Syrian refugees numbering in the millions fled civil war in their country in the early 2000′s. Many were housed in refugee camps like this camp in Sanliurfa, Turkey.
Credit: © Orlok/Shutterstock

Today, June 20, is World Refugee Day. The United Nations designated the day to honor refugees from around the world. A refugee is a person forced to flee from his or her country and find safety elsewhere. Many refugees seek to escape persecution based on religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political beliefs. Some flee from war, famine, or other dangers. Many refugees give up everything—home, possessions, and family and friends—to pursue an uncertain future in a foreign land.

The term refugee comes from the French word refugie, which was used to describe Protestant Huguenots who fled France in 1685 because of Roman Catholic persecution. The term displaced person, or DP, is sometimes used interchangeably with refugee.

The flow of refugees from one country to another can present major international challenges. Countries that receive refugees—often called host countries—may have difficulty providing shelter, food, sanitation, and medical treatment for large numbers of people in need. Since 1951, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has helped millions of refugees throughout the world. The UNHCR estimates there were nearly 89.3 million refugees, internally displaced people, and asylum seekers at the end of 2021. This number has increased in 2022 as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as the ongoing crises in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Syria. The Rohingya are a people of Myanmar who are not recognized as legal residents and are forced to flee the country for safety and rights.

Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar await rescue after being stranded off the coast of Indonesia. The government of Myanmar limited the rights of its Rohingya population in the 2010′s, leading an increasing number to attempt to flee the country. Myanmar’s government considered them illegal immigrants, although many Rohingya families had lived in the country for decades.
Credit: AP Photo

Under international law, governments in host countries must respect the basic human rights of refugees. Refugees, in turn, are expected to respect the laws and regulations of host countries. The shelter and protection that host countries provide to refugees is called asylum. In host countries, refugees generally have freedom of movement, freedom of religion, and the ability to pursue education and work. However, some refugees have no choice but to stay in crowded refugee camps. Refoulement—that is, the forcible return of refugees to countries where they face persecution—is a violation of international law.

Refugees often face many obstacles and hardships on their journeys. Salva Dut escaped from South Sudan on foot and faced many years in refugee camps before being welcomed in the United States. He works to bring clean water to his home country. Many refugees try to help the community they left in order to make the lives of others safer and healthier.

Many communities plan activities and events on World Refugee Day to support refugees and welcome them. Look up if your community is hosting an event or read about how you can help refugees in your neighborhood.

February 2, 2017

Move over, Luke, there’s a new Skywalker in town! A new species (kind) of gibbon, the Skywalker hoolock gibbon, has been found living in the tropical rain forests of southwestern China and northeastern Myanmar. Gibbons are the smallest of the apes. The scientific name of this new species, Hoolock tianxing, describes a hoolock gibbon with “heaven’s movement” or, loosely, as a “skywalker.” The name refers to the gibbons’ graceful swinging through the treetops as well as the traditional Chinese view of these animals as mystical beings. Also, the scientists who studied the newly defined gibbons are huge Star Wars fans. (In case you didn’t know, Luke Skywalker is one of the heroes of the movie franchise.)

An adult female Skywalker hoolock gibbon contemplates the universe from its treetop home in southwestern China. Credit: © Fan Peng-Fei, Zoological Society of London

Researchers from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China, along with experts from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in the United Kingdom, have been studying these gibbons since 2008. But only recently did the scientists realize that this hoolock gibbon was different from the two known species—eastern and western hoolocks. Skywalker hoolock gibbons have slightly different eyebrows and beards than their relatives, and they have their own unique calls.

Gibbons are small primates with long arms. They weigh from 10 to 20 pounds (5 to 9 kilograms) and stand 15 to 36 inches (38 to 91 centimeters) high. Adults typically range in color from black to light tan, with males often darker than females. Their long arms help them brachiate (swing from branch to branch) through the treetops where they live. They eat fruits and leaves and rarely come to the ground. Most gibbons inhabit the forests of such Southeast Asian nations as Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand. The rare hoolock gibbon has been spotted as far west as India.

Unfortunately, all gibbons, including this new species, are threatened in the wild. Scientists believe there are only 200 Skywalker hoolock gibbons left in their native habitat. Human beings have greatly reduced gibbon populations by destroying the animals’ forest homes and by capturing young animals for food or for sale as pets.

March 31, 2016

Myanmar’s new President, Htin Kyaw (at left), receives the presidential seal from outgoing president Thein Sein during the handover ceremony at the presidential palace in Naypyidaw, March 30, 2016. Credit: © Ye Aung Thu, Pool/Reuters

Yesterday, March 30, Htin Kyaw became the first civilian president of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) since 1962. Kyaw is a staunch ally of Aung San Suu Kyi, a Burmese human rights activist whose struggle to return Myanmar to democracy earned her the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize—as well as a lengthy time under house arrest. In 2000, Htin Kyaw served four months in prison for helping Aung San Suu Kyi travel outside Yangon, the nation’s largest city.

