World Refugee Day
The Refugees live another year filled with longing and nostalgia for their homeland. And another year under the name of a refugee, they are faced with the difficulty of obtaining their basic rights in the countries they live in, problems of integration with the society and the fear of being sent back to their original homes in areas of conflict.
World Refugee Day, its origin and importance:
The celebration of World Refugee Day first began on 20 June 2001, coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of the Geneva Refugee Convention, on December 4, 2000 the United Nations recognized this day as a global occasion to coincide with the African Refugee Day , which is celebrated by some African countries. The aims are to shed light on the difficulties and concerns faced by refugees who have been forced to leave their country due to war, conflict or persecution due to religion, race, gender, nationality and various religious or political views, and who had to migrate to other cities or countries. and live in these countries. Honoring them for their strength and courage, taking action to rebuild their lives, defending and empathizing with them.
The right to security of the person
Under the heading “Anyone, wherever and at any time has the right to security” The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) celebrates World Refugee Day to conform the right of everyone to safety, regardless of their identity or beliefs, where they come from, the way they used and when they had to seek refuge.
The Commission clarified the grounds for seeking safety:
- The Right to Asylum: Everyone has the right to seek asylum in case that he/she is forced to to emigrate from war zones, conflict and human rights violations that threaten his life and future, and to reach a safe country.
- Safe arrival: States should not close their borders or limit arrival to people fleeing danger, as everyone has the right to seek safety.
- Non-refoulement: States have no right to return those seeking safety without assessing the risks they may be exposed to in their homes and countries, especially while the war goes on.
- Non-discrimination: Refugees should not be discriminated against at the border, and all asylum applications should be treated fairly without discrimination based on race, gender, color or nationality.
- Humane treatment: The refugee, like every individual, has the right to be respected, to a safe and dignified life that protects his dignity and family unity, and to protection from risks such as arbitrary detention and human trafficking.
The UNHCR confirmed the right of the refugee, after arriving in a safe country, to get education, recovery, work and success as stipulated in the Refugee convention.
The refugees around the world:
On May 2022, the number of displaced persons and refugees had reached more than 100 million people all over the world as a result of wars and conflicts in many countries of the world, 72% of them live in countries neighboring their countries of origin, while low and middle-income countries host 83% of them, according to UNHCR.
Syrian refugees.. lost rights:
According to the UNHCR Syria witnessed the largest wave of displacement in the world, 6.7 million syrians internally displaced, while the number of refugees around the world has reached 6.6 million Syrians, 5.5 million are hosted by neighboring countries, of whom 3.6 are in Turkey as of March 15, 2021, according to the UNHCR, and 1 out of every 20 refugees lives in refugee camps.
Syrian refugees in Turkey:
Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, Turkey opened its doors to Syrian refugees who were forced to leave their country in search of safety in other countries due to the brutality of the Assad regime and its allies, as it received millions of Syrians on its lands. Especially in light of the large numbers, the long period of time for asylum, and the approaching Turkish elections.
On the one hand, Syrian people suffer from being affected by the economic conditions that befell Turkey, the most important of which is inflation as a result of global crises such as the Corona epidemic crisis and the continuous fluctuation of the currency value and the damage it has caused to Syrian traders.
On the other hand, Syrians complain about the escalation of hostility towards them, with many politicians demanding restrictions on refugees, especially Syrians, in light of the weak legal status of those who have the right to temporary protection that prevented them from accessing the law to protect their rights.
Syrian refugees in Lebanon:
The living conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon are increasing rapidly. The preliminary results of the 2021 Condition Assessment of Syrian refugees in Lebanon conducted by the UNHCR revealed that 9 out of 10 Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in extreme poverty.
The report indicated that the majority of refugees depend on negative coping methods for living, such as begging, preventing their children from going to school to reduce expenses and reducing health services, among others, while the same report stated that many Syrians had to work for low wages or work in dangerous jobs to secure their needs. , while 60% of refugees still live in dangerous shelters or do not meet the minimum standards required to live in safety.
Some UN agencies expressed concern about the poor living conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, as all refugees are now unable to secure the minimum basic necessities for living.
Syrian refugees in Iraq:
According to the UNHCR About 260,000 Syrian refugees live in Iraq, more than 95,000 of whom reside in camps, suffering from poor food and economic conditions, as 86% of the refugees in the camps suffer from food insecurity or are vulnerable to food insecurity.
In a joint statement, the representative of the World Food Program in Iraq, Alireza Qureshi, and his counterpart, the representative of the UNHCR, Jean-Nicolas Beuze, said: “These are serious indicators that highlight the urgent need to support vulnerable Syrian refugees affected by the current economic difficulties in Iraq. The World Food Program and UNHCR have supported Syrian refugees since the beginning of the crisis and continue to do so. However, higher food prices and lower income purchasing power put people at greater risk of food insecurity.”
Syrian refugees in Jordan:
Jordan hosts more than 660,000 Syrian refugees, most of whom reside outside the camps, while more than 128,000 of them live inside the camps.
Syrians in Jordan also suffer from low income and poor access to basic necessities, as 4 out of every 5 refugees (approximately 80%) lived below the poverty line before the start of the Corona pandemic, according to the UNHCR.
The impact of asylum on mental health:
Refugees are exposed to a higher risk of mental disorders comparing with the host population, as they face problems of danger and fear of war, persecution or lack of livelihood, passing through life-threatening conditions such as arbitrary detention or unsafe asylum ways, and then difficult to get rights to education, health care, poor housing and poor housing Security and ending with the difficulty of integrating with the host country in terms of cultural and religious terms and the economic and political problems that those countries are going through.
In a report by the World Health Organization, it indicated that many refugees suffer from psychological disorders such as anxiety, sleep problems, irritability and exhaustion, and depression, and refugees are more likely to commit suicide, while there is consistent evidence confirming the high incidence of psychosis among refugees. Refugees separate from the indigenous population due to the accumulation of social deprivation during the migration journey.
According to the British newspaper, The Guardian, a survey of 721 Syrians living in Turkey, Lebanon and Idlib concluded that 84% of the participants had at least seven out of 15 major symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The World Health Organization recommends that addressing the psychological needs of refugees and promoting mental health should not be separated from global health services.
We in Violet Organization support refugees and respect all the difficulties they face at all levels and stress the need to protect the rights of refugees around the world to live in safety and dignity.
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