65.3 million refugees break record - Pope Francis calls for help

'This is the first time that the threshold of 60 million has been crossed.'

There exist 65.3 million refugees and displaced people around the world. The humanitarian crisis has broken records left and right - and Pope Francis has called us to stand with them.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Agency (UNHCR), 65.3 million people were displaced at the end of 2015, compared to 59.5 million in 2014.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi explained: "More people are being displaced by war and persecution and that's worrying in itself, but the factors that endanger refugees are multiplying too. At sea, a frightening number of refugees and migrants are dying each year; on land, people fleeing war are finding their way blocked by closed borders.

"Closing borders does not solve the problem. The willingness of nations to work together not just for refugees but for the collective human interest is what's being tested today, and it's this spirit of unity that badly needs to prevail."

Pope Francis agrees.

On Monday morning, Pope Francis spoke to say: "Refugees are people like everyone, but war took away their home, work, relatives and friends. ... This is why we want to stand with them -- to encounter them, welcome them, listen to them -- in order to become together with them artisans of peace, according to God's will."

The pontiff spoke on United Nations-sponsered World Refugee Day, which has been conducted on June 20 every year since the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 55/76, where it marked 2001 as the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.

This years' events include a UNHCR Zaatari Portal dialogue at the United Nations and real time face-to-face portals to connect to the Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan, where roughly 80,000 refugees have fled war and violence.

Alongside the portal, award-winning virtual reality film "Clouds Over Sidra" will be playing. It allows viewers to see Zaatari "through the eyes of a young Syrian refugee girl living in the camp."

This evening, there will be an opening reception of the Refugees Exhibit, which has only been described as a "multimedia exhibit."

The purpose of World Refugee Day is to spread awareness of much-needed humanitarian efforts around the world.

Grandi explained: "Instead of burden-sharing, we see borders closing. Instead of political will, there is political paralysis and humanitarian organisations like mine are left to deal with the consequences and struggling to save lives on limited budgets."

UNHCR reported: "The rate at which solutions are being found for refugees and internally displaced people has been on a falling trend since the end of the Cold War."

Grandi added, "We simply do not have the option of turning our backs and walking away."

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