VISION IAS

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1 VISION IAS GLOBAL REFUGEE CRISIS Table f Cntent 1 Intrductin Wrst Affected Regins Refugee Crisis: a shared respnsibility Rle f the Wrld Cmmunity Visin IAS

2 1 Intrductin We are currently witnessing the largest and mst rapid escalatin ever in the number f peple being frced frm their hmes. Millins f peple are fleeing cnflict in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine, as well as persecutin in areas f Sutheast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, creating the highest level f displacement since Wrld War II. Glbal refugee crises in numbers: The glbal refugee ttal exceeded 20 millin fr the first time since 1992 The number f internally displaced peple rse frm 2 millin t 34 millin Wrldwide frced displacement is expected t exceed 60 millin fr the first time 1 in every 122 peple has been frced t flee their hme 4,600 peple are frced t flee their cuntries every day One millin 'refugees and migrants' reached EU in 2015 Half f thse arriving in six cuntries were Syrians fleeing war and the verwhelming majrity landed in Greece. Arund 1,700 refugees and migrants died trying t crss the Mediterranean in January-April 2015 alne. In the past tw years, the wrld has witnessed a grwing refugee crisis. In 2013, fr the first time since Wrld War II, the number f thse frcibly displaced frm their hmes exceeded 50 millin. Millins mre have since been displaced as a result f cnflict and crises arund the glbe. The year 2015 has seen cntinuing dramatic grwth in mass displacement frm wars and cnflict, nce again reaching levels unprecedented in recent histry. New crises have brken ut in the Middle East and Africa, cmpunded by cntinuing unreslved cnflicts in Afghanistan, the Demcratic Republic f the Cng, Smalia, and elsewhere. In additin t the nging crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic, new cnflicts in the Central African Republic, Suth Sudan, Ukraine, and Iraq, amng thers, have caused suffering and massive displacement. The Eurpean migrant crisis r Eurpean refugee crisis began in 2015, when a rising number f refugees and migrants made the jurney t the Eurpean Unin t seek asylum, travelling acrss the Mediterranean Sea, r thrugh Sutheast Eurpe. They came frm areas such as Western and Suth Asia, Africa and the Western Balkans. It is nt just the scale f glbal frced displacement that is discncerting but als its rapid acceleratin in recent years. Fr mst f the past decade, displacement figures ranged between 38 millin and 43 millin persns annually. Since 2011, hwever, when levels std at 42.5 millin, these numbers have grwn t the current 59.5 millin a 40 per cent increase within a span f just three years. Such grwth pses challenges t finding adequate respnses t these crises, increasingly leading t the multiple displacements f individuals r secndary mvements in search f safety. 2 Wrst Affected Regins 1. Middle East and Nrth Africa: The wrsening humanitarian situatin in and arund Syria was cmpunded by an escalatin f vilence in Iraq during Syrians have becme the largest refugee ppulatin under United Natin High Cmmissiner fr Refugee (UNHRC) s mandate, with an estimated 3.7 millin Syrian refugees in the Middle East and Nrth Africa regin at the end f In 2015, the humanitarian situatin in Yemen has deterirated further as cnflict spreads thrughut the cuntry. This is prmpting new waves f displacement, f bth Yemeni natinals and refugees wh had sught safety in Yemen, t flee t neighbring cuntries and further afield. 2 Visin IAS

