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The People in Search of SecurityAwake!—2002 | January 22
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The People in Search of Security
“The end of the 20th Century has not brought an end to the bloodshed and persecution that force people to run for their lives. Tens of millions of people have ushered in the new millennium in refugee camps and at other temporary shelters, afraid that they will be killed if they dare to return to their homes.”—Bill Frelick, U.S. Committee for Refugees.
JACOB had a dream. He dreamed of a place where people could live in peace, where bombs would not kill his family’s goats, and where he could go to school.
People in his town told him that such a place really existed, although it was a long distance away. His father said that the journey was too dangerous, since some had died of thirst and hunger on the way. But when a neighbor whose husband had been killed set off with her two children, Jacob decided that he would make the journey alone.
Jacob carried neither food nor clothing, and on the first day, he just ran and ran. The road to safety was strewn with bodies. On the following day, he met a woman from his town who said that he could accompany her and her companions. They walked for days, passing deserted villages. On one occasion they had to cross a minefield, where one of their group was killed. For food, they ate leaves.
Ten days later, people started dying of hunger and exhaustion. Soon thereafter, planes attacked them. Finally, Jacob crossed the border and arrived at a refugee camp. He now goes to school, and the sound of aircraft no longer frightens him. All the planes he now sees carry food instead of bombs. But he misses his family, and he would like to go back home.
There are millions of “Jacobs” around the world. Many of them have been traumatized by war and suffer from hunger and thirst. Few have known a normal family life, and many will never return to their homes. They are the poorest of the world’s poor.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees divides these impoverished wanderers into two groups. A refugee is defined as someone who flees his country because of a well-founded fear of persecution or violence. An internally displaced person has likewise been forced to leave his home because of war or similar grave dangers, but he still resides in his own country.a
Nobody knows for sure how many refugees and displaced persons eke out a living in makeshift camps or how many wander helplessly from place to place in search of security. According to some sources, the total worldwide figure may be about 40 million, and half of them are children. Where do they all come from?
A Problem of Our Time
The refugee problem took on a new dimension at the end of the first world war. In the aftermath of that war, empires were dismantled and ethnic minorities persecuted. As a result, millions of Europeans sought asylum in countries other than their own. The second world war—much more devastating than its predecessor—sent millions more fleeing from their homes. Since 1945, wars have become more localized, but they are just as traumatic for the civilian populations caught in the cross fire.
“Although war has always generated some refugees, only in the twentieth century has international conflict affected entire populations,” explains Gil Loescher in his 1993 book Beyond Charity—International Cooperation and the Global Refugee Crisis. “The elimination of the distinction between combatants and noncombatants produced vast numbers of refugees who were desperate to escape the ravages of indiscriminate violence.”
Furthermore, many of today’s conflicts are civil wars that take a terrible toll not only on men of military age but also on women and children. Fueled by deep-rooted ethnic and religious divisions, some of these conflicts seem interminable. In one African country, where the current phase of civil war has already dragged on for 18 years, there are four million internally displaced persons, while hundreds of thousands more have fled abroad.
Invariably, the only way that war-weary civilians can escape the violence is to leave home. “Refugees leave their homeland and seek admission to another country not from choice or for reasons of personal convenience, but out of absolute necessity,” explains the book The State of the World’s Refugees 1997-98. Nowadays, however, gaining admission to another country may not be that easy.
During the 1990’s, the worldwide total of refugees dropped from about 17 million to 14 million. This apparent improvement, however, is misleading. It is estimated that during the same decade, the number of internally displaced persons reached between 25 million and 30 million. What is happening?
Getting official recognition as a refugee has become more difficult for various reasons. Countries may be reluctant to accept refugees, either because they cannot cope with a massive influx or because they have real concerns that a large refugee population could bring economic and political instability. Sometimes, however, terrified civilians do not even have the stamina, the food, or the money to make the long trek to the border. Their only option is to move to a safer area within their own country.
The Growing Tide of Economic Refugees
Along with the millions of bona fide refugees are millions of other impoverished people who seek to improve their lot in life the only way they know how—by moving to a country where living conditions are much better.
On February 17, 2001, a rusty old freighter ran aground on the French coast. Its cargo consisted of about a thousand men, women, and children, who had been at sea for nearly a week without food. They had paid $2,000 a head for this hazardous journey, without even knowing to which country they were going. The captain and the crew disappeared soon after beaching the ship. But fortunately the frightened passengers were rescued, and the French government promised to consider their requests for asylum. Millions like them attempt similar journeys every year.
