Refugee Camps, Refugee Head Count, and the Relocation Process - Research Paper Example

Name: Professor: Subject: Date: Refugee Camps, Refugee Head Count, and the Relocation Process Introduction The increased conflicts in many nations and natural disasters have led to increasing in the number of refugee camps to accommodate the displaced people. A refugee camp is a temporary building that is constructed to accommodate the refugees and people who are displaced. The refugee camps usually receive the individuals who are displaced and have run away from their home countries because of the various reasons. Besides, there are still some refugee camps which are set for the purpose of accommodating the individuals who are displaced internally. The below literature account for how the refugee camps operate: relocation process and head counts. In most cases, the refugees ran away from their home countries to look for asylum in the neighboring countries after escaping the war. In addition, some of the refugee camps also accommodate those migrants who have escaped from environmental or even economic crisis in their home countries. These sized camps have been constructed and operated by either a government, the United Nations or even by the various international organizations such as the Red Cross (Hardwick, Susan and James, 240). However, there are still other refugee camps which are not official such as the Idomeni, which is found in Greece and also the Calais jungle which is found in France. Refugee camps The majority of the camps usually accommodate more than hundred thousand individuals, but there are some camps that are average sized and can accommodate almost 11, 400 people (Stevens, 280). The biggest challenge for these private camps is that the government does not support them or even from the international organizations. In general, the refugee camps improve in the aspect of the designing fashion aimed at incurring the primary needs of the people for only within a short period. However, the necessary facilities which could make a refugee camp to look as if it is permanent it is prohibited by the government of the host countries. Besides, in case the refugees are prevented to return to their home countries because of the civil war, eventually, a humanitarian crisis can arise. In accordance to the UNHR, a large number of the refugees in the whole world do not stay in the refugee camps. At the end of the year 2015, almost 67 percent of the refugees in the various parts of the world mainly lived in the private accommodations (Melendy, 120). This aspect can be proved by the majority of the refugees in the Syria who rent some apartments in the urban areas in the Middle East. However, above 25.4 percent in the various parts of the world, the report has shown that they mainly live in the managed camps, whereas a small number of the refugees usually stay in the different transit camps and also in self-settled camps. As a result of wars in the country Syria, the majority the individuals have been forced to escape from this situation and seek asylum from the neighboring countries as refugees. Almost 45.2 million refugees have been scattered in the various parts of the world, whereby among those refugees 80 percent comprises of the both women and also children (Hardwick, Susan and James, 230). The UNHCR in most cases offers protection as well as life- saving supplies to the various refugee camps that are situated in different countries. Importantly, there are around 50 camps which are the largest and always accommodate a large number of the displaced people. During the civil war in the country Syria, almost 1.6 million individuals flew away to the neighboring countries for their safety (Allen, 335). For instance, the majority of the refugees who have been living in the Urfa and also in Gaziantep mostly came from Syria. These refugees are provided the basic needs by the UNHCR such as the medical care and the safe drinking water. In addition, UNHCR has been assisting the refugees to look for asylum in the various countries where there is security. The majority of the refugee camps are not temporary since they have existed for a long period, and also the refugees refer to these camps as their homes. For instance, the Dadaab camp which is found in Kenya is usually among the biggest camps in the whole world was started in the year 1990. Another camp known as Hagadera comprises of 138,102 houses which are constructed for the purpose of the refugees (Darwish, 217). On a yearly basis, the Americans always accommodate refugees to the United States regardless of where they are coming from. Besides, all the refugees escape from their home for a similar purpose. The refugees always differ from other migrants only in that they have no chance to stay in their countries of origin. Furthermore, the refugees mainly flee away in order to save their lives, from either war or even persecution. A large number of the refugees usually live for many years in the various camps which are substandard (Roy, Laura and Kevin, 540). Only a few of the refugees who get the opportunity to leave the camps and go to settle in other various places such as in the United States and also in Australia. Besides, it is the function of the department of United States to monitor the support of the America to the refugees and also it is their function to incur the transportation expenses for the refugees. Additionally, one of the voluntary agency which is known as the USCRI has joined its effort with PRM to help the refugees in resettling (Melendy, 110). However, the plight of the refugees has eventually acquired some prominences which have served them as their home countries. In the process of addressing the refugee problem, the UNGA agency has hosted a summit concerning the migration of the refugees. Relocation process Relocation is the movement of refugees from one location to another. Also, it is an expression of solidarity and the sharing of the burden. In the United States, the relocation process is long where the process of said to be voluntary. The refugees are given a chance to make the decision whether to relocate or not hence they have the freedom to relocate to the United States. The relation process is free for the applicant, but the refugees are required to sign a promissory note for an airplane ticket for the family after the application has been approved (Niang and Chiara, 550). The promissory note is a promise for payment for the airplane ticket that is done after the applicant has settled in the United States. The relocation process in the United States entails various interviews with different agencies to ascertain the need to become a refugee. The first interview of most of the applicants involves UNHCR after where the resettlement support center interviews the candidates. The homeland security department conducts interview as the final determinant of the validity of the application (Darwish, 217). All the interviews involved are usually compulsory for the application to be considered. The final decision concerning the application of the refugees is made by the department of homeland security. Honesty and truth are crucial in the process ensuring the questions asked during the interview as the different agencies can be able to realize the truth. The outcome of the applications is majorly determined by the way the applicant answers the questions asked during the interview. The information provided during the interview