Refugee and Migration Movements - Essay Example

Refugee and Migration Movements Britain and USSR battle for control in central Asia became an international challenge. However, Afghanistan remained neutral in the two world wars since they did not take part in any of them. The rise of major rebellions in Iraq was as a result of the defeat of the Iraq soldiers by U.S in 1991. The major rebellions were in Shia southern province and the Northern Kurdish provinces of which at the end of March 1991 the Iraqi armies successfully crushed the southern rebellion. Many towns in the north were also recaptured by the soldiers prompting many Kurdish refugees to flee towards the borders of Turkey and Iran. The troubles of the refugees especially the challenges they exposed to the neighboring nations raised a great concern to the international communities. The refugees concern led to emergence of many Resolutions including the UN Security Council Resolution 687 and the Resolution 688 and finally Resolution 689. There were number of diplomatic support that tempted to rescue the Kurdish refugees from the challenges they faced such as protecting them from Iraq and further providing humanitarian support. Looking at the overview, the Kurdish does not have independent state since they are scarcely populated in many countries such as Lebanon, USSR, Iran and Iraq (Weiss 41-45). The Kurdish, existence is believed to be denied thus hindering the efforts of determining their population. The Kurdish could not succeed or develop because of tribalism and feudal loyalties. Although the relationship between the Kurds and the Arabs was primarily good after the 1958 coup d’état because of the emphasis of the partnership between the two tribes, it did not long. Close relationship between the Kassem administration and the Kurdish tribes led to a civil strife between the Kurdish t4ribes and their enemy who was their famous tribal leader (Weiss 41-45). The strife was further intensified by the failure of Iraqi administration to support the need for an autonomous Kurdistan state. The Kurdish Democratic Party then joined Iran in fighting Iraq while the Iraq also supported the Iranian Kurds with the help of Patriotic union of Kurdistan. Eventually the Iraqi led group defeated the Iranian and the Kurdish KDP alliances where almost 5,000 civilians were executed using poisonous gas which was component of the chemical weapons. The Kurds later rose in the north after the Shiite rebellion also emerged in the south and operated under a single alliance which made quick advances in the northern Iraq to control the Kurdish cities (Weiss 41-45). Nevertheless, the alliance faced very strong opposition from the Iraq government and this prompted the population to flee for fear of use of chemicals in the war. Most of the Kurds fled towards Iran and turkey for fear of being killed by the government and this made them to urge the international communities to protect them by intervening. Unfortunately, at that time, there was no organized intervention or support from the international communities and even the French government failed to seek convince the UN Security Council. The resilience of the French administration with support from other countries such as Turkey and Iran led to the Resolution 688 which was rejected by Iraq (Weiss 41-45). Many international communities were against the way Iraq government was treating the Kurdish people and the issue was also advanced of making UN safe havens backed by military forces. Army forces were deployed by the UN Security Council in the region to ensure the Kurds were safe from the government’s attack. The Kurd refugees in Iran and Turkey were safely guarded and supervised by the United Nations after a strong support from many countries such as Australia. The United states further took a vital strategy of protecting the Kurds by ordering Iraq to stop all its military actions around the Kurds and even threatened to use force in case of any military interference with relief support. Interestingly, Iraq refused to agree with the idea of safe havens stating that they would ensure it is not implemented as Iran also dismissed the idea near its border (Weiss 41-45). Iran accused UN of directing relief only via Turkey without regarding Iran’s plight. The UN took a great step of securing the Kurdish by building camps and ensuring that the Kurds are safe and receive aid to the maximum without Iraq’s interference. Iraq was really opposed to this idea even though they did not use military action instead, they used negotiation. The allied intervention was plausible when they brought the Kurdish from the harsh environment from the mountains to safer regions where they could get their aid and creating security zone. This action by the UN ensured that the Kurds returned home safely from the borders of Turkey and Iran although some refugees died before reaching safe havens due to harsh mountainous climate (Weiss 41-45). UN posted in many parts of Northern Iraq to provide security especially in the hot spot regions although for a long period of time, the role of the UN armies were not defined. However, the allies’ troops finally withdrew from northern Iraq after ensuring that the Kurdish is safe from the government attacks. The UN believed that there was a breach of peace because in Iraq because of uncivilized abuse of the Kurds hence prompting the analysis of Resolution 688 that condemned the violation. As much as the UN Security Council was intervenes in human rights violation acts, the sovereignty and integrity of the concerned countries must always be maintained without interference (Weiss 41-45). The resolution 688 stated that Iraq should maintain dialogue with its people as well as ensuring democratic rights if its citizens and allow international access to the aid organizations. Furthermore, the United Nations secretary general should ensure that the rights of Iraqis citizens is respected and even using the Council’s authority and resources to quickly address serious needs of the people. There was also a request of involvement of member countries and other relief aid organizations to contribute in providing support to the depressed individuals. The Kurdish crisis made the United Nations Security Council to assume very significant role in dealing with issues related to domestic violation of human rights (Weiss 41-45). The Invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein was both political and economical and although it continued, there was a very strong condemnation from the international