Refugee-Led Organizations Call on UN Member States to Strengthen International Refugee Protections
8 October 2025
Today, with UNHCR’s Executive Committee annual meeting underway, 117 Refugee-Led Organizations from 41 countries released an open letter urging Member States to strongly reaffirm their commitments to upholding international refugee, human rights, and humanitarian conventions.
Asylum is a Right. Refugee Protection is Law.
An Open Letter to Member States from Refugee-Led Organizations
We, the 117 undersigned refugee-led organizations from more than 41 countries, call on United Nations Member States to uphold, preserve, and reinforce international human rights, refugee protections, and humanitarian law. We are deeply concerned by attempts that could weaken the legal norms safeguarding dignity, protection, and peace - particularly under the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol.
As refugee-led organizations comprised of asylum seekers and refugees, we speak for and with those most directly affected by the decisions of States. Our authority comes from lived experience: we know what it means when protections are honored, and we know the devastating cost when they are denied. This is why we can say clearly that proposals to weaken, reform, or replace existing refugee and human rights frameworks will not only undermine but actively break international law. Such changes would strip away protections that have saved millions of lives and would abandon countless others to persecution, violence, and insecurity.
The urgency of this moment is undeniable. By the end of 2024, 123.2 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, and human rights abuses. Among them were 42.7 million refugees, 73.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), and 8.4 million asylum seekers. In countries such as Sudan (14.3 million displaced), Syria (13.5 million), Afghanistan (10.3 million), and Ukraine (8.8 million), displacement has reached unprecedented levels. Today, one in every 67 people in the world is forcibly displaced. These are not statistics, they are families, children, and entire communities whose safety and futures depend on states upholding international law and protecting the right to asylum.
The international legal framework established in the aftermath of World War II represents a significant achievement in our collective global history that recognizes the need for durable solutions and access to permanent protection, the tragedy of refoulement and forced repatriation, and the basic human rights to which all refugees are entitled. Agreements such as the Refugee Convention, its Protocol, and other human rights treaties were developed to safeguard lives, prevent forced return to danger, and foster stability and cooperation among nations. These agreements are the foundation that supports global, regional, and national security, while serving our global economic and fiscal interests.
Today, global crises, protracted violence, and mass displacements are too often fueled by failures to uphold these legal, national security, economic, and moral obligations. The erosion of human rights and humanitarian norms leads directly to human suffering, instability, disorder, increased security risks, and renewed cycles of displacement. At this critical moment, the world needs stronger, not weaker, commitment to international law, and urgent action to protect asylum seekers, refugees, and ultimately, our shared humanity.
We therefore encourage States to:
Sign and ratify human rights, refugee, and humanitarian treaties, and promote these commitments and legal frameworks through implementing legislation and platforms such as the UNGA Treaty Event and in recognition of the upcoming 75th Anniversary of the Refugee Convention.
Affirm the benefits of these treaties for both people and States, emphasizing that strong protection frameworks that offer the chance of permanent protection contribute to stability, security, and human dignity. Durable solutions yield stronger integration outcomes and create a safer, more stable world for those who need it most.
Share practical measures undertaken to uphold treaty obligations, including strengthening fair asylum procedures, allocating resources for rights-protection mechanisms, expanding resettlement initiatives regardless of nationality, race, or religion, and providing assistance to host countries—particularly low- and middle-income nations—that bear significant responsibility for hosting the majority of the world’s refugees.
Oppose and reject any efforts to denounce, withdraw from, or replace these treaties with weaker frameworks that do nothing to support our national security, economic, legal, or moral interests – and fail to adequately protect against persecution and human rights violations. For example, forcibly returning refugees and asylum seekers to the very harm they fled violates international law and exacerbates suffering.
History reminds us what is at stake. The right to seek asylum is a fundamental part of human cultural and religious traditions. Many of us who are living today found refuge because States honored their obligations. Prominent examples of indifference, slow response, or inaction have cost millions of lives, those who we abandoned, left to face horrific fates, are a stain on our shared history.
As organizations that are built and led by people who know firsthand what it means to be forcibly displaced, our voices are critical to this issue . We are both living proof of the necessity of these protections, and partners in shaping solutions that uphold human rights and foster stability. By protecting asylum and refugee rights, we are not only protecting displaced people we are protecting the essence of humanity itself.