Most of these economic migrants willingly face severe hardships and uncertainties. Somehow they scrape together the money for the trip because at home, poverty, violence, discrimination, or repressive regimes—and sometimes a combination of all four—make life seem hopeless.
Not a few perish in their attempt to find a better life. During the last decade, about 3,500 migrants drowned or disappeared while attempting to cross the Strait of Gibraltar from Africa into Spain. In the year 2000, fifty-eight Chinese migrants suffocated while hidden in a truck taking them from Belgium to England. Countless more migrants die of thirst in the Sahara when their overloaded, ramshackle trucks break down in the middle of the desert.
Despite the dangers, the ranks of the world’s economic refugees are swelling inexorably. About half a million people are smuggled into Europe each year; and another 300,000, into the United States. Back in 1993, the United Nations Population Fund estimated the worldwide number of migrants to be 100 million, of which over a third had settled in Europe and the United States. Since then, the number has doubtless increased considerably.
Many of these migrants never find the security they seek. And few refugees find a safe and permanent refuge. All too frequently, these wanderers exchange one set of problems for another. The following article will take a closer look at some of these problems and their underlying causes.
[Footnote]
a In this series of articles, when we refer to displaced persons, we are not including the 90 million to 100 million people who have been forcibly displaced for development programs such as dams, mining, forestry, or agricultural schemes.
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Finding a Place to Call Their OwnAwake!—2002 | January 22
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Finding a Place to Call Their Own
“Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.”—John Howard Payne.
FIRST came the war, a war that never ended. Then came the drought, a drought that never relented. On the heels of the drought came the famine. And people did the only thing they could do—they abandoned their homes in search of water, food, and work.
They arrived by the thousands at the border post. But in recent years a million refugees had already been admitted, and the neighboring country would accept no more. Border police with truncheons made sure that nobody slipped through.
A local immigration official bluntly described the reasons for halting the surging tide of refugees. “They don’t pay taxes. They wreck the roads. They cut down the trees. They use up the water. No, we don’t want any more.”a
Such tragic scenes are becoming all too common. Uprooted people discover that it is more and more difficult to find a place they can call their own. “As the number of people seeking protection has increased, so too has the reluctance of states to provide that protection,” explained a recent Amnesty International report.
The fortunate ones who do make it to a refugee camp may find safety of sorts, but it rarely seems like home. And the conditions in the camp may be far from ideal.
Life in Refugee Camps
“You might die [at home] of a bullet, but here [in the refugee camp] your children will die of hunger,” complained one African refugee. As this desperate father discovered, many camps suffer persistent shortages of food and water as well as a dearth of hygiene and adequate shelter. The reasons are simple. Developing countries that suddenly find themselves inundated with many thousands of refugees may already be struggling just to feed their own citizens. They cannot provide much help to the multitudes who suddenly appear on their doorstep. And the wealthier nations, faced with their own problems, may be reluctant to help support the many refugees in other countries.
When over two million people fled one African country in 1994, the hastily built refugee camps inevitably lacked water and proper sanitation. As a result, an outbreak of cholera killed thousands before it was finally brought under control. To make matters worse, armed combatants mixed in with the civilian refugees and quickly took over the distribution of relief items. This problem was not unique. “The presence of armed elements amongst refugee populations has exposed civilians to increased risks. It has made them vulnerable to intimidation, harassment and forced recruitment,” states a United Nations report.
Local people may also suffer from the huge influx of hungry refugees. In the Great Lakes region of Africa, some officials complained: “[The refugees] have destroyed our food reserves, destroyed our fields, our cattle, our natural parks, caused famine and spread epidemics . . . [They] benefit from food aid while we get nothing.”
Nevertheless, the thorniest problem may be the fact that many provisional refugee camps end up as permanent settlements. For example, in one country in the Middle East, some 200,000 refugees are squeezed into a camp originally built for a quarter of that number. “We have nowhere to go,” one of them bitterly explained. These long-suffering refugees face severe employment restrictions in their host country, and as many as 95 percent are reckoned to be unemployed or underemployed. “I honestly don’t know how [they] make ends meet,” a refugee official admitted.
But if conditions sound bad in the refugee camps, they may be even worse for those displaced persons who cannot leave their own country.
