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The author of this blog is Rohan Sthanu, a third year law student at Amity University Mumbai.
Introduction
Refugees and migrants’ problems have become a crisis in the twenty-first century and are characterised by an increase in the number of forced displacement due to conflict, persecution, economic vulnerability, and climate change. While these people engage in dangerous refugee and migration in the quest for protection and better living standards, they face several human rights issues. The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, International and all other legal instruments aim to protect refugees and migrants around the world. But there are certain countries who have not ratified these conventions. One such country is India. The refugee law of India is ambiguous strategically. This article aims at discussing these difficulties by considering the problems encountered on the move, while in other countries, and the attempts that are being made to eliminate these setbacks.
1. Challenges Faced by Migrants During Transit
Migrants face several challenges during their journey to safety. Some of the challenges are as follows:-
1.1 Physical Dangers: Refugees and migrants face various physical dangers during their displacement.
Perilous Journeys: Many refugee and migrants experience exposures to fatal conditions en route, and they include; accidents on the sea, weather conditions, and terrains.
Exploitation and Abuse: Along the production-consumption chains and while migrating people succumb to trafficking, smuggling and other criminal activities by these groups.
1.2 Legal and Political Barriers: Refugees face a multitude of legal and political barriers as they seek safety and protection.
Border Closures and Pushbacks: Even such factors as tighter border polices and measures intended to discourage the flow lead to push back and rejection of entry, and thus, people opt for riskier avenues.
Lack of Legal Pathways: Lack of opportunities for legal migration means that refugees and migrants are forced to use informal means so increasing the risk of their abuse.
2. Challenges in Host Countries
Countries that host refugees face several difficulties, especially those with low and intermediate income levels. The challenges are as follows :-
2.1 Legal Status and Rights:
Detention and Deportation: detention centres in host countries may not have conditions that may be considered decent according to International Human Right Laws; there are cases where deportations are done at a very fast pace without the migrants or asylum seeker seeking any legal help.
Statelessness: Some people migrate without proper papers and, therefore, governments do not accept them which result in statelessness and the government denying them their basic rights and services.
2.2 Socioeconomic Integration:
Access to Employment and Education: Web Legal and other formal barriers are a major challenge because refugees and migrants cannot easily find employment or training and educational opportunities that can help them find their place in new social contexts.
Healthcare: Barriers such as discrimination and bureaucratic barriers may limit access to appropriate healthcare particularly for persons with physical and mental health challenges.
3. Measures Taken to Mitigate Human Rights Issues
3.1 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol:
These two main international instruments offer an appreciation of the rights of refugees and responsibilities of nation –states in the protection of said refugees. Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) and Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM): These compacts were signed in 2018, and their primary focus is to enhance collaboration with other countries and provide comprehensive frameworks for handling concerns on migration and refugees. UNHCR and IOM: Some of the key agencies, which are also involved in protection and support of refugees and migrants include; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or UNHCR and International Organization for Migration or IOM.
3.2 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs):
It is notable that, currently, numerous NGO’s are actively present on the ground to support refugees’ rights through providing legal aid, healthcare, education, and psychosocial support. Inclusive Policies: Some of the host countries have embraced liberal policies that would enable refugees and migrants to be freely absorbed in the society through being granted permits to work, access basic services, and even subject themselves to the process of being naturalised.
3.3 Principal of Non – Refoulement
A key tenet of international law is non-refoulement, which states that a nation accepting asylum seekers cannot send them back to a place where they would likely face persecution due to their "race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion" ("refoulement"). In contrast to political asylum, which is granted to those who can demonstrate a legitimate fear of persecution due to their membership in a certain category, non-refoulement is the general repatriation of individuals, including refugees, into conflict areas and other disaster-prone areas. Since it is applicable to governments that are not parties to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, it is a principle of customary international law.
Presently, individuals are purportedly shielded against deportation from nations that have ratified the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, or the 1984 Convention Against Torture by the principle of non-refoulement. Nevertheless, some signatory nations have continued to circumvent the idea of international law by repatriating or expelling individuals, so placing them in the hands of potential attackers.
4. Syrian Refugee Crisis
The pro-democracy demonstrations in March 2011 turned violent, leading to hundreds of thousands of Syrians taking to the streets, which is how the country's refugee crisis started. Civil war erupted from the violence. By June 2013, the UN projected that 90,000 individuals had passed away. By August 2015, that figure had risen to 250,000 and had attracted jihadists, the Islamic State (ISIS), and nations nearby.