In 1962, Burmese Army General Ne Win seized power from the democratically elected government. He suspended the Burmese Constitution and set up a Revolutionary Council of military leaders. Ne Win—who changed his title from general to president—and his Revolutionary Council allowed only one political party—their own. The nation fell on hard economic times, and the government closed the nation’s borders, took over media and schools, and put down unrest with gunfire. Ne Win and his party ruled strictly until 1988, when social and political unrest led the military to seize power from Ne Win. In 1989, the new military leaders changed the nation’s name from Burma to Myanmar.

In recent years, the military had eased political restrictions and given more power to the nation’s elected Union Assembly. In 2010, they released Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, but a complex system of laws bans her from ever serving as president. On March 15, 2016, Myanmar’s Union Assembly elected Htin Kyaw as the new president, but Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to govern through him.

Other World Book articles

• Asia (a Back in time article-1962)
• Myanmar (Back in time articles-1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2014)
• Nobel Prize (a Back in time article)

November 13, 2015

Although final results are not yet available, election officials in the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar (also called Burma) announced today that the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) won an absolute majority of seats in both houses of the country’s parliament. After the new members of parliament are sworn in early next year, they will elect a president. International observers praised the November 8 elections as the most democratic to be held in Myanmar in 25 years.

On Nov. 8, 2015, Myanmar held elections for both houses of its parliament. The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi (shown), has won a vast majority of the seats that have so far been declared. © Candace Scharsu, Archive Photos

The NLD has been Myanmar’s main political opposition for decades. In elections held in 1990, the NLD won 60 percent of the vote and 80 percent of the seats in parliament. However, the junta (military government) that ruled the country at the time annulled the results. Prior to the election, the junta placed NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest, where she spent much of the following 20 years. In 1991, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent efforts to bring democracy to Myanmar. (She collected her prize in 2012, after being released from house arrest.)

Myanmar’s constitution, which was adopted in 2008 under the direction of the army, contains two clauses that will limit the NLD’s mandate. First, in a clause seemingly included specifically to keep Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency, the constitution bars anyone from serving as president who has family members who are citizens of another country. Aung San Suu Kyi’s two sons are British, as was her late husband. Second, the constitution reserves 25 percent of the seats in each of the two parliamentary houses for members of the country’s army, which also retains control of key security and defense offices. The NLD will need to work together with the military to enact political change.

In light of the events of 1990, some NLD supporters are concerned about the government’s seeming willingness to accept this year’s election results. However, several signs in the past few days have pointed toward a peaceful transition of power. A number of government officials have made statements offering congratulations to Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD on their performance in the election. In addition, the main headline for the Nov. 12, 2015, issue of the government-owned newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar read “Welcoming the New Guard.” United States President Barack Obama congratulated Myanmar President Thein Sein for holding “a historic free and fair general election.”

Back in Time articles

• Asia (1991)
• Myanmar (1989)
• Myanmar (1990)
• Myanmar (1991)
• Myanmar (1992)
• Myanmar (1993)
• Myanmar (1994)
• Myanmar (1995)
• Myanmar (1996)
• Myanmar (1997)
• Myanmar (1998)
• Myanmar (2000)
• Myanmar (2001)
• Myanmar (2002)
• Myanmar (2003)
• Myanmar (2004)
• Myanmar (2006)
• Myanmar (2007)
• Myanmar (2009)
• Myanmar (2010)
• Myanmar (2011)
• Myanmar (2012)
• Myanmar (2013)
• Myanmar (2014)
• Nobel Prizes (1991)
• United Nations (2007)

May 20, 2015

Government officials from three Southeast Asian countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand—met today in Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, and agreed to stop turning away migrant ships from their coasts. At least 3,500 migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar have come ashore in one of the three nations over the last few weeks, but some 7,000 more migrants are thought to be still adrift at sea. The migrants are in distress from their long journeys and many of them are dehydrated and malnourished.

Migrants wait to be rescued by fishermen off the coast of Aceh, Indonesia, May 20, 2015. Hundreds of migrants stranded at sea for months were rescued and taken to Indonesia, officials reported, the latest in a stream of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants to reach shore in a growing crisis confronting Southeast Asia. Credit: AP Photo

Refugees from Bangladesh are mostly economic migrants seeking jobs. The migrants from Myanmar, however, are Rohingya Muslims, a group that has long been persecuted in Myanmar. Rohingya, even those from families who have lived in Myanmar for generations, are denied citizenship in the predominantly Buddhist nation and have few rights there.

The current migrant boat crisis in Southeast Asia began a few weeks ago. Previously, migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar had traveled by sea to Thailand and then overland. Thailand recently cracked down on this overland traffic, and now smugglers are sending migrants exclusively on sea routes. Often these human traffickers abandon the migrants if a ship founders. Navies from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand have been turning away the boat people at their shores and have sometimes towed stricken boats to the shores of other nations.

The agreement to permit migrants to enter the host nations by sea solves a humanitarian crisis in the short run. Eventually, however, the solution lies in helping Bangladesh to become more economically sound and pressuring Myanmar to recognize and stop persecuting the Rohingya population living in its borders.