The Misery of Displacement
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, “the scale and scope of this problem, the human suffering which underlies it, as well as its impact on international peace and security, have rightly made internal displacement an issue of great international concern.” For several reasons, these homeless people are usually more vulnerable than refugees.
No international organization cares for the welfare of displaced persons, and their desperate plight often draws scant attention from the media. Their own governments, bogged down in a military conflict of one sort or another, may be unwilling or unable to protect them. Families are frequently broken up during their flight from danger zones. Often forced to travel on foot, some displaced persons do not even survive the march to a place of greater security.
Many of these uprooted people seek refuge in cities, where they are limited to a meager existence in shantytowns or abandoned buildings. Others congregate in makeshift camps, which sometimes suffer armed attacks. Usually, their mortality rate is higher than that of any other group in the country.
Even well-meaning relief efforts organized to alleviate the suffering of these displaced persons can boomerang. The State of the World’s Refugees 2000 explains: “During the last decade of the 20th century, humanitarian organizations operating in war-torn countries saved thousands of lives and did much to mitigate human suffering. One of the central lessons of the decade, however, was that in conflict situations humanitarian action can easily be manipulated by warring parties, and it can have the unintended consequence of strengthening the positions of authorities responsible for human rights violations. Also, relief supplies provided by humanitarian organizations can feed into war economies, helping to sustain and prolong war.”
The Search for a Better Life-Style
Besides refugees and internally displaced persons, there is a growing tide of economic refugees. There are several reasons for this. The gap between the rich countries of the world and the poor ones keeps growing, and television programs daily flaunt the affluent life-styles of certain countries in front of some of the poorest citizens of the globe. Worldwide travel has become easier, and borders are getting more porous. Civil wars as well as ethnic and religious discrimination also provide strong motivation for people to move to more prosperous lands.
But while some migrants—especially those who already have relatives in industrialized countries—make the move successfully, others end up ruining their lives. Those who fall into the hands of criminal traffickers face particular danger. (See the accompanying boxes.) A family would do well to consider carefully these dangers before migrating for economic reasons.
In 1996 an old boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea, and 280 people drowned. The victims were emigrants from India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka who had paid between $6,000 and $8,000 for their passage to Europe. Before the shipwreck, they had already endured weeks of hunger, thirst, and physical abuse. Their “journey to prosperity” turned into a nightmare that ended in tragedy.
Practically every refugee, displaced person, or irregular migrant has his own nightmare to relate. Whatever the reason for which these people have been uprooted from their homes—be it war, persecution, or poverty—their suffering provokes the questions: Will this problem ever be solved? Or will the flood of refugees just keep on growing?
[Footnote]
a The situation described above occurred in March 2001 in an Asian country. But similar problems have also arisen in some African countries.
[Box/Picture on page 8]
The Plight of Irregular Migrants
Apart from refugees and displaced persons, there are somewhere between 15 million and 30 million “irregular migrants” throughout the world. Most of these are people who hope to escape poverty—and maybe prejudice and persecution as well—in richer countries.
Since the possibilities for legal migration have diminished in recent years, a new illegal trade in migrants has sprung up. In fact, the trafficking of migrants has now become a lucrative business for international crime syndicates. Some investigators calculate that it generates profits of $12 billion a year, with very little risk to the traffickers. Pino Arlacchi, a United Nations under-secretary-general, called this “the fastest-growing criminal market in the world.”
Irregular migrants have practically no legal protection, and their passports are invariably confiscated by the traffickers. Such migrants may be found in sweatshops, in domestic employment, in the fishing industry, or in agricultural work. Some end up as prostitutes. If they are caught by the authorities, they will likely be repatriated, penniless. If they object to their harsh working conditions, they may be beaten or sexually abused or even have their families back home threatened with violence.
Often criminal gangs lure potential migrants with promises of high-paying jobs. As a result, an impoverished family may mortgage all their possessions just to send one member to Europe or the United States. If the migrant cannot pay his expenses, he will be expected to work off the debt, which may be as high as $40,000. The ‘new life’ he was promised turns out to be more like slave labor.
[Picture]
Illegal refugees in Spain
[Box/Picture on page 9]
Innocence Destroyed
Siri’s family lived in the hills of Southeast Asia, where her parents tended their rice fields. One day a woman told her parents that she could get Siri a well-paying job in the city. Her offer of $2,000—a small fortune for the hill farmers—was hard to refuse. Soon, however, Siri found herself in bondage to a brothel. The owners told her that to earn her freedom, she would have to repay them $8,000. Siri was 15 years old at the time.
