When he was just 15 years old, Tefere Gebre arrived in the United States alone as a refugee. Today he is the executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, the world's largest federation of labor unions. In this AFL-CIO video, he describes his harrowing flight from violence in Ethiopia and explains why it is important for America to welcome refugees. Learn more about his story.

Cibel, Carina and Andrea are among the 3 million people who have left Venezuela as violence and a severe economic crisis grip their country. The three mothers have struggled in neighboring Colombia, but emergency support from the International Rescue Committee is helping them start to build a new life for their families.

Refugees contribute to society in revolutionary ways. Given the chance to find safety and attend school, many go on to become business owners, entrepreneurs and inventors who change the way we live our lives for the better. Here are five notable inventions created by refugees.

Divin was one of the last refugees to arrive in Boise, Idaho before a Trump Administration executive order barred refugees from entering the U.S. It was two years before his wife and young son could join him. Now they are welcoming the remaining members of their family, who had been stranded in a refugee camp in Burundi for 15 years.

Rania Abou is a 19-year-old refugee from Syria living in Roselle, New Jersey. An artist who dreams of becoming an engineer, she is currently working for the International Rescue Committee and World Central Kitchen in Elizabeth, New Jersey, helping give out food to people in need. “In the future, somebody will help me. It's like a circle.

Anxhela is a refugee from Albania and, as a junior doctor with the UK's National Health Service, is one of the thousands of refugee essential workers helping respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. "When I tell people I came to this country as a refugee," she says, "I now say it quite proudly." Read more about the contributions of refugees like Dr. Anxhela—during COVID-19 and beyond.  

Mandy Patinkin, IRC Ambassador, talked with Syrian refugee and new U.S. citizen Shadi Ismail on Instagram Live about why voting matters and the refugee resettlement experience in the U.S. This year, Shadi voted for the first time as an American citizen, casting his ballot in the 2020 presidential election.

In November 2019, Tecle Gebremicheal became the first refugee from Africa to run for local office in Boise, Idaho. “When I first came to America, I promised myself that I will do everything I can to give back to the country and community that welcomed me,” he says. “I want to show that when refugees come here, we try to integrate and contribute however we can.”

As part of the International Rescue Committee(IRC)'s 2022 Global Virtual Event, world famous cellist and IRC Luminary Yo-Yo Ma met with Zarlasht and Shir Zad Sarbaz,  Afghan refugees who moved to the United States in December of 2021.