MSF staff asked Syrian and Palestinian refugees the same simple question: “What does the word ‘refugee’ mean to you”? Their answers were recorded at MSF’s clinics in Baalbeck, Ain El Helweh camp, Shatila camp and in Akkar.

Today more than 60 million people are displaced around the world in search of safety and protection.

They come from conflict zones and places where they are persecuted for their thoughts, their religion, their sexual orientation, their political opinions. Never before has the possibility to flee has been put at such risk by political decisions that have, as their main objective, the aim to keep them as far as possible from sight.

The EU-Turkey deal and other similar agreements currently under discussion send the message that caring for people forced from their homes is optional and that countries can buy their way out of providing asylum. This is making the world an even more dangerous place for people fleeing war and persecution: if all countries adopted the same logic there could soon be no place to run to. Men, women and children could be trapped in war zones and insecure areas, unable to flee for their lives and safety.

By undermining the principle of asylum, the EU/Turkey deal rips apart promises made to protect people following the Second World War, as set out in the Refugee Convention – at the time when protection is most needed. Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), is currently providing assistance and medical care to refugees around the world and is left to confront the real possibility that we are witnessing the end of the Refugee Convention. Will the concept of the refugee cease to exist? Will this be the last World Refugee Day? With wars and conflict continuing to rage across the planet, we believe it should not be. These and millions of others across the globe need our support and assistance. Don‘t let this be the #LastRefugeeDay !