Recognizing the Role and Impact of Refugee Entrepreneurship on World Refugee Day

The plight of refugees around the world is growing: the number of refugees increased by nearly 9 million people from 2022 to 2023. Yet entrepreneurship can empower refugees to build new lives after displacement.

At the end of 2023, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimated that war, violence, and persecution had forcibly displaced over 117 million people worldwide. Of these, 68.3 million (58%) were Internally Displaced People (IDPs), 37.6 million (32%) were refugees under UNHCR’s and UNRWA’s mandates, 6.9 million (6%) were asylum seekers, and the remainder 5.8 million (around 5%) were other people in need of international protection. 75% of the forcibly displaced are hosted in low- and middle-income countries, with the top five host countries being Iran, Türkiye, Colombia, Germany and Pakistan.  

This figure is 8.8 million higher that at the end of 2022. The main driver for the 8% increase in forced displacement compared to 2022 is the conflict in Sudan, which broke out in April 2023 and left 7.1 million IDPs and 1.9 million refugees. In addition, between October and December 2023, the Israel-Hamas conflict forced up to 1.7 million (75% of the population) to flee within the Gaza Strip, often multiple times, as per the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Over 1.3 million people were internally displaced in Myanmar in 2023, following the displacement that started after the military takeover in February 2021 and the mass displacement of the Rohingya after August 2017. Around 2 million net IDPs were forced to flee violence against civilian population in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The continuation of the war in Ukraine and internal conflict in Afghanistan left around 750 thousand people internally displaced in each of these countries in 2023. Climate crisis in Somalia contributed to nearly 700 thousand IDPs in 2023. Gang violence in Haiti and armed conflict in Syria and Armenia also contributed to the record rate of increase of forced displacement in 2023. 73% of all refugees come from 5 countries: Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine and Sudan. By the end of April 2024, the worldwide refugee crisis has reached an unprecedented high with an estimated 120 million people likely to be forcibly displaced, making World Refugee Day more important than ever before.  

Held on June 20 of every year for over twenty years, World Refugee Day recognizes the resilience, contributions, and courage of displaced people. The first World Refugee Day was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations and celebrated in 2001 to mark the 50th adversary of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which created the initial international legal protection of refugees. The celebration of World Refugee Day calls for a commitment to inclusion of refugees in all aspects of life, ensuring their ability to thrive during and after resettlement, or to return home safely. One way to achieve this, to have impact among marginalized communities, implement change and scale it to have a positive effect, is through social entrepreneurship. Experts like Yale School of Management professor Teresa Chahine and author Andrew Leon Hanna, explain that entrepreneurship can be a driving factor for the success of such initiatives. 

Among refugees, entrepreneurship is crucial to building agency after forced displacement. In her book Social Entrepreneurship, Chahine uses the case study of Soufra, a social enterprise run by Palestinian refugees in Lebanon to explain how entrepreneurship empowers and uplifts. Soufra enabled refugee women to become decision makers for their families; they recognized their sense of agency by changing how they view themselves as well as how their community perceives them. As Chahine writes: “They changed the way people inside and outside their community perceive women, perceive refugees. Those are all real impacts, real reasons why Soufra is important.” Andrew Leon Hanna, an award-winning entrepreneur, lawyer, author, professor, and first generation American,  corroborates this sentiment in his book 25 Million Sparks, which follows the story of three Syrian women refugees in the Za’atari refugee camp. His book explains the power of entrepreneurship in over 20 refugee camps worldwide to ignite dignity and agency through hard work and optimism. The UNHCR Roadmap for Refugee Entrepreneurship reflects upon the importance of and best practices for supporting refugee entrepreneurs. 

On June 20, 2024, join the MacMillan Center’s Program on Refugees, Forced Displacement, and Humanitarian Responses and millions around the world to celebrate and admire the resilience, dedication, and community benefaction of refugee entrepreneurs. You may support the culinary excellence of New Haven-based refugee entrepreneurs at the World Food Bazaar as you celebrate World Refugee Day. Among the participants will be refugee led social enterprises Sanctuary Kitchen and Havenly, as well as Lalibela restaurant.

Find more information about World Refugee Day and how to be involved outside of New Haven at the UNHCR’s webpage: UNHCR World Refugee Day.