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Refugee: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Refugee
In 1540, the Edict of Fontainebleau stripped French Protestants of their legal rights, forcing hundreds of thousands to abandon their homes and seek sanctuary in distant lands. This event marked the first time the word refugee entered the English language, derived from the Latin fugere, meaning to flee, and refugium, a place to flee back to. Before this moment, the concept of seeking asylum in a holy place was known to ancient Greeks and Egyptians, but it was King Aethelberht of Kent who codified the right to seek sanctuary in law around AD 600. The Huguenots, as these French Protestants were called, fled to England, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and South Africa, creating a diaspora that would shape the modern understanding of displacement. Their flight was not merely a religious exodus but a political act that challenged the sovereignty of the French state and the Catholic Church. The term refugee evolved from meaning one seeking asylum to one fleeing home, a shift that would become critical during World War I when civilians in Flanders fled west to escape the fighting. The word's history is a testament to the enduring human struggle for safety in a world where borders and beliefs often collide.
The League And The Passport
The first international coordination of refugee affairs emerged in 1921 when the League of Nations established the High Commission for Refugees, appointing Fridtjof Nansen as its head. Nansen and his commission were tasked with assisting approximately 1.5 million people who had fled the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent civil war, most of them aristocrats fleeing the Communist government. By 1923, the mandate expanded to include over one million Armenians who had left Turkish Asia Minor in 1915 and 1923 due to events now known as the Armenian genocide. In 1930, the Nansen International Office for Refugees was established as a successor agency, and its most notable achievement was the Nansen passport, a refugee travel document for which it was awarded the 1938 Nobel Peace Prize. The Nansen Office managed to lead fourteen nations to ratify the 1933 Refugee Convention, an early and relatively modest attempt at a human rights charter, and assisted around one million refugees worldwide. Despite its achievements, the office was plagued by problems of financing, an increase in refugee numbers, and a lack of cooperation from some member states. The office was dissolved on the 31st of December 1938, replaced by the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees under the Protection of the League, coinciding with the flight of 500,000 Spanish Republicans to France after their defeat by the Nationalists in 1939.
When did the word refugee first enter the English language?
The word refugee entered the English language in 1540 following the Edict of Fontainebleau. This event stripped French Protestants of their legal rights and forced hundreds of thousands to abandon their homes. The term was derived from the Latin fugere meaning to flee and refugium meaning a place to flee back to.
Who was the head of the High Commission for Refugees established by the League of Nations in 1921?
Fridtjof Nansen served as the head of the High Commission for Refugees established by the League of Nations in 1921. His commission was tasked with assisting approximately 1.5 million people who had fled the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent civil war. The Nansen International Office for Refugees was established in 1930 as a successor agency to his work.
What is the legal definition of a refugee under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees?
Article 1.A.2 of the 1951 Convention defines a refugee as any person who owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race religion nationality membership of a particular social group or political opinion is outside the country of his nationality. Such a person is unable or owing to such fear is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country. This definition was confirmed in 1967 by the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.
How many internally displaced persons were recorded worldwide by 2022?
The number of internally displaced persons reached 57,321,197 by 2022 according to data comparing 1998 to 2014 and 2022. This dramatic rise reflects the changing nature of war with more internal conflicts replacing interstate wars. IDPs do not fit the legal definition of a refugee under the 1951 Refugee Convention because they have not left their country.
What is the principle of non-refoulement in international refugee law?
Non-refoulement is the right not to be returned to a place of persecution and serves as the foundation for international refugee law. This principle is outlined in Article 33 of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and is binding on states regardless of treaty obligations. The prohibition against returning a person to a place where they risk facing torture persecution or other serious harm is absolute.
What are the three durable solutions for refugees identified by the UNHCR?
The UNHCR identifies integration repatriation and resettlement as the three durable solutions for refugees. Integration and naturalisation aim at providing the refugee with the permanent right to stay in the country of asylum. Voluntary return involves the free will and informed decision of refugees to return to their country of origin in safety and dignity.
