Refugees and Asylum Seekers - Research Paper Example

Definition of A Refugee “A refugee is a person who is outside his country of origin and fearful of returning home because of a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, identity, membership of a particular social group or political opinion” (Gibney, 2010: 1) The term refugee therefore refers to a situation where a person has been forced to flee to another country or is forced to remain in another country and not return home because of some situations in his home country that makes it impossible to return to his home country. The situations that makes it impossible for a refugee to return to his home country must relate to something that makes it unsafe, dangerous or fatal for the individual to return to his home country. There are two facades to examine these situations that puts a person in danger (Chimni, 2000). One angle is to view it from an individual perspective, where an individual, due to some activities or inherent situations is subjected to possible death, torture or inhumane conditions. On the other hand, a person might qualify to become a refugee if there is a situation that has been declared by the international community as a war or internal conflict (Gibney, 2010). Chimni (2000) identifies that widest root cause of the exodus of refugees is ethnic reasons. This implies that people are more likely to become refugees because of persecution related to their ethnic views and identities. Chimni (2000) identifies two reasons for this. The first reason is that ethnic differences are susceptible to exploitation. Secondly, the control of a state by one ethnic group is likely to lead to threats to the lives of people of other ethnic origins. This definition of the term refugee is consistent with Article 1 of the 1951 UN Geneva Convention (Carlier, 1997). This UN statute makes it imperative for nations to take in persons who fall into the category of refugees to be given the status of refugee, which makes them entitled to some degree of help, support and rights in the host country (Carlier, 1997). Normally, a person who has a genuine fear in his home country moves into another country and applies for an asylum (Chimni, 2000). The asylum seeking process allows a potential refugee to present the reasons why he is fleeing form his home country. It is up to the authorities in the host country to assess the application and grant or refuse the application on several grounds. In most developed countries the reasons for seeking asylum is segmented to seven categories and each category has its own rules and processes (Hynes, 2011). Thus each application has to be put into one of the seven categories. When this is done, the relevant rules would be invoked based on the facts presented by the applicant. If the application is consistent with the rules for the specific category the application goes through, the asylum would be granted. And when this is done, a persons status is upgraded from asylum seeker to refugee. In this instance, the person is given basic necessities in life and allowed to live and work in the host country (Hynes, 2011). Technically, when an asylum seeker is granted refugee status, he cannot be deported back to his country of origin either until the person voluntarily goes back to the country or the situation in the country is declared over and there is no threat to the life of the individual in question. In some cases, an asylum application could be rejected on one of several grounds including abusive or unfounded (Hynes, 2011). An unfounded application is an application made by a person whose claim for asylum does not have a basis. An example is the case of a person who claims to be at risk in his home country because of a human rights situation that his country has guaranteed against. Such an application would be declined by most countries because it does not seem there is a real threat. The second form of rejection is where an asylum claim is defined as a means to a given end other than escape from a dangerous situation in a persons home country. A common example is the case of an individual from a poor developing country who is seeking to migrate to a richer country on the grounds that he faces persecution in his home country. Such an application can be seen as abusive since it seeks to wrongly use the asylum seeking process as a means to an end. In the UK for instance, applicants whose asylum applications are rejected are encouraged to go back to their home countries (Great Britain Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights, 2008). Nonetheless, there are a lot of people who have a genuine need to flee their country to live in other countries because of the disturbances and threats to their lives in their home countries. Statistics of the Refugee Problem The Economist newspaper blames Americas war on terrorism as the main source of refugee problems in the world now (The Economist, 2010). This is because the US-led military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq are responsible for 4.7 million refugees in the world. This accounts for over half of the worlds refugees. There are over 3 million Afghan refugees around the world whilst there are over 1.5 million Iraqi refugees around the world. Figure 1: Statistics of Refugees around the World (Culled Economist Newspaper). Aside Iraq and Afghanistan, there are several countries like Somalia, Congo and Myanmar. These nations have had various conflicts and militant control that makes has destabilized the nations and made it impossible for the citizens to make a living. Figure 2: Origin of Refugees (Source UNHCR Statistics) Most refugees are from the developing world. They are mainly in Africa or the Middle East. These nations with high numbers of refugees are defined by Foreign Policy Journal as Failed States (Foreign Policy Failed States Index, 2011). These nations have very high poverty standards, poor public policies and immense security threats. Due to these major factors, people cannot live in this country and build normal lives. They therefore leave their home country and seek refuge elsewhere. The ranking of these failed states puts Somalia, Chad and Sudan at the head of the list (Foreign Policy Failed States Ranking, 2011). The nations on top of the list have citizens who are therefore displaced all over the world. China also has a sizable number of refugees due to the large size of the countrys population and the effect of the Communist Partys policies which does not tolerate views of people who oppose them. This has led to the dispersal of a lot of Chinese refugees around the world. Refugees are often hosted by countries with relatively more stable systems and structures. These are usually nations that are easily accessible to displaced persons in war-thorn nations. Figure 3 shows the top nations that host refugees around the world. Figure 3: Refugee Recipient Nations. Solving the Refugee Crises The United Nations High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR) is the Global agency for the management and regulation of affairs relating to refugees. The mission statement of the UNHCR is “The High Commissioner for Refugees is mandated by the United Nations to lead and coordinate international action for the worldwide protection of refugees and the resolution of refugee problems.” (UNHCR Website) The UNHCR has a primary responsibility to safeguard the rights of refugees around the world. Basically, they stand on the Geneva Convention and other international statutes to intervene in the conditions and situations of refugees around the globe. The UNHCR works in partnership with governments, regional and continental bodies to ensure that refugees get all the humanitarian support and help they need at the various countries they live in. Conclusion One becomes a refugee if there is a well-founded fear that causes him to leave his country and move into another country. Refugees are mostly from nations with security issues and wars. The UNHCR is the global body that has been managing and coordinating humanitarian efforts to help refugees. References Carlier, Jean-Yves (1997) Who is a Refugee? A Comparative Case Law Study Netherlands: Kluwer Law International Chimni, B. S. (2000) International Refugee Law: A Refugee SAGE Publication Foreign Policy Failed States Index (2011) Available online at: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/failedstates Accessed: 4th July, 2011. Foreign Policy Failed States Ranking (2011) Available online at: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/17/2011_failed_states_index_interactive_map_and_rankings Accessed: 4th July, 2011. Gibney, Mark (2010) Global Refugee Crisis: A Reference Textbook California: ABC-CUOILC Great Britain Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights (2008) The Treatment of Asylum Seekers: Tenth Report Session 2006 – 2007 The Stationary Office Hynes, Patricia (2011) The Dispersal & Social Exclusion of Asylum Seekers Bristol: Policy Press The Economist (2010) Refugees Available online at: http://www.economist.com/node/18867622? Accessed: 4th July, 2011. The Economist – Refugee Recipient Nations (2010) Available online at: http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart Accessed: 4th July, 2011 UNHCR (2011) Available online at: http://www.unhcr.org/4dfdbf340.html Accessed: 4th July, 2011. UNHCR Origins of Refugees (2010) Available online at: http://www.unhcr.org/4dfa11499.html Accessed: 4th July, 2011. 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