A Call for Action Against Ongoing Genocides this Genocide Awareness Month

As we commemorate Genocide Awareness Month this April, Refugee Congress stands in solemn remembrance of the millions of lives lost to the atrocities of genocide throughout history. 

“Genocide is the worst occurrences and a dark chapter for human history. Learning about it not only honors the victims, but also equips us to prevent such atrocities in the future,” said Zainab Ihsan, Delegate for Texas.

“This month, as we remember the genocides that happened all over the world, I want to reflect and to pledge to stand against genocide,” said Isabel Kayembe, Delegate for Rhode Island. “No more genocides! Everyone has the right to life.”

“Remembering the history of genocide is not only important, but crucial, as it serves as a powerful reminder of the millions of innocent lives lost and the ongoing atrocities faced by people around the world,” said Felix Lumbala, Delegate for Nevada. “In memory of the Congolese and Rwandan victims and all those afflicted by genocide, we carry the obligation to bear witness and to teach future generations the importance of vigilance, compassion, and unwavering solidarity against the forces that threaten to replay these tragedies.”

"The international community's silence and immobility facilitated the Rwanda genocide in 1994. Thirty years later, we see the same situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where more than five million people have been massacred, and no preventive measures have been implemented to avoid a second genocide on African territory,” said Ally Ntumba, Delegate for Indiana.

“As a Guatemalan, I want to honor the memory of those who lost their lives in the tragic genocide in Guatemala during the internal armed conflict, where entire Mayan communities were exterminated. Through remembrance, education, and advocacy, we strive to ensure that such atrocities are never forgotten and never repeated. Together, we can build a future rooted in justice, compassion, and the unequivocal rejection of genocide in all its forms,” said Luis Mejia, Delegate for New York.

“As a genocide survivor witnessing its shadows reemerging worldwide together, I feel the painful lessons we’ve endured are often set aside rather than leveraged for prevention and change. This Genocide Awareness Month should be more than a period of reflection, it must be a call for us to shift from mere awareness to immediate and decisive action,” said Ayda Zugay, Delegate for Massachusetts. “The imperative is clear: we cannot permit history’s darkest episodes to replay on our watch, we must instead spearhead a robust and unified global response. Together, we hold the power and the responsibility to not just avert but eliminate the threat of genocide from our era so that what we as genocide survivors have experienced is truly only in our past. Let’s harness our collective will and resources to ensure that history will remember us not for the atrocities we failed to prevent, but for the futures we preserved.”

Refugee Congress is committed to elevating the voices of our refugee leaders, especially those who have survived genocide. We honor the memory of the victims, and we commit ourselves to the prevention and eradication of genocide in all its forms. May our collective efforts serve as a beacon of hope for a future where every individual can live in peace and dignity.

“I am the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, and my life, family, and my path have been fully and forever shaped by their trauma and the collective loss we have endured — but also by the example they set of building their own home to be a place of welcome, filled with love,” said Nili Sarit Yossinger, Executive Director of Refugee Congress. “Today, in the face of so much tragedy, my family is a living reminder of why we must never be complicit when people are forcibly displaced and seeking safety.”

“Thirty years after the Rwandan genocide, it is time to not only remember the horrors of the tragedy, but to see how to destroy the seeds and the roots of it,” said Paul Mwingwa, Delegate for Montana.