By the end of World War II, Europe had more than 40 million refugees, and the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was created to provide aid to areas liberated from Axis powers. The conflict and political instability led to massive numbers of refugees, with over 5 million displaced persons from the Soviet Union in Western Europe alone. About 3 million had been forced laborers in Germany and occupied territories, and the Soviet POWs and the Vlasov men were put under the jurisdiction of SMERSH. Of the 5.7 million Soviet prisoners of war captured by the Germans, 3.5 million had died while in German captivity by the end of the war. The survivors on their return to the USSR were treated as traitors, and over 1.5 million surviving Red Army soldiers imprisoned by the Nazis were sent to the Gulag. The International Refugee Organization was founded on the 20th of April 1946, and took over the functions of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, which was shut down in 1947. The organization was a temporary entity of the United Nations, which itself had been founded in 1945, with a mandate to largely finish the UNRRA's work of repatriating or resettling European refugees. It was dissolved in 1952 after resettling about one million refugees. The definition of a refugee at this time was an individual with either a Nansen passport or a certificate of identity issued by the International Refugee Organization. Controversially, the organization's constitution defined persons of German ethnic origin who had been expelled or were to be expelled from their countries of birth into postwar Germany as individuals who would not be the concern of the organization, excluding from its purview a group that exceeded in number all the other European displaced persons put together.
The Convention And The Law
Following World War II and in response to the large numbers of people fleeing Eastern Europe, the United Nations passed the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. It defines refugee in Article 1.A.2 as any person who, owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country. In 1967, the definition was basically confirmed by the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. People fleeing from war, natural disasters, or poverty are generally not encompassed by the international right of asylum, although many countries have implemented laws to protect these Displaced Persons. The Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa expanded the 1951 definition, which the Organization of African Unity adopted in 1969. The 1984 Latin-American Cartagena Declaration on Refugees included the definition of refugees as persons who have fled their country because their lives, safety or freedom have been threatened by generalized violence, foreign aggression, internal conflicts, massive violation of human rights or other circumstances which have seriously disturbed public order. The European Union passed minimum standards as part of its definition of refugee, underlined by article 2 (c) of Directive No. 2004/83/EC, essentially reproducing the narrow definition of refugee offered by the UN 1951 Convention. Nevertheless, by virtue of articles 2 (e) and 15 of the same Directive, persons who have fled a war-caused generalized violence are, under certain conditions, eligible for a complementary form of protection, called subsidiary protection.
The Camps And The Cities
A refugee camp is a place built by governments or NGOs to receive refugees, internally displaced persons or sometimes also other migrants. It is usually designed to offer acute and temporary accommodation and services, and any more permanent facilities and structures are often banned. People may stay in these camps for many years, receiving emergency food, education and medical aid until it is safe enough to return to their country of origin. There are estimated to be 700 refugee camp locations worldwide, and refugees are at risk of disease, child soldier and terrorist recruitment, and physical and sexual violence. However, not all refugees who are supported by the UNHCR live in refugee camps. A significant number, more than half, live in urban settings, such as the approximately 60,000 Iraqi refugees in Damascus and the approximately 30,000 Sudanese refugees in Cairo. The UNHCR's mandate has gradually been expanded to include protecting and providing humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons, who are civilians that have been forced to flee their homes but who have not reached a neighboring country. IDPs do not fit the legal definition of a refugee under the 1951 Refugee Convention, 1967 Protocol and the 1969 Organization for African Unity Convention, because they have not left their country. As the nature of war has changed in the last few decades, with more and more internal conflicts replacing interstate wars, the number of IDPs has increased significantly. The comparison between the number of refugees and IDPs who are supported by the UNHCR between 1998 and 2014, and 2022, shows a dramatic rise in the number of internally displaced persons, reaching 57,321,197 by 2022.
