Refugee is an important term and concept existing in international studies. In order to understand the problems confronting refugees, we must first know the definition and the concept of refugee.
According to Matthew Lister, he does not accept broader definition of refugee. Instead, Lister stands with the core elements of refugee definition which was established in the 1967 Protocol to the United Nations Convention Refugee Convention (Lister, 2013). The definition has given specific characteristics for the chosen group whereby refugee protection is appropriate for them. A broader refugee definition may cause problems.
He defends what he calls a ‘wide reading of a narrow definition’ of refugees. Basically, he argues that a suitably wide reading
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All of the major terms in this definition are legal terms, which had been studied based on law by various courts and by the UNHCR. Lister does not argue the well-established meanings of these terms, but he argues the terms can be read in a broad way. By this, we can understand much of the traditional jurisprudence, which is important to ensure refugees get the protection they
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Those who do not fear persecution are not considered in this definition, for instance, people escaping from natural disasters, because they do not have a fear of persecution. In addition, even though the individuals do face persecution, they are not considered as refugees if they are not ‘on the basis of’ of one of the protected grounds. Even those who face persecution on the basis of a protected ground, they cannot be declared as refugees because they are not outside their country of citizenship. The most controversial notion is that those who have been driven from their homes but who have not crossed international borders, so-called ‘Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs), are not in the definition of refugee, even though they have all the characteristics of a refugee except that they have not crossed an international border. The UNHCR has played their part in helping such persons in the last thirty or so years, but has still not considered them as refugees which makes them hard to have full benefits of what refugees should get. Hence, Lister aims to portray that these restrictions have a rational
One of the more disconcerting aspects of Bill C-31 is the newly adopted Designated Country of Origin (DCO) legislation which has permanently labeled particular nations as “safe”. Consequently, individuals claiming refugee status who originate from these countries no longer have the same rights and privileges afforded to their refugee counterparts from other nations (“Overview of C-31,” 2013). In turn, this has led to a dichotomy between those who view this change as necessary in order to diminish the influx of embellished and falsified refugee claims and those who view this policy as discriminatory and prejudiced towards people originating from certain nations.
danger in their country. A Refugee is also a person or family who cannot return to fear of
My essay focuses on discrimination as one of the main challenges that refugees face. I discuss some instances of discrimination that occurred in the book, whether based on race or culture,
Phillips, J. (2011), ‘Asylum seekers and refugees: What are the facts?’, Background note, Parliamentry library, Canberra.
The life of a refugee is not just a life of trials and ordeals, but also has rewards for those who pushed through the pain.
Refugees do not simply choose to be “refugees.” There are many aspects that go into account when displacement occurs. War is often associated with refugee displacement. Even a simple task of walking in the streets can be dangerous. In an interview with Time magazine, Syrian refugee Faez al Sharaa says that he was held up at gunpoint with three other people in his homeland after soldiers accused him of being a terrorist. "We felt death upon us," Sharaa said (Altman 24). His backyard turned into a battle ground, while young kids were fighting for their lives (Altman 24). War
There are many oppressive factors that exist in contemporary Canadian society that disadvantages and often alienates refugees. These oppressive factors exist in social, religious, cultural, political, and economic spheres within society. There are many political barriers that exist that oppress and limit the amount of refugees that can safely flee to Canada. An example of political and social barriers that inhibit the admission of refugees is increased border security. Border security has reached a point where it is too difficult for some refugees to safely flee a harmful environment, and this violates international law which outlines that each state has to respect an individual’s right to seek refuge in any nation. Implementing more restrictive
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 ...
Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and even until today, the United States has been a top destination for refugees. Despite our physical isolation from most of the rest of the world, we simply have the space and capabilities to deal with asylum seekers more so than most other nations worldwide. Our nation as we know it was essentially founded by these refugees, individuals coming from Europe to seek prosecution based on religious and ideological persecution. However, our national mindset as certainly changed since then. Now, refugee issues are far more contentious, especially recently. Due to the large volume of those trying to seek asylum within our boarders, we have several programs in place to ensure that we are only admitting those who need to be admitted and that once they arrive, they won’t end up trapped in dangerous and under regulated campsites. These programs include everything from unaccompanied children, to health promotion, and microenterprise development among other things. One of the largest, oldest, and most influential programs is
A refugee is defined as an individual who has been forced to leave their country due to political or religious reasons, or due to a threat of war or violence. There were 19.5 million refugees worldwide at the end of 2014, 14.4 million under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), around 2.9 million more than in 2013. The other 5.1 million Palestinian refugees are registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). With the displacement of so many people, it is difficult to find countries willing to accept all the refugees. There are over 125 different countries that currently host refugees, and with this commitment comes the responsibility of ensuring these refugees have access to the basic requirements of life: a place to live, food to eat, and a form of employment or access to education.
a topic of great debate for many years, both in the UK and across many
The first chapter of the book provides a highly informative background and history to the concept of refugees, as well as their relevance to the modern international political system. The authors importantly point out that defining a refugee is not simply a matter of academic concern because resulting definitions may mean the difference between life and death for people in conflict zones. Defining a refugee involves political and ethical considerations, inevitably creating disagreement regarding the issue. For example, when refugees are defined in a certain way by the United Nations, research will consequently revolve around such definitions and will help support the status quo of the institut...
Nationality is between a country and a person, sometimes the people who are no relate to any country, call stateless. Also some of the stateless can be refugees, these two groups of people is care by UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). Nationless is a very big problem; it may affect more than 10 billion people in this world. Everyone in the world can be having their human right, but some activity in country only able nationals to participate, for example: election. Also much of the stateless didn't have their right, they may never get the ID of the country, just get in to jail, losing the chance of education and health services or can’t get a job (UNHCR, 2014). This article is talking about what power of the nation states has to manage issues and effect the beyond national boundaries. By the refugee Convention (1967), refugees can be applying t person who is fear to persecute by race, religion, nationality, or the member of a social group and government. In this person is don't want himself protect by that country who fear, also don't want to return to that country. By the divide of UNHCR, there are four types of people, which they care: Asylum-Seeker, Stateless people, Internally Displaced People and Returnees. Asylum-Seeker refers to the person who is finding the international protection, not all the asylum-seeker final can be a refugee, but all the refugees begin is an asylum-seeker. Stateless people refer to who are not relating to any country and national. Internally displaced people refer to the people who are forced to leave their home because of the wars, or some human problem, and getting in to another country from the border. Returnees refer to the people who return to their own country, they are supported by UNHCR when they arrive (UNHCR, 2014). The nation state is a country; they have the political legitimacy from serving as a sovereign entity. A country is mix by culture and nation that mean a nation state may in the same place. Much of the nation state is forms by a people with a polity
I have developed a personal standpoint a personal standpoint to demonstrate that I can identify, consider and form a personal opinion on a global issue.
A refugee is defined to be a person who has been forced to leave their country due to the external environment and personal circumstances which may pose a threat to them. [ ] An asylum seeker is a person who has left their home country and to seek asylum in another. [ ] By these definitions it is evident that refugees and asylum seekers have been through a substantial amount of struggle in their home countries and seek refuge in a country which provides them with safety and a ‘normal’ life. The media is often perceived as a great method upon which one can build awareness regarding their society on both a local and global scale, and exposure to it has grown exponentially with the rise in live news reports and social media.