Fleeing War

by Alimamy S. Bangura
iEARN Sierra Leone.

Every year millions of people have to leave their home, and often their countries because of persecution of war. These people become refugees. They nearly always have to move suddenly and leave most of their possessions behind. In the move families often get separated. Many refugees are never able to return to their homes.

Most refugees seek safety in a neighbouring country , arriving in large number at a time (called a mass influx). Often refugees have to travel great distances to find safety and arrive at an airport or seaport far from their native land.

In 1951, the United Nations adopted the convention relating to the status of refugees to which more than half of the countries in the world have now signed up. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) oversees the implementation of the convention and assists refugees, mainly with humanitarian aid.

According to the convention, a refugee is someone who has left their country and is unable to return because of real fears of being persecuted because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or a political opinion. The main protection a refugee must have is the right not to be returned to their country where they can risk persecution or death (right of non-refoulement).

The convention also prohibits a government from sending a refugee to a different country where they may be subject to persecution. Governments do have the right to expel anyone, based on reasonable grounds, they feel is a danger to public order or to the security of the country.

However, countries disagree about who a (genuine) refugee is, rich countries often say that refugees are not victims of oppression, but that they only want a better standard of living. They call them (economic migrants). Governments often argue that refugees' fears are exaggerated or untrue.

The difficulties refugees face when applying for asylum include:

1. The frustrations and emotional factors refugees have to face.
2. Overcoming the language barrier.
3. Discrimination while their application procedure is being done.

These difficulties need to be addressed by:

1. Developing empathy through being aware of the frustrations refugees face when applying for asylum.
2. Demonstrating the importance of both language and inter-cultural education.
3. Raising awareness about discrimination by immigration authorities in relation to asylum applications.