Our Foundation has donated to the Israel Representative Office of “UNHCR-The United Nations Refugee Agency“, which provides compassion to refugees and works on basic protection issues including refugee rights, reception conditions of asylum seekers, durable solutions, protection of children. UNHCR presented a certificate of appreciation to our Foundation for the donation.
Everyone In Need Should Have The Right To Seek Asylum.
Regarding the donation, Uğur Tatlıcı, Executive Board Member of our Foundation, said: “Every individual who has fled violence, persecution, war or disaster in their own country should be able to exercise their right to seek asylum and access protection in safety. It is a humanitarian duty to provide vital assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons and stateless people who have no one else to turn to for support. We, as the Foundation, donated to the “UNHCR – United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees” – Israel Representative Office, which works to save the lives of millions of people who have been forced to flee their homes and to build a better future for them. Turkey plays an important role in the global migration waves that have increased in recent years and hosts millions of migrants and asylum seekers. With this donation, we aim to encourage other countries in the region, such as Israel, to share the burden of the migrant and refugee problem with Turkey. Supporting Turkey’s efforts in this regard is of great importance for regional stability and solidarity. We hope to see increased efforts to ensure that everyone in need has the right to seek asylum and access to safe protection in another country.”
UNHCR-The United Nations Refugee Agency
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was established in 1950 to help millions of Europeans who had fled or lost their homes after World War II. Its term of office was set to expire after three years, during which time UNHCR had to complete its work.
Today, 73 years later, the organisation is still hard at work, protecting and assisting refugees around the world. In 1954, UNHCR won the Nobel Peace Prize for its groundbreaking work in Europe. In 1981, UNHCR was awarded a second Nobel Peace Prize for its assistance to refugees worldwide.
In the early 21st century, UNHCR provided assistance in major refugee crises in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. At the same time, when asked to use its expertise to assist persons internally displaced by conflict, UNHCR expanded its role by assisting stateless persons. The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees was strengthened by additional regional and legal instruments adopted in some parts of the world, such as Africa and Latin America.
Celebrating its 73rd anniversary in 2023, UNHCR has helped more than 50 million refugees successfully re-enter the world.
UNHCR first established a presence in Israel in March 1976 when it opened a small ‘Honorary Correspondent’ office. Zina Harman, a career Israeli Diplomat and former Member of Knesset, was appointed UNHCR’s first Honorary Correspondent, a post she held until 1999. In the late 1990s, the number of asylum seekers in Israel began to increase steadily and this new development gave acceleration to the Government and UNHCR to start a constructive dialogue on how to establish a national refugee status determination (RSD) procedure and create a better solution.
