Life of refugees
A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.
Article 1 of the Convention, as amended by the 1967 Protocol, defines a refugee as this:
“A person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it..”
Many countries have signed and ratified (legally implemented) the Refugee Convention, and this means that countries are obliged to help individuals who are dislocated from their home country because of the threat of persecution.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) supports the right of all people to be able to seek asylum from persecution (Article 14). The UDHR fundamentally promotes that basic rights and fundamental freedoms for all human beings are recognized in every country. It also clarifies that rights are inalienable and equally applicable to everyone. Lastly, it states that every one of us is born free and equal in dignity and rights. (Goodwin-Gill, 1983)
An asylum seeker is someone who is seeking international protection but whose claim for refugee status has not yet been granted or assured while a refugee is one who has refugee status. A refugee is an asylum seeker, but asylum seekers are not refugees until their asylum application has been successful. Many times refugees are called immigrants but we say ‘refugees’ when we mean people who are fleeing war or persecution across an international border. And we speak of ‘immigrants’ when we mean people who are moving for reasons not included in the legal definition of a refugee.
What causes refugees to flee?
Refugees are forced to leave their home; it is not a voluntary action because leaving home and living a miserable life is the last choice anybody can make. They flee simply to preserve their safety. War, climate change, political instability, oppression, discrimination and natural disaster are few of the reasons why refugees flee (Berg, 2015).
Persecution is the severe abuse and denial of the human rights of individuals or groups. Fear of persecution is the basis of refugee claims. Persecution occurs when human rights violations or threats are sustained or systematic, and governments either fail to protect their citizens or, in some cases, actively participate in the violations. It may happen because a person holds a particular political opinion, religious belief or belongs to a specific ethnic or social group, and this may include assassination or torture.
War is perhaps the most well-known reason for why people leave their countries, as it is better understood by people who have never been persecuted for part of their identity, but fleeing fromviolence is necessarily universally recognised as acceptable and necessary
Gender/sexual orientation are another significant factor. Women and girls also face particular forms of abuse because of their gender. They are often targeted for sexual abuse, rape, forcible impregnation, sexual slavery, and forced prostitution.
The gay and lesbian communities have also become a target of killing in societies that do not accept such beliefs and actions, especially in Africa. This was not seen as a cause to flee by the UNHCR until 2012.
“It is widely documented that LGBTI individuals are the targets of killings, sexual and gender-based violence, physical attacks, torture, arbitrary detention, accusations of immoral or deviant behavior, denial of the rights to assembly, expression and information, and discrimination in employment, health and education in all regions around the world,” the UNHCR wrote.
Hunger is technically not a human-driven cause because people cannot necessarily change the environment; climate change has played a considerable role in the changing landscapes across the world and the people that live off the land. It’s estimated that 20 million people in four North African and Middle Eastern countries — Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria, and Yemen — are facing extreme drought, and many of these individuals are becoming refugees, forced from their homelands in search of stable food sources.
The droughts and hunger are linked toclimate change, but other environmental changes occur around people’s homes that cause them to leave as well. Those living on the coasts of any nation are considered at risk, especially those whose livelihoods once depended on the ocean. When major disasters hit or if sea levels rise drastically, millions of people are displaced and left without homes, food, or resources of any kind. These people are left to seek new homes and livelihoods.
Seeking asylum
An asylum seeker’s journey between countries can be long and harrowing. Countries in Africa, Europe and Asia have many land borders. This means that people can walk or drive to a neighbouring country. Sometimes borders are made by rivers or mountains ranges. Rivers and mountain ranges often create a natural border.
Most places around the world, people can cross a border without help from anyone else, sometimes even without documentation (such as a passport). In some places, people need help with transport to cross borders. If people seeking refuge are intercepted they may be forced to return to their homeland. The journey of an asylum seeker or rather a refugee is not as easy as people suppose. In some cases, it is a matter of life and death struggles. Many people will transport asylum seekers from one region to another, either on boats, trains or in vehicles, as a business or a way of making money. This is known as ‘people movement’.
Not all of these transport routes are safe; nor are they necessarily a legitimate way of crossing borders.
What is Settlement?
“Settlement is a two-way process: it is not just something that refugees must do, but there is also a need for the wider community to make adaptations to accommodate the refugees. A ‘spirit of hospitality’, where refugees are made to feel welcomed into a community, underpins successful refugee settlement programs.”
The act of settlement or being granted asylum does not automatically mean that people will feel ‘settled’ once they arrive in Kenya. It can take people some time to feel that they are secure and at peace. Refugees often need support to work through the loss and trauma they have experienced. To be successfully settled means different things to different people (Price, 1940). For some, it is in the knowledge their families are now safe, that they or their children can have access to education, that they will be able to enjoy the same rights to which all people are entitled. Many have described it as a feeling of belonging, of having a place to build a future.
