World Refugee Day is held and every year on 20 June. It is a special
day when the world takes time to recognize the resilience of forcibly displaced
people throughout the world. Around the world more than 71 million people have
fled their homes. Each day thousands more follow.
We live in a world where violence, war and crime control ninety percent
of our lives and we have been forced and reduced to enjoy only ten percent and
most of this lawlessness is perpetuated by people who think that they can
change the world by using violence.
The #WorldRefugeeDay observed today honours the courage, strength and
determination of women, men and children who are forced to flee their homes
under threats of persecution, conflict and violence. On this day, the
international community seeks to draw attention to the plight of refugees and
celebrate their courage and resilience, this year’s theme is "Take a Step with Refugees.”
The violence and wars we are witnessing in the world leaves a trail of destruction and it is forcing people to flee their homes and seek shelter elsewhere and most of the times this people seeking refuge are faced with worst challenges and there is nothing worse in life than seeking help and the person you thought you can get help from turns out to be your worst nightmare worse than even the one you are running away from.
Most people think that people flee their homes because they want to get
the money from UN which is not the case because this people are fleeing because
of conflict and other human challenges they are facing and we need to help this
people get over this problems.
The system protecting the rights of refugees in the world is broken and world leaders should come up with a comprehensive legal framework that can protect all this people seeking asylum. Refugees seeking asylum are faced with serious transportation challenges and some have been smuggled into different countries in the world and some of this refugees are not lucky because others drown in the ocean crossing to other countries and this mode of transportation has caused us innocent lives of innocent people seeking help and others are killed and others are kidnapped and others are forced to become sex slaves and others become prisoners of war.
Real people care for other people and despite our differences in opinion, race, color, tribe, religion and countries we need to remember that humanity comes first in everything we do even if we don’t have any similarities or same ideologies or same opinions or because we have been raised in different parts of the world should not be a reason we should not be there for one another.
Another challenge facing refugees is the difficulty in speaking the same language of the host community or country and also learning English or any other local language and this is a challenge people seeking help are faced with and it is hard to get help when you can’t understand what the other person is saying.
Getting a place to sleep is another challenge refugee’s face and for them to secure a decent housing is a challenge and they rely on our help to accommodate them. Giving this refugees a place to stay can help them overcome the trauma of the horrible things they have faced from where they come from and what they are still currently facing and this can help them recover quickly and this people expect us to be human enough and welcome them to our homes. Where they come from there is a problem which forced them to flee and where they are coming to, they see hope of a better life for them and their children.
Raising children in such a situation is a challenge because your children depend on you as a parent and you as a parent doesn’t have any option to provide for your family and accessing humanitarian services or securing work in a foreign land may seem practically impossible especially in countries where humanitarian aid is restricted, human rights violation is high, freedom of movement is restricted, unstable government and where cultural or traditional believes deny a specific group of people a right to be employed.
Being there for a person in need is good but sometimes the help we are providing might not appropriate to the person we are helping because of, traditional believes, customs, cultural barriers and many more reasons and when we are offering to help someone in need, we should put into consideration, if what we are offering is appropriate to the person we are helping and also we must always remember that aid must and should be based on need only.
Forceful transfer of population is a human right abuse and forcing people to flee to a distant place not suited to their way of life cause a lot of human rights abuses and during this period families are separated and uniting families and protecting young children can be a challenge especially if there is no specific mode of tracing lost or missing people.
Providing aid is good for a short term plan and helping refugees rebuild their livelihoods and empowering survivors can have a long term impact and this will benefit them and reduce over dependence on aid thus this will help them in restoring their freedom, dignity and independence. I was watching CNN recently and the situation in the world is getting worse every day from Syria to south Sudan, from Nigeria to Somalia, from Yemen to Iran and other different countries.
We blame terrorist for killing people which is true but we forget that we are also killing people by denying them food and also by denying them shelter and by refusing to sign those important document they need to seek asylum and also by denying them a safe passage and also by kicking them out of our countries because they are not our citizens or because we are not related to them and many more reasons.
We can all save lives by opening our doors and offer to help, and when we open the doors, it may seem like nothing but, by just opening the doors we can save lives. Please open the doors and welcome refugees, they need our help and we are their hope and no matter how little our help may seem, it can save a life. We can support the refugees through UN refugee agency or international federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent society.
Words cannot express my gratitude and appreciation to all the human rights organizations, volunteers, donors, individuals and countries, who put the lives of other people first, before theirs and who work day and night to ensure the safety of all refugees and all I can say is thank you, for your commitment to give those In need a chance to live in dignity by restoring hope and providing them with tools and resources they require to rebuild their lives. Thank you so much for standing with refugees. I continue to be encouraged and inspired by the outpouring of support. #StepWithRefugees #RefugeeRights #HumanityandInclusivity #WorldRefugeeDay #ReachOuttoRefugees
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