Refugees On Stamps

At first one might wonder what birds are doing here, but seeing the word Flykting explains it. The Swedish set was issued in 1971 to call attention to international help for refugees, so it doesn't belong to the issues put out in the spring of 1960 in connection with the UN. The arctic tern (Sterna paradisea) is the bird with the longest migratory route, breeding summer in the arctic, vacation summer in the antarctic. One might say it spends most of its life fleeing darkness. The engraver is readable. (Photo by G. Hauksdottir, Island)

I think this one fits in when one considers the mass
migrations crossing the Mediterranean from the Middle east
and North Africa in flimsy ships which is
taking place this very minute.

Issued by Israel in 1973 to commemorated the 30th anniversary
of the rescue by the Danes of the Jews of Denmark.

Scott 529

The International Refugee Organization (IRO) was founded on April 20, 1946 to deal with the massive refugee problem created by World War II. It was a UN specialized agency and took over many of the functions of the earlier UN Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. In 1952, its operations ceased, and it was replaced by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR (from Wikip.). The set of 12 stamps was issued in 1949, the overprint was used for the years 1950/51.



Hello Litho, That is a great stamp with Hebrew and Danish! Of course not only Danish Jews were rescued, many refugees from elsewhere in Europe fled to Denmark. Do you know if it's a woodcut?

Algeria 2015 World Refugee Day

In 1945, the British built a camp in Friedland, near the American and Soviet zones. It was designed as the first way station for refugees, evacuees, and returning soldiers. During the period of mass expulsions from 1944 to 1945, the camp offered services to large waves of refugees. Thereafter, it functioned primarily as a way station for German (or ethnic German) emigrants from Eastern bloc countries. Between 1950 and 1987, approximately 1.4 million people of German extraction came to the Federal Republic from the East. Photos: Friedland then and now. (Friede is the German word for Peace; Design by L. Ade)

United Nations - 1984
New York, Vienna, Geneva.

A Future for Refugees
FDC



Stamps designed by Hans Erni (1909-2015)

To honor 50 years of UNHCR, Iceland issued this stamp of a refugee camp that could be anywhere in the near east. Icelanders have responded to the current crisis by offering to take refugees into their homes. The words "Flotamanna-hjalpar" translates to 'help for fleeing people'.



(Aren't those Erni stamps wonderful, and the peace dove with his signature on its back! Thanks Jorge, K.)

This official cover (1997, in 2 languages) commemorates the camp used for hundreds of thousands of refugees who escaped advancing Russian troops during WWI. It was located next to the Austrian town of Gmünd. They came from regions further east such as Galizia and Ukraine. The monument (1964) by Gregor Kruk stands at the former cemetary where app. 30,000 refugees were buried. The area of the camp is now a part of Gmünd. The stamps (1994) honor Franz Theodor Csokor and Joseph Roth, both known for their writings on peace, freedom and human rights.

Refugees and WRY emblem, an airmail stamp printed by lithography, and issued by Uruguay on June 6, 1960, Scott No. C207.

- nethryk

The state of Greater Lebanon, the predecessor of modern Lebanon, was created in 1920. The French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon was a League of Nations Mandate created at the end of World War I. Lebanon gained its independence in 1943 and the French left the country in 1946. During the Syrian conflict with the French in the early 1920s, many Syrians fled to Lebanon; the overprint reads 'Help for Refugees'. Lebanon issued a stamp for the WRY, 1959/60. Photo: Refugee camp for Syrians last winter up in the mountains. According to the October, 2015, report by the UNHCR, there are now over 1,000,000 registered Syrians in Lebanon. There was no information on unregistered persons.

A World Refugee Year souvenir sheet from Afghanistan issued on April 7, 1960.




A note of the Afghanistan postal history
Afghanistan first established a postal service in 1870. The year of 1925 marked the beginning of the international post services between Afghanistan and British India. The Afghan stamps started to bear foreign letters in 1927. The set of Coat of Arms stamps bear English "Postage Afghan"or "Afghan Postage".
In 1928 Afghanistan became a member of the Universal Postal Union. All the stamps between 1928 and 1989 bear French "Postes Afghan""Postes Afghanes"or "Postes Afghanistan".
The disruption of governance due to civil war and the Taliban led to stopping of stamp issues from 1989 to 2001. During this period, many unofficial stamps were printed and distributed, which are disavowed by the Afghanistan postal services.
The first issue of a postage stamp after the hiatus was the May 2002 stamp showing Ahmad Shah Masoud. All the stamps issued since then bear English "Afghan Post".
KuoLC

KuoL, that's a nice sheet from Afghanistan, do you know why it is printed in French? The newer references to Afghan refugees were made by Pakistan, which also issued a commemorative for 50 years of UNHCR. According to their report of this summer, there are presently 2.7 million registered Afghan refugees in the countries surrounding Afghanistan. The number of internally displaced and those seeking asylum further away was not provided. Photo: Afghans in Pakistan 2015. The UNHCR has been working to repatriate as many Afghans as possible.

In the above post, I should have explained that the 40p stamp applied to refugees from the USSR military presence in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. 5.5 million Afghans were made refugees by that war, a full one third of the country's pre-war population fleeing the country to Pakistan or Iran. A total of 3.3 million Afghan refugees were housed in Pakistan by 1988, some of whom continue to live in the country up until today. The circular emblem belongs to the 3rd Islamic Summit Conference of 1981. (Comment: The first stamp is an exception in the big collection already represented in this thread: I don't recognize any women and children among the people sitting there.)

"On 16 October 1945, 42 countries acted in Quebec, Canada, to create the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). In doing so they took another important step forward in man's perpetual struggle against hunger and malnutrition. For through the establishment of FAO they provided themselves, and the many other nations that were to enter the Organization, with a mechanism through which its Member Countries could deal with a set of problems that are of major concern to all countries and all people." (Wikip.) In honor of that day it is World Food Day on the 16th of October. The FAO is a major contributor to alleviating hunger among refugees as well as training after repatriation.

After having closed its border to Serbia last month, Hungary closed its border to Croatia last night. The flow of refugees from the south to Austria and countries further north will now most likely be diverted toward Slovenia. Slovenia became a member of the EU and NATO in 2004, but many Slovenians will remember the hardships and horrors of the past century, WWs, Stalinist and Tito periods. The stamps are very different in character and celebrate the return of refugees and the opening of borders.





(Thanks KuoL for your added info! K.)