“Refugees are Human Beings” from an American that lives in SE ASIA

WE do not usual write about politics and try to just share the beauty of SE Asia with information to help you enjoy your stay here.

There are 4 reasons a country or people may object to helping.  FEAR IGNORANCE HATE or ECONOMICS

I am an American, Christian and live in SE Asia for a number of years.  I worked in Iraq as an american contractor so have seen what war does to families.  First refugees is a moral issue for me so that is the main factor shaping my view.  My grandfather was also an immigrant from Bohemia that came to America in the late 1890s to have a better life, so my family heritage.   I write this because have seen a number of americans some politicians, friends, and family that are against the US accepting Syrian refugees. This saddens me and is embarrassing but most of all disgusting!  Number of “want to be President of America” using fear and ignorance as a means to get votes! Not inspiring  americans but bringing out the worst in mankind.   Also, the Syrian refugees are not the only refugees, as in SE Asia the Rohingya Refugees is also a crisis!  The number of refugees around the world is a huge number “The latest figures available show that the number of refugees of concern to UNHCR in mid-2014 stood at 13 million refugees, up from a year earlier” UNHCR  “The refugees of concern to UNHCR are spread around the world, with half in Asia and some 28 per cent in Africa. They live in widely varying conditions, from well-established camps and collective centres to makeshift shelters or living in the open.” Wikipedia “At the end of 2014, there were 19.5 million refugees worldwide 14.4 million under UNHCR‘s mandate, plus 5.1 million Palestinian refugees under UNRWA‘s mandate)”

Photos from Google Photos

Syrian Refugees

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Rohingya Refugees

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Refugee and immigration or fleeing religious persecution, economic hardship is not new.  America was founded by people fleeing Europe from religious intolerance  and poverty. 

Flowing Across Borders

text from UNHCR

The practice of granting asylum to people fleeing persecution in foreign lands is one of the earliest hallmarks of civilization. References to it have been found in texts written 3,500 years ago, during the blossoming of the great early empires in the Middle East such as the Hittites, Babylonians, Assyrians and ancient Egyptians.

Global migration patterns have become increasingly complex in modern times, involving not just refugees, but also millions of economic migrants. But refugees and migrants, even if they often travel in the same way, are fundamentally different, and for that reason are treated very differently under modern international law.

Migrants, especially economic migrants, choose to move in order to improve the future prospects of themselves and their families. Refugees have to move if they are to save their lives or preserve their freedom. They have no protection from their own state – indeed it is often their own government that is threatening to persecute them. If other countries do not let them in, and do not help them once they are in, then they may be condemning them to death – or to an intolerable life in the shadows, without sustenance and without rights.

An Introduction to Statelessness

text from UNHCR

People are often asked, at some point in their lives, what nationality they have. However, not many question how and why they have acquired their nationality. Is nationality something we are born with? Is it something we acquire? Can we lose it? The answer to these questions is yes. However, unless you have encountered problems with your nationality, you probably take it for granted.

Having a nationality is something so natural that people rarely stop to think about what life would be like without it. But at least 10 million people worldwide have no nationality. That is the same as the combined populations of Norway and Denmark. Moreover, most of these 10 million people are stateless by no fault of their own. Statelessness – not having a nationality – occurs because of discrimination against certain groups; redrawing of borders; and gaps in nationality laws.

The constant in all of this is that someone without a nationality cannot live the same life as someone with a nationality:

• Try to get an ID card if you have no nationality;
• Try opening a bank account without an ID card;
• Try to board a flight without a passport;
• Try to enrol in university without proof of nationality.

These things are impossible for stateless people to do in a way that is safe and dignified. So imagine a lifetime of obstacles and disappointment and imagine 10 million people who cannot achieve their full potential.

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