Refugees

Tens of millions of people live as refugees all around the globe - they have been driven from their native soils due to wars, persecution, famine, disease, political instability,natural disasters and other manmade catostrophies. They leave their homes ussually at a moments notice with hardly any personal possessions. They are left to the mercy of people and places they flee to.

The following is a new listing by the World Fact Book on the refugees and internally displaced persons (last updated on 1 November, 2005).

Field Listing - Refugees and internally displaced persons

Their stay away from their countries or cities sometimes may take years before they can return. Some just learn to adapt to their new surroundings and settle down in their new homes. But there are some who eagerly long to get back to their homes, but fear that they will not be able to until the situation improves. The pain and anguish of staying away from their homes which have been a part of them for generations becomes a very hard feeling to grapple with.



The human rights goals of Amnesty International for the dignified treatment of refugees are:-

Promote the Right to Seek Asylum
Prevent Arbitrary Detention of Asylum Seekers
Stop Forced Return of Refugees
Provide Protection to Especially Vulnerable Groups
Support Asylum Seekers with Human Rights Information
Advocate for Humane Treatment of Refugees and Migrants

Developed Vs Developing Countries Aid
It has been found that the developed nations contribute the most for refugee rehabilitation efforts the hosting of the refugees are in the developing countries. Those countries with less than $2,000 per capita host more than two-thirds of all refugees.Countries with more than $10,000 host five percent of the world's refugees. In some of these host countries the refugees form a large chunk of their population.

Internally Displaced
It should be noted that sometimes refugees are classified as internally displaced. However these people also grapple with similar issues as the refugees.

Christian Organizations

Church World Services says there are nearly 33 million people all over the world who are forced to leave their homes persecution and armed conflict. They help nearly 8000 refugees and entrants into the USA.

PCUSA in Washington estimates of the approximately 37,500,000 refugees and internally displaced persons half of them are children. In last decade more than 2 million children died during the war, 4 million survived with physical mutilation, and 1 million children have been orphaned. The war sees the darker side of men's nature, where soldiers destroy or steal food supplies for refugees. Many of the young girls are forced to work as cooks, spies or sexual slaves for soldiers. They are even raped as part of their strategy for war.

Since 1940, UMCOR's mission - providing relief in disaster areas, aiding refugees and confronting the challenge of world hunger and poverty - has helped to heal the hurts of humanity in nearly 100 countries. GBCS says we live in a world where there are over 13 million people who are refugees, another 26 million who are internally displaced, and millions more who seek asylum or are migrants looking to find a way out of poverty.


The following are some of the issues they face as refugees :-


Starvation


U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday some 65,000 Togo refugees will run out of food by the end of the year unless the international community quickly comes up with $1 million in aid.

Persecution by military
There are about 140,000 refugees living in camps strewn along the Thai Burma border. 100,000 of that number are Karen, the others belong to other ethnic groups such as the Karenni, Shan, Mon, and Naga - who have all been driven out of their traditional homelands by Burmese military.

Abduction of Young and training for war

Refugees are unable to return to their homes, yet their young are abducted by the terrorists for training for war. Landmines make large areas of land uninhabitable. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines has estimated that an individual is killed or injured by a land mine every 22 minutes, 500 per week, 26,000 per year around the world.

Genocide
2.5m displaced Darfuris too frightened to go home - 3.5m in need of food - Darfur sliding into chaos

Thirst for Home - Home is where the heart is !!!
An estimated 700,000 refugees have returned to Somaliland, a place where nearly half the population lives on less than US$1 a day. Returnees are in an even worse situation; one year after their return, 90 percent do not have a regular source of income. They left because of the civil war.

Poor waste management and sanitation in Rwanda due to small areas for living

These issues can be resolved only through education.

Education

Refugees often lack basic skills and knowledge in literacy, agriculture and health. Education is an excellent tool for protection and for promoting tolerance, peace and conflict resolution.


Dependency on Aid

Two decades after the killing fields the people living in refugee camps in Cambodia found themselves dependent on aid. So one of the tasks of NGO's is to help them break this dependency cycle.


Environmental Refugees
Scholars today are predicting that 50 million people worldwide will be displaced by 2010 because of rising sea levels, desertification, dried up aquifers, weather-induced flooding and other serious environmental changes.