The word ‘refugee’ invokes a diverse array of emotions, ranging from sympathy to vexation. For the rest of the world, refugees are a problem to be dealt with. However, for the millions of people who are no longer citizens of any state to merit enforceable human rights, the identity of ‘refugee’ is the only straw of hope they are left with. As the world acknowledges and honors their courage, bravery, and steadfastness in the face of adversities on this June 20th, the World Refugee Day, it is high time to acknowledge their human-ness that makes them as important as any citizen, no matter which state they have sought refuge in and what kind of atrocities they have fled from.
World Refugee Day falls each year on June 20 and is dedicated to the wellbeing of refugees around the globe. It was held globally for the first time on June 20, 2001, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Originally known as Africa Refugee Day, it was designated as World Refugee Day in December 2000 by the UN General Assembly and is marked by a variety of events in many countries around the globe in support of refugees. These activities are led by government officials, host communities, private companies, celebrities, school children, and the general public and often involve refugees themselves.
A refugee is a person who has fled their own country because they are at risk of serious human rights violations and persecution there. (Amnesty International). Unable to return home due to the fear of loss of life, refugees are forced under dire circumstances to continue their stay in a foreign land with no resources at their disposal except the bare minimum they managed to flee with and the ones granted to them by the host community or international organizations. They lead a precarious existence and are vulnerable to various threats like smuggling, trafficking, and pandemics, in addition to the extreme difficulty in meeting even the basic needs of food, water, and shelter. Lack of formal citizenship and the resultant absence of any authority to take responsibility for ensuring their access to human rights pushes refugees into the precipice, from which they can only be pulled back through humanitarian actions aimed at improving their current situation, granting of asylums to provide the assurance of stability, and ensuring their rehabilitation, or if possible, safe return to their home countries.
The world has witnessed an increase in intra-state conflicts in the past couple of decades, and there has been a parallel explosion in the number of refugees. UNHCR puts the number of forcibly displaced people at 89.3 million, out of which 53.2 million are internally displaced, 27.1 million are refugees, and 4.6 million are asylum seekers. Of the 36.5 million refugee children, 1.5 million were born as refugees- a whole generation born to a chaotic and anchor-less world and brought up knowing nothing but instability and strife. While these statistics only reflect the documented numbers, the real estimates are expected to be much higher. The stakes have gone higher this year, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine resulted in the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War 2, and the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan added another 5 lakh to the 2.7 million refugees originating from Afghanistan.
The responsibility for ensuring the wellbeing of refugees’ rests on the global society and the civilizational value and progress it claims to possess. The responsibility can translate to effective actions in multiple ways like provision of humanitarian aid, granting of asylums, ensuring their access to education, medical facilities, and employment opportunities, even sharing of refugee intake, and peacekeeping efforts in destabilized countries carried out through the joint efforts of the international institutions, supranational bodies, global civil society, and the nation-states. In an anarchical world marked by instability, occasions like Refugee Day must be commemorated to remind us of our commitments to our fellow beings on humanitarian grounds. As the theme of World Refugee Day 2022, “Together, we shine,” points out, we cannot afford to leave anyone behind.
Manjima Anjana is a human rights enthusiast and staunch feminist pursuing a Master’s in Political Science at the University of Hyderabad. Her primary research interests include human rights and humanitarian intervention, feminism with a focus on intersectionality, and political theorization. To define is to limit. Can be reached on Twitter at @manjima_a