communities.

Here in Canada, the Immigration System and Borders Act (Bill C-12), passed earlier this year, limits the ability of people to make asylum claims within the country. In Europe, the European Union's Migration and Asylum Pact expands the detention of asylum seekers and erodes the rights and protections they are owed.

The situation in the United States is especially alarming. Since taking office, the Trump administration has detained roughly 400,000 migrants and asylum seekers, including families and children. Human rights organizations have documented widespread abuses by immigration enforcement officials. At the same time, private companies and contractors are profiting from a system built on the arrest and detention of vulnerable people.

As governments slam doors shut, many are also cutting the very programs that help people survive crisis at its source.

The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany have all reduced international aid funding. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development reported a 23 per cent drop in development assistance from member states in 2025. The dismantling of USAID continues to be felt around the world, stripping charities and frontline organizations of their ability to deliver life-saving services in low-income countries.

These cuts do not stop displacement. They deepen the crises that force people to flee.

Unifor believes that all people, workers and communities deserve to live in safety, free from harm and violence. Refugees and asylum seekers are not a threat to be managed. They are human beings exercising a fundamental right to seek protection, a right enshrined in international law that governments have a duty to uphold.

That belief is backed by action.

The Unifor Social Justice Fund continues to support organizations doing essential frontline work for refugees and asylum seekers, from legal aid and emergency humanitarian assistance to counselling.

This includes Equal Legal Aid in Greece, Al Otro Lado along the U.S.-Mexico border, and, most recently, the Canada-U.S. Border Rights Clinic here at home. These groups defend refugee rights and hold governments accountable to their international obligations.

Until everyone is safe, our work is not done.