20 June - World Refugee Day

Kyiv, 20 June 2007. Since 2001, following the special resolution of the UN General Assembly, 20 June is marked as World Refugee Day in many countries of the world. Adressing the worl community on the occassion of this Day, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized "As humankind enjoys unpresedented mobility, let us remember that not everyone who leaves home does so by choice". Full text of the Secretary-General message to the World Refugee Day. Ukraine will see the 7th commemoration of World Refugee Day this year. In Kyiv events devoted to World Refugee Day will take place on 23-24 June in Zhovten movie theatre. The official opening of the film screening devoted to World Refugee Day will take place in Zhovten Movie Theatre (Kyiv, Konstyantynivska st. 26) at 01:0 p.m. The opening will include a photo exhibition and official speeches by representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Ukraine and Amnesty International Ukraine.

The film screening will be the key event – 4 films will be presented: „Africa Paradis” (Director: Sylvestre Amoussou, Benin/France, 2006), “Yasmin” (Director: Kenny Glenaan, U.K., 2004), „La Haine/Hate” (Director: Mathieu Kassovitz, France, 1995) та „Crash” (Director: Paul Haggis, USA /Germany, 2005). Admission is free. For invitations please contact a theater administrator starting from 18 June.

If you require more detailed information please contact Natalia Prokopchuk or Yana Salakhova, UNHCR office in Kyiv - tel. 288 97 10, e-mail: prokopch@unhcr.org salakhov@unhcr.org

Background information

According to the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, a refugee is a person who, "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such a fear, is unwilling to, avail himself of the protection of that country..." In January 2002, Ukraine acceded to the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol without any reservations. Learn more about refugees in Ukraine www.unhcr.org.ua