is treated with a lot of confidentiality where it is only used for determining the applications (Fincham, 130). However, it can take time for the decision concerning the applications to be made due to the long process involved in the process of making the final decision. The improvement of the application is mainly the role of the department of homeland security where the final determination of the applications is conducted. The applicants after approval are tested for any disease where in the case of any disease the travel can be delayed waiting for treatment before the departure. After successful treatment, the refugees proceed to the United States where their arrival is planned (Darwish, 217). Sometimes, in case the refugees have relatives in the United States can be settled in the same city for the reunion but that is not guaranteed, as the refugee camps in the cities might not be available. The refugee families are assigned to non-governmental organizations that provide the necessary help on arriving in the United States. The first assistance the refugees receive is basic that include supplies of household, housing, and furniture. However, some items like furniture and clothing supplied are sometimes used and inexpensive but in good conditions and clean (Roy, Laura and Kevin, 530). Corporation with the plan for relocation is crucial to ensure the resettlement agency can help in ensuring that the refugees’ resettlement is easy and satisfying. The refugees in the United States are sometimes assisted in searching for jobs wherever they settle. However, it can take the refugees sometimes to find employment and the job might not be the relevant field or profession. The job might be unprofessional and at the entry level where some refugees might be required to work part time. The assistance provided to the refugees might be different from one state to the other. Relocation to the United States as a refugee allows one to reside permanently and it is possible to apply for citizenship (Baker, 220). However, the decision of relocating to America as a refugee does not hinder the possibility of returning home. The United States is considered to be a diverse country with various ethnic communities where the communities reside together. The refugees are in the United States enjoy same rights like Americans and other people residing in America (Fincham, 120). The freedoms that the refugees enjoy can include freedom of movement, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom of religions. The support availed to the refugees by the government might not be enough for supporting families hence making it necessary for the searching job to sustain the family. Refugee head count Syria alone has more than 6.5 million people who have been replacing due to conflicts. The increased number of the refugees has led to the pressure of providing them with the necessary basic needs for their survival. As a result, their access to water, food, medical care, and shelter is limited. The people who are still in the conflict zones are also facing numerous challenges in the process of accessing basic needs due to difficulties of reaching them (Roy, Laura and Kevin, 530). The refugees are also facing the challenge of accessing health and educational facilities making their lives miserable. The United Nations has the burden of providing the necessary care to the refugees where the conflicts resulting in displacing people are mainly dominated in the developing countries. For instance, the developing countries are said to host more than 86% of the refugees globally with the wealthy countries hosting around 14% (Niang and Chiara, 560). The developing countries have been experiencing an increase in conflicts leading to rising in the number of the people seeking refuge. The UN agencies are frustrated, as they are not able to cope with the increasing number of the refugees. The Security Council has failed to ensure that conflicts are resolved hence resulting in an increase in the number of refugees as the conflict in the developing countries has been in the rise. Many parts of the world are experiencing violence making many people flee due to insecurity in the regions. The prosecutions and war experienced in various regions have forced more than 65 million people to flee from their countries as they are being displaced due to the violence (Powell, 320). Besides, the long-lasting conflicts have led to forced displacements in regions such as Afghanistan and Somalia. The escalations of the number of states that are experiencing political instabilities like Yemen, Ukraine, and Somalia has led to increased refugees (Baker, 200). Some countries have been resisting to provide asylum for the refugees leading to increased suffering of the displaced people. Many people are being displaced due to the increased prosecutions and war leading to endangering of the refugees as the available refugee camps is not able to accommodate the high number. The countries that have been leading in the number of refugees include Syria that has around 5 million, Afghanistan with approximately 3 million and then Somalia with 1.2 million (Powell, 310). The number of the refugees common from these three countries are said to account for around half of the refugees that are under the mandate of UNHCR. The largest numbers of the people who are displaced are in North Africa and the Middle East. In other parts, people are fleeing because of natural disasters like earthquakes and floods that can account for around 20 million people (Stevens, 282). Conclusion The world leaders seem to be reluctant to make the necessary step for addressing the problem of refugees as the increase in conflicts has led to increasing number of people displaced. There is the need for ensuring a solution for the problem of conflicts is achieved. The world leaders need to come up with dignified and humane means of ensuring that refugees do not risk lives due to the increased wars in the regions. There is the need for urgent actions to be taken to address the issue of the increasing number of the refugees. According to the statistics, it has been shown that the level of the displacement of individuals is usually high in some parts of the world as compared to the others. For instance, almost 5.6 percent of the individuals living in the Middle East are usually displaced whereas 1.6 percent of the people staying in the continental Africa are also displaced. Moreover, the conflicts which arose in Syria resulted in the displacement of a large number of the people. Works cited Allen, Ryan, and Edward G. Goetz. "Nativity, ethnicity, and residential relocation: the experience of Hmong refugees and African Americans displaced from public housing." Journal of Urban Affairs 32.3 (2010): 321-344. Baker, Paul, and Tony McEnery. "A corpus-based approach to discourses of refugees and asylum seekers in UN and newspaper texts." Journal of Language and Politics 4.2 (2005): 197-226. Darwish, Mahmud. "Conclusion: Refugee Camps and the Wall." Landscape of Hope and Despair: Palestinian Refugee Camps (2005): 217. Fincham, Kathleen. 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Exploring Counter-Stories of Somali Bantu Refugees' Experiences in" Doing School"." Harvard Educational Review 81.3 (2011): 521-542. Stevens, Christine A. "Lessons from the field: Using photovoice with an ethnically diverse population in a HOPE VI evaluation." Family & community health 33.4 (2010): 275-284. Read More