20th of June - International World Refugee Day
A Deepening Refugee Crisis
By Patricia Jjuuko / GICJ
Background
On the 20th of June each year, the world commemorates Refugee Day. Held globally for the first time on the 20th June 2001, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (the Refugee Convention). Refugee Day was originally known as African Refugee Day before the United Nations General Assembly officially designated it as an international day in December 2000 [1].
Definition of Refugee
The definition of who is a refugee is clearly established in the 1951 Refugee Convention as “a person who owing to 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 nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.”[2]
Theme of World Refugee Day 2023: The Power of Inclusion and Solutions for Refugees
All refugees should be given hope away from home. Including refugees in the communities where they have found safety after fleeing conflict and persecution as it is the most effective way to support them in restarting their lives and enables them to contribute to the countries hosting them. It is also the best way to prepare them to return home to rebuild their countries, when conditions allow them to do so safely and voluntarily, or to thrive if they are resettled to another country [3].
The Importance of World Refugee Day
World Refugee Day is important because it celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict, violence or persecution. Recognized annually, the World Refugee Day is a reminder of the needs, rights and dreams of refugees, and a call to help to mobilize political will and resources so that refugees can not only survive but thrive [4]. The refugee crisis continues to deepen with each passing year with the numbers of refugees increasing. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee, as of the end of 2022, 108.4 million people had been forcibly displaced with 43.3 million of these children below 18 years of age. The total number of displaced persons worldwide as at the end of 2021 stood at 89.3 million [5].
On every World Refugee Day, we focus on the concerns and barriers that refugees face in their search for a better life.
Protracted Refugee Situations
These are defined as situations in which at least 25,000 refugees from the same country have been living in exile, in camps for more than five consecutive years. Often found in a state of ‘limbo’, refugees cannot return home because it is not safe and they do not receive permanent residence in the countries where they are currently located. This means that refugees in such situations face protection challenges and restrictions on their rights including freedom of movement, legal employment, access to land and systems of justice. Women and children are particularly vulnerable to early marriages, child labor and sex trafficking. Iran and Pakistan are countries with the longest protracted situations hosting approximately 2.4 million Afghan refugees between them for the past 40 years [6]. As a further example, Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, has hosted approximately 196,666 refugees from Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan for the past 31 years [7].
Protracted refugee situations are as a result of the failure to find political solutions to the underlying political crises [8]. States should work towards finding solutions to these long-term human rights crises by supporting voluntary repatriation of refugees to their home countries which is one of the best solutions. States need to have the political will to solve crises to enable their own to return home to safety. Furthermore, host nations need to foster and encourage local integration for refugees remaining in their countries and allow for a path to citizenship. Host nations need to look at refugees as an opportunity and not a burden to their economies.
Containment of Refugees
Low and middle-income countries host 76% of the world’s refugees and other people in need of international protection [9]. Many wealthier nations in North America and Europe systematically erect barriers for those who would enter to claim asylum, forming part of the system of the containment of refugees in the Global South. In the last few years the number of people crossing the Mediterranean has increased from 11,500 in 2019 to 105,000 arriving in 2022. As the boats keep coming, so do people continue losing their lives. According to the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, 3,789 deaths were recorded in 2022 along sea and land routes in the region, including crossings of the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea [10]. The real number is, unfortunately, likely to be even higher.
Many refugees fleeing persecution and conflict in their home countries would not undertake risky journeys for a better life if legal means to make the journey to Europe were an available option. European countries have previously been called on to significantly increase the numbers of refugees that they accept for resettlement. These countries must urgently accept their proportionate share of the world’s refugees to remove the burden from those countries less able to adapt to the challenges of caring for people fleeing conflict and natural disasters Less than 1% of the total refugee population is what is available for resettlement in high income countries to and it is often suggested that certain resettlement countries ‘cream off’ the more economically resourceful refugees [11].
Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ) stands with all refugees seeking a better life for themselves and their families. We call on states facing violence and conflict to reflect on more effective strategic ways of resolving disputes to avoid their populations feeling the need to flee and to alleviate the suffering of their people. On this World Refugee Day, we are reminded to give hope away from home to refugees, by increasing inclusion into the communities where they have found safety after fleeing conflict and persecution. We call upon the host nations to be more accommodating, encouraging local integration and for the international community to stand up and protect refugees through the passing of appropriate policies and measures that are fair and just. On this day, let us remember that migrants and refugees are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity, they are children, women and men who leave or who are forced to leave their homes for various reasons, who share legitimate desire for knowing and having but above all for being more.
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References
[1] Take Action, World Refugee Days https://www.unhcr.org/world-refugee-day
[2] Global Issues, Refugees https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/refugees
[3] World Refugee Day 2023 https://www.unhcr.org/events/world-refugee-day-2023
[4] Ibid
[5] Refugee Data Finder https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/
[6] Protracted Refugee Situations Explained https://www.unrefugees.org/news/protracted-refugee-situations-explained/#What%20is%20a%20protracted%20refugee%20situation?
[7] Kakuma Refugee Camp and Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement https://www.unhcr.org/ke/kakuma-refugee-camp
[8] Global Issues, Refugees https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/refugees
[9] Refugee Data Finder https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/
[10] Dead and Missing by Year https://missingmigrants.iom.int/data
[11] Van Selm, J. ‘Refugee Resettlement’ (2014)
