The Magnum Photos photography agency began documenting population movements very early in its history. Marked by the atrocities of the Second World War, the agency's founders, Robert Capa, David Seymour, George Rodger and Henri Cartier-Bresson, were convinced that photography could change the world by raising public awareness and helping to prevent historical barbarities from repeating themselves.
While Magnum Photos was still in its infancy, the United Nations mandated UNHCR to protect the rights of refugees in 1950, in the context of the displacement crisis that followed the Second World War. The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees thus became the key legal document defining UNHCR's mission to help refugees assert their rights around the world, a role it has been fulfilling for 75 years now.
Magnum Photos and UNHCR are joining forces to bear witness to a world that is unjust to displaced people, whose journeys remain the same despite the passing decades, in the hope that their joint work will help prevent the repetition of these injustices.
After 75 years of intertwined paths, the collaboration between these two organizations remains more relevant than ever. Today, UNHCR is present in more than 130 countries and assists more than 122 million forcibly displaced and stateless people worldwide. People forced to flee continue to struggle in many places, whether they are waiting to be granted refugee status, are in transit or are hoping to return to their country of origin.
The following photos pay tribute to them.
Asylum seekers are given a number to queue up to have their application processed. The vast majority of them are denied asylum.
Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.
Civilians flee combat zones during the 48-hour ceasefire.
Evacuation of children from areas affected by civil war.
Dorohusk-Jagodzin border crossing. A Ukrainian family flees the war in Ukraine.
A girl rests on a rock on a hill overlooking the camp.
Friends and families are reunited.
Fires that ravaged the Moria migrant camp left thousands homeless. Women queue for water.
William, 64, rebuilds his house, which has been burned down several times this year.
Refugee camp for the Mandari people, displaced from the Terkaka region.
Refugees head to the accommodation area to rest after arriving at the camp.
Refugees flee the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh and arrive in the border village of Kornidzor, Armenia.
Rohingya refugee camp.
Syrian refugees leave their tents to take part in a distribution of COVID-19 hygiene kits.
Asylum seekers flee to avoid arrest after spotting a Turkish gendarmerie car heading towards them. The Turkish government has stepped up security near the Turkish-Iranian border, with hundreds of people from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan attempting to cross it illegally every day. Fleeing the advance of the Taliban, the number of Afghan migrants arriving in Turkey via Iran has increased significantly.
Refugees queue to receive mosquito nets and biscuits in a camp housing around 90,000 people.
Refugees in the desert.
Rohingya refugee camp.
After a fire, a young homeless boy rests in the street.