In fact, it is an expression that refers to people who migrate from one country to another, far from their families, friends, and homelands. However, it is very important to distinguish between the legal differences applicable to immigrants and refugees.
We live in a world where homeless people, families and children are forced to live in the shadows of humanitarian crises and wars every day. They make the toughest decisions when seeking refuge outside of their home countries.
The refugees. Leaving all they have behind, they flee to other countries without knowledge of what awaits them there, only seeking safety. Their lives are generally worse due to policies that neighbouring countries enact against them.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their countries in search of a better life for a number of reasons. First, they flee from violations of their human rights, such as persecution, psychological torture, or from conflicts, wars, or other forms of violence that make them no longer feel safe. Because of who they are or what they do, they are sometimes vulnerable to being targeted by some parties. Or what they believe, such as religion, sexual orientation, political opinions, or ethnicity.
Truth be told, fleeing and seeking refuge from poor situations is always fraught with risk and fear. Some of them are at risk of human trafficking, and some of them are subjected to various forms of exploitation and extortion. It is important to remember, though, that many countries carry out acts contrary to human rights when they arrest immigrants upon arrival. Aside from these problems, refugees face ongoing racism and discrimination based on their name throughout their journey in some societies, reaching the point of criminalization in some due to shameful policies of those countries.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are more than 25 million refugees in the world. It is therefore necessary to take this issue more seriously than it is now, and to find ways to address it in international plans that ensure coordinated efforts.
Even though this issue affects the economies, policies, and development of countries, refugees still suffer from deteriorating psychological, health, and educational conditions in most countries of asylum, especially the situation of women and children. It calls on all countries to unite for equality, to consider these issues and to find solutions to ensure that everyone’s human rights are realized.
The failure of some countries to apply the international refugee rights mechanisms is also causing refugees to suffer and to cease to be protected or secure a stable, healthy and sound life. This is especially true for the neighbouring countries to conflict and war-torn countries that have yet to sign the 1951 Refugee Convention, which causes further harm to those fleeing across borders. Considering all of this, our human values require us to solve the issue of alleviating those sufferings in accordance with those international human rights standards.
One of the biggest mistakes made by human rights organizations is to put these refugees as numbers and not as people and view their numbers as very large, causing a cosmic dilemma for this world that may not accommodate everyone. It would help if we all banded together and put these people in safe places and helped end their crisis wherever they are.
