Where Else In the World are Refugees Coming From?

By: Tristin

What is a Refugee?

“A refugee is a person who has fled their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster”.

The current refugee crisis is worldwide, although the reportage has focused heavily on the refugees coming into Europe and especially on Syrian refugees. There are 21 million refugees currently all over the world this is a HUGE amount of people who have fled their home countries. Once a refugee has fled their home country they must also find somewhere they can live safely. The amount and severity of these refugees is unequalled compared to the amount of refugees in World War ll.

Below in the chart you can clearly see the amounts of refugees and migrants compared from 2014 to 2015 each month the number rising.

Retrieved from: http://www.vox.com/2015/9/9/9290985/refugee-crisis-europe-syrian

Retrieved from: http://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2015/12/5683d0b56/million-sea-arrivals-reach-europe-2015.html

The Refugee Crisis

Globally there are 19 million refugees. When we talk about the global refugee crisis, we also talk about how nations fail refugees. Most refugees go through at least one of the four of the following steps, many all of them.

Step One:

Persecution: “hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of race or political or religious beliefs”.

Persecution causes people to flee their home. Political persecution internal war currently in Syria and in Afghanistan. There are also less known wars or conflicts in Somalia, Libya, Central America, Nigeria, and Pakistan etc.

Step Two:

Once refugees are forced from their homes they often end up in refugee camps. The camps are unsafe, crowded and have poor living conditions. Camps keep families stuck in limbo for generations.

Retrieved from: http://www.gettyimages.ca/event/increased-numbers-of-migrants-held-at-serbian-hungarian-border-655298993?#migrants-queue-for-food-being-distributed-from-a-doorway-in-the-to-picture-id576700478

Step Three:

Refugees often flee the camps and seek out safety in Europe. The journey is terrifying and dangerous. Families pay thousands of dollars to traffickers for boat trips to Europe. Many people die by drowning.

Retrieved from: https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/tag/malta/

Step Four:

Once refugees get off the boats in Europe they face squalid and overcrowded camps in Greece. The Greek population is hostile to the refugees and want them gone and resettled elsewhere. The refugees are afraid of being deported. The conditions in refugee camps in other locations are the same as they are in Greece.

The last step of the refugee crisis is not only funding, but also political issues between the EU countries. The countries have to reach an agreement as to how many refugees each country will take in. Until then the refugees will continue to suffer.

During 2014-15 there were approximately 32,000 people fleeing their countries of origin daily. Most of them come from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan and Lebanon. More than half of the refugees are from Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia.

In the past 33 years 2,56 million people fled Afghanistan. In 2013 alone 2,47 million fled from Syria and the number of refugees continue to grow. The refugees fleeing from Somali remain stable at approximately 1,1 million.

Where do Refugees Come From?

Afghanistan	2,556,522
Syria	2,468,341
Rest of the World	1,551,937
Somalia	1,121,692
Sudan	649,285
Congo DR	499,499
Myanmar	479,591
Iraq	401,362
Columbia	396,614
Vietnam	314,069
Eritrea	307,966
Central Africa	252,829
China	195,109
Mali	152,833
Sri Lanka	123,050
W Sahara	116,501
South Sudan	114,451

Where Are the Refugees Going?

Pakistan has 1,6 million refugees mostly from Afghanistan. For its population Lebanon has more refugees than any other country. Since 2011 Syrian refugees have been arriving in Lebanon in huge numbers. If we break down refugees coming into countries by continents Asia has 3,5 million, Middle East has 2,6 million, Europe has 1,8 million, and America has 800,000.

Countries Refugees are Living In

Rest of the World	1,640,615	South Sudan	229,587
Pakistan	1,616,495	Uganda	220,538
Iran	857,352	Venezuela	204,291
Lebanon	856,529	India	188,371
Jordan	641,894	Germany	187,505
Turkey	609,911	Canada	160,327
Kenya	534,920	Sudan	159,838
Chad	434,461	Syria	149,266
Ethiopia	433,923	Thailand	136,474
China	301,045	United Kingdom	125,991
USA	263,618	Ecuador	123,051
Iraq	246,294	Cameroon	114,729
Yemen	241,276	Sweden	114,122
France	232,487	Congo DR	113,357
Bangladesh	231,137	Tanzania	109,099
Egypt	230,055

Living Conditions in Refugee Camps

Blogged by: Sydney

In my Grade 12 world issues class, we’re researching some of our inquiry questions, as a result i'm researching the living conditions of refugee camps and why refugees are living like this if their trying to seek help. Some of my research has led me to this; refugee camps are a temporary settlement for people who have fled their home country, each camp has roughly 11,400 people. Refugees 100% depend on human aid, the number of tents the camp receives is nearly not enough, some families hide out under the larger tents as a “meeting point”, leaving them exposed to the weather. Some people have taken matters into their own hands and have started making makeshift shelters out of straw mats and random pieces of fabric to protect them from sandstorms. With the lack of living supplies the refugees need, their suffering from health issues as well.