The Mental And The Physical
Refugees typically report poorer levels of health compared to other immigrants and the non-immigrant population, and a large percentage of refugees develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD involves anxiety, over-alertness, sleeplessness, motor difficulties, failing short term memory, amnesia, nightmares and sleep-paralysis. Flashbacks are characteristic to the disorder, as the patient experiences the traumatic event, or pieces of it, again and again. Depression is also characteristic for PTSD-patients and may also occur without accompanying PTSD. PTSD was diagnosed in 34.1% of Palestinian children, most of whom were refugees, males, and working. Another study showed that 28.3% of Bosnian refugee women had symptoms of PTSD three or four years after their arrival in Sweden. These women also had significantly higher risks of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and psychological distress than Swedish-born women. For depression, the odds ratio was 9.50 among Bosnian women. A study by the Department of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine demonstrated that twenty percent of Sudanese refugee minors living in the United States had a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. They were also more likely to have worse scores on all the Child Health Questionnaire subscales. In a study for the United Kingdom, refugees were found to be 4 percentage points more likely to report a mental health problem compared to the non-immigrant population. This contrasts with the results for other immigrant groups, which were less likely to report a mental health problem compared to the non-immigrant population. Many more studies illustrate the problem, and a meta-study conducted by the psychiatry department of Oxford University at Warneford Hospital in the United Kingdom found that in the larger studies, 9% were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and 5% with major depression, with evidence of much psychiatric co-morbidity.
The Rights And The Return
Non-refoulement is the right not to be returned to a place of persecution and is the foundation for international refugee law, as outlined in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The right to non-refoulement is distinct from the right to asylum. To respect the right to asylum, states must not deport genuine refugees. In contrast, the right to non-refoulement allows states to transfer genuine refugees to third party countries with respectable human rights records. The principle of non-refoulement is a principle of customary international law, binding on states regardless of treaty obligations. It is also grounded in Article 33 of the Refugee Convention, Article 3 of the Convention against Torture, and Articles 6, 7, and 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The prohibition against returning a person to a place where they risk facing torture, persecution, or other serious harm is absolute, meaning states cannot use national security or public order as reasons to violate it. The principle of non-refoulement applies to expulsions or returns in any manner, covering both direct and indirect measures. This includes the prohibition of indirect, chain, or secondary refoulement, which means a person should not be deported to a state from which they may face further deportation to a third state where they would be in danger. States are also prohibited from disembarking a refugee in the jurisdiction of another state if they cannot ensure that the refugee would be protected from onward refoulement and treated in accordance with international human rights standards. The principle of non-refoulement is considered a cornerstone of international refugee law and is a fundamental protection against being sent back to a place where one's life or freedom would be threatened.
The Future And The Numbers
Displacement is a long lasting reality for most refugees, and two-thirds of all refugees around the world have been displaced for over three years, which is known as being in protracted displacement. 50% of refugees, around 10 million people, have been displaced for over ten years. Protracted displacement can lead to detrimental effects on refugee employment and refugee workforce integration, exacerbating the effect of the canvas ceiling. Protracted displacement leads to skills to atrophy, leading qualifications and experiences to be outdated and incompatible to the changing working environments of receiving countries by the time refugees resettle. The Overseas Development Institute has found that aid programmes need to move from short-term models of assistance to more sustainable long-term programmes that help refugees become more self-reliant. This can involve tackling difficult legal and economic environments, by improving social services, job opportunities and laws. The UNHCR's ultimate goal is to find one of the three durable solutions for refugees: integration, repatriation, resettlement. Integration and naturalisation is aiming at providing the refugee with the permanent right to stay in the country of asylum, including, in some situations, as a naturalized citizen. Voluntary return of refugees into their country of origin, in safety and dignity, is based on their free will and their informed decision. In the last couple of years parts of or even whole refugee populations were able to return to their home countries, such as 120,000 Congolese refugees returning from the Republic of Congo to the DRC, 30,000 Angolans returning home from the DRC and Botswana, Ivorian refugees returning from Liberia, Afghans from Pakistan, and Iraqis from Syria. In 2013, the governments of Kenya and Somalia also signed a tripartite agreement facilitating the repatriation of refugees from Somalia. The UNHCR and the IOM offer assistance to refugees who want to return voluntarily to their home countries. Many developed countries also have Assisted Voluntary Return programmes for asylum seekers who want to go back or were refused asylum. Third country resettlement involves the assisted transfer of refugees from the country in which they have sought asylum to a safe third country that has agreed to admit them as refugees. This can be for permanent settlement or limited to a certain number of years. It is the third durable solution and it can only be considered once the two other solutions have proved impossible. The UNHCR has traditionally seen resettlement as the least preferable of the durable solutions to refugee situations, but in April 2000, the then UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, stated that resettlement can no longer be seen as the least-preferred durable solution, as in many cases it is the only solution for refugees.