The world is facing its worst refugee crisis since World War II [press release], Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] said Monday, calling on world leaders to reform domestic and international policies. AI released a new briefing [text, PDF] Monday ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20. The report cites Syria as the world’s largest refugee crisis but also calls attention to the dangerous Mediterranean Sea route, numerous crises in Africa, and the problem of refugees being turned away in Southeast Asia. According to the group:

The global refugee crisis will not be solved unless the international community recognizes that it is a global problem and deals with it as such. Refugees are—by definition—people who no longer enjoy the protection of their state because that state will not or cannot protect them. They are people who have fled armed conflict, persecution, violence and grave human rights abuses.

AI called on world leaders to take eight key actions: hold an international summit; ratify the Refugee Convention; develop robust domestic refugee systems; commit absolutely to saving lives first; combat trafficking; fulfill resettlement needs identified by the UN Refugee Agency; combat xenophobia; and establish a global refugee fund.

Refuges from the conflicts in Africa and the Middle East have generated a tremendous humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean with hundreds of deaths in recent months. In April top UN human rights officials and the International Organization for Migration issued a joint statement calling on the EU to create a new rescue operation program [JURIST report] for migrants attempting to traverse the Mediterranean and to commit to greater receipt of refugees. Also in April UN rights experts warned [JURIST report] the EU that repression of irregular migration cannot be the only solution to the recurrent grave problem of masses of people drowning at sea. In February AI urged countries around the world to show public support to Syrian refugees [JURIST report] through resettlement and other humanitarian admission programs