Statement on World Refugee Day 2025
On World Refugee Day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine affirms the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people
On World Refugee Day, 20 June 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine affirms the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination and the right to return of Palestine refugees to their homes from which they were forcibly displaced from — rights enshrined in numerous international treaties and resolutions, especially United Nations General Assembly Resolutions 194 and 237. The Ministry stresses that lasting security and stability in the region can only be achieved through the realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including the materialization of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine.
The Ministry emphasizes its continued engagement with all relevant stakeholders to uphold the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of Palestine refugees to return to their homes. It also remains committed to exposing and ensuring accountability for the crimes of the Israeli occupation , including genocide, the use of starvation as a weapon of war, and other grave violations against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. These crimes, aimed at the ethnic cleansing, annihilation and forced displacement of the Palestinian people, which to date has resulted in the displacement of over two million Palestinians in Gaza, and includes the deliberate targeting of shelters and institutions mandated to serve Palestine refugees, most notably the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
The Ministry strongly condemns the systematic and unlawful policies of the Israeli occupying power in the West Bank including occupied East Jerusalem, aimed at forcibly displacing the Palestinian people from their lands. These policies include extrajudicial killings, widespread forced displacement, arbitrary arrest campaigns, illegal demolition and eviction orders, land confiscation, persistent settler violence against the Palestinian people, and repeated illegal raids on Palestinian cities, villages, and refugee camps, rendering them uninhabitable. These violations form part of a broader colonial agenda to uproot the Palestinian people from all parts of the occupied Palestinian territory.
The Ministry commends the significant efforts undertaken by UNRWA and other UN humanitarian agencies in delivering essential humanitarian aid and relief to the besieged Palestinian people in Gaza Strip, despite the enormous challenges they face due to the ongoing Israeli genocide and the occupation’s attempts to undermine their mandates, as part of a broader attempt to eliminate the issue of Palestine refugees and their right of return. The Ministry rejects any attempts to undermine the role of UNRWA, affirming that the Agency remains a lifeline for over 6 million Palestine refugees and that its mandate must continue until a just and comprehensive solution to the refugee issue is reached. No other agency or international body can replicate or replace its vital role in the region.
The Ministry reiterates that the international community bears a responsibility to take concrete measures to end the Israeli occupation’s aggression against the Palestinian people and to help put an end to the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. It calls on all states to intensify efforts to provide urgent protection and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people without delay. The Ministry further urges the advancement of a political solution based on international law and relevant UN resolutions. It also underscores the importance of holding Israel accountable for its violations against Palestine refugees and ensuring the protection of their legitimate rights. The Ministry calls on the international community to pressure the occupying power to comply with its obligations under international law and to end all forms of atrocities and persecution against the Palestinian people, including the denial of Palestine refugees’ right to return.