3 The security situatin in Libya remained vlatile. Accrding t lcal authrities and natinal nngvernmental rganizatins, arund 400,000 peple were displaced inside the cuntry by the end f Eurpe: Crimean crisis and subsequent war resulted in humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Fighting between Ukrainian trps and pr-russian separatists has severely damaged Ukraine s industrial belt. Hundreds f thusands f Ukrainians have fled t neighburing cuntries. The cnflict has been particularly damaging t Ukraine s ecnmy, which is expected t shrink by nine percent. Masses f migrants and refugees, many frm Syria, Afghanistan and Ksv, have been verwhelming brder authrities in several Balkan cuntries as they try t reach Western Eurpe. 3. Suth- East Asia: Cmmunal clashes in the Rakhine prvince f Myanmar have displaced thusands f Rhingya Muslim cmmunity. Lng standing plitical turmil and ethnic clashes in Myanmar have resulted in ne f the wrst humanitarian crisis f the regin. Inside Myanmar, apprximately 370,000 peple remain displaced in Rakhine and Kachin States, and in the suth-east f the cuntry. Mrever, an estimated 810,000 peple are withut citizenship in Rakhine State. There are als apprximately 265,000 refugees f different ethnicities, riginating frm Myanmar, wh are displaced in neighbring cuntries. 4. Africa: With new cnflicts emerging in Africa and nging crises wrsening, Africa has becme htspt fr the refugee crisis. The utbreak f the Ebla virus in West Africa aggravated the situatin further in last tw years. As a result f the unrest in Suth Sudan, the number f refugees that fled t Ethipia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda reached 614,000, f whm 488,000 fled in the curse f Nigeria, Demcratic Republic f Cng and Mali have experienced wrsening f nging plitical cnflicts which has added t the refugee crisis in the regin. Hrn f Africa alng with Kenya and Ethipia experienced ne f the wrst drughts in last three years. It has resulted in widespread migratins t surrunding cuntries. 3 Refugee Crisis: a shared respnsibility Cnsequences f Refugee Crisis: Peple fleeing their cuntries land in the hands f trafficking gangs and smugglers fr transprtatin in the absence f safe passage in neighbring cuntries. Refugees attempting t crss ceans are drwned in hundreds. Thusands have lst their lives crssing the Mediterranean Sea frm Libya and Turkey. Similar life lss is experienced in the Pacific regin in case f Rhingyas fleeing Myanmar. Hundred gt killed while attempting t reach Indnesia, Malaysia and Australia. Infrastructure and administratin in neighburing cuntries is falling apart in the absence f any humanitarian aid. In case f Lebann and Jrdan, the ecnmies are suffering due t influx f migratin. Unemplyment rates have sured in all surrunding regin. It resulted in hstile attitude twards refugees. Respnse t the Crisis: Pwerful natins, which ften send bmbers t prer cuntries t slve their dmestic prblems, as the Nrth Atlantic Treaty Organizatin did in Libya in 2011, are nt as frthcming when they face refugee crises and pverty. At present, almst 86 per cent f all refugees are in the develping cuntries, which lack the infrastructure and resurces t tackle the challenge. 3 Visin IAS

4 The internatinal cmmunity s respnse t the crisis remains dismal: nly 23% f the UN humanitarian appeal fr Syria s refugees was funded as f June As a result f this funding shrtage, aid agencies have repeatedly had t reduce financial assistance t refugees. The refugee crises in Sub-Saharan Africa receive little r n attentin in reginal r glbal plitical frums. Many f the hst cuntries in the regin have little r n capacity t prvide supprt t refugees, and UN humanitarian peratins n the cntinent are significantly under-resurced. The respnse by Suth-East Asian cuntries has wrst t pathetic. In Malaysia, Indnesia and Thailand bats carrying refugees and migrants are frced ut f the territrial waters. The asylum shelters in Australia inspected by the Amnesty Internatinal revealed wrst human rights vilatins in camps created f r asylum seekers. The prlnged nature f the Syria crisis, which entered its fifth year in March 2015, has als required a shift in apprach. The Reginal Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP), issued at the end f 2014, is a reginal strategy that brings tgether hst Gvernments and arund 200 humanitarian and develpment partners t supprt natinally-led respnse plans fr the five main Syrian refugee hst cuntries. This unique crdinatin initiative aims t scale up resilience and stabilizatin-based develpment cmpnents t cmplement humanitarian assistance. UNHCR and UNDP led the develpment f the 3RP in EU natins agreed n a plan t relcate 120,000 f these refugees acrss the Unin. Sixtysix thusands f them, wh are nw in Greece and Italy after making dangerus vyages acrss the Mediterranean, wuld be relcated. Fifty-fur thusand are t be relcated frm Hungary, where they had reached after trekking acrss the Balkans. But after Hungary's ppsitin t the plan, the quta will nw g t Italy and Greece. In 2014, UNHCR and the Gvernment f Indnesia cchaired a wrkshp t assess the implementatin f the 2013 Jakarta Declaratin n addressing irregular mvement f persns. In additin t the Internatinal Organizatin fr Migratin (IOM), 14 States, representing cuntries f rigin, transit and destinatin, participated in the wrkshp. States reiterated their cmmitment twards burden sharing and cmmn Amnesty Internatinal s Recmmendatins: An internatinal summit n the glbal refugee crisis fcused n increasing internatinal respnsibility and burden-sharing; Glbal ratificatin f the Refugee Cnventin Develp rbust dmestic refugee systems: states must have fair dmestic prcedures t assess refugee claims and must guarantee fundamental rights and access t services, such as educatin and healthcare, t refugees. An abslute cmmitment t saving lives first: states must priritise saving peple in distress ver implementing immigratin plicies. In situatins where peple are in danger f death, including but nt limited t peple attempting sea crssings, states shuld invest in search and rescue peratins and immediately cme t the rescue f peple in distress. Cmbat trafficking: states must take effective actin t investigate and prsecute trafficking gangs. States shuld ffer prtectin and assistance t victims f trafficking an ensure they have access t refugee status determinatin prcedures and/r resettlement pprtunities Fulfill all resettlement needs identified by UNHCR: nearly ne millin resettlement and humanitarian admissin places are required fr refugees wh need resettlement and this number will increase every year. Amnesty Internatinal estimates that 300,000 annual resettlement and humanitarian admissin places will be needed every year ver the next fur years. Cmbat xenphbia: gvernments must refrain frm engaging in xenphbia themselves, fr example by implying r directly claiming asylum-seekers and migrants are t blame fr ecnmic and scial prblems. Gvernments must als have effective plicies t address xenphbic vilence; Establish a glbal refugee fund: such a fund shuld fulfil all UN humanitarian appeals fr refugee crises. This fund shuld als prvide meaningful financial supprt t cuntries hsting large numbers f refugees t help them prvide services t refugees and their hst cmmunities. This shuld be additinal t existing develpment aid. 4 Visin IAS

