It
is a priceless blessing to bask in the freedom to live; the provision
to basic amenities of a home; reliable protection; access to
transportation.
In
practice, not everyone is as fortunate as us; millions of refugees
migrate for reasons of safety or civil rights from their own country.
They are usually in danger of losing their life. Humanities basic rights
and safety are at risk. They leave because of the exposure to war,
danger or the threat of imprisonment to themselves or their loved ones.
They have no choice but to leave if they want to continue to live.
Driven into a state of depression, starvation and fear, many refugees,
from women to children inclusive, have to live in the poorest conditions
and are even forced to seek asylum in different areas. This certainly
is distressing as refugees have often been misunderstood or largely
ignored by the international community therefore, attracting little of
the public’s attention.
Reports
today have expressed concern of the fragility of the refugee experience
underlined by situations in Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq and Syria,
causing 7.6 million people to became refugees in 2012; the total number now greater than at any time since 1994. In light of this and other similar cases, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has specially chosen 20th
June as the World Refugee Day to globally express the concern of
societies towards such vulnerable groups and assist them to begin their
lives afresh.
It
is through little things and very personal anecdotes which often define
a magical turning point when refugees who may have spent years or even
decades in flight and in refugee camps suddenly realize that a new
better life has just begun. As young people comprise a growing
percentage of the total number of refugees in the world, we at World
Assembly of Youth (WAY), join other organizations on this day in
acknowledging refugees as well as aid officials from all around the
world. We extend our encouragement, support and respect to their
strength to sustain, persist and struggle against suffering.
We call upon partners to assist us in improving collaboration between humanitarian and development actors at all levels. Such partners will prove beneficial in order to assist in becoming involved in areas where there is a clear link to economic growth. Indeed, if refugees could be seen as ‘agents of development’ rather than as burdens.
In
order to implement this, we believe the first step would be to see
refugees as agents of change and being able to fulfill their potential.
This can only be achieved by involving government ministries,
international organizations and international dialogues. Bringing forth
the issue will require that development actors at all levels be informed
to the fact that refugees require wider engagement by the stakeholders.
During
the development of initiatives, targeted development assistance should
be united to promote refugee protection and durable solutions taking
place on a bilateral level, an interregional level, or a multilateral
level.
However,
we have confidence that a multilateral dialogue provides a context
within which an overarching discussion of ‘best practices’ could take
place and basic principles agreed upon in order to assist these people
meet their basic needs.
Happy World Refugee Day!
Source: WAY
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