AS WE COMMEMORATE THE “WORLD REFUGEE DAY”
As we remember the World Refugee Day today, the messages of hope and expectations of a better future pour on the walls of social medias and the joint statements of national and international communities. This year, we may not be able to march on the roads and gather in halls because of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
This year we will have most of the conversations and joint statements regarding the welfare of refugees through the Webinar meetings and social media conversations. As we urge each other to “Stay Home” I cannot help but wonder if refugees have the privilege of “staying home” or if they can call the camps and shelter centers “home”.
The struggle is hard for everyone. But the struggle is even harder for refugees, internally displaced people, migrants and stateless persons. There have been reports of limited access to medical care and protection mechanism, the vulnerability faced by these individual is unimaginable.
Statistics show that in every 97 people on earth one has been displaced due to conflict or persecution. Even as the global crisis continues to threat the world, conflicts have continued as well. This means even the refugees and other individuals will not be able to return to their countries. They will not feel safe. So one question remains “What can we do?”
As I was writing this piece I drew strength from the message of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi on what we can do. He said and I quote “On World Refugee Day, I salute and celebrate the fortitude of refugees and displaced people around the world. I also pay tribute to the communities that shelter them and have demonstrated the universally shared values and principles of compassion and humanity. They have sometimes hosted and protected refugees for years or even generations and continuing to uphold these values in time of pandemic is a powerful message of hope and solidarity.”
From this statement I have understood that as human beings, we can continue sending the message of hope and solidarity to those displaced from their home countries because of conflicts. Now more than ever we can believe in inclusion because this pandemic has clearly shown us that at any time we can all be victims of a certain disaster, let it be a pandemic or a conflict.
The world is no stranger to challenges. We can make initiatives to make it no stranger to solutions as well. For generations, problems came to life and solutions were found. But some problems have survived for generations with no permanent solutions.
In the end we may decide on how history will judge us. Either as individuals that decided or believed they can live with problems for generations or as individuals that can solve the problems and ensure a better future for the coming generations.
The theme of World Refugee 2020 is “Every Action Counts”. Therefore, this is a message to our leaders and every individual from the national to international community. Let’s take the action by recognizing the problems and challenges that others face. Let us understand and be grateful that we have the privilege of staying home and staying safe but at the same time let us take the action of ensuring that those displaced because of conflicts will one day have the chance of “Staying home and Staying safe”.
Article Prepared By
Ken Edwin Heriel
Independent Legal Consultant
E-mail: kenedwin9@gmail.com
