World Refugee Day 2023 : Hope Away from Home

Today marks World Refugee Day which honors the strength and resilience of refugees on their journey to safety as well as their contributions to societies that welcome them.

World Refugee Day has been marked on 20 June, ever since the UN General Assembly, on 4 December 2000, adopted resolution 55/76 where it noted that 2001 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of  Refugees, and that the Organization of African Unity (OAU) had agreed to have International Refugee Day coincide with Africa Refugee Day on 20 June.

The annual commemoration is marked by a variety of events in over 100 countries, involving government officials, aid workers, celebrities, civilians and the forcibly displaced themselves. Never before have the immediate needs of vulnerable children and their families been so great. Some 20 million refugees half of whom are children, have been forced to flee violence, poverty and persecution taking perilous sea voyages over the Mediterranean. 

Only last week saw one  of the greatest migrant boat disasters in the modern history of the Mediterranean. Only 104 people have been rescued from a boat that carried an estimated 750 refugees after it capsized on June 13 in the open sea near the coastal town of Pylos in Greece.  Scores of lifeless bodies have been pulled out from the water, and many more have washed ashore. Hundreds are still missing, feared dead, many of whom are women and children, as they huddled on the lower deck of the 30-metre boat. 

The latest boat disaster tells us a story of war, poverty, inequality and despair.The identity of those who died at sea gives us clues to the origins of the story. They were Syrians, Palestinians, Afghans and more. These refugees were seeking safety, coveting mere survival. The sad irony is that the latest episode of this seemingly endless horror took place exactly one week before the United Nations was set to “celebrate” World Refugee Day, 

The theme for World Refugee Day 2023 is "Hope away from Home". The theme emphasizes the importance of including refugees in the communities where they have found safety. This includes providing them with access to education, healthcare, employment, and other essential services. It also means welcoming them into our communities and creating a sense of belonging.

When refugees are included in their host communities, they are more likely to be able to restart their lives and rebuild their futures. They are also more likely to contribute to the countries that have welcomed them. 

The theme of "Hope Away from Home" also reminds us that refugees are not just numbers, but individuals with hopes, dreams, and families. They deserve our compassion and support as they rebuild their lives. The irony of the “Hope Away from Home” theme for World Refugee Day is palpable given the news of those lost  in over-crowded boat capsizing off the Greek coast just a few days ago. This is the latest of many such tragedies in the Mediterranean, the world’s most dangerous migration route.  That sea has taken the lives of over 27,000 people in the past decade, nearly half of over 56,000 migrant deaths worldwide.while trying to reach European shores between 2014 and 2022.  The real number is expected to be much higher as there are no official records of how many people embark on these deadly journeys in the first place. 

The identity of the victims — Syrians, Palestinians, Afghans, Sudanese — should have been a major clue as to why people take such terrible risks, only to reach European countries, where they endure great hardships, including racial discrimination, just to survive.

Other notoriously deadly migration routes traverse the Sahel, originate in West Asia or cross the English Channel.  There are many more hidden casualties among the record-breaking 108 million forcibly displaced worldwide, whose numbers doubled over the past 10 years. They include 35 million refugees, 5 million asylum seekers and 5 million others requiring protection. The remaining 63 million are displaced internally within their own countries.

Decent global citizens are forgiven for not knowing the difference between these categories of desperate humanity. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) tries to explain, but distinctions without a difference occur because states interpret the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol in nuanced ways.  These instruments define refugees as those “unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion”. 

The most crucial component concerns the principle of non-refoulement that derives from customary law dating back centuries. It prohibits returning people to a place where they face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and other irreparable harm.  However, only 149 (of 206 countries and territories) have acceded to one or other of the refugee agreements. Others decide on their own scope for refugee protection. 

 Adding to the confusion are some 260 regional texts concerning refugees, including the 1984 Cartagena Declaration in Latin America and the 1969 OAU Convention on African refugees. Although UNHCR is the official authority to make refugee status determinations, it is nearly impossible for humble refugees stranded somewhere to petition the mighty Geneva-headquartered agency.

In practical terms, refugee entitlements are determined by whichever country the asylum seeker can get a hearing from.  When refugee status is finally bestowed, it is a life sentence, with the average refugee spending 20 years in limbo before finding a durable solution. This is either local integration within their hosting nation, re-settlement in a third country or returning to their original home. Such solutions are rare: 

In 2022, only 114,300 refugees were re-settled, and 339,300 returned home. Most muddle along where-ever they find themselves, often getting uprooted again and again.  Forced displacement is not equally created. More than half originate from three countries – Syria, Ukraine and Afghanistan. And, of those that flee abroad, 70 per cent are hosted by precarious neighbours. These are generally low- and middle-income countries with their own challenges; the countries hosting the most refugees are Turkey, Iran, Colombia and Pakistan. Among developed nations, the US and Germany have been the most generous in receiving them.  

