A
refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to
escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. When people are given the status
as refugees they are immediately guarantied protection of their basic human
rights. And while being a refugee it’s not possible to be forced to return to
the home country.
- Refugees have to be outside their
country of origin;
- The reason for their flight has to be a fear
of persecution;
- The fear of persecution has to
be well-founded
- The persecution has to result from one or
more of the 5 grounds listed in the definition, that is race,
religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or
political opinion;
- They have to be unwilling or unable to
seek the protection of their 'source' country.
In
2011, there were 15.2 million refugees around the world. It is also estimated
that 80 per cent of the refugees are women and children. The leading countries
of origin of refugees in 2011 are; Afghanistan with 2.7 million refugees, Iraq
with 1.4 million, Somalia with 1.1 million, Sudan with 500 000 and The
Democratic Republic of Congo with 491 000 refugees.
The reason for this global problem
is mainly war. Too many people have fled their home country scared and with
hope to find a better life, although they are not allowed to settle in the country
they fled too, but still away from persecution. There are also issues regarding
natural disasters. For example in Japan, after the tsunami in 2011 125.000
buildings and homes were damaged or destroyed leaving 350.000 people without
homes and no reason to stay in Japan. Africa has also been the in the middle of
horror and suffering. For example a record 107,500 African refugees and migrants made the dangerous
journey from the Horn of Africa to Yemen in 2012. This is the largest influx
into Yemen since 2006 when UNHCR began compiling these statistics. The previous
record was in 2011 when more than 103,000 people arrived in Yemen by sea. The reason for
Africans to escape to Yemen, for example, and then looked upon as refugees are
of the reasons mentions above: “The fair of persecution” is the main reason to
become a refugee. The other parts of the definition are just placement in the
world. People who create terror to people or different groups of people, like
for example people who are from other religions or may be gay, people who believe
something different in a country of settled beliefs have the reason to be
afraid. And then to add hunger and poverty, people have another reason to leave
whatever they had left.
The
wide spread of people who want to do well are all thinking they would like to
save the world. Although this is impossible, they have the chance to prove their
words by helping in volunteer work in countries with refugees or countries that
create refugees. To stop the “spread” one has to contain the source.
The
people actually doing something with this global issue are mostly non-governmental
organizations, one cannot help hear about the Red Cross or other help services
when a disaster strikes. In Norway we have the Norwegian Refugee Council Which
provides assistance, protection and durable solutions to refugees, internally
displaced persons, and returned worldwide.
What
I mentioned about containing the source one has to make a better lifestyle in
the country of origin. For example one can help out with food and shelter. Red
Cross is great with this feature. But when people already have left their home
country and need new help the organizations situated in different regions of
the world are helping them with keeping them safe and providing food, shelter,
health care and other vital parts of surviving.
This
global issue is connected with almost anything we can think of. In a country
where natural disasters strike, there are and will always be refugees. The same
for where war strikes, the terror and use of global resources, the poverty that
is spread across from nations to nations due to unemployment and bad school possibilities.
There are also issues regarding health. This is all connected in one huge pile
of sadness and bitterness, also known as global issues.
- John Ejnar
Sources:
- http://www.udi.no/Norwegian-Directorate-of-Immigration/News/2010/Who-comes-to-Norway-as-refugees-/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Refugee_Council
- http://www.refintl.org/get-involved/helpful-facts-%2526-figures
- http://www.geogonline.org.uk/as_g2ki1.42.htm
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