It was impossible for Siri to pay off this debt. Beatings and sexual abuse coerced her into cooperating. As long as she was useful, she would never be set free. The harsh reality is that many such prostitutes are eventually freed—but only to return to their villages to die of AIDS.
A similar trade is thriving in other parts of the world. A 1999 report entitled International Trafficking in Women to the United States estimated that between 700,000 and 2,000,000 women and children are trafficked each year, many of them for prostitution. Some may be deceived, others are just kidnapped; but practically all of them are forced to work against their will. A teenager from Eastern Europe who was rescued from a prostitution gang said regarding her captors: “I never thought this was possible. These people are animals.”
Some unfortunate victims have even been picked up in refugee camps, where promises of jobs and good money in Europe or the United States can be irresistible. For countless women, the search for a better life has led them into sexual slavery.
[Box/Pictures on page 10]
Count the Cost Before Migrating for Economic Reasons
In view of the many criminal gangs involved in trafficking migrants and the difficulty of immigrating legally to countries of the developed world, husbands and fathers should carefully consider the following questions before making a decision.
1. Is our economic situation really so desperate that one or all of the family must move to a country where wages are higher?
2. How much debt would we incur to finance the trip, and how will the debt be repaid?
3. Is it worth breaking up the family for economic advantages that may prove unrealistic? Many illegal migrants find it practically impossible to obtain regular employment in developed countries.
4. Should I believe the stories about high wages and social benefits? The Bible says that “anyone inexperienced puts faith in every word, but the shrewd one considers his steps.”—Proverbs 14:15.
5. What guarantee do I have that we would not be putting ourselves in the hands of a criminal organization?
6. If such a criminal group did organize the journey, do I understand that my wife—or my daughter—might well find herself forced to work as a prostitute?
7. Do I realize that if I enter a country as an illegal immigrant, I may be unable to obtain fixed employment and could be repatriated, losing all the money I have invested in the journey?
8. Do I want to consider becoming an illegal immigrant or resorting to dishonest measures in order to gain admittance to a wealthier country?—Matthew 22:21; Hebrews 13:18.
[Diagram/Map on page 8, 9]
(For fully formatted text, see publication)
Movement of Refugees and Migrant Workers
Areas with major populations of refugees and displaced persons
→ Principal movements of migrant workers
[Credit Lines]
Sources: The State of the World’s Refugees; The Global Migration Crisis; and World Refugee Survey 1999.
Mountain High Maps® Copyright © 1997 Digital Wisdom, Inc.
[Picture on page 7]
A refugee awaits resettlement
[Credit Line]
UN PHOTO 186226/M. Grafman
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A World Where Everyone BelongsAwake!—2002 | January 22
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A World Where Everyone Belongs
“Since refugees are a global problem, the search for solutions must also be global.”—Gil Loescher, professor of international relations.
THE young couple left under the cover of night. Concerned about their safety, the husband wasted no time, even though they had a young child. He had heard that the country’s ruthless dictator was planning a murderous attack on the town. After an arduous journey of over a hundred miles, the family finally crossed the border to safety.
This humble family later became known the world over. The name of the child was Jesus, and his parents were Mary and Joseph. These refugees did not leave their land in order to search for material wealth. Rather, theirs was a life-threatening situation. Why, their child was the target of the attack!
Like many other refugees, Joseph and his family eventually returned to their homeland when the political situation improved. But their timely flight undoubtedly helped save the life of their young child. (Matthew 2:13-16) Egypt, their host country, had a history of accepting both political and economic refugees. Many centuries earlier, Jesus’ forefathers had found refuge in Egypt when a famine desolated the land of Canaan.—Genesis 45:9-11.
Safe but Not Satisfied
Scriptural as well as modern-day examples testify that flight to another country can mean the difference between life and death. Nevertheless, it is still a traumatic experience for any family to abandon their home. Humble though it may be, it likely represents years of investment in time and money. And it may also be a family inheritance that ties them to their culture and their land. Furthermore, refugees can take few, if any, belongings with them. Thus, refugees are invariably plunged into poverty, irrespective of their former circumstances.
The initial feeling of relief on reaching safety can quickly evaporate if the future seems to offer no more than life in a refugee camp. And the longer the refugee condition lasts, the more oppressive it becomes, especially if there is no integration with the local people. Refugees, like everyone else, want to have permanent roots somewhere. A refugee camp is hardly an ideal place to raise a family. Will the time eventually come when everyone will have a place to call home?
