The President has called on Irish people to open their hearts and minds to the plight of refugees. In a written address to mark World Refugee Day yesterday, Mrs McAleese paid tribute to the positive contributions refugees made to society.
Her tribute was part of an event in Dublin addressed by five women refugees from Afghanistan, Iran, Kosovo, Rwanda and Bosnia who have been resettled in Ireland with the assistance of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
"It is very important that we as a nation welcome those less fortunate than us, that we open our hearts and minds to the plight of those people, embrace their culture and traditions, and acknowledge the positive contribution they can make to our society," Mrs McAleese said.
The head of UNHCR's office in Ireland, Ms Pia Prütz Phiri, said it was a "shocking fact" that two-thirds of the world's 12 million refugees were women or children.