Thursday 20 th June : World refugee day.

World refugee day : reflection par GDL.

Following the first and second world wars, many people in Europe were displaced
i.e. had to flee their own countries because of the remnants of the wars.
The Jews, most particularly, paid the price after the atrocities by the Germans under
Hitler and had to hide or flee from their counties of origin. It was a prelude to the
refugees (or displaced people) as we know them today. The refugees came from
Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Checkoslovakia looking for protection. They were
hosted by countries like France, Israel and as far as Australia  and the USA.
The advent of repressive and dictatorial regimes in Latin America also caused refugees
from Chile, El Salvador, Argentina  to flee persecutions.
Civil wars in Lebanon, Vietnam and Korea also added to the phenomenon of refugee.
In the new century, civil wars in Africa have added to the lot of refugees. Today the
war in Syria has caused 1.5 million Syrians to flee their country.

After World War II, in 1951,  leaders of many countries met in Geneva and signed the
Convention on Refugees. The 1967 protocol amended the Convention to include
universal coverage as it only applied to Europe. Among the many countries,
Australia also signed the convention, which means that it will accommodate refugees.
The convention also establishes the role and duties of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees.

The definition of a refugee according to the UNHCR  is :
"Any person who owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reason of
race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion,
is outside his/her country, is unable to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country."
The Convention also states that -
-Refugees should not be penalised for their illegal entry and stay in the host country
-The principles of non-refoulement is fundamental
-The refugees should have access to Courts, primary education, to work and even
  given a passport called the "Nansen passport"
- The state has to cooperate with the UNHCR in the function of its duties
- While protection is not permanent, once assessed the host country will grant refugee status.

The influx of boat people seeking asylum has become a political issue in Australia.
 It has become  a topic of fierce debates inside and outside parliament to the extent
 that some are advocating that Australia should walk out of the Geneva Convention.
According to the UNHCR, there are at date 45 million refugees wandering around the
world and Australia is accommodating only 0.3% of the refugees.
The same report writes that  Australia remains the preferred country of refugees.

The refugee issue and the non-stop arrival of boat people is a big problem for the Labor
 government who has tried everything to reduce the influx but seems to have failed lamentably.
The opposition accuses the actual government as responsible for this situation because
they dismantles the Howard solution when Kevin Rudd came to power. The opposition
says they have the solution to the problem i.e. they will reintroduce the pacific solution
and temporary protection visa (TPV) and turn back the boats. The Greens, for their part,
welcome all asylum seekers and keep reminding the government of its obligations under
the Geneva convention.

As all indications pointing to a change of government in the September general elections,
all eyes will be on Tony Abbott to stop the boats and turn them back. Failure to stop the
boats and deter asylum seekers to come to Australia, even during its first term
in office, will be regarded as a failure and lie from Tony Abbott.

GDL.