Latest global trends report

On 23/06/2017 By More to the StoryIn Global Trends

The latest UNHCR Global Trends Report is always a sobering read. As always the statistics are overwhelming and I’m sure, like me, you ask yourself what can I do? The number one most important thing we can all do – is to stay informed. In this ‘post truth world’ with ‘alternative facts’ circulating, I think this is even more crucial.

The Global Trends Report is published every year to analyse the changes in UNHCR’s populations of concern and deepen public understanding of ongoing crises. UNHCR counts and tracks the numbers of refugees, internally displaced people, people who have returned to their countries or areas of origin, asylum-seekers, stateless people and other populations of concern to UNHCR.

In the time it has taken for you to log onto this blog and read the first two paragraphs, 20 people have been forced to flee their homes somewhere around the world. I think about this whenever I get stressed about the daily issues in my comfortable life in Australia: a flat tyre, a flooded bathroom, a flight delay, a traffic jam or not being able to get tickets to the football are really first-world problems aren’t they?

Over the past two decades, the global population of forcibly displaced people has grown substantially from 33.9 million in 1997 to 65.6 million in 2016 (up 300,000 from the previous year). The growth was concentrated between 2012 and 2015, driven mainly by the Syrian conflict. Other contributing factors were conflicts in Iraq and Yemen, as well as in sub-Saharan Africa including Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and Sudan.

More than half (55%) of all refugees worldwide came from just three countries – Syria, Afghanistan and South Sudan.

And for the third successive year Turkey hosted the largest number of refugees worldwide – 2.9 million people. Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran, Uganda and Ethiopia followed so developing regions continue to disproportionately host the world’s refugees.

“…the protection of refugees is not only the responsibility of neighbouring states of a crisis; it is a collective responsibility of the international community.” Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General.

The report shows the trends at a glance over two introductory pages so even if you don’t read the whole report, I urge you to have a look at those and stay informed.

Giles Duley image — Photographer Giles Duley travelled to countries in the Middle East and Europe in 2015 and 2016 documenting the refugee crisis. In this image an Afghan mother hugs her child and weeps with relief on arrival on the Greek Island of Lesvos.

Singing the book

On 21/06/2017 By More to the StoryIn Refugee stories, Telling other people's stories

When a beautiful soprano sang the words Fauzia Sufizada said on her arrival in Australia I did not even try to stop my tears.

I stood still and turned my face up to the sky to let the raindrops fall on it… I will never forget how it felt on my skin and the smell of the wet soil. I looked at Farid and my boys and laughed out loud. I told them I needed a few minutes to just stand in the rain and feel freedom.

These words from More to the story – conversations with refugees were featured in ‘Uncertain Journeys’, a new work by composer Tom Henry and performed recently by the Australian Chamber Choir.

I had the opportunity to meet Tom and he says he drew inspiration for the work from contemporary accounts of separation from home, culture and family common to the refugee experience. He found a copy of More to the story at the Immigration Museum in Melbourne while doing research for his composition and used some words from both Fauzia and Farid’s stories.

The Sufizadas and I feel incredibly honoured to be part of Tom’s moving work, which also features the words of other refugees and extracts from the Ghazals (short sonnet-like poems) by the fourteenth century Persian poet known as Hafiz of Shiraz.

The Choir, under the direction of Douglas Lawrence, will be performing ‘Uncertain Journeys’ as part of a new program around the east coast of Australia before going on tour to Italy Austria and Germany.

The choir has made five CDs and given over 200 performances – many of which have been recorded for broadcast on ABC Classic FM. We have our fingers crossed that one day we might hear ‘Uncertain journeys’ on the airwaves.

AusChamberChoir2017image

It takes courage to be a refugee

On 12/06/2017 By More to the StoryIn Events, get involved

As a writer and researcher I remain concerned about the lack of empathy toward refugees and asylum seekers, as well as the simplistic narratives told by mainstream media. Refugees are vulnerable people who are fleeing war, violence and persecution in their home countries, and don’t deserve to be met with such overwhelming ignorance and fear.

Many of my friends tell me – “no-one chooses to become a refugee”.

As people who have faced persecution because of who they are (their race, nationality or membership of a persecuted group) or what they believe (their religion or political opinion), refugees need courage:

The courage not to deny identity or beliefs in the face of persecution.
The courage to leave all that is familiar and step into the unknown in search of peace.
The courage to keep going in the face of devastating loss, difficulty and despair.
The courage to begin again, to work hard and to maintain hope in an unfamiliar land.

The Australian Red Cross has listed five things to make a difference for refugees in your community, that we could all think about doing in 2017. I love the fact that the first tip is to get informed and understand the facts.

Refugee Week is Australia’s peak annual activity to raise awareness about the issues affecting refugees and celebrate the positive contributions made by refugees to Australian society – this year it will be held from 18 to 24 June. Celebrated since 1986, Refugee Week coincides with World Refugee Day on 20 June.

In Australia, the theme for Refugee Week is “With courage let us all combine”. Taken from the second verse of the national anthem, the theme celebrates the courage of refugees and of people who speak out against persecution and injustice. You can find out more about Refugee Week from the Refugee Council of Australia website.

Refugee-Week-2017

A child is a child

On 07/06/2017 By More to the StoryIn Australian Asylum Seeking Policy, Global Trends, research and reports

A new report from UNICEF highlights some alarming statistics about vulnerable children in the world. As I write millions of children are on the move across international borders, fleeing violence and conflict, disaster or poverty in pursuit of a better life.

Hundreds of thousands of these children are alone, without any support and they face UNICEF child report particularly grave risks. Unprotected, the children are easy prey for traffickers and others who abuse them. I can’t imagine how I would feel if this was my son, daughter, sister or brother who somehow got separated from me and my family. Can you?

UNICEF reports that in 2015-16 at least 300,000 unaccompanied and separated children were registered in 80 countries when they crossed borders. This is a five-fold increase from 66,000 in 2010-11. In fact the real number is likely much higher as not every child is registered. On the dangerous Central Mediterranean Sea passage from North Africa to Europe, 92 per cent of children who arrived in Italy in 2016 and the first two months of 2017 were unaccompanied, up from 75 per cent in 2015.

refugee child Save the Children reported in April this year that it was providing support to children as young as nine, who have fled war or poverty and have travelled under the radar for thousands of kilometres without a parent or guardian. “They are invisible to the authorities, and in some cases even when identified, they are placed in inadequate conditions, sometimes even detained.” As I have written previously, my own country Australia breaks numerous international laws, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, by placing children who have come seeking asylum in detention centres in the country and in off-shore island facilities. Further reading can be found the excellent website of the Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law.

Nearly all sovereign states around the world ratified the Convention on the Rights of the forgotten-children Child. They committed to respect and ensure the rights of “each child within their jurisdiction, without discrimination of any kind.” This means that all children, regardless of legal status, nationality or statelessness have the right to be protected from harm, have access to healthcare and education, to be with their family and have their interests protected.

It’s easy to forget that developing regions host 86 per cent of the world’s refugees under the UNHCR’s mandate. This means that the greatest share of responsibility falls on countries that are often ill-equipped to provide protection, while other wealthier countries take measures to reinforce their borders and stop people from arriving on their shores.

UNICEF reminds us that all children have a right to survive, thrive and fulfill their potential, to the benefit of a better world. Children can have a powerful voice – but we need to pay attention so those voices can be heard. Only then can we be informed, contribute to the conversation and influence change.