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World ReFugee Day 2023

The United Nations General Assembly established the first World Refugee Day on June 20, 2000. The international holiday honors the courage and resilience of refugees worldwide, celebrates the significant contributions they make to every community they join, and calls for expanded protections for a population that is forced to flee their homelands.

Commemorating

The 1951 Refugee Convention

Throughout the week, our community came together at our three sites—Boston, MA, Lowell, MA, and Manchester, NH—to celebrate our clients’ successes, hear their stories, and honor our community partners, who make our work helping refugees possible.
Highlights

A number of clients took the stage to share what brought them to IINE and the challenges and opportunities they have faced since arriving in the U.S. Originally from the Congo, Suitcase Stories® performer Mapendo Mutingamo reflected on her years-long journey to Massachusetts. 


We recognized our eight refugee youth clients who have been accepted to represent the state of Massachusetts as part of the National Youth Leadership Council. As NYLC members, our youth clients will receive training to be leaders in improving their communities and addressing real world issues. We also celebrated the end of the term for our ESOL students , and our LNA (Licensed Nursing Assistant) class celebrated the completion of the 18-week program. We are so proud of our clients’ successes!   


This year alone, our organization has supported over 6,000+ refugees and immigrants. Meeting this unprecedented need for our services would not be possible without the help of our community. We honored the contributions of numerous community partners this World Refugee Day, including Abisi Adult Education, ASAIPSAR (Acton Stow Area Interfaith Partnership Supporting Afghan Refugees) Volunteer Team, Boston Area Gleaners, Department of Transitional Assistance, Middlesex Community College, and Starbucks. In New Hampshire, we heard from Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig and representatives from Senator Jeanne Shaheen’s and Congressman Chris Pappas’ offices, who all recognized the invaluable role refugees play in strengthening our local economy and culture.