The UN Refugee Agency: Our Story

Those whose lives have been uprooted and torn apart by conflict or natural disaster, UNHCR exists to help them. This is our story. The High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) was established in December 1950. The Second World War left over one million refugees far from home and governments in need of assistance to coordinate the crisis. UNHCR was created to help. The founders thought their task would only take three years but new conflicts broke out and more families were forced flee their homes. In 1951 we s