Today is World Refugee Day, and sadly the number of displaced people worldwide is at an all-time high.No one is born a refugee, but everyone can forcedly become displaced from their home for many different reasons: war, poverty,
famine, violence and natural disasters are among them. According to the
United Nations High Commission for Refugees, “
The international
community is failing to prevent violence, persecution and human rights
violations, which continue to drive people from their homes. In
addition, the effects of climate change are exacerbating existing
vulnerabilities in many areas.”
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 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.
World Refugee Day celebrates the sacrifice and
courage of millions of people who were forced by conflict, persecution or natural
disasters to leave their homes and countries to safeguard their families
and ensure their survival and focuses on the right to seek
safety, including safe borders, not forcing anyone back if doing so
would jeopardize their life or freedom and the right to
non-discriminatory, humane treatment. It is worth acknowledging their plight,
the causes that contribute to this human migration and tragedy, and the
response of the world community.
Refugees leave everything behind, including their livelihoods and
professions, and begin a new life in new places, sometimes as close as a
few kilometres across the border, where their homeland remains on the
horizon, a stark reminder of a home they may never see again.
World Refugee Day 2022 Theme is : “Whoever. Wherever. Whenever. Everyone has the right to seek safety.”
Whoever they are, people forced to flee should be
treated with dignity. Anyone can seek protection, regardless of who they
are or what they believe. It is non-negotiable: seeking safety is a
human right.
Wherever they come from, people forced to flee
should be welcomed. Refugees come from all over the globe. To get out of
harm’s way, they might take a plane, a boat, or travel on foot. What
remains universal is the right to seek safety.
Whenever people are forced to flee, they have a
right to be protected. Whatever the threat.whether it be war, violence, persecution, everyone deserves protection. Everyone has a right to be safe.
World Refugee Day is a chance to recognise and celebrate the strength and resilience of refugees and people seeking asylum in rebuilding their lives and the incredible contribution they make to our communities and an occasion to build empathy and understanding for their plight.
It also underscores the precious right to seek asylum, a fundamental human right, which is clearly needed in our world today. With discrimination of asylum seekers in the UK and elsewhere, we need this message more than ever. .
This World Refugee Day as a result of an increase in conflicts and the impacts of climate change in the past decade, globally the refugee population has more than
doubled, meaning the refugee crisis is getting worse. According to the UNHCR, an unprecedented 100 million people around the world
have been forced to flee their homes.This is an increase of 20 million over the past two years alone, among them are more than 26.4
million refugees, which is the
largest number in known history, where there’s this many people that
have been forcibly displaced.
As if that figure wasn’t worrying enough, almost 40 per cent of that
figure are children, of whom 21 million are classified as starving. And
in some parts of the world, this is leading to unimaginable situations
such as children going without food for days or even weeks and mothers
having to decide which of their children will eat and which won’t.
The United Nations also says the number of countries affected by conflict is double what
it was a decade ago. An obvious driver of the increase is the conflict
in Ukraine, from where seven million people have fled. However, the
biggest contributor to the number of displaced people continues to be
Syria, where a staggering 30 million are displaced inside the country
and another five million abroad. In Afghanistan, more than six million
people are forcibly displaced.
And there is a very complex crisis in the Sahel region in Africa – a
wide band of countries including Burkina Faso, Somalia and Sudan that
are mostly in conflict and are experiencing years of heatwaves, droughts
and crop failures that sees children and families not forgetting severe flooding in Bangladesh, India and South
Africa.and the ongoing crisis of Yemen,
Ongoing conflict and the
impact of COVID-19 is forcing more and more people to flee their
homes, and together with the crisis of climate change, which is fuelled by rich countries is reinforcing underlying vulnerabilities. Alongside the trauma of the journey itself, of fleeing violence and conflict, after undertaking dangerous perilous journeys there is also the trauma of trying to settle in a new place. The scale of a refugee crisis like this can be difficult to comprehend
unless one has experienced it firsthand.
Days like World Refugee Day can at least help raise awareness about the suffering so many people face around the
world and help shine a light on the right, needs and dreams of refugees, helping to mobilize political will and resources so refugees can not only survive ut also thrive. While it is importnt to protect and improve the lives of refugees every single day, international days like World Refugee Day help focus gloal attention on the plight of thosefleeing conflict or persecution. Many activities held on World Refugee Day create opportunities to support refugees.
