Nagging displacement

Protection and settlement of refugees has always been as challenging a task as heart rending is the plight they undergo. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), excluding the current exodus of refugees from Ukraine, there are already around 84 million refugees around the world, largest since WWII. The numbers are alarming: Central African Republic 7,13,000; Eritrea (East Africa) 4,92,000; Somalia 7,90,000; Congo 8,64,000; Rohingyas from Myanmar 1.1 million; and Sudan and Afghanistan with around 2.6 mill refugees each. Syrian refugees account for around 6.7 million — 25 per cent of the entire global refugee population, the largest until now, spread over across Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and Turkey. The Ukrainian influx with more than four million refugees forebodes a more disastrous humanitarian crisis than the Syrian crisis of 2015. The Executive Director of World Food Programme (WFP), David Beasley, last week in 'Washington Post' had warned of 'worsening hunger' in the world. Russia-Ukraine conflict could leave refugees hungry elsewhere as both countries contribute 30 per cent of global wheat exports, and the crisis may "turn the conveyer belt in reverse".

Geneva Convention (1951) binds all signatories to receive refugees and offer basic protection along with providing decent means of livelihood. The convention and its protocol (1967) empower refugees with certain rights — such as right to not be expelled from a host country, right to education, work, housing, freedom of religion etc. Most importantly, a host state cannot discriminate against refugees on grounds of race, colour, gender, or nationality. A Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework was agreed upon as protocol by 193 member nations in 2016 which lays down guidelines for addressing problems of refugees. These are meant to ease pressure on host countries, make refugees self-reliant, encourage local integration, provide access to resettlement in third countries, and foster conditions to return to home countries. But the problem is that though the convention binds the nations towards action, the rights of refugees are not actually entitlements since they largely depend on the discretion of host nations. Besides, the ever-increasing number of refugees makes the job all the more difficult, given the limitations of member nations and the agencies engaged in the operations. The relief and rehabilitation involve various aspects such as direct cash transfers, food rationing, supply of medicines, provision of work, housing etc. The fact that last year only less than one per cent of world refugees were resettled, indicates that challenges are typical and serious.

There is a dearth of cooperation between the host nations, home countries of the refugees and the UN agencies regarding protection and resettlement of refugees. To begin with, enormous financial assistance is required to support the efforts of all the actors — the governments, NGOs, Red Cross Society, charity organisations and various other international bodies engaged in refugee resettlement programmes. Amid the present influx of Ukrainian refugees, some of the host nations like Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Czechia and Moldova are poorly equipped to rise to the occasion. On March 1, 2022, the Regional Director of ICRC for Europe and Central Asia, Martin Schüepp, appealed for USD 273 million assistance saying: "We need funds to address the humanitarian needs which are already staggering – food, water, shelter, healthcare, psychological support – and they are growing by the hour". In absence of a comprehensive framework for international cooperation and a roadmap to address the issues, a state of hostility against the refugees will soon supplant the initial hospitality. For instance, Denmark has revoked housing permits of some of the 30,000 Syrian refugees it initially received, consigning them to deportation centres to embrace misery and uncertainty. In the present context, the members of NATO and EU, along with other nations, should assist the host nations in terms of finances and logistics, which is more urgent than funding Ukraine's war preparedness. It's reported that the EU has thus far provided only 500 million Euros as humanitarian aid whereas 50 billion Euros are required for the year 2022 alone.

Women and children become the worst sufferers in a humanitarian crisis as they depend solely on men — the main breadwinners and protectors. Loss of husbands, fathers, brothers and other male members during armed conflicts leaves them vulnerable. It is unfair that when half of the population in need of humanitarian help are children, only two per cent of the aid is spent on education — with the result that in place of 200 days of school per year, 3.5 million children get zero days. It is feared that at least more than seven million children can be subjected to physical harm, displacement and emotional distress if the Russia-Ukraine war continues unabated. Gender inequalities and violence against women, illegal trafficking etc. add to the miseries of refugees. Women with less educational qualifications and deficient employable skills seldom succeed in securing a decent job on foreign soil, and often end up becoming victims of exploitation.

Humanitarian crises turn worse when regressive narratives and sectarian overtones influence the dispensations of the host nations. Practice of discrimination on grounds of race, colour, or religion will only be the undoing of Geneva convention and its protocols. For example, during the Syrian crisis, quite a few EU nations, Hungary in particular, were not as forthcoming in accepting refugees from Syria and North Africa as they are today with regard to Ukrainian refugees. To discourage the inflow of Syrian refugees, the European Council had resorted to measures like Border Enforcement Mechanism, detentions up to 18 months for scrutiny, use of force etc. Refugees were treated as 'economic migrants' and denied hospitality by many European nations. Around 3,000 people were estimated to have died at the sea during the transit, including children. It is reported that citizens of Asian and African descent from Ukraine were refused entry into Poland and were forced to travel back to Ukraine, even as the EU Council on March 4, 2022, agreed to implement the 'Temporary Protection Directive' (Right to stay for 1 to 3 years) to welcome Ukrainian citizens along with an exemption from standard European Union asylum procedure. Such discrimination is not only against the convention but also extremely cruel in this hour of grave humanitarian disaster. The world community expects the member nations of EU and NATO to be more responsible in their approach to the refugee crisis.

Protection of refugees is an immediate humanitarian concern, more important than working for cessation of hostilities between warring nations. It is a moral duty of all nations. If issues are not addressed properly and, should the crisis continue for years unresolved, which has been historically a trend, host nations will suffer from civic unrest and political instability. Durable solutions are important which alone can guarantee the rights of refugees. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees needs to galvanise efforts towards creating a general framework for devising long-term solutions, taking all the stakeholders on board, to ensure protection, housing and livelihood for refugees without discrimination. Moving away from divisive politics and xenophobic notions, all nations, the host nations in particular, must appreciate humanitarian concerns from a broader perspective and endeavour to achieve the larger global public good. The humanitarian and development agenda in the United Nations are dealt separately by different organisations. Lack of proper coordination makes it difficult to achieve the results effectively in times of emergencies. A revisiting of the structural arrangements of the UN is perhaps necessary.

The writer is a former Addl. Chief Secretary of Chhattisgarh. Views expressed are personal