Point Of Displacement Festival Opens In Moscow Ahead Of World Refugee Day

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th June, 2021) The Point of Displacement festival with workshops, exhibitions, excursions and discussions dedicated to the issue of refugees opens in Moscow on Monday to mark the upcoming UN-sponsored World Refugee Day.

The event will be held throughout the week and conclude on World Refugee Day on June 20.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Russia is one of the organizers of the festival along with the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, the State Tretyakov Gallery and others.

The festival is taking place for the third time in the Russian capital and is gathering more and more participants, Vanno Noupech, UNHCR Russia Representative, told Sputnik.

"This year, it [the event] involves the venues and partners not only in Moscow but also in various regions of Russia, including St. Petersburg, Kazan and Vladivostok. It is important that the issues of forced migration, ethnocultural diversity and the interaction of cultures are interesting and in demand for discussions," he said.

Noupech, who is completing his mission in Moscow this year, said that the festival is one of the most vibrant cultural projects during his stay in Moscow.

"I would like to express my hope that the festival and similar events will continue to develop and gain all-Russian coverage in the near future," he stressed.

For the first time, World Refugee Day was held on June 20, 2001, and marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees. Originally known as Africa Refugee Day, the day was eventually renamed World Refugee Day and became international in December 2000.

According to the UN, some 80 million people worldwide have been forced to flee their homes. due to conflict and persecution. Over 26 million people are considered refugees.