Wednesday, June 21, 2017

World Refugee Day 20th June

One again a special day to remember the victims of capitalism came around.

One new refugee every three seconds is the latest harsh truth about the world today.

Nearly 66 million people were forcibly displaced from their homes last year, the United Nation refugee agency has reported. 

The world’s refugees, internally displaced and asylum-seekers currently number 22.5 million, 40.3 million, and 2.8 million, respectively.


Syria remains “the world’s biggest producer of refugees” with 12 million people living in neighbouring countries and away from the region. There are 7.7 million displaced Colombians, 4.7 million Afghans and 4.2 million Iraqis.
However, in 2016, South Sudan became “the biggest new factor” when peace efforts broke down in July resulting in some 737,400 people fleeing by the end of the year. In total, about 3.3 million South Sudanese had fled their homes by the end of the year, in what is known as the fastest-growing displacement of people in the world. 
About half of the refugee population last year were children younger than 18 years of age, according to the report. This is in contrast to the fact that children make up only about 31 per cent of the total world population.

Director of UNHCR’s New York Office Ninette Kelley, explained, “I really ask you to pause and think about your own children or your nieces or your nephews and then think about the journeys that refugees take across conflict areas, across deserts, climbing mountains, giving their lives to unscrupulous traffickers and smugglers. And imagine those journeys of children without their parents or without adult accompaniment—then they arrive, and they are alone,” 

Uganda, where 37 percent live on less than 1.25 dollars per day, is now the largest refugee-hosting nation in Africa with over 1 million refugees from South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Burundi. Already unable to provide adequate health services and other public goods to its citizens, Uganda’s resources have become increasingly stretched.

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