5 respnsibility, and underscred the imprtance f reginal agreements and practical actins t prtect peple rescued and intercepted at sea. Indnesia and Malaysia annunced that they wuld prvide temprary shelter fr up t 7,000 peple still at sea. This temprary prtectin wuld nly last fr up t a year and n cnditin that the internatinal cmmunity wuld help with repatriatin r resettlement f the peple. 4 Rle f the Wrld Cmmunity A mre crdinated apprach is needed t address the prblem. Richer cuntries in the West and the Asia Pacific shuld find mre rm fr refugees frm stricken lands, in rder t share the burden mre equitably. And, agencies such as the UNHCR that deal with millins f refugees shuld be sufficiently funded t fulfill their missins. Mre imprtant, there have t be mre meaningful effrts, driven nt merely by geplitical calculatins but by mral, humanitarian cnvictin, t slve the wrld s crises. That culd be the first step twards addressing the causes f the prblem. The glbal refugee crisis is primarily a result f cnflicts and widespread human rights vilatins. In the aftermath f Wrld War II, the internatinal cmmunity created the United Natins Refugee Cnventin. Tgether with ther internatinal treaties and nrms, it bligates that states ensure refugees, having lst the prtectin f their cuntry f rigin, are able t enjy internatinal prtectin frm their cuntries f asylum. The Refugee Cnventin als establishes the principle f respnsibility-sharing - the idea that the internatinal cmmunity must wrk tgether t address refugee crises s that n ne cuntry, r a small number f cuntries, has t cpe alne. The bligatin f individual cuntries t give prtectin and assistance t refugees, cupled with the respnsibility f the internatinal cmmunity t act cllectively in the case f large refugee crises, is essential t refugee prtectin. The refugee crisis the wrld has witnessed in the past few years has been exacerbated by the failures f individual states, and f the internatinal cmmunity as a whle, t live up t these bligatins. Althugh 145 cuntries have ratified the Refugee Cnventin, there are regins f the wrld in which very few cuntries have ratified the treaty, including mst f the Middle East, Suth Asia and Suth East Asia. In these regins refugees generally enjy limited rights and in sme cases are nt legally recgnized as refugees. The respnsibility fr cping with the wrld s multiple refugee crises lies almst entirely with prer cuntries in the wrld. Wealthier cuntries are nt ding nearly enugh t share the burden f the glbal refugee crisis. Humanitarian appeals fr refugee crises are cnsistently and ften severely underfunded. Nearly ne millin refugees need resettlement, yet, glbally, annual resettlement cmmitments are less than a tenth f this number. Only arund 30 cuntries ffer any resettlement places at all. In many cuntries, plitical cnsideratins regularly take precedence ver the lives f refugees and migrants, leaving thusands t die n dangerus jurneys that culd have been avided. Ultimately, refugee crises end when their rt causes are addressed. Ending cnflicts and widespread human rights abuses are bjectives that states shuld pursue, but they are difficult t achieve. Hwever, individual states and the internatinal cmmunity as a whle must recgnize that they can lessen the devastating cnsequences f the refugee crisis n peple. Fr this, a glbal apprach t the prblem is needed. Cpyright by Visin IAS All rights are reserved. N part f this dcument may be reprduced, stred in a retrieval system r transmitted in any frm r by any means, electrnic, mechanical, phtcpying, recrding r therwise, withut prir permissin f Visin IAS 5 Visin IAS