As of Friday, March 1st Bangladesh has told the UN it "cannot accept any more refugees from Myanmar" (The Guardian). Myanmar refugees are some of most persecuted minorities in the world today, experiencing mass displacement with over 700,000 fleeing to the Bangladesh border over the past 18 months amid a "military-led crackdown... where thousands were killed, women raped and villages razed" (The Guardian).
In Cox's Bazar, millions are living in what is now the "world's largest refugee camp" and the conditions are becoming gradually uninhabitable with the increasing number of arrivals. Bangladesh's foreign secretary, Shahidul Haque condemned the international community in a statement to the UN Security Council for the lack of concrete action to solve the crisis. Source: Ellis-Petersen, Hannah, The Guardian, Fri. March 1st 2019
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By: Kathryn Brockmeyer
Last Saturday, the 18th of January, President Trump proposed a compromise to reopen the government through September 30th. At face value, the compromised seemed to open the government with "$5.7 billion" in funds allocated for the wall and temporary protection against deportation for "1 million unauthorized immigrants". However, among closer inspection, many so called ‘poison pills’ were hiding among the massive 1,301 paged document. Ironically called the "Central American Minors Protection Act of 2019", the proposal contains many seriously damaging limits on the U.S asylum program for minors. Among a few of these hidden pieces of legislation is a cap of 1,500 on the number of children who can qualify for the asylum program "in any fiscal year". In addition, minors from "Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala" will be required to apply for asylum while remaining in their home country, as they will be immediately turned away if they apply at the US-Mexico border. The countries these children are fleeing in fear of their lives is where they will be required to remain if they want any chance at being considered for asylum. Another detrimental provision found buried under pages of legal writing requires those children seeking asylum to have a "U.S.-based guardian to care for them" in order to qualify for asylum. This "effectively bar[s] Central American minors arriving at U.S. borders from access to asylum", according to immigration law experts. These requirements would send thousands of Central American children back to life-threatening situations in their home countries. And none of these poison pills were mentioned by President Trump in his announcement speech of the proposal over the weekend. In contrast, the Democrats proposed a plan to fund the government "through Feb. 8", while denying any money for the border wall, in order for negotiations to take place while the government is open. As of now, both parties appear unwilling to relent, with the historical shutdown affecting nearly 800,000 government employees and their families. The unbuilt wall seems to already be dividing the country, rather than protect it. Sources: (1) The Washington Post, 'Senate plans votes on competing bills to reopen government', (January 22, 2019), Erica Werner, John Wagner, and Jeff Stein (2) "Central American Minors Protection Act of 2019", U.S Senate Committee on Appropriations Last month, the Italian parliament drafted a "migration and security" decree, putting the futures of thousands of refugees, who already risked their lives fleeing persecution, at risk once again. The "Salvini law" is named after Italy's interior minister who drafted it, Matteo Salvini. The law destabilizes asylum rights by getting rid of "humanitarian protection", which is "a stay permit issued to those who do not qualify for refugee status" (3). Sara Consolato, cofounder of the Italian branch of Refugees Welcome has created a programme helping young people who have turned 18. She explains, "When they turn 18, they lost protections that allowed them to stay... Before it wasn't easy for them to get access to the refugee reception system because places were always lacking. Now it is the law that prevents them from doing so" (3). Many refugees seeking asylum in Italy have risked everything to do so while "Salvini argues the measure is aimed at ensuring that only 'real refugees' will be granted rights and protections in Italy'" (3).
Last year, the United States donated to about one third of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) $1.1 billion budget. The UNRWA is a nonprofit, united nations organization giving aid and providing critical food rations to refugee camps in the Middle East. But now, the Trump administration has decided to end the United States’ funding for 5.3 Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza. Other countries like Britain, are making “emergency donations” to compensate for the tremendous the hole the US’s lack of funding will soon create (2). 77% of Gaza’s 1.3 million refugees fall below the international poverty line and depend on food aid. Without it, it is unlikely they will be sustained beyond January and UNRWA’s Gaza director warns the decision to end funding could result in a “Yemen-style crisis” for refugee families in Gaza (2).
Bellow is a link to donate to the UNRWA: https://www.unrwa.org/how-you-can-help Your support can offer food and health aid where it is most needed this holiday. Last Monday, December 10th, more than 160 countries adopted a new, nonbinding international accord on migration. The "Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration" is the product of 2 years of work by the United Nations to create a cooperative international agreement on handling migration. The plan is not legally binding and acts as more of "a road map" that acknowledges "state sovereignty and government's rights to decide their own immigration policies" (1). Organized action can prevent the economic cost of unregulated migration and improve the economy by settling a population of people in a country with "aging populations" and "declining birthrates" (1).
The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, stated that "more than 60,000 migrants have died in hazardous journeys while trying to reach wealthier countries" (1). The compact outlines 23 objectives including "the collection of better data on the movement of migrants", "the strengthening of legal paths to migrtion", and "efforts to combat human trafficking and cooperation to ease the safe return of migrants to their countries of origin" (1). The United States currently does not support or makes plans to adopt the compact. Even though, "migrants provide a boost to the economies of their host countries" with 85 percent of their earnings being spent in the country they work (1). Read the full United Nations Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration here: https://www.un.org/pga/72/wp-content/uploads/sites/51/2018/07/180713_Agreed-Outcome_Global-Compact-for-Migration.pdf |
AuthorElla Jacobs is a sophomore in high school currently heading the Many Origins, One Home event and mission. She is passionate about advocating for the enhancement of refugee and immigrant rights in the U.S. Sources(1): The New York Times, "U.N. Approves Sweeping Deal on Migration, but Without U.S. Support, December 10th, 2018, Nick Bruce
(2): The Guardian, ‘We need more food, not less’: US Cuts Leave Palestinian Refugees in Crisis, December 12th, 2018, (3): AlJazeera, "'Salvini Law' could make thousands of refugees homeless", December, 17th 2018, Ylenia Gostoli |