As the world became a witness to the liberation of Nazi concentration and death camps, the global community ubiquitously pronounced “Never again”— Never again can the global community idly stand by, with apathy, towards the iniquitous destruction of humankind and the widespread displacement of people. Unfortunately, as history has shown, this wishful thinking is yet to be upheld. In recent decades, the world has witnessed a substantial proliferation of widespread conflict, state-orchestrated oppression, and religious and ethnic persecution, resulting in a global diaspora of displaced peoples aching to return to familiarity, peace, and security. Importantly, alongside the proliferation of conflict and human rights abuses is the presence of gatekeepers—the …show more content…
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) 2016 annual report, the world is currently experiencing an overwhelming number of displacement, with approximately “65.6 million people… forcibly displaced worldwide,” roughly half of which are children (Edwards, 2017). As the humanitarian crisis in Syria and surrounding countries has devastatingly escalated and conflict continues to wage throughout South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, global displacement continues to rapidly proliferate. Throughout 2016 alone, 10.3 million additional people experienced forced displacement, rippling a catastrophic migration crisis into the developing countries surrounding the conflicts (UNHCR, 2016). Of course, as states surrounding conflict continue to open their borders with relatively open arms, accepting insurmountable waves of refugees and asylum seekers, the United States has effectively shut its ears to the world and closed its borders. In numerous capacities, the United States acts as a gatekeeper in the migration crisis—possessing the power to grant or deny asylum to refugees and asylum seekers, and more importantly, the power to provide or withhold platforms for bearing witness. It is in essence, bearing witness that is most fundamental to provoking empathy and the comprehension of human rights abuses worldwide, but as displacement figures continue to escalate into incomprehensible figures, apathy, “compassion-fatigue,” indifference, and ultimately, forgetting are again becoming the norm, even in an era in which extensive access to media and technology has provoked a transnational movement of human rights awareness (Kurasawa, 2007,
Stanton, Gregory H. "Genocides and Conflicts." World Without Genocide. World Without Genocide, 7 May 2013. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. .
The physical and mental intent to destroy another being often unveils the darkest side of human nature. In the memoir, “An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography” dedicated to the Rwandan genocide, war hero Paul Rusesabagina states: “A sad truth of human nature is that it is hard to care for people when they are abstractions, hard to care when it is not you or somebody close to you. Unless the world community can stop finding ways to dither in the face of this monstrous threat to humanity those words never again will persist in being one of the most abused phrases in the English language and one of the greatest lies of our time.” The United Nations promised never again would they allow genocide to occur after the Second World War. Unfortunately, less
Her memoir starts off in Darfur in 2005, where in her late 20’s, she hits rock bottom while managing a refugee camp for 24,000 civilians. It backtracks to her internship in Rwanda, while moving forward to her challenges in Darfur, in addition to her experiences in post- tsunami Indonesia, and post-quake in Haiti. By sharing her story, Alexander gives readers an opportunity to go behind-the-scenes into the devastations that are censored on media outlets. She stresses that these are often the problems that individuals claim they are educated on, but rarely make it their priority to solve. However, that is not the case for Jessica Alexander as she has over 12 years of experience working with different NGO’s and UN operations. As a result, Alexander earns the credibility to critique the multi-billion-dollar humanitarian aid industry. From her painful yet rewarding work experience, Alexander gives an honest and empathetic view of humanitarian aid as an establishment and a
Genocide is a pressing issue with a multitude of questions and debates surrounding it. It is the opinion of many people that the United Nations should not get involved with or try to stop ongoing genocide because of costs or impositions on the rights of a country, but what about the rights of an individual? The UN should get involved in human rights crimes that may lead to genocide to prevent millions of deaths, save money on humanitarian aid and clean up, and fulfill their responsibilities to stop such crimes. It is preferable to stop genocide before it occurs through diplomacy, but if necessary, military force may be used as a last resort. Navi Pillay, Human Rights High Commissioner, stated, “Concerted efforts by the international community at critical moments in time could prevent the escalation of violence into genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or ethnic cleansing.”
