DOHA 20 June 2025 — The Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines in the State of Qatar joins the Filipino nation and the world in the observance of National Refugee Day and World Refugee Day today, 20 June 2025.

The National Refugee Day was institutionalized pursuant to Proclamation No. 265, which was issued on 20 June 2023.

As a State Party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, the 1964 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the Philippine Government recognizes the necessity for a national observance of the #WordlRefugeeDay to protect and uphold the rights of refugees, stateless persons, and asylum seekers, and increase awareness and recognition of their welfare, needs, and vulnerabilities.

In the Philippines, Executive Order No. 163 (s. 2022) institutionalized the access to protection services for refugees, stateless persons, and asylum seekers in the country through the establishment of an Inter-Agency Committee tasked to ensure that policies on the protection of, and the services and assistance offered to, persons of concern are consistent with relevant laws, rules, and regulations.

This is consistent with the Philippines’ long-standing open-door policy for providing humanitarian assistance to the forcibly displaced. Historically, the Philippines has served as a country of asylum for large groups fleeing war and persecution — a phenomenon Filipino historians, refugees, and the UNHCR have termed the “9 Waves of Refugees.”

Read more on the “9 Waves of Refugees” here.

For more information, visit dohape.dfa.gov.ph, facebook.com/PHinQatar, or instagram.com/phinqatar.