“No one wants to leave
home unless home has the mouth of a shark.”- Syrian refugee.
The Global Refugee Crisis is getting worse by
day. Only last week 58 people lost their lives as they drowned off the coast of
Mauritania whilst making dangerous journeys searching for safety and
better lives. It wasn’t that long since we had the Essex Lorry tragedy in the UK, where 39 people died
tragically. According to IOM, 929 people died from January – September 2019 whilst
attempting to cross the Mediterranean and reach Europe. Despite all the tragic
news and challenges, people are still risking their lives and making
treacherous journeys.
The Rohingya
Refugee crisis is among the worst crises of our time. The world has
seen an unprecedented refugee and migrant crisis in Central and South America.
The Refugee camps in many African countries are struggling to cope. In simple
words, the Global Refugee Crisis is worse today than it was years ago.
According to the UNHCR nearly
26 Million refugees are stranded in camps across the world, most of whom are
hosted in Global South.
The persecution of people for their religion,
race, political opinions, sexual orientation and other reasons and their forced
displacement from their homes continues. People searching for homes and
safety around the world. It is disheartening and deeply troubling to see fellow
humans denied the right to home and decent life.
As
the International Community gathers in Geneva for the Global Refugee Forum from
17-18 December, leaders should go beyond the usual rhetoric. We have had many
assemblies, conferences, summits, forums, workshops and seminars. We have had
many unfulfilled promises. What we now need is action. Do what you say and
show us that you mean what you say. We need practical leadership from the
international community. Especially leaders in the Global North have to show
leadership and deliver on their promises. I also hope that there will be
refugee leaders taking part at the Global Refugee Forum who will be willing and
able to share their helpful contributions and policy ideas. It is vital to use
lived experiences as we look for a lasting solution to the challenges we are
faced with. It is more than high time to share the burden; say we are all in
this together; and have a clear strategic direction with deliverables. We have
to work in the sense of urgency. In fact, it is more than high time to roll our
sleeves and Walk the Talk.
I am proud of my home country Ethiopia which
is hosting around 940,000 refugees and also for adopting a refugee law in early
2019, which is believed to be very progressive and ambitious refugee law and
one of the best in Africa. I am also proud of the United Kingdom for its
efforts to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees through the Vulnerable Persons
Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) and 3000 children and their families through the
Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme (VCRS) by 2020. Also encouraged by
the introduction and growth of the Community Sponsorship scheme; and also the
most recent extension of VPRS by one year and Community Sponsorship being in
addition. This shows where there is a will, there is a way.
Hence the message to the international
community is clear. Let us do the right thing today and help refugees stranded
in camps around the world. Let us work in unison to help refugees to recover
from traumatic experiences they go through and achieve their dreams, hopes and
aspirations. With coordinated efforts around the world to resettle
refugees, let us bring the dawn of hope to the most vulnerable people of
our generation.
