World Refugee Day 2019

By Emma Louise On June 20, 2019 1 Comment

June 20th is World Refugee Day. The day we stop to recognise the huge number of displaced human beings living in the world.

‘The yearly Global Trends report found that 70.8 million children, women and men were forcibly displaced at the close of 2018, the highest number in the organization’s almost 70-year history.

This is twice as many people as 20 years ago, 2.3 million more than the previous year, and is greater than the population of Thailand.

Worryingly, this global figure is probably on the low side.’ (19.06.19, The UN Refugee Agency)

Two-thirds of all the refugees worldwide came from these five countries: Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia.

However the world’s biggest current displacement crisis is Venezuela with at least four million Venezuelans having left their country already and that number is set to rise to almost five million by the end of 2019.

Venezuela

‘Venezuelans made 341,800 new asylum claims in 2018, surpassing countries such as Syria and Afghanistan and accounting for more than one in five of all new asylum claims submitted worldwide.’ (19.09.19, Financial Times)

The exodus out of Venezuela has accelerated over the past three years due to shortages of food, water and fuel. This once wealthy oil-rich nation is now destitute thanks to economic mismanagement by Nicolas Maduro’s socialist regime.

The US attempt to topple Maduro and pave the way for free and fair elections has made conditions worse for the country as sanctions on gold and oil exports are tightened.

Colombian police officers stand in front of people lining up to try to cross into Colombia from Venezuela through Simon Bolivar International Bridge in Cucuta, Colombia, on January 24, 2018

Syria

The Syrian attempt at an Arab Spring was met with violent crackdowns by the Syrian security forces. Initially refugees fled to Lebanon with hopes that they could return home soon. International sanctions are applied in attempt to pressure the government to moderate, but to no avail. After the UN Human Rights council accuses Syria of war crimes against civilians, followed by the accusation that Assad ordered chemical attacks, other countries join the fight.

By 2017 more than five million people had left Syria as the country is devastated by years of war.

In 2019, refugees experienced new hardships as winter storms battered Syria, Lebanon and Turkey with snow, rain, heavy winds, and near-freezing temperatures. Rising floods have driven many refugees from tent settlements, especially in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.

Za’atari refugee camp, Jordan. Home to tens of thousands of Syrian refugees.

Afghanistan

The security situation in the country, following the US-led invasion to put an end to the brutal Taliban regime, is still deteriorating and the violence continues to drive people from their homes in 2018.

There are almost 2.5 million registered refugees from Afghanistan. They comprise the largest protracted refugee population in Asia, and the second largest refugee population in the world in 2018.

Afghan refugee children

South Sudan

‘South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in July 2011, but the hard-won celebration was short-lived. The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, the ruling political party that originally led the way for independence, is now divided and fighting for power.

In December 2013, political infighting erupted into violence in the streets of the capital, Juba, after South Sudan’s president accused his vice president of an attempted coup. Fighting between the two factions of government forces loyal to each soon moved to Bor, and then to Bentiu.’ (Mercy Corps)

‘Amid increasing violence and deteriorating conditions, the situation in South Sudan has escalated to a full-blown humanitarian emergency. The total number of South Sudanese refugees has now passed 2 million, it is the largest refugee crisis in Africa, and the third largest in the world, after Syria and Afghanistan. Sadly, 65 percent of South Sudanese refugees are under the age of 18.’ (USA for UNHCR)

The majority of those fleeing are women and children. They are survivors of violent attacks, sexual assault and in many cases, children are traveling alone.

A large number of refugee children travel alone

Myanmar

Rohingya Muslims living in the Rakhine state in Myanmar represented the largest percentage of Muslims living in the majority Buddhist country. The government denied the Rohingya citizenship refusing to recognise them as people, seeing them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

In August 2017, Rohingya Arsa militants attacked over 30 police posts. In retaliation troops backed by local Buddhist mobs burned the Rohingya villages and attacked civilians.

‘At least 6,700 Rohingya, including at least 730 children under the age of five, were killed in the month after the violence broke out, according to Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

Amnesty International says the Myanmar military also raped and abused Rohingya women and girls.’ (BBC News)

There are nearly one million Rohingya refugees who have fled to Bangladesh living in the Cox’s Bazar refugeee camp and the majority of them are women and girls.

Hamida, 22, (center) and her son Mohammed, aged one, wait to receive food aid along with hundreds of other Rohingya refugees, at Kutupalong Refugee Camp, in Bangladesh.

Somalia

The civil war is ongoing in Somalia. It grew out of resilience to a military junta led by Siad Barre in the 1980s. The armed conflict, abuses by all warring parties, and a new humanitarian crisis continue to take a devastating toll on civilians.

Recent atrocities includes ‘hundreds of civilians killed in indiscriminate attacks by the Islamist armed group Al-Shabab, particularly in Mogadishu. Military operations against Al-Shabab, at times in violation of the laws of war, by Somali government forces and militia, African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops, and other foreign forces resulted in deaths, injuries and displacement of civilians—as did inter-clan violence—across the country…the diplomatic crisis between Qatar and other Gulf countries continued to exacerbate tensions in Somalia, between Mogadishu and federal states, with Somaliland, as well as among Mogadishu’s political elite, over a United Arab Emirate company’s development of key ports. .’ (Human Rights Watch, 2017)

Over 870,000 Somalis are registered as refugees in the Horn of Africa and Yemen, while an estimated 2.7 million men, women and children are displaced within the country itself.

Refugees who fled the famine in Somalia wait in a reception area at a camp in Dadaab, Kenya. 2011.

How can you help?

No one chooses to be a refugee.

In an emergency, UNHCR can be on the ground in 72 hours. They are currently working in 130 countries, including Syria, Yemen, Bangladesh, South Sudan, Indonesia and South America where they are facing crises on a huge scale.

You can support their work by donating HERE.

Sources and further reading:

Global forced displacement tops 70 million

https://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/2019/6/5d08b6614/global-forced-displacement-tops-70-million.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=HQ_EN_post_Global_Core%2520Social%2520Media%2520Outreach&utm_medium=social

World Refugee Day

http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/world-refugee-day

More than 5m set to flee Venezuela by end of this year

https://www.ft.com/content/ff6053e4-92b2-11e9-aea1-2b1d33ac3271

Syrian refugee crisis: Facts, FAQs and how to help

https://www.worldvision.org/refugees-news-stories/syrian-refugee-crisis-facts

UNHCR: Afghanistan

https://www.unhcr.org/uk/afghanistan.html