Seventy years ago, 145 countries signed the 1951 Refugee Convention in the wake of World War II, when the displacement of millions of people across Europe shed light on the need for humanitarian protections for those forced to flee violence and persecution. Since 1951, 50 million people have been protected under the Convention’s umbrella. Yet, today, the consensus that forged the Convention and the international cooperation that underpins it are being increasingly undermined. Over the past several years, we have seen a decline in resettlement, a hardening of refugee inclusion and asylum policies, and humanitarian aid lagging behind needs, across the regions that once most firmly upheld these protections. This report outlines how the US and Europe were key players at the time of the Convention's creation - now is the time for these same actors to reinvigorate it.

Abdelgabar Mohamdian is a farmer at heart. He grew crops and raised livestock in Sudan. Now, 17 years after he came to the United States, he is growing vegetables and making them available to the community through the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Phoenix’s New Roots weekly produce box program.

Staff at the IRC in Silver Spring welcome a Syrian family to the Washington, DC area amid turmoil surrounding the Executive Order.

This summer two special interns are changing the lives of newly-arrived youth.

It is one year since the introduction of Europe’s flawed migration policies to close borders along the Western Balkan route and return migrants and refugees to Turkey, leaving thousands stranded in Greece. This update provides an overview of the current situation in Greece, and sets out what eight national and international responding agencies see as the most urgent issues to address and the major concerns with Europe’s response to this crisis.