Originally published on the CGS blog on June 20, 2013.
World Refugee Day is upon us and while my instinct is to do what I do on every such anniversary, which is to wish everyone a “Happy World Refugee Day!” I think we all can agree that this is no happy occasion. World Refugee Day was established by the United Nations in December 2000 and is celebrated each June 20th, to honor the world’s refugees for the courage they must possess when compelled to flee their homes and travel to unfamiliar lands, often with no certain hope of return.
Most people don’t recognize the sheer volume of refugees in the world today: according to the UN’s refugee agency, the number of people who have been forcibly displaced by war and other crises in 2012 was approximately 45.2 million people – higher than it has been in almost two decades. Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, adds, “This means one in each 4.1 seconds. So each time you blink, another person is forced to flee.”
One every 4.1 seconds? That number is difficult to fathom. And I think it is all too easy to be misinformed or even completely unaware about the plight of all those people. One common misconception lies in confusing refugees with immigrants. But unlike immigrants, refugees usually have little to no choice over the timing of their departure or their destination. Also, refugees typically are not people moving from poor countries into rich countries in search of a better life or more opportunities. In fact, 87 percent of the world’s refugees were protected by developing countries, with Pakistan as the world’s top host nation in 2012.
Among the 45.2 million refugees, 28.8 million are internally displaced, 15.4 million are border-crossing, and 937,000 are asylum seekers. And although the asylum seekers are a relatively small piece of the pie, they are arguably the most important segment to the United States because for seven years in a row the U.S. was the largest recipient, among the industrialized nations, of new asylum claims.
Unfortunately, even the asylum-seeking system is riddled with problems. According to Human Rights First, refugees to the United States are often unnecessarily denied due to an arbitrary one year filing deadline. This deadline causes problems for many reasons: some refugees are unaware that they might be eligible for political asylum and others don’t know how to apply until it is too late. Additionally, women asylum seekers are disproportionately affected by the filing deadline due to the disparate cultural traditions in their countries of origin; they may be caring for children, they may come from places where women don’t typically interact with the legal system, or they may be trapped in abusive or restrictive relationships.
Clearly, the world’s refugee problem is complex and worrisome. Worldwide, we need to address the situations that necessitate refugees fleeing in the first place, both within and between countries. Regarding our domestic legal system, we need to reform asylum-granting in order to make it more efficient and fair.
It is completely appropriate to have a day applauding the courage of refugees as they are forced to leave their homes, an act many people cannot even imagine – but I don’t want to be counting unhappy wanderers every time I blink. That is both unacceptable and terrifying.