At this critical juncture, we urge all States to collaborate with one another and with civil society, particularly refugee-led organizations, to reinforce the international framework that safeguards individuals from persecution, displacement, and serious human rights violations.
In solidarity,
(amemo) mujeres en movimiento
ADORE Georgia
African Refugee Women-Led Network
African Youth Action Network
Amal Argentina
Angels Refugee Support Foundation
Apoyo a Migrantres Venezolanos, A.C.
Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights
Asociación civil Chamos Venezolanos en Ecuador
Asociación de Nicaragüenses en México, A.C
Asociación Venezuela en Ecuador AC
Asociación Venezuela Migrantes por el Mundo
Association SOS Nomade
Asylum-Seekers & Refugees Solidarity Association (ARSA)
Beautiful Rubies
Canterbury Somali Association
CIYOTA
Coalición por Venezuela
CODE CBO
Community Technology Empowerment Network
Congolese Civil Society of South Africa
Congolese Renaissance Movement
Congress of IDP Councils
Dadaab Development Organization
Dadaab Disability Aid
Dadaab Refugee Led Organizations Network (DARLON)
Dadaab Response Association
Dafikeso
DéNouTa Think Tank
DEWA project
ECA(Education and Climate Advocacy)
Ediget Youth Mentorship
Elena’s Light INC
Empower Youth Trust
Endam Home of Hope
Espero
Forcibly Displaced People Network
FSRC
Generation Aid
Give Hope Initiatives
greater Equatria
HALGAN CBO
HItma for Cultural and Social Development (HOCSD)
HODARI Foundation
Hope International Zentrum
Humanity and Nature Indigenous Women's Association INC
Ilalle Hill Organization
IRCA CASABIERTA LGBTIQ
Jumpstart Refugee Talent
Kakuma News Reflector (KANERE)
Kakuma Read Community-Based Organization
Kalobeyei Initiative for Better Life
Kazi Mbele Foundation
KWESU
Kyaka II Refugee-led Organizations Network (KRLON -Community Development Network (U) LTD
L'AFRIKANA
Lighthouse Equality Advocacy Project
Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants
Melanie&friends, inc
Migrans Nok Magyarorszag Egyesulet MINOK [Migrant Women's Hungary Association/ She4She]
Mombsa Refugee Union
MonyQadow
Moving Minds Alliance
Naath Keel (One People)
National Refugee-led Advisory and Advocacy Group
New International for Refugees & Immigrants
New Women Connectors
New Zealand Refugee Advisory Panel (NZRAP)
Newcomers with Disabilities in Sweden
North West House of Refuge
PACUHR -Panamerican and Caribbean for Human Rights
PAR
Pastoralist In Action Development Organization
Photofilm for Change
Program for Defying Violence against Women (PRODEVIOW)
Refugee Advisory Board (RAB) - Germany
Refugee Advisory Board Bulgaria
Refugee Advisory Board of Germany
Refugee Coalition for Climate Action (RCCA)
Refugee Congress
Refugee Dream Center
Refugee Interpreters Association
Refugee-Led Organization Network of Kenya (RELON-KENYA)
Refugees Seeking Equal Access at the Table (R-SEAT)
Refugees Urban Voices
Renewed Mind for Self-Reliance (RMSR)
Rise Above Reality Expectation Community Services Community
Safe Environmental Organization
Solidarity Initiative for Refugees
Somali Leaders Association of South Africa
South Africa Refugee Led Network
Supporting Hope and Aid for All Lives - SHAAL
Syrian Home
Tertiary Refugee Students Network
The Palestinian Business Women Association/ ASALA
Transformation Innovation Hub
Ujuzi Co-Creation Hub
Unifamily
United States Refugee Advisory Board
UP WITH AFRICA
Urise Initiatives for Africa
Veneactiva Colombia
Veneactiva Perú
Venezolanos En Barranquilla
Voice for Equity
We Are All America
Wide World for Refugee
Women Action For Rural Development Initiative (WARDI)
WOPEDE
Yes
Youth Association for Peace and Development YAPD
Youth Empowering Education Hub ( Y.E.E.H)
Youth Empowerment Action Resilience Network (YEARN)
Youth Empowerment and Development Access (YEDA)
Youth Social Advocacy Team (YSAT)
Youth Voices Community
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