New Home, New Life

"New Home, New Life”, a book exhibition timed to the World Refugee Day runs in the Official Documents Service Department (room 207), from June 14 to July 22.

This Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly on December 4, 2000 (resolution 55/76) and is observed annually on June 20, since 2001. The Day is proclaimed as a tribute to the strength of the spirit and courage of millions of people who have overcome unbelievable difficulties in order to start life anew in difficult and unusual circumstances and become full-fledged members of society.

According to the international law, a refugee is someone who fled his or her home and country owing to “a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” Many refugees are in exile to escape the effects of natural or human-made disasters.

In the mid-twentieth century, there were approximately 1.25 million refugees worldwide, including 350 thousand refugees in Europe, which still struggled with the consequences of World War II. By the end of the 1950s, the core issue had moved from Europe to other continents, primarily to Africa. In the following decades, the geography of this phenomenon expanded significantly due to South Asia, the Middle East and the Balkans. In recent years, the largest in 70 years population movements across international borders around the world have been observed.

Every minute 31 people leave everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror, according to UNHCR Global Report 2017. More than half of all refugees in the world are children under the age of 18. Today, as a result of conflict or persecution, more than 68 million people are refugees or internally displaced people worldwide.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was established in 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency began operations on January 1, 1951. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees.

The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol define the legal status of refugees. More than 142 states ratified the Convention, including the Republic of Belarus, which joined the Convention and the Protocol in May 2001. Our country is contributing to international efforts to solve refugee problems. The UNHCR Office in Belarus  was opened in 1995. The main focus of the UNHCR in the Republic of Belarus is on assisting government bodies in improving legislation in the field of migration and refugees, improving personnel skills, ensuring legal and social protection for refugees, and facilitating cooperation between government bodies and public associations on refugee-related issues.

The offered thematic exhibition will acquaint the reader with the activities of international, non-governmental and human rights organizations aimed at ensuring the protection of refugees, their adaptation and integration in countries of asylum. The exhibition presents publications about the state of refugees, the activities of the UNHCR, as well as the domestic and foreign policy of the Republic of Belarus to assist refugees in their search for a safe life, peace and stability.

About 100 publications are on display: books, brochures, periodicals, and mimeographed materials of international organizations (UN, UNESCO, the European Union and the Council of Europe) in Russian and English.

The exhibition includes the following thematic sections:

The exhibition is intended for political scientists, lawyers, sociologists, employees of the legislative and executive authorities, educational and scientific structures, as well as for all interested in the problems of refugees and issues of migration and asylum.

For more info: (+375 17) 293 27 28.

Official Documents Service Department