Currently, the world’s largest refugee settlement encompasses 33 highly congested camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar. This is the fire-, cyclone- and disease-prone home for nearly a million Rohingya fleeing ethnic and religious persecution in Myanmar. The Rohingya people have been described by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as "one of, if not the, most discriminated people in the world". Having faced decades of discrimination and persecution, it was in August 2017 that violence and instability forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh.   Today, over 943,000 Rohingya people live in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. 

Also deserving special mention are 5.8 million Palestinian refugees.Between 1947 and 1949, at least 750,000 Palestinian from a 1.9 million native population were forced out of their own land by Zionists militias who later established Israel.   At least 450 towns and villages were depopulated at the time, preventing millions of Palestinians from home lands for decades. At the time, Israeli forces ethnically cleansed and destroyed at least 530 villages and cities and killed 15,000 Palestinians, 

More than 70 massacres have been also committed by Israel since then.  According to 2020 figures, there are up to 5.6 million Palestinian refugees, with at least 28.4% scattered in 58 UNRWA-run camps in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza.  While the Nakba, also known as “the catastrophe”, is associated with 1948, Palestinians on the ground still face ongoing forced dispossession by Israeli forces.  Between 2009 and 2022, Israel demolished at least 8,413 Palestinian structures,and at least least 12,491 people have been displaced during the reported period. 

World Refugee Day  coincides with Refugee Week  an annual, week-long festival from 19-25 June 2023 that celebrates the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. The theme for Refugee Week 2023 is Compassion. Compassion should be at the heart of the way we treat people seeking safety, and each of us can play our part.

Together, we should be creating an outpouring of compassion and show individual refugees that they are welcome here. but the persecution of refugees continues, whipped up by forces of racism spreading fear and misinformation. 

Persecution, conflict and war in every region of the world means that millions of people are seeking refuge outside of their home country, with tens of millions more displaced internally.  Those displaced by conflict are being joined annually by more than 20 million escaping climate and environmental disasters. This is projected to increase to a staggering 1.2 billion by 2050, on current trends.In 2022, the number of refugees and forcibly displaced people surpassed 100 million: 

The vast majority of people seek refuge in less wealthy countries. Low- and middle-income countries host 74% of the world’s refugees and other people in need of international protection.

The least developed countries provide asylum to 22% of the global total. States have committed to ease the pressure on host countries under the Global Compact for Refugees, but resettlement numbers remain negligible and the budget of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees is chronically underfunded.

In destination countries, refugees and displaced people face enormous barriers to accessing decent work opportunities. In some places, refugees cannot access labour markets because of legal restrictions or costly administrative procedures. 

In other countries without such restrictions, refugees face other challenges linked to language barriers, a lack of skills recognition, an absence of training opportunities and insufficient or absent public services for job-matching. 

Refugees are put at further risk as populist right-wing political forces, on the rise across the world, fuel xenophobia and racism. In reality, world refugees, are not “celebrated,” but mostly vilified. They are seen as a burden, not an opportunity to confront and fix the underlying problems, old and new, that led to their original displacement.

It is more than  time that  richer nations must acknowledge refugees for the victims they are, fleeing from wars they were unable to prevent or stop. History has shown that doing the right thing for victims of war and persecution engenders goodwill and prosperity for generations. And it fosters stability in the long run.

Paradoxically though refugees are not being treated in the same way, Currently  the EU offers blanket protection to all Ukrainians, but arrivals from Ethiopia or Sudan who survived horrendously abusive conflicts must prove their worthiness for asylum on an individual basis.

While white Ukrainian nationals have been welcomed as refugees, non-white nationals and non-Ukrainian nationals have been shown racism and denied access to aid and the right to cross the border safely. The treatment of Roma refugees, many of whom are Ukrainian nationals, has also been shocking. Roma refugees have often been sent to separate shelters – the Roma shelters having, in one example ,in Moldova, only one working toilet and no showers for over 100 people.

All people fleeing war, conflict or repression have a right to cross borders to seek asylum, but refugees from Africa, Asia and the Middle East are routinely refused access to relief, aid, and asylum, sometimes being placed in detention centres, despite facing persecution in their own countries. Those who are fleeing violence and seeking protection should be treated equally, no matter where they are from.