The response of neighbouring countries to the flood of
refugees from Ukraine has been heartening, but more often, refugees from other regions are demonised and shut out with no access to medical care, no right to
work, and no social safety nets. Instead of offering them the protection that they need, basic human
universal human rights, which is seeking asylum, instead they’re
actually penalised for it. We should not be detaining or deporting people for seeking sanctuary. Being a refugee is not a crime.
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. The EU Referendum campaign recently sadly contributed to this, unleashing some of the most
heinious manifestations of racism we have seen in generations. Those on
the far right across Europe are also eager to further
scapegoat immigrants.
As
continuing tragedy unfolds, some of the countries most able to help are
shutting their gates to people seeking asylum. Borders are closing,
pushbacks are increasing, and hostility is rising. Avenues for
legitimate escape are fading away.
Since the beginnings of civilization,
we have treated refugees as deserving of our protection. Whatever our
differences, we have to recognise our fundamental human obligation to
shelter those fleeing from war and persecution. It is time to stop
hiding behind misleading words. Richer nations must acknowledge refugees
for the victims they are, fleeing from wars they were unable to prevent
or stop. History has shown us 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.
Meanwhile there is outrage as Priti Patel’s Home Office is planning to electronically tag asylum-seekers arriving in the UK, as though they were criminals (or people accused of criminality) rather than refugees from persecution. The decision has been likened to “victim blaming” although the Home Office itself is twisting language to claim the trial will examine whether electronic monitoring can help maintain regular contact with migrants and help to progress their claims.
Despite the current rhetoric of the UK government, the UK hosts fewer refugees
and has fewer applications for asylum than most European countries
including France, Italy and Germany. In the year up to March 2022,
55,146 applications for asylum
were made in the UK, compared to 90,000 in France. The number of people seeking asylum in the UK has risen steadily since 2010, but the UK ranks 14
th
in Europe for the number of applications for asylum in 2021. Small
numbers of people are resettled in the UK through resettlement schemes
such as the
Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme or via sponsorship, e.g.
'Homes for Ukraine'
. The only way to claim asylum is to be on UK soil and thus, for most
refugees the only way to get here is to take irregular routes such as
crossing the English Channel in small boats or climbing on the back of
lorries (which have decreased significantly because of a combination of
factors including the pandemic and Brexit). Most people arriving by
irregular methods are
recognised as refugees, so it is disingenuous for Priti Patel to describe these people as ‘
illegal migrants’. Under the
Refugee Convention
(which the UK ratified in 1951), it is not illegal to leave your
country of origin and travel to another country to seek sanctuary. The
Refugee Convention does not state that a person must claim asylum in the
first ‘
safe’ country, and the host country must not penalise a person
for entering the country illegally (Article 31) nor return someone or
send them to a country where their life or freedom would be at risk or
there is a real risk of torture or inhuman and degrading treatment
(Article 33 Refugee Convention and Article 3 European Convention of
Human Rights).
The
Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) which the UK and Rwanda signed in April 2022 is part of the
government’s ongoing hostile environment agenda. But the inhumane controversial deal with Rwanda, worth an initial £120 million, has drawn widespread criticism from national NGOs, human rights organisations,
UNHCR,
trade unions,
Church Leaders
and politicians from all colours of the political spectrum, considered by many to be unspeakably cruel.
The Tory government has tried to justify the deal saying that it will deter irregular
entry to the UK and will break the ‘
business model’ of smugglers and
traffickers. But the government has not produced any evidence that
sending people 4,000 miles away will work. The Australian model of
offshoring asylum processing did not work and the camps in Papua New
Guinea were eventually closed, costing AUS $6 Billion. The Home Office’s
top civil servant,
Matthew Rycroft has said that it will not have the desired deterrent effect.
Under
the MoU, the UK will ‘
relocate’ people on a one-way ticket to Rwanda
for processing claims, and if recognised as refugees, they will stay in
Rwanda and will not be allowed to return to the UK. The deal is
unlawful because it undermines key international obligations on refugee
protection and violates fundamental human rights (
UNHCR). There is evidence of widespread
human rights abuse
in Rwanda but the UK government argue that Rwanda is a safe third
country which respects human rights and has a functioning asylum system.
