World Refugee Day 2022

This past year millions of people in Afghanistan and Ukraine were forced to flee their homes at a moment’s notice. Meanwhile, crises in countries like Syria, Ethiopia and Venezuela persist, resulting in a record-high 100 million people displaced globally.

These families have had to make difficult decisions when fleeing their homes. But while they can only carry so much, refugees bring countless gifts to their new communities: hopes and dreams, experiences and talents, traditions, recipes and family anecdotes, resilience and determination. 

Now more than ever, people fleeing war and persecution need our support.

This World Refugee Day, welcome them! 

And learn about some of their stories below.  

Take our quiz on refugee contributions

Beloved baked goods, a Disney heroine and world-changing creations. See what some other famous refugees have brought to the world!

Which famous theory was created by a refugee who fled Nazi Germany?

• The Theory of Relativity
• Quantum Theory
• Game Theory
• The Pythagorean Theorem

Correct!

Not quite! The correct answer is 'The Theory of Relativty.'

German physicist Albert Einstein published his theory of special relativity in 1905. In 1933, he and his wife Elsa were forced to flee Nazi Germany for safety in the U.S. Einstein’s theories revolutionised physics and transformed the way we understand space and time. Einstein was also a humanitarian, having inspired the founding of the organisation that became the International Rescue Committee. 

See what some other famous refugees have brought to the world!