Germany is renowned for opening its borders to a million Syrian refugees. But this is a historical anachronism, as Europeans tighten their borders and squabble internally over burden-sharing. Concurrently, EU policy is externalising border control to reduce refugee entry, for example, with $6 billion to incentivise Turkey to stop refugees getting into the EU. Australia has pioneered the concept of offshoring asylum seekers to Papua New Guinea and Nauru. While the ethics of that has been fiercely debated, and condemned for it's  cruelty the UK has been inspired to make a similar agreement with Rwanda. 

Refugees are among the world’s most vulnerable people. They are protected by the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. They are the only international legal tools that directly address the most critical parts of a refugee’s life. Refugees, according to its rules, are entitled to the same treatment as other foreign nationals in a given country, and in many situations, the same treatment as nationals. The 1951 Convention establishes a variety of rights for refugees and emphasizes their responsibilities to their host country.with the following rights: 

The right not to be expelled unless and until particular, clearly specified circumstances are met. 

The right not to be penalized for illegally entering a contracting State’s territory.

The right to housing The right to education 

The right to work 

The right to freedom of movement within the territory 

The right to public relief and assistance 

The right to access the courts 

The right to freedom of religion 

The right to be issued identity and travel documents 

All refugees have certain basic rights, including the right to be shielded from deportation. The longer a refugee stays in the host country, the more rights they are entitled to, based on the fact that the longer they stay as refugees, the more rights they require.

The world needs to renew its commitment now to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its principles that made us strong. To offer safe harbor, both in our own countries and in the epicentres of the crises, and to help refugees restore their lives. In a world where violence has forced hundreds of families to flee each day.

World Refugee Day marks the opportunity to raise awareness of the plight of refugees and to show our support for them. while at the same time celebrating their resilience and courage.Refugees have often faced unimaginable challenges and  suffered unimaginable loss, and yet are still  filled with the strength to triumph over adversity in rebuilding their lives..

The refugee crisis is a human crisis. Their story is our story. We are all human,and together, we can build a better world.We all have an important role in ensuring that refugees have the support they need. When we work together, we can help even more people feel safe from conflict, stay healthy and forge ahead to a better, stronger future.Every act of kindness makes a difference/ and we can all help to make the world a more welcoming place for refugees.

The day also  serves to remind  all humans to take action to address the root causes of displacement. The vast majority of refugees are fleeing conflict, violence, or persecution. We need to work to end these conflicts and create a more peaceful world where everyone can live in safety and security.

Those who leave everything behind for the purpose of living in peace need our support and solidarity.  We must remember that arms trade helps exacerbate the crisis, plus  poverty and inequality, war and conflict, we need to build bridges not more obstacles and borders. and confront the weapons manufacturers and political meddlers who provoke and exacerbate conflicts.

World Refugee Day sheds light on refugees’ rights, needs, and hopes, aiding in mobilizing political will and support so that refugees will not only flourish but grow. Although it is critical to protect and strengthen the lives of refugees daily, international days such as World Refugee Day also serves to draw public attention to the plight of those fleeing wars or persecution.and to commemorate the lives of thousands of migrants and refugees who have lost their lives in the Mediterranean, seeking safety on their way to Europe. 

We should be deeply saddened and disturbed by the suffering, hopelessness and death, which continues for thousands of our human brothers and sisters on the outer borders of the European Union.

Let us remember the documented, as well as the undocumented persons, who have died at our European borders, seeking safety from violence, war or economic desperation.

We must stop racism towards refugees, as we have seen happening with non-white refugees from Ukraine, and others. It is unacceptable that, in 2022, people forced to flee their homes are still being treated as second-class citizens just because they are from a different country and may have a different skin colour. This includes ending dehumanising and demeaning agreements such as the one the UK has made with Rwanda.  Global policies on refugees must urgently be decolonised, ensuring all refugees and asylum seekers are equally heard and prioritised.

In the aftermath of the tragic shipwreck off Pylos that continues to bring shock and much sorrow, we cannot but mark this Word Refugee Day without being humbled and with the profound acknowledgement that this world is tragically short on solutions for people forced to flee. On World Refugee Day, and every day, let us  stand in solidarity with the 103 million refugees around the world, who have been forced to flee their homes and are still fighting for justice. Refugee rights are human rights. Migrant Rights are human rights. Asylum seekers' rights are human rights. All displaced peoples' rights are human rights.