Your Majesty,
High Commissioner,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

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Too often, too many of us tend to forget that the millions of refugees all over the world are individuals, not an anonymous mass.

In their suffering, they hope for a better future. Most of all, they dream of a normal life.

Today, on World Refugee Day, we are encouraged to pause in our normal lives and reaffirm our commitment to fellow human beings who are fleeing persecution and fear.

We celebrate the courage and strength of those who manage to keep their families together in the most difficult of circumstances. We admire and pay tribute to those who find themselves all alone away from their native land.

We remind ourselves of the women and girls who constitute more than half of the refugee population, and bear an even larger share of the burdens.

Today we stop to take part in their suffering and seek to give them hope.

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World Refugee Day is also a day to renew and strengthen our own commitment to the world’s refugees.

We must continue to defend their basic human rights. No person should be forced to live in, or return to, a place where there is fear of persecution.

The basic humanitarian needs of refugees must be met, whether in host countries, in refugee camps or as internally displaced persons.

We must continue to address the serious underlying causes of the world’s refugee problems.

Excellencies,

The refugee cause is one of which most norwegians feel ownership. Nansen – we are almost on his home ground today – is still a national hero.

Norway is proud to be associated with Nansen’s legacy. And we are glad to preserve his legacy in cooperation with respected actors such as the UNHCR and the worthy winners of the Nansen Refugee Award.

This year, the Norwegian Government joins in the congratulations to the brave and unselfish Tampa team with the Nansen Refugee Award.

Their defense of humanitarian values made a profound impression on a whole world. Their compassion for people in need set an example for each and every one of us.

Tampa showed us that the spirit of Nansen is still alive and well.

Tampa was an acute illustration of the helpless situation of refugees. We could all see the risks they were willing to take for peace and freedom. We could only imagine their fear and discomfort. Their journey is still not over. Many of them are still in refugee camps waiting for asylum.

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May World Refugee Day and the Nansen Refugee Award remind us of all the people for whom a normal life remains a distant dream. May it make us all even more determined to do our bit for the world’s refugees.

We can all make a difference.

Thank you.