Refugees choose to live in these conditions because it is much safer than their home country, many flee their home country after watching their neighbourhood get bombed or watch their family members get killed, most refugees go to neighbouring countries to stay with people they know or stay with host families. More than half of the Syrian refugees are under the age of 18 and have no family left to get support from. Leaving their home country and moving to a place where they know no one, have no money and don't speak the proper language are better living conditions than their home country where a major civil war is happening.

 

https://www.google.ca/search?q=refugee+living+conditions&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=894&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0z8-uva3PAhUIGT4KHaFJC9QQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=MujPCQoI_dgLMM%3A

https://www.google.ca/search?q=refugee+living+conditions&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=894&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0z8-uva3PAhUIGT4KHaFJC9QQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=rmnU7-Hlg24ZDM%3A

Why is Greece taking so many refugees when they’re in debt.

By: Michael and David

Greece is very close to Syria geographically which makes it cheaper and easier for them to take refuge there opposed to other more developed countries, the countries are close together. Most other European countries do not want to take in refugees. Former prime minister vowed to take in 20,000 refugees, but since he stepped down that promise has not been kept. Due to many countries not agreeing to take in refugees, 60,000 people have been left stranded in Greece. Because of the overwhelming numbers of Syrian refugees, the Greece government has moved many refugees to warehouses ‘not fit for animals’. There have been protests and riots based around this decision because these refugees are being put into conditions not suitable for animals. Italy and Greece are sending some of their refugees to hungary to try to evenly distribute the amount of people. Greece continues to struggle economically and they may even be forced to take in more refugees if more European countries don’t agree to take in those seeking refuge, due to the UN’s promise to help over 160,000 people.

What are the effects of being as refugee as a child?

Blogged by: Mackenzie

The Syrian Civil War has brought the refugee crisis to the forefront of the mainstream media’s attention in recent years; however, the public tends to focus on the issue of where these mass numbers of migrants will be settled, as opposed to the impact it has on their physical and mental well-being. While the two are equally important concerns, the latter seems to be rarely discussed.

As one could expect, the horrors of living in a war-torn nation have long-lasting effects on the millions of those who have been forced to flee Syria in recent years. This is especially true for children, who make up over half of the refugee population.

The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) reports that as the conflict reaches its’ fifth year, one in every three Syrian children has grown up knowing only war and deprivation. These youths are often exposed to violence, sexual assault, torture, and other horrific experiences both before and after leaving their home countries, which frequently lead to mental illnesses down the road. Even after escaping conflict in Syria, many do not have access to the resources they need to treat these illnesses.

The nations that are bordering Syria are the ones that are holding the greatest numbers of migrants; according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 4.8 million refugees are located in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon alone. These countries have become extremely overcrowded, and there are not enough schools available to educate Syrian youth as well as those who were born in these countries.

A combination of these disadvantages— a lack of education, medical and psychological assistance, and overcrowded living conditions— puts Syrian children at a significant detriment and will make it extremely difficult for them to progress in the future if the civil war is not soon resolved.   

 Photos from:                      

https://blogs.unicef.org.uk/2013/05/29/children-of-syria-filming-a-tv-appeal/    https://hongkongvolunteer.wordpress.com/category/refugees/

Do Refugees Try to Leave Camps, if so is it a Crime?

Blogged by: Andrea

https://www.oxfamireland.org/sites/default/files/syria-colm-blog-collage.jpg

With 4.7 million Syrian refugees in neighboring countries, such as Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan etc. and 13.5 million people still in need of help in Syria (since of August 18 2016), so no wonder camps can be very crowded. With all the people cramped out in small locations, it can be overwhelming. Imagine being in a dirty portable full of people and you have to live there for months on end till you can maybe get a relocation to another country that will open their arms up to you.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/firstworldwar/maps/map_images/turkey_greece.gif

However, the reason some refugees might not leave the camps is due to harassment outside from the country's own citizens. The question now is if they leave the camps set up for them, will they get in trouble?

On May 10, four Syrian refugees were so desperate to leave Greece that they attempted to swim (26km) to Turkey. Volunteers from “Drops in the ocean” spotted the refugees and sent speedboats to get them and bring them back to Greece. There were no further reports on whether the refugees who left camp got in trouble.

The United Nations seem to give relax input to the situation by saying if you have the money to go out in survive then do it, however most Syrian refugees have little to nothing but the clothes on their back and don’t have jobs to work. As a result, yes there are some refugees trying to leave their camps but no I don't believe it is a crime unless the government of the country does not want the refugee and have problems with claiming refugee status there.

References:

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2016/05/10/desperate-to-leave-greece-refugees-try-to-swim-back-to-turkey/

https://www.mercycorps.org/articles/iraq-jordan-lebanon-syria-turkey/quick-facts-what-you-need-know-about-syria-crisis http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/utterly-inhumane-canadian-nurse-describes-conditions-in-syrian-refugee-camp-1.2680412

UNFlag: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Flag_of_the_United_Nations.svg/2000px-Flag_of_the_United_Nations.svg.png