Yet as recently as
January 2021,
the UK government did not consider Rwanda a ‘
safe third country’ and
condemned its human rights record highlighting the use of extrajudicial
killings by state police, arbitrary detention, torture of people who
oppose the government and the continued persecution of the LGBTI
community.
The Home Office Country
Policy and Information (
CPIN)
Report on Rwanda reveals that asylum claims can take years and points
to a high rejection rate of individual asylum claims (with little access
to legal support and interpreters), especially from people claiming
persecution on grounds of sexuality or GBV. There is nothing either in the MoU
to stop Rwanda sending ‘
relocated persons’ to another country where
their lives might be at risk.
At the start of June, around 100 people received ‘
removal notices’
and were told they would be flown to Rwanda on 14 June 2022. A
Judicial Review application was made on 10 June with an emergency
injunction to remove individuals from the flight. By 10pm on the 14
June, no one was left on the flight to Rwanda, due to withdrawal of
removal notices, an interim measure thankfully granted by the European Court of
Human Rights (
ECtHR)
and injunctions granted by the Court of Appeal late last Tuesday evening.
https://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.com/2022/06/massive-victory-as-first-rwanda.htmlAlthough the individuals on this flight have interim relief
from removal, the government are not deterred and Priti Patel has
announced that the next group of asylum seekers are receiving their
notices and another flight is being arranged as she continues to believe
that the policy if lawful. But, crucially, the High Court, the Court of
Appeal and the Supreme Court have not yet decided whether the Rwandan
policy is lawful and will only consider that question at the substantive
(full) judicial review hearing in July 2022.
In the UK,
Refugee Week is a wide-ranging programme of events that celebrate the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary and
most importantly show our solidarity.
Founded in 1998 and held every year around World Refugee Day. it is a growing global movement . The 2022 theme for Refugee Week and World Refugee Week is ‘
Healing.’
Proposals by charities such as the
Refugee Council and
Safe Passage,
which include humanitarian visas, family reunion routes, sponsorship or
expanded resettlement schemes would ensure people do
not have to resort to smuggling networks to undertake dangerous
journeys, and would break the ‘
business model’ of smuggling and start
the journey to healing.
World Refugee Day and Refugee Week belongs to all our brothers and sisters in humankind who have been forced out of their lands and homes.Today and tomorrow we must continue to stand up for refugees and it is our duty to ensure that they have
access to essential basic services and are treated with respect and
dignity.If policies that promote the health of refugees and all people on the
move are put in place, refugees and migrants can contribute to the full and
flourishing life of a country and to supporting the economy, culture and
a diverse society.
I hope that on World Refugee Day, people can spend a moment to acknowledge other humans' facing
displacement and suffering, and find a way to accompany others in their
community who find themselves away from home.We need to build bridges not
more obstacles and borders. Refugees have
suffered unimaginable loss, and yet they are filled with the strength to
triumph over adversity. 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 and it's crucial that we start addressing the global issues that force desperate people to seek refuge in the first place. When we work
together, we can help even more people feel safe from conflict, stay
healthy and forge ahead to a better, stronger future.
Instead of being detained, vilified and denied, refugees when seeking.safe harbour and sanctuary, should be given a warm welcome. Asylum not barbed wire. Protection not bombs.Dignity not criminalisation. Given respite,instead of grief and pain.
However, on the 28th June, the UK's interpretation of the definition of a refugee and the rights to which every person who is a refugee is entitled will significantly change from that required by the Refugee Convention. It means the UK will no longer respect its shared obligations under international law. This is dangerously undermining what our country, not only agreed to, but helped draft and negotiate in 1951. These changes are lawless and reckless. Its consequences directly contradict our values of shared humanity and compassion and have been rightly rejected by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, leading lawyers, and former senior judges in the UK. Wherever we come from, we all have the right to be safe. But Priti Patel and the government don't think so.
Now more than ever, we need to stop our Government's cruel treatment of refugees and people seeking safety, and help create a system that protects refugees, instead of punishing them. Refugee Rights are human rights. Migrant Rights are human rights. Asylum seekers' rights are human rights. All displaced peoples' rights are human rights.Personally I believe that people should be able to move around the globe just like capital can. No borders are necessary.
