Due to the multitudes of internal conflicts worldwide, the global refugee problem is not disappearing
June 20th has become a day of importance on the Human Rghts calendar. Every year since 2001, the day has been marked as World Refugee Day. This year is no exception and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) aims to promote awareness of this complex issue in many countries.
Refugee, Immigrant or Economic Migrant?
Daily we see news items of Mexicans entering the US or of Africans facing dangerous boat journeys to enter Europe illegally. Are all these people refugees, or how are they identified? According to UNHCR, refugees are not economic migrants – those who seek a better life financially elsewhere. Instead, they are those who flee war, persecution and threats to their lives. They are people in need of a safe place to recover and start rebuilding their lives.
Due to the fact that most wars since the 1990’s have been internal, the refugee problem has not gone away. Numbers are not exact, but UNHCR gives 2005-2006 estimates of 20.8 million displaced people worldwide. Of these, around 8.4 million have fled their countries due to civil wars, violence or oppression, but another 6.6 million are classified as internally displaced people. This means that they have been forced to flee their homes, but they remain trapped in their countries and enjoy no protection from persecution. In addition to these two major groups, there are also several million stateless people, returnees, asylum seekers, and others.
The majority of refugees come from Africa and the Middle East. As internal conflicts emerge and develop, the situation changes, but at the end of 2005 most refugees came from Afghanistan, Sudan, and Burundi. While the overall number of what is termed the “population of concern” (many of whom are in Afghanistan, Colombia and Iraq) increased by 8% in 2005, the global refugee population fell by 10%. Furthermore, UNHCR managed to assist 22% more internally displaced people and 64% more stateless persons than the previous year.
Can the problem be solved?
The goal is not only to provide temporary relief and protection to refugees, but to find permanent solutions for them. Ideally, all refugees should be repatriated in the longer term, but since this is not always possible, other solutions include resettlement to other countries, or integration assistance in their host country.
During1996-2005, more than 12 million refugees were repatriated to their countries of origin. However, this is not always an easy solution. Safety and peace has to be restored first, and secondly an infrastructure has to be in place for refugees to rebuild their lives. If conditions are not conducive to creating a new life, refugees often decide to return to the refugee camps.
Bravery and Achievement
UNHCR stresses the bravery of those who flee their countries and it urges the world to let go of the stigma often associated with refugees. Considering that people like Albert Einstein, Madeleine Albright, Nadine Gordimer, and Milan Kundera were all refugees at some stage in their lives, it is a point worth remembering.
For more on the global refugee problem, visit Ninemillion.org, a campaign that aims to raise awareness and funds for children living in refugee camps.
