EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT REFUGEES
Imagine being forced from your home, the place where you grew up in, and made to flee to somewhere else. Being in constant danger, unsafe conditions, & separated from your belongings and maybe even your family. This is the reality of many refugees across the globe. Through this blog post there is a lot you will learn about refugees, so let's start off with the basics.
What is a refugee?
A refugee is someone who has been forced to leave their home country for a number of reasons. These include in order to escape war, violence, or persecution. Refugees basically have no choice, it’s a must that they leave to ensure better safety & conditions. A fuller definition, as stated from The 1951 Refugee Convention, is as follows:
A refugee is a person who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country ... "
Their ultimate goal is to seek a safe haven, or a place of refuge & security. As a result of them being on the move, refugees are protected by international laws (not of only one country). The lives of refugees have been thrown in chaos because imagine being ripped from the place that you love. However, other titles are commonly interchanged with refugees which might be incorrect. To understand this, the next section will explain the definitions.
How are they different from asylum seekers, internally displaced people, and migrants?
All of these terms describe people who have moved somewhere else, but there are distinct differences between them. These definitions are sure to give you an understanding of how:
Asylum seekers: people who’ve fled their home & apply for asylum (protection) in this other country
Internally displaced people: those who are displaced within their owncountry
Migrants: people who may depart from their country for any reason, which can be war or persecution, but also employment or family reunification. They are protected by their own government all the time & can return to their home country. Migrants are entitled to the laws of the current country they reside in.
Refugee camps
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement which provides immediate protection & assistance to displaced people. They aren’t intended to be a permanent place of stay, but offer a safe place where refugees can receive basic services such as medical treatment & short-term shelter. With not a lot of possessions that they carry & barely no clean water, medical attention, and more, refugee camps are extremely important because they give temporary accommodation to refugees who need it.
2.6 million people live in these refugee camps & they are located all over the world. The largest one is Kakuma Camp in Kenya. This settlement holds about 184,550 people! Such a huge amount of people in need, which shows that these camps are crucial establishments.
The Experience of Refugees
However, in order to better empathize with refugees, we have to understand exactly what they are going through. Some information isn’t enough for this though, so here are some refugee experiences that I feel are necessary to share. Through them we can understand their emotions, beliefs, thoughts, and lifestyle.
Nour- Spend the day with Nour, a then 13-year-old Syrian refugee
Rayhana- A 23-year-old, mother of 4, Myanmar refugee
Entrepreneurial spirit in Jordan's Zaatari refugee camp
The current refugee crisis
P.1- Statistics
Here are some statistics that show us the devastating truths of refugees in the world:
80 million people are forcibly displaced worldwide (mid-2020)
30-34 million refugees are children under 18
More than ⅔’s of refugees come from the following five countries:
Syrian Arab Republic- 6.6 million
Venezuela- 3.7 million
Afghanistan- 2.7 million
South Sudan- 2.3 million
Myanmar 1.0 million
1% of the Earth’s population is displaced, with the rate being 1 in 97 people
There has been an increase of 8.7 MILLION PEOPLE this year who’ve been forcibly displaced.
P.2- The biggest refugee crisis- Syrian refugees
The Syrian refugee crisis is the largest displacement crisis of our time. This started because of the Syrian civil war, which began on March 15, 2011 and it’s now in its 10th year (As some context, the war began as a result of peaceful student protests). This conflict made families suffer, torn the nation apart, and killed many. It’s a humanitarian emergency caused by the brutal fighting.
Currently there are about 5.6 million Syrian refugees, and on top of that there are 6.2 million more people displaced within Syria. Almost 12 million people need critical assistance & half of the people affected are actually children. The main reasons they left their homes are from violence, collapsed infrastructure, and children in distress & danger. These refugees have fled to many places, with the most in Turkey. This devastating extended crisis is truly horrible and it's been affecting the lives of many Syrian families.
How to help refugees
Educate yourself & others on refugees
Advocate & raise awareness for the situation the refugees go through
Donate money to organizations such as International Rescue Committee & Save The Children, who will use them to benefit the refugees, such as possessions for them and for camps
Donate goods that refugees might need & could use. These can be things from clothing to personal hygiene equipment, and USCRI is a great organization!
Be welcoming and understanding to refugees. Show them kindness and acceptance that will comfort them instead of making them feel sadness.
Sources
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