What is a 'home'? It’s where love resides, memories are created and laughter never ends. An abode full of warmth and safety. For many people, their birth country is the home of their ancestors. Refugees are people who have fled war, violence, conflict or persecution by crossing an international border to find safety in another country. They leave their homes. In this world, often people get displaced due to wars and politics. In the year 2022, the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) announced that we had surpassed the 100 million mark for total displacement, meaning that over 1.2% of the global population has been forced to leave their homes. Among these people are over 32.5 million refugees.
Last year brought unprecedented humanitarian challenges, mainly driven by climate change, the war in Ukraine, disease and the continuous increase in the global population. Hundreds of millions of people are internally displaced in Africa because of droughts and food insecurity which has particularly affected Africa due to the Russia-Ukraine war, causing malnutrition and a spike in maternal mortality rates. Over 740,000 Central African refugees are being hosted in Cameroon, Chad, and the Democratic Republic of Congo but their prolonged stay puts pressure on the limited resources of these host communities. Afghanistan has 6 million citizens that survive on less than 1 meal per day due to decades of conflict. Although the economy is no longer in freefall it’s still hitting ordinary citizens ruthlessly where most lack necessities. Their ban on women’s secondary education is another contributing factor.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered the fastest-growing refugee crisis in the world, forcing millions of people to leave their homes. It is endangering the lives of civilians and causing severe damage to housing, water, electricity supply, and public infrastructure. The United States of America, Japan and European countries are providing humanitarian and economic support to Ukraine. Syria has faced unparalleled difficulties. As of now, the country is grappling with severe human and material damage from catastrophic earthquakes and aftershocks in February 2023 that have left families in urgent need of food, water, shelter, and emergency medical and psychosocial assistance. The Syrian refugee crisis began in March 2011 as a result of a violent government crackdown on public demonstrations in support of teenagers who were arrested for anti-government graffiti in the southern town of Daraa. Several countries such as Türkiye, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt and Germany have given refuge to Syrians but yet over 6.8 million of them remain internally displaced.
Every refugee is initially an asylum seeker looking for protection because they fear persecution, have experienced violence, human rights violations or extremely bad living conditions due to poverty and unstable political conditions in their country. The government of host countries can choose whether to give protection and shelter. However, this process can be lengthy and asylum seekers don’t necessarily get protection before that. As of 2023, Türkiye hosts the highest number of refugees. Currently, India is hosting 8,000 to 11,684 Afghan refugees, most of whom are Muslims and Sikhs. Anyone forced to flee can seek protection and should be treated with dignity, regardless of who they are or what they believe. As every human has the right to a place they can happily call ‘Home’!
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