In 2021, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that there were 27.1 million refugees globally.1 Refugees are people who have fled war, violence, conflict, or persecution and have crossed an international border to find safety in another country.2 Often, refugees have had to flee with little more than the clothes on their back, leaving behind homes, possessions, jobs, and loved ones.
Fleeing persecution or danger, refugees are among the world’s most vulnerable population group. World Refugee Day provides an opportunity to highlight the situation and the needs of some of those most at risk of facing barriers to safety and services among the refugee population—people with disabilities. People with disabilities are some of the most hidden, excluded, and neglected of all displaced people, due to the intersectional barriers they face. The United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) defines persons with disabilities as …