By the time you finish reading this sentence, somewhere in the world a person has been forced to leave his home.

It is calculated that every three seconds a person becomes displaced, and in Syria alone, a family is forced to leave home every minute.

“The drama of refugees will not cease over the coming decade. It is no use erecting walls and barriers,” Albrecht Boeselager, Grand Chancellor of the Order of Malta, said as the number of displaced people reached a record 59.5 million.

“Faced with this drama and the desperation of millions of people, we now have to adopt new humanitarian assistance schemes and new forms of cooperation with the countries of origin which take into account the asymmetric wars being fought by forces that do not represent states.”

His call for cooperation between countries of origin and refugee destinations comes as the Order of Malta launches an international awareness campaign about this worldwide drama in 120 countries.

The drama of refugees will not cease over the coming decade. It is no use erecting walls and barriers

The Order has been providing care to the displaced for over 20 years. Among others, teams of doctors, nurses and rescuers have been active aboard Italian naval vessels for the past seven years, helping to save migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean by boat.

The Order does not only provide emergency and first-aid services but it also helps migrants integrate and regain their human dignity.

In France and Germany, it runs social assistance programmes for undocumented migrants and support for political asylum applicants.

In Germany, there are 20 assistance centres where mi-grants can stay overnight, while in Italy, Spain, Belgium and the UK, it distributes hot meals to the homeless – many of whom are migrants.