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WORLD REFUGEE DAY
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WORLD REFUGEE DAY Apologies for the length of this blog, but refugees strike a chord with me in an increasingly anti-foreigner Western world. Below is a Darfurian refugee camp in Chad:  Today is World Refugee Day. In 2000, the United Nations declared 20 June to commemorate refugees worldwide. The 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, plus its 1967 Protocol, defined a refugee as a person “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". About 150 states have signed up to the Convention. According to the UN’s High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), there are about 43.7 million refugees worldwide. This figure excludes people who are displaced within their own country; there are about 27.5 million internally displaced persons. According to UNHCR 2011 data, the ten countries that most refugees flee from are: Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Colombia, Sudan, Vietnam, Eritrea and China. Since 2011, Syria would certainly appear in the ‘top ten’ now. Well outside the 'top ten', 3,026 US citizens, 153 UK citizens, 90 Canadian citizens, 37 Australian citizens and 25 Swedish citizens were refugees. No refugees fled Luxembourg, South Korea and the US Virgin Islands. Excluding Syria, the ten countries that most refugees flee to are: Pakistan, Iran, Germany, Jordan, Kenya, Chad, China, US, UK and Bangladesh. No refugees fled to Haiti, Madagascar and Saint Lucia in the Caribbean. Well outside the ‘top ten’, Canada accepted 165,549 refugees, Sweden 82,629 refugees and Australia 21,805 refugees. What is clear from this data is that most refugees do not flee to rich countries but flee to neighbouring poor countries. To become a refugee, a person has to claim asylum at another country. That country’s government needs to investigate each case, which takes time because people seeking asylum do not always flee with their passports because they are not safe fleeing with such identity documentation. Asylum-seekers are ‘in limbo’ until their status is ascertained. For example, in the UK, asylum-seekers cannot work. In Australia, many are locked up. If granted refugee status, they then face problems of being reconciled with their family. High-profile asylum-seekers are Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks holed up in Ecuador’s embassy in London, and Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower seeking asylum in Hong Kong. Do you think people should move freely around the world? If not, why not? Do you agree with the idea of claiming asylum to become a refugee if not safe in your country? Does your family history include a refugee past? Do you think Julian Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face sex crime charges? Do you think Edward Snowden is an American traitor? A few years ago, I became a mentor to a refugee from Sudan. He was a leading member of the Darfurian Resistance Army, who was imprisoned and tortured in a Sudanese jail. He was not killed because he was an officer in the resistance army so he was useful to be tortured for any information he may reveal. He escaped in a lorry full of sheep. After paying monies, he managed to negotiate a route to Europe not knowing what country he would end up at. While an asylum-seeker in the UK, he enrolled on English language classes as he was not allowed to work. On getting refugee status, he worked in recycling rubbish on night shifts. He also had to fight to get his wife to come over from Sudan to join him in the UK. He won that fight and he now has two and is a taxi-driver in Nottingham, though he still requires medical treatment for the torture inflicted on him. Being his mentor is one of the best things I’ve done; he has taught me lots about the how world works. Surveys reveal that people are not sympathetic to asylum-seekers and refugees until they hear their stories. |
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Do you think people should move freely around the world? If not, why not? That is a question that would require multi-level answers. My answer, as a world traveler who is terrified to travel now, yes and no. Do you agree with the idea of claiming asylum to become a refugee if not safe in your country? Yes! Does your family history include a refugee past? Yes, twice. During the Russian Revolution my Great Grandparents left Russia for France and Ireland. During WWII my Grandparents fled France to the U.S. My other Grandparents came from Ireland to the U.S in a less dramatic fashion in 1946. Do you think Julian Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face sex crime charges? The conspiracy theory is the charges are fake. Who should investigate? JA made a powerful enemy and I am surprised the CIA has not found a way to silence him, as they have so many others in the past. Not saying its right, just saying. Do you think Edward Snowden is an American traitor? No I don't believe he is a traitor. I do have to wonder why Hong Kong?
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1. Yes, we are all citizens of planet Earth. 2. Fundamentally yes, surely we all have a right to safety? 3. No-ish. 4. Absolutely not, the charges are trumped up and he'll be jailed if he returns. 5. No, he was doing his duty, exposing serious criminal behaviour on the part of the US and UK guvvamints!
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I take it you don't like Barack Obama! 
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Do you think people should move freely around the world? If not, why not? That is a question that would require multi-level answers. My answer, as a world traveler who is terrified to travel now, yes and no. Do you agree with the idea of claiming asylum to become a refugee if not safe in your country? Yes! Does your family history include a refugee past? Yes, twice. During the Russian Revolution my Great Grandparents left Russia for France and Ireland. During WWII my Grandparents fled France to the U.S. My other Grandparents came from Ireland to the U.S in a less dramatic fashion in 1946. Do you think Julian Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face sex crime charges? The conspiracy theory is the charges are fake. Who should investigate? JA made a powerful enemy and I am surprised the CIA has not found a way to silence him, as they have so many others in the past. Not saying its right, just saying. Do you think Edward Snowden is an American traitor? No I don't believe he is a traitor. I do have to wonder why Hong Kong?
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1. Yes, we are all citizens of planet Earth. 2. Fundamentally yes, surely we all have a right to safety? 3. No-ish. 4. Absolutely not, the charges are trumped up and he'll be jailed if he returns. 5. No, he was doing his duty, exposing serious criminal behaviour on the part of the US and UK guvvamints!
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I only feel strongly about two of your questions, Dr S. Do you think people should move freely around the world? Absolutely !!! I believe we are a GLOBAL community, and it bothers me terribly that people can be so selfish, limiting the number of people who can move freely internationally Do you think Julian Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face sex crime charges? Definitely NOT !!! The poor man will be killed by the 'powers that be' as soon as they get the opportunity. 
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I only feel strongly about two of your questions, Dr S. Do you think people should move freely around the world? Absolutely !!! I believe we are a GLOBAL community, and it bothers me terribly that people can be so selfish, limiting the number of people who can move freely internationally Do you think Julian Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face sex crime charges? Definitely NOT !!! The poor man will be killed by the 'powers that be' as soon as they get the opportunity.
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Julian Assange looks set to spend a lot of time in an embassy as I can't figure how he can get out to board a flight to Ecuador without being arrested by the UK police surrounding the Embassy. It is a terribly sad situation.
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