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Ahead of World Refugee Day, the UNHCR released updated figures that highlight the scale of the global forced migration crisis. They highlight an escalating catastrophe that is now impacting almost every region of the world.
The figures show a sharp spike in the numbers to nearly 60 million people displaced by wars, conflict and persecution. This is a huge increase on last year’s figures of 51 million and has been largely driven by the Syria conflict. The figures include people internally displaced within their own countries, refugees and asylum seekers. Over half of the 19.5 million refugees are children.
Unless concerted international action is taken, things will only worsen. The UNHCR is now warning of "an unchecked slide into an era in which the scale of global forced displacement as well as the response required is now clearly dwarfing anything seen before." The news stories of the last few months have told us as much.
Thousands of migrants from across West, North and East Africa and Syria have died while being trafficked across the Mediterranean. In Southeast Asia, desperate migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh, bought and sold as chattel on their journey to escape poverty and discrimination, have ended up in mass graves in Malaysian jungle camps. In Northern Iraq, minority Christians and Yazidis have fled extremist violence to seek refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey.
The forced migration problem has become a worldwide phenomenon requiring a global response and the international political will to address the push factors.
These factors are rooted in extreme poverty and conflict. In Central America gang violence and poverty have led to tens of thousands of frightened parents sending children, many not even in their teens, on a dangerous, unaccompanied journey to the United States. Many do this because gangs threaten to kill or kidnap their youngsters if they don’t pay extortion money.
In the new nation of South Sudan, at least half a million refugees have fled to neighbouring countries like Kenya to escape fighting brought about by political rivalry and tribal conflict. Kenya, which itself is already hosting 350,000 Somalis in the world’s largest refugee camp complex at Dadaab, has threatened to shutter the camp and force their return to an impoverished nation.
And then there is Syria, the worst humanitarian crisis in a generation. During four years of civil war, four million people have fled. Most are languishing in camps, informal settlements, half-built office buildings and on the street in Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan and elsewhere.
Current solutions are reactive, varied and inadequate. In Australia, boat-borne migrants originally from Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere are diverted to Papua New Guinea and Nauru for processing. Migrant boats are also towed back into Indonesian waters. In Europe, governments talk of tackling the migrant problem by destroying the boats and targeting traffickers, while discussions about equitably sharing refugees among European countries have failed.
The U.S. has toughened border patrols and launched an education campaign that warned Central American nations that migrant children would be sent back.
Much of the displacement is coming from what humanitarians call conflict and “fragile states”. In fragile states central government has little practical control over much of its territory, there are very few public services and corruption is prevalent. According to the OECD about 1.4 billion people live in fragile states. By 2030 two thirds of the world’s poor will live there, up from one third today.
The international community currently has two opportunities to demonstrate its commitment to fragile states and put the world on a long-term path to reducing forced displacement and refugee crises. In September, a UN Summit will set new development goals to replace the Millennium Development Goals. Key among them is an ambitious target to eradicate extreme poverty everywhere by 2030, and a commitment to promote peace and justice and end violence against children. If endorsed, these goals must be followed up with clear plans – and renewed commitments – for delivering them in fragile contexts where poverty is endemic and tough to tackle and where children need to be much better protected.
It’s a sad fact that almost half of the world’s refugees and internally displaced people are children and the effects on them are far-reaching and long lasting. Displaced children have been failed by the Millennium Development Goals and have so far been largely ignored in the Sustainable Development Goals negotiations.
Next year, the world’s humanitarians will also meet at the World Humanitarian Summit to commit to new ways to save lives, source funds and operate in settings that are increasingly conflicted and urban. This summit must find ways to ensure the safety and well being of the most vulnerable children in these contexts.
Children who have been forcibly displaced tell us they want to go home. They dream about it and their parents ache for better lives in which their children have hope and a future.
To end this suffering, World Vision believes leaders must seize these opportunities to better address the causes of displacement, including conflict, as well as meet the protection needs of children who are displaced.
Humanitarian and development workers must also get smarter at improving the integration between emergency aid and development programming which have been traditionally viewed as separate approaches. Enhanced coordination should focus on strengthening community resilience, improving disaster preparedness, watching out for the early warning signs of threats, such as rising ethnic or political tensions, and lead to a more proactive approach to averting crises. This more holistic approach requires long-term, not just crisis funding, and a more proactive engagement with fragile states. Governments need to fully fund this work, as well as encourage governance and institution building in fragile states.
The current migration crisis is shining a spotlight on the forces that push millions of people, including children, on dangerous journeys in the hope of finding something better. What is needed now is a global commitment to do more to tackle fragility, end poverty and reduce conflict in the places the displaced call home and where they would rather stay given half a chance.
