Latvian refugees crossing the Baltic sea with the boat Zvejnieks, "Fisherman". The boat arrived in Gotland 25 November 1944. PHOTO: Fricis Forstmanis

Establishment of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

When the United Nations replaced the League of Nations in 1945, it recognized from the outset that the task of caring for refugees was a matter of international concern. In keeping with the UN Charter, the community of states should assume collective responsibility for those fleeing persecution. In a resolution of 1946 the UN General Assembly stressed that no refugee or displaced person who had expressed valid objections to returning to his country of origin should be compelled to do so. The United Nations also established a new body in 1947, the International Refugee Organization, IRO. Its mandate was to protect the 21 million refugees dispersed throughout Europe in the aftermath of the World War II. In 1951, the UN General Assembly replaced IRO by UNHCR, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The Statute of UNHCR, adopted by the General Assembly, outlines the responsibilities of UNHCR, the most important of which is to provide international protection and to seek permanent solutions for refugees. UNHCR´s primary task was then to find safe refuge in another country for 1,2 million European refugees who were still displaced after World War II.

The Palestinians

In 1948 the UN General Assembly established UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Middle East, to assist those Palestinians who had been displaced when the State of Israel was established. The agency operates in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and the West Bank.