...be seen as an entity that promotes vile results. However, it is imperative to understand that globalization is multilayered and difficult to fully understand. In the case of child soldiers, globalization has played a pertinent role in unifying international organizations in hopes of finding a solution to this “phenomenon”. On the other hand, although certain international organizations such as United Nations have had a prominent role in advocating against child soldiery, for the following reasons, its attempts are insufficient: it lacks the ability to enforce sanctions established within the international community and it does not do enough to recognize the political, social and economic inequalities that are prevalent in most of these fragile states. Therefore, child soldiery, cannot be eradicated until these issues are dealt with on a collective global scale.
Empathy is not always easy to achieve. Currently as a nation we are debating whether or not we should allow the Syrian refugees into our country. After the attack on Paris and the ISIS threat against America next, it is easy to see why Americans would not want to let Syrian refugees into our country. It is a difficult decision to make, especially since most of the refugees are women and children. These refugees are trying to escape the terrors and wars that are going on in their home country. However, United States officials must remain cautious with who we are letting into our country at this time. Many citizens are nervous to let so many people into our country. The challenge that the United States officials face is if we
According to the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugee is a term applied to anyone who is outside his/her own country and cannot return due to the fear of being persecuted on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership of a group or political opinion. Many “refugees” that the media and the general public refer to today are known as internally displaced persons, which are people forced to flee their homes to avoid things such as armed conflict, generalized violations of human rights or natural and non-natural disasters. These two groups are distinctly different but fall ...
When lines of identity inevitably blend, relative jurisprudence must be exercised. Lines make excluding circles and methods of excluding people from asylum; our international community divides into unwelcome and welcome nations. As discourse, cultural identity means translating beliefs and feelings from one culture to another. In the process of translation, a screen of cultural values filters understanding of the values and experience of the “other.” The simple word “refugee” evokes images and stories particular to a collectively defined identity, invoking “an image of the radicalized other” (Daniel 272).
Another casual night: the air is sticky, and the water is scarce, all throughout the country, the sound of gunshots ringing through the air. For most people, this “casual” night is beyond their wildest imagination, but for Syrians, it is an ongoing nightmare. Faced with the trauma of a civil war, Syrian refugees seek protection and a more promising future than the life they currently live in their oppressive country. Many seek refuge in other Middle East countries like Turkey and Jordan, but others search for hope in the icon of freedom, the United States of America. However, in America, there is an ongoing debate about whether or not Syrian refugees should be accepted.
The overriding challenge Uganda faces today is the curse of poverty. Poverty, ‘the lack of something”(“Poverty.”), something can be materials, knowledge, or anything one justifies as necessary to living. Associated with poverty is the question of what causes poverty and how to stop poverty? The poverty rate in Uganda has declined from the year 2002 from the year 2009, which shows the percent of residents living in poverty has decreasing. Yet, the year is 2014 and the poverty rate could have drastically changed over the course of five years. One could assume the poverty rate would continue to decrease, which would be astounding and beneficial, but does poverty ever decrease enough to an acceptable level or even nonexistence? Poverty is a complex issue that continues to puzzle people from all across the globe. Poverty could possible be a question that is never truly answered.
Our moral duty to Syrian refugees. National Post. N.p. 15 January 2014. Web.
When accepting the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award Angelina Jolie says “...across the world, there is a woman, with the same abilities and the same desires, same work ethic and love for her family, who would most likely make better films and better speeches. Only she sits in a refugee camp and she has no voice. She worries about what her children will eat, how to keep them safe, and if they’ll ever be allowed to return home. I don’t know why this is my life and that’s hers.” Life for a refugee in Syria is very hard and overwhelming. Many feel unsafe and have to watch their surroundings everywhere they go. Syrians now lack the chance to get an education or get a good paying job while the war between the Syrian Government and the Rebels is going on.
Globalisation has increased modern technology all over the world enabling more people, such as globally separated families, to maintain contact. Increased media coverage also draws the attention of the world to human rights violation which can lead to an improvement in human rights. This is not a reflection of all marginalised groups. In Australia, the detention of unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) contravenes the United Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), however the media are prohibited to enter detention centres and report on this issue (Cemlyn and Briskman, 2003).
The Responsibility to Protect doctrine is a United Nations (UN) initiative which was created to prevent the act of genocide (United Nations, 2014. pg. 1). According to the guidelines, states must maintain the utmost duty to halt and pre...
Print. The. Hymowitz, Sarah, and Amelia Parker. " Lessons - The Genocide Teaching Project - Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law." American University, Washington College of Law. American UniversityWashington College of Law Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, 2011.