How do refugees affect our world?IntroductionIn this essay, I will be talking about how us as a society, countries and global organizations have and should react to the refugees. This links to the GP topic Changing communities and Human and other species.I think this is an interesting topic to talk about because of how different people, and nations all have had a different perspective to this issue.
Personally as of now, I think that the world needs to operate together to resolve the current refugee crisis such as building camps and to accept more people seeking asylum, so that more innocent human lives can be savedGlobal Perspective:A refugee means a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, by persecution or a natural disaster. Throughout the history of humanity, refugees have always been an unresolved and a continuous problem for the whole world.As the number of refugees have rapidly increased in the 1900’s, mainly due to the second world war. The united nations have branched out to the UNHCR. The UNHCR has developed to be one of the biggest organizations to help and aid the refugees.
They mainly provide protection, advocacy, shelter camps, etc. According to UNHCR, Over the past 20 years, the number of people seeking asylum have been increased at an alarming rate, now at about 65 million, a number that has never been reached in history.(Refugees, Displaced People Surpass 60 Million For First Time, UNHCR Says)(United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, “History of UNHCR”) So, what is causing this flood of refugees and why is it a big issue? The number of refugees caused by natural disaster or persecution are not big. The majority comes from wars. Such as the Iraq war, Afghanistan war have displaced many citizens and addition to this, recently as the syrian war broke out in 2011, many have fled the country. Causing what is the biggest refugee movement in human history.
(Syrian refugee crisis- Facts FAQ- how to help)(Chalabi, “What Happened to History’s Refugees?”)The problem begins with us. Currently, the world does not like refugees. We, as groups and society tend to think that refugees have a negative affect to our society. Recently, as major terror incidents have occurred frequently by a terrorist group called ISIS, a terrorist organization.
The outcome of the terrors were hundreds of innocent citizens have been killed, especially in Europe. Due to these frequent incidents, refugees have been viewed as troublesome, dirty, dangerous and other negative factors. It has gotten up to a point that the majority of the European citizens think that refugees will increase domestic terrorism just because of their religion and their race. (Poushter, “European Opinions of the Refugee Crisis in 5 Charts”). However this is not the truth. Based on research of refugees in America, the country known as the land of immigrants, found the results It is more likely that your own clothes will kill you than a refugee will. (Beauchamp, “You’re More Likely to Be Killed by Your Own Clothes than by an Immigrant Terrorist”). There are many other factors and reasons why people do not agree with taking in refugees.
One of them are the misjudgment of job space and the economic problem. It is true that the inhabitants of that area will need to compete for the surrounding resources. However, as long as the number of refugees migrating into the area isn’t too massive, they should be able to provide services and productivity to the environment quickly. Some refugees may even have professional skills which can help the community. For example, refugees with a doctor’s degree can move into rural areas where the number of doctors are deficient.Personal Response:Countries like America and Australia were once empty lands with a small population, now, it is one of the most wealthy and developed countries in the world.
An interesting factor is that both of these countries is made up of large percentage of immigrants. America (13%) and Australia (28%). I believe that the world needs view refugees as more of a poor immigrant not a dangerous being.
Referring back to the research above if given a chance, they may become a big positive contribution to the society, if treated right.Future Courses of action:I believe the first thing to achieve from the UNHCR is to get people aware of this situation. For people like me halfway around the earth where this is all happening, most of us may not know what is actually happening and the seriousness of this incident. If more people are aware, it will undoubtedly lead to more action for this for example, increased donated budget for the organization to spend on the refugees.National Perspective:Hong Kong being the ‘International city’ and the wealthy part asia, surprisingly has one of the smallest refugee global refugee populations. Only around 9900 people seeking asylum, here in Hong Kong. An interesting fact about Hong Kong is that when China had signed the 1951 UN refugee convention, it had not covered Hong Kong, making it the only developed and wealthy area of the world where it is not obliged to take in refugees.
(“Facts Justice Centre Hong Kong”) It is known that Hong Kong has only accepted 31 people out of 20000 applicant that have been seeking asylum. That is roughly 0.2% of people that have been accepted.
Hong Kong has signed to the CAST standing for Convention Against torture scheme, which allows refugees to seek asylum. This system allows refugees to stay in Hong Kong, but in cruel circumstances. Refugees have their passports confiscated and their applicants take on average 3 years to go through. While they are forced to wait, they are given assistance from the government, but certainly not enough for a healthy human lifestyle.
These “allowances” from the government makes the refugees have no option but to work illegally, which can lead to 3 years of imprisonment if caught. (“EXPOSÉ: No Life for Hong Kong’s Refugees”)China, like many other countries have decided to step away from this matter. one of biggest and powerful country in the world, has not taken in any refugees so far. Chinese authorities simply argue that Western countries have brought this on themselves and have not done anything to aid the refugees. (Pan, “Why China Isn’t Hosting Syrian Refugees”).Still, hopeful movements are happening for refugees. Germany has agreed to take in more than 200,000 refugees.
(Connolly, “Germany: Merkel Agrees to 200,000 Refugees Cap in Bid to Build Coalition”) However one can argue that these 200,000 were taken in for a reason. With Germany’s aging society and its prediction to lose 6 million workers by 2030, it was a calculated move by the German government to sustain their economy. Like so, refugees prove be a chance to recover future population and economic problems. (Reuters, “There’s a Very Practical Reason Why Germany Is Taking in so Many Refugees”)Personal Response: As I have researched about the refugee crisis, Not the rich, but the poor neighbouring countries have taken in more refugees than any other combined. So far, the oil rich, wealthy arabian gulf countries have all refused to take in any refugees at all. I believe that if these powers cooperate, they will contribute to many more lives saved. It is known that 86 percentage of the refugees are hosted by third world countries.
It truly shocks me how Europe, known as the most civilized and developed region in the world has been struggling help the refugees.(Khazaal, “No, Arab Gulf Countries Are Not Taking in Refugees”)Future courses of action:We also must remember that Syria’s Refugee Crisis isn’t the only problem that we need to resolve. There are many cases that were covered in Syria’s crisis such as Myanmar, Somalia, etc. We need to get people aware of other major situations too.
View this as the big picture, not just focused on the biggest one. Moreover, I believe Hong Kong as a society, cannot do much for the refugees. The city is too densely populated, making the housing the price the biggest problem even for citizens. Instead, The Hong Kong government should attempt to lead them into a better environment where they can settle peacefully.Personal Perspective:I personally feel really bad for the refugees, as they are leaving their home country.
I feel as if we have to do everything we can to support them and I believe the only way that I as an individual can do this is by supporting them through charity. As of now, refugee crisis is not affecting me nor my society, but as a part of the human race, we should be helping one another for a civilized and a better world.I believe that the refugees are an outcome of disaster and breakdown in our society. They are evidence of failure in our world and human environment and we have to learn from these mistakes so that these events do not happen again. We only have to blame ourselves for this unfortunate event.
Future Courses of ActionI do understand why the population are so negative about accepting “muslim”. This is for most people because of the active terrorism going around globally with ISIS, but we have got to acknowledge that these refugees have mostly not had anything to do with the terrors. I have also noticed that how certain medias are portraying refugees as the negative factors to our environment. Therefore,for refugees to be more accepted into the environment, medias will play a vital role in this.
(“A Sense Of Belonging: The Media’s Impact On Refugees”)ConclusionIn Conclusion, I believe refugees should be welcomed and be accepted into society as a better title with the help of media. Their social perceptions should be changed and should be portrayed as what they are, not as terrorists and dangerous people. I was truly shocked of how refugees are being treated. Countries working together with organizations such as UNHCR will instantly help improve refugees settle in better.
