P. A. Chacko
We sadly remember those uprooted in life. Today’s refugees are waiting to see a silver lining in the dark clouds of life.
Shall we not join them to feel with them in their hopeless situation and to point to them to that silver lining in the menacing clouds?
According to UNHCR report by 2024 year end the list is as follows:
123.2 million people forcibly displaced
73.5 million internally displaced
8.4 million asylum seekers
69% originate from the following countries:
Venezuela – 6.2 million
Syrian Arab Republic – 6.0 million
Afghanistan 5.8 million
Ukraine 5.1 million
Soth Sudan 2.3 million
Iran, Turkey, Colombia, Germany and Uganda hosted over one third of the world’s refugees.
49 million (40 per cent ) of the world refugee population are children
2.3 million children were born as refugees
1.8 million returned or were resettled
73% were hosted in low and middle-income countries.
4.4 million are stateless persons residing in 101 countries.
According to Global Citizen there were 22.5 million refugees world wide in 2017. Today it is 25 million.
Reasons for Refugee problem:
- Religious/National/Social/Racial/Political persecution.
- Wars. More than 80 per cent of Gaza’s population are refugees due to Israel’s crime against humanity. Wars in different parts of the world are displacing more and more people. The UN is a mere onlooker.
- Gender/Sexual orientation. LGBTI individuals become targets of attacks and persecution. Hence, they run away to become refugees. France became the first country to accept a gay Chechen refugee.
- Hunger and poverty
- Climate change. People seeking asylum due to climate change are mostly coastal dwellers.
The Trump administration has made a major shift in the US policy by announcing: “Americans first, rather than spending resources on refugees.”
The Trump administration argues that its national security and American interests are of prime priority. What a heartless policy, given the fact that the ancestors of the Americans came to the country seeking refuge or better opportunities. Trump should know that just 1.79% (5 million) of the total American population are the original native Americans. The rest are the descendants of those who occupied America or came to the country for better opportunities.
Sadly, this richest nation in the world today does not want to reach out to refugees or asylum seekers. What a sordid mentality!
It is interesting to note the ancestry of Donald Trump. His ancestry is a mix of German and Scottish. His father’s side of the family is German, while his mother was Scottish.
Shall we cry or laugh?