While 68.5 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide because of conflict and persecution, according to a recent report by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN continues to fail in improving this refugee crisis by supporting states with a history of human rights violations and turning civilians into refugees.

“As the UN continues to release reports about refugees and the millions fleeing persecution worldwide, it fails to take serious action against the states that are causing such despair among their people – instead propping up countries run by dictators such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria while unfairly condemning democracies such as Israel,” said FSWC President and CEO Avi Benlolo.

The UN Human Rights Council has shockingly given seats and a voice to many countries that have committed human rights abuses against their people and caused civilians to flee their homes, including Afghanistan, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq, undermining the UN’s effectiveness in protecting human rights and the victims whose rights have been abused. In addition, Ambassador Suraya Dalil of Afghanistan, the country that’s the second-largest source of refugees, is currently the chairperson of the UNHCR Executive Committee Bureau.