Is Repatriation the Answer?
During the 1990’s, about nine million uprooted people finally returned to their homes. For some of these people, it was a joyful occasion, and they eagerly set about reconstructing their lives. But for others, the mood was one of resignation. They returned merely because their situation had become unbearable in their country of asylum. The problems they experienced in exile were so acute that they decided they would be better off back home, despite the insecurity that they would undoubtedly face.
Even in the best of circumstances, repatriation involves hardships because it means being totally uprooted for a second time. “Each relocation is accompanied with a loss of the means of livelihood, such as land, jobs, homes and livestock,” explains The State of the World’s Refugees 1997-98. “And each relocation marks the start of a tough restoration process.” One study of repatriated refugees in central Africa reported that “for the refugees who had received assistance in exile, the return could be more difficult than the experience of exile itself.”
Even more distressing, however, is the situation of millions of refugees who are forced to return to their home country against their will. What conditions await them? “Returnees may have to survive in a situation where the rule of law hardly exists, where banditry and violent crime are rife, where demobilized soldiers prey on the civilian population and where light weapons are available to most of the population,” stated a United Nations report. Evidently, such hostile environments do not satisfy even the basic security needs of these uprooted people.
Building a World Where Everyone Is Secure
Forced or reluctant repatriations will never solve refugee problems if the underlying causes are not addressed. Mrs. Sadako Ogata, former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, stated in 1999: “The events of this decade—and, indeed, those of the past year—indicate very clearly that refugee issues cannot be discussed without reference to security.”
And an acute lack of security afflicts millions of people around the globe. Kofi Annan, United Nations secretary-general, explains: “In some parts of the world, states have collapsed as a result of internal and communal conflicts, depriving their citizens of any effective protection. Elsewhere, human security has been jeopardized by governments which refuse to act in the common interest, which persecute their opponents and punish innocent members of minority groups.”
Wars, persecution, and ethnic violence—the fundamental causes of insecurity that Kofi Annan described—usually have their roots in hatred, prejudice, and injustice. These evils will not be uprooted easily. Does that mean that the refugee problem will inevitably get worse?
If matters were left in human hands, that would undoubtedly be the outcome. But in the Bible, God promises that “he is making wars to cease to the extremity of the earth.” (Psalm 46:9) Through his prophet Isaiah, he likewise describes a time when people “will certainly build houses and have occupancy; and they will certainly plant vineyards and eat their fruitage. . . . They will not toil for nothing, nor will they bring to birth for disturbance; because they are the offspring made up of the blessed ones of Jehovah, and their descendants with them.” (Isaiah 65:21-23) Such conditions would indeed eliminate the refugee problem. Are they achievable?
“Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed,” states the preamble of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Our Creator well knows that a change of thinking is needed. The same prophet explains why everyone on earth will one day dwell in security: “They will not do any harm or cause any ruin in all my holy mountain; because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea.”—Isaiah 11:9.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have already discovered that the knowledge of Jehovah can overcome prejudice and hatred. In their international preaching work, they seek to promote Christian values that instill love instead of hatred, even in war-torn countries. They also offer whatever help they reasonably can to refugees.
On the other hand, they realize that the complete solution to the refugee problem lies with God’s appointed King, Jesus Christ. He certainly understands how easily hatred and violence can destroy people’s lives. The Bible assures us that he will judge the lowly ones with righteousness. (Isaiah 11:1-5) Under his heavenly rule, the will of God will be done on the earth, as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9, 10) When that day dawns, nobody will ever need to become a refugee. And everyone will have a place to call home.
[Box on page 12]
What Is Needed to Solve the Refugee Problem?
“Meeting the needs of the world’s displaced people—both refugees and the internally displaced—is much more complex than simply providing short-term security and assistance. It is about addressing the persecution, violence and conflict which bring about displacement in the first place. It is about recognizing the human rights of all men, women and children to enjoy peace, security and dignity without having to flee their homes.”—The State of the World’s Refugees 2000.
[Box/Pictures on page 13]
What Solution Does God’s Kingdom Provide?
“Everywhere in the land righteousness and justice will be done. Because everyone will do what is right, there will be peace and security for ever. God’s people will be free from worries, and their homes peaceful and safe.”—Isaiah 32:16-18, Today’s English Version.
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