Other World Book articles:

• Immigration

• Myanmar (2014-a Back in time article)

June 13, 2012

Aung San Suu Kyi left Myanmar today for a 16-day European trip that will include her acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize that she was awarded in 1991. At the time, Myanmar’s military junta refused to allow her to leave the country to accept the award.

After a violent military coup in Myanmar in 1988, Suu Kyi rose to prominence as the leader of the opposition and co-founder of the National League for Democracy (NLD). In 1990, the NLD won 392 of 492 seats in parliamentary elections. However, the military refused to relinquish power and arrested many of the party’s leaders. Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest and spent much of the next 20 years confined to her home in Yangon. After the government relaxed some of the country’s political and economic restrictions in 2011,  Aung San Suu Kyi in 2012 was elected to Myanmar’s parliament.

Aung San Suu Kyi  (© Candace Scharsu, Archive Photos)

While in Europe, Suu Kyi will address the International Labor Organization, a United Nations agency, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland; speak before both houses of the British Parliament in London; and be the guest of honor at a concert in Dublin, Ireland.

The trip will conclude in Paris, where she will be the guest of French President Francois Hollande. She is to be honored by France for her “fight for democracy and the rights of man and to reaffirm France’s will to support the political transition in Myanmar.”

Additional World Book articles:

• Myanmar 1988 (a Back in Time article)
• Myanmar 1990 (a Back in Time article)
• Myanmar 1991 (a Back in Time article)
• Myanmar 2000 (a Back in Time article)
• Myanmar 2011 (a Back in Time article)

April 2, 2012

Aung San Suu Kyi‘s National League for Democracy (NLD) took at least 40 of the 45 seats being contested in parliamentary elections in Myanmar (also known as Burma) on April 1. Apart from winning her own seat, Suu Kyi appears to have helped a number of her colleagues to victory. The democracy advocate has for two decades led the opposition to the military dictatorship that has controlled the country since 1962. The NLD, one of 17 opposition parties that took part, was competing in its first elections since 1990, after boycotting the 2010 polls, which it claimed were unfair.  A transitional civilian government took power in Myanmar in 2011 after years of oppressive military rule.

Speaking outside NLD headquarters in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, Aung San Suu Kyi noted, “It is not so much our triumph as a triumph of the people who have decided that they have to be involved in the political process in this country. We hope this is the beginning of a new era.”

Aung San Suu Kyi won a seat in a new parliament in Myanmar, which suffered years of oppressive military rule. (© Candace Scharsu, Archive Photos)

The military junta in Myanmar kept Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for years after her party won polls in 1990 but was not allowed to take power. Suu Kyi was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent efforts to bring democracy to Myanmar.

Additional World Book articles:

• Myanmar 1990 (Back in Time article)
• Myanmar 1991 (Back in Time article)
• Myanmar 2010 (Back in Time article)
• Myanmar 2011 (Back in Time article)

Jan. 17, 2012

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced that the government of the United States has begun the process of establishing diplomatic relations with the government of Myanmar. The announcement was made just hours after Myanmar’s most prominent political dissidents were released from prison. Secretary Clinton noted that a U.S. ambassador would be named, but that the restoration of ties would be a lengthy process dependent on continuing reform.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

The U.S. State Department recalled its ambassador from Myanmar in 1990, after the country’s military rulers ignored elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi‘s National League for Democracy. Aung San Suu Kyi is a human rights activist who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent efforts to bring democracy to Myanmar.

Political activist Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar

Myanmar was taken over by the military in 1962 and was ruled by a brutal junta until 2011, when the army ceded power to a nominally civilian government. Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy recently re-registered as a political party. She announced plans to run for a seat in Myanmar’s parliament in forthcoming elections.

Additional World Book articles:

• Myanmar 1962 (Back in Time article)
• Myanmar 1990 (Back in Time article)
• Myanmar 1991 (Back in Time article)
• Myanmar 2010 (Back in Time article)

Dec. 1, 2011

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Myanmar’s prodemocracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon (formerly Rangoon). Aung San Suu Kyi is a human rights activist who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent efforts to bring democracy to Myanmar. Earlier, Mrs. Clinton met with Myanmar’s president, Thein Sein, and pledged to improve ties with Myanmar if current reforms continue. After the meeting, the secretary of state said that the United States would reward Myanmar’s leaders, presumably by lifting economic sanctions, if they keep “moving in the right direction.” A series of reforms, including establishing civilian leadership, has led to speculation that Myanmar’s decades of isolation could be coming to an end. Hillary Clinton is the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Myanmar since John Foster Dulles in 1955.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

Political activist Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar

Myanmar was taken over by the military in 1962 and was ruled by a brutal junta until 2011, when the army ceded power to a nominally civilian government. Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy recently re-registered as a political party. She announced plans to run for a seat in Myanmar’s parliament in forthcoming elections.

Additional World Book articles:

• State, Department of
• Myanmar 1962 (Back in Time article)
• Myanmar 1990 (Back in Time article)
• Myanmar 1991 (Back in Time article)
• Myanmar 2010 (Back in Time article)