“To settle takes time, it doesn’t happen overnight.”
Refugee Camps
Encampment became an effective policy in Kenya. Some people find shelter in a refugee camp. A refugee camp is an area established specifically for people seeking asylum; often it is outside the border areas of one country and inside a neighbouring country.
In some countries, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has worked with local governments to establish UNHCR’ camps’. These are places where refugees who have fled persecution in their home countries may seek asylum and refuge. Examples of refugee camps are Kakuma and Dadaab in Kenya. The camps are located in remote, arid areas of northern Kenya close to the borders of Somalia and Sudan, respectively.
Although camps are designed to offer protection and refuge, people living in camps often continue to remain at risk and in danger. Camps can also be very overcrowded. One refugee scholar noted, “It is very well-known that congregating refugees in camps can create insecurity” (Bond, 2000)
Refugees living in camps often report that people live in a constant state of insecurity and fear. Shelter, food, water and medical supplies are limited, and sometimes non-existent. Physical violence and abuse (including sexual violence) are widespread. Children have limited access to education; they can be exposed to exploitation, violence and kidnapping; many are orphaned. Refugees at the UNHCR center are not protected by the Government of Kenya. This has contributed to dangerous living conditions and outbreaks of violence. Because they are not protected under the law and are unable to possess a Kenyan national identification card, refugees are always at risk for arrest. (Campbell, 2006)
Urban settlers
UNHCR’s responsibility for status determination, refugees, received alien identity cards from the Kenyan government, which enabled them to live and work legally outside the camps. Some refugees leave refugee camps and come to the city due to inadequate humanitarian aid; general insecurity; and insufficient educational services, medical care, or job opportunities. They move to the cities to keep in touch with relatives and friends in the Diasporas and to follow up for resettlement with embassies. However, some refugees have said that outside a camp they have little more control over their lives and a greater sense of their self-worth and dignity. (Horst, 2007)
The Urban refugee population has steadily increased even though refugee life in the urban setting is not much easier than residence in the camps and, in some cases, may even be worse.
Though the UNHCR and other agencies, such as Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS), Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK), Mapendo International, and Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), have urban refugee programs, the extent of these services is limited. They mostly help those with a mandate letter enabling them to live in Nairobi for documented reasons such as healthcare concerns or security problems. (Hollenbach, 2008)
Leaving everything behind in one life and beginning another in a different country with different laws, different education and health systems, different languages and different cultural expectations requires a period of adjustment. For people who seek asylum and refuge, this process is difficult due to the circumstances under which they depart their home country.
Impact on children
Young people also face particular challenges because of their age and experiences. They carry the scars of war and displacement with them. Sometimes children are forced to flee alone and arrive as unaccompanied minors.
Although children are very resilient some children experience physical and psychological effects of trauma. This would really affect their growth and you would find them looking or rather not healthy at all. Children would also experience language and literacy difficulties due to disrupted or limited prior education. (Hollenbach, 2008)
They also face issues with identity and belonging. This is very disrupting because a child grows up with the knowledge that they are and can never be accepted in any society. This is because a refugee often faces discrimination in host country and most likely feels an identity crisis.
Resettlement
The UNHCR works with countries (such as Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom) that have resettlement protection programs in place to find suitable protection solutions for refugees. When people arrive in Australia as refugees the process of applying for protection has usually been initiated in a country of first asylum (offshore). When a person’s refugee protection application is processed offshore they are usually provided with a flight and arrive in the resettlement country by plane. (Coming to America: the reality of resettlement, 2017)
The majority of refugees are not aware that they may be eligible to apply for resettlement in a third country. If they do know about resettlement, it is often difficult for them to access resettlement officers, to find official papers that prove their identities, or to obtain the official forms on which they must apply.
When people are desperate to escape a conflict situation, many will do anything to find safety. Some people resort to paying for help.
Some of the documented challenges that face people from refugee backgrounds include finding affordable housing, finding employment, the language and communication barriers and facing racism and discrimination. They arrive in new societies and this would really affect them because of the community attitudes and the impact of disrupted education on schooling. The distance and lack of communication with families in the home country and/ or countries of asylum (particularly if/ where the family remains in a conflict situation) can be a very tragic situation. These refugees have ongoing mental health issues due to trauma and also financial difficulties. The most difficult also includes separation from family members; living in blended families and finally changes in roles and status of family members can be as equally de-stabilizing.
In conclusion refugees are people whose life has been affected in one way or another. They live in difficulties and sometimes may result to being one in the host country. They face many things and due to them being refugees, the struggle hurts twice as much. The UNHCR and other institutions should ensure that these refugees are being treated accordingly. Refugees are people just like all the others just facing what others may not be facing. They should be treated as people and not as half-humans. They need to eat, study, and live under shelter because they also get hungry; they feel the cold and also dream for a better future, we should make it a reality for them.