Since the onset of the civil war, violence has resulted in the displacement of half of Syria's pre-war population. More than five million people, the majority of whom are minors, are refugees in other nations. They are in severe need of food, water, shelter, and other basics and reside in tents or run-down buildings. Many parents watch their children wither away, helplessly.
The majority of refugees fled to Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, three nearby nations, where Food for Hungry is providing help in collaboration with MERATH (Middle East Revive and Thrive) and the Integral Alliance. Turkey has welcomed more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees as of October 2019. A tsunami of one million individuals swept through numerous European countries in August 2017, overwhelming host communities in the Middle East and leaving food, medical care, and other needs dangerously scarce. These countries are also battling to integrate and care for the migrants. Children bear the brunt of this conflict's hardships. According to UNICEF estimates, 2.5 million children are refugees in neighboring countries and 2.6 million children are internally displaced within Syria.
5. Central American Migrant Crisis
The situation involving Central American migrants – people from the Northern Triangle countries, specifically, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras is considered to be a major humanitarian issue. Through factors such as violence, poverty, political instabilities and natural disasters, many people risk their lives to cross borders in search of asylum and better life, mainly in the United States of America and Mexico.
The Northern Triangle is losing residents; why is that? Migration from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras is being driven by a number of factors, including economic precariousness, government corruption, crime, violence, and—increasingly—climate change. The majority of individuals in the Northern Triangle work in the unofficial sector, depriving them of social protections and insurance, and the majority of Guatemalans and Hondurans are below the poverty line. The pandemic has exposed governance shortcomings throughout the continent, disproportionately affecting public health and the economy in Latin America. Many people in the Northern Triangle are frustrated and alienated as a result of populist politicians and dishonest bureaucrats undermining democratic checks and balances.
The Northern Triangle nations continue to rank among the most dangerous in the world even if homicide rates have decreased. Unaccompanied children and families are traveling to the border between the United States and Mexico at an increasing pace due to high rates of domestic violence and gang recruitment of adolescents.
International Response and Solutions to the migrant issues -
Bilateral and Multilateral Agreements: Previous measures including the U. S –Mexico agreements of migration and enforcement cooperation are part of policy strategies that seek to respond to crisis.
Development Aid: It is pertinent to mention here that the international aids and developments working on the four pillars also work for addressing the root causes by assisting the Northern Triangle in matters of economic uplift, democratic governance, and increased security.
6. Rohingya Refugee Crisis
The Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority, have lived in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) for many years. Having resided in Myanmar for many generations, the Rohingya are the largest stateless minority in the world. Since 1982, they have been refused citizenship and have not been recognized as an official ethnic group. Because of their statelessness, Rohingya families are deprived of basic rights and protection, leaving them especially vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).
Since the 1990s, more than a million Rohingya refugees have left Myanmar due to violence in multiple waves of displacement. Presently, around 960,000 Rohingya refugees reside in Bangladesh; the majority of them are based in and around the world's largest and densest camps, Kutupalong and Nayapara, in the country's Cox's Bazar district.
Conclusion
The situation of refugees and migrants in the twenty-first century has turned into a crisis by enhancing forced migration because of conflict, persecution, economic volatility, and climate change. International legal documents like the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol seek to protect these groups of people; however, not all countries have signed and implemented these legal documents, which explains why this protection and support differ.
As is known, refugees and migrants experience physical risk factors, abuse, legal and political obstacles, and humanitarian disasters on migration processes. Upon getting to the host countries, they face issues to do with asylum, economic integration, and social/cultural accommodation. Nevertheless, the follow degree measures are taken for controlling human rights problems globally such as international law, economic aid, and community initiatives.
The following crises are specific in geographical and chronological contexts in syria, central America, and among Rohingya in Myanmar, which shows the highly complicated and urgent issues of forced migration. The UN residing countries and citizens of the world should therefore proceed to work and come up with more enhanced strategies in embracing the right of refugees and migrants and ensuring their security and favorable chance in new countries. Together with the approaches which involve every sphere of the states’ activity, one can work towards the future when the victims of the war and oppression would have a chance to build a better life for themselves.
Sources:-
https://www.unhcr.org/media/role-host-countries-cost-and-impact-hosting-refugees
https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/syrian-refugee-crisis-what-you-need-know-and-how-help
https://unrefugees.ch/en/emergencies/syrian-crisis
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/07/29/
https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/why-central-american-migrants-are-arriving-us-border
https://www.unrefugees.org/news/rohingya-refugee-crisis-explained/
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