communities. Arab powers seek the intervention of US and other western nations of the war as Saddam went against UN Security Council call to withdraw from Kuwait. Hussein claimed that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia ensured low oil prices as a way of influencing the Western countries buyers. He thought that there would be no intervention from the international community especially the Western countries and that he would be supported by Arab powers. However, the UN led allies in conjunction with USA and other Arab countries such as Egypt reversed the Kuwait attack by launching operation desert Storm (Weiss 41-45). The Soviet Afghan War and the Afghan Refugee Crisis between 1979 and 1989 Afghan as a country started to develop in 18th century after being governed with series of rulers whose nature of influence was continually destabilized by domestic wars and foreign attacks. Afghanistan borders were outlined in the 19th century due to contention between Russia and Britain where the Britain had control over afghan foreign policy for sometimes. The Afghanistan war took place between 1978 and 1992 and it involved battle between mujahidin, the government and Soviet forces and the origin of the conflict is believed to have been the 1978 coup (Ruiz & Emery Web). The pro Soviet Communist administration was established after the 1978 coup but was later brought down and this greatly incited invasion by Soviet forces that really flashed afghan opposition. The battle involved a good number of forces and the mujahidin were supported by many countries such as US and China. Despite Soviet Union having very powerful weapons, they were defeated but still there was a stalemate. The Soviet and the Afghan forces controlled the towns while the rebels occupied remote mountainous areas. The rebels further got opportunity of importing some powerful weapons to battle and counteract their opponents’ powerful and superior weapons (Ruiz & Emery Web). The Soviet imposed leader, Karmal later resigned in 1986 giving way to Najibullah who imposed himself as a combined headship which was followed by Gorbachev’s announcement of Soviet forces pull out in 1988. The withdrawal was steered by the USSR citizens’ irritation with the war since they argued that all they could get was only many casualties without success. The Najibullah’s administration flopped in 1992 thus prompting the leadership of mujahidin alliance under Ahmed Shah as the soldierly leader. This war was very impactful politically, socially and economically in Afghanistan. Many lives were lost, and many more people became refugees as thousands of soldiers were killed and seriously injured as Afghanistan was divided into divisions of control (Ruiz & Emery Web). Afghanistan has a very mountainous and arid land full of inaccessible ranges which really hinders travelling. The physical challenges in the country makes the people to concentrate on one particular region with a high level of allegiance to their clans compared to their government. Afghans are really religious and very conservative Muslims which hindered exercise of some rights such s land distribution to women. However, the USSR tempted to construct nice infrastructure to them such as building roads and pipelines as well as trying to introduce social reforms (Ruiz & Emery Web). The Soviet invasion had very serious effects on Afghanistan as it triggered a strong opposition from the US and UN. The diplomatic resistance largely contributed to the withdrawal of the soviet forces apart from their inability to conqueror Afghanistan as expected. As a result of the war, many refugees from Afghanistan fled to Pakistan and other neighboring countries and this really deepened the humanitarian crisis in the country. Millions of Afghans went to seek refuge in Iran and Pakistan during the war as almost a million of the population was also internally displaced from their homes either temporarily or permanently. It is believed that the population that went to seek refuge in other countries was in waves. It was after the country underwent a communist revolution led by the USSR as the left wing government was boosted by the USSR and the rebels financed by the US. There were waves of movements that involved both internal and external migrations which are classified in four waves (Ruiz & Emery Web). The initial wave took place during the Soviet invasion which led to unstable environment for raising families or even for safety purposes. Part of migration was initiated by hijra which required the Afghanistan citizens who are mainly Muslims to leave their country in case of non-Islam invaders. The administration that was instilled by the alliance between the Afghan government and the Soviet separated church and state. Most of the Afghans escaped because they feared being involved in the war as they moved from rural areas to urban areas (Ruiz & Emery Web). The other wave of migration began when the USSR forces withdrew from Afghanistan thus forcing the citizens that supported the Soviet forces to leave for either Russia or India. The withdrawal of the USSR soldiers which took place in 1989 further led to the return of the refugees who had fled the attack of Russia. Millions of the Afghans returned home but the eruption of civil war after the withdrawal led to many more refugees. The civil wars were some of the strongest factors that weakened the state and were one of the main causes of refugees (Ruiz & Emery Web). The host countries of the Afghan refugees are really fatigued and stressed by the refugees. Pakistan has tried closing its long term camps as the refugees undergo irritation and fierceness. Pakistan has been left to take care of the refugees on her own while also complaining of social challenges caused by the refugees such as crimes and increased drug use. Pakistan stand is that the refugees should get back to their country since the cause of their migration has already ended. On the other hand, Iran which also experiences same stretch and stress in their resources has set various deadlines for the refugees to leave their country. Iran feels that they no longer need the Afghan refugees as they take their jobs and therefore have stopped receiving more refugees. Works Cited Ruiz, Hiram and Emery Margaret. Afghanistans Refugee Crisis. Middle East Research and Information Project, 24 Sep. 2001. Web. 14 July 2013. . Weiss, Thomas G. Military-civilian Interactions: Humanitarian Crises and the Responsibility to Protect. Lanham [u.a.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. Print. Read More