REFUGEES: YOU COULD BE IN THEIR SHOES

There are vast differences in standard of living and quality of life between various areas of the world. While some live in the lap of luxury with all the mod-coms and all the latest technology, others can’t even take basic facilities and amenities for granted. Thanks to developments in the communications industry, the latter are well aware of how the other half live and the kind of life they enjoy. Wanting a seat at the table is only natural so they up sticks and brave deserts and stormy seas to reach the promised land. These people are migrants and their journey is planned down to the smallest detail. Then there are others who either turfed out of their homes and the country they have called home at a moment’s notice. This latter group of people is called refugees.

Refugees differ from migrants in the sense that they don’t wish to leave their homes, all their belongings and the life they have known to throw themselves on the mercy of complete strangers. They leave with tears in their eyes looking back on a country they love falling to wrack and ruin. Conflict regions like parts of modern day Syria, Rohinga state and the Sahel region of Africa are cases in point. In areas such as these, villages and towns have been razed to the ground by bombs, missiles and arson attacks; there is literally nothing left and people are obliged to flee for their lives. The lingering drought in certain parts of Africa has a similar effect on local populations. Facing starvation, people shoulder the old, the infirm, the babies and the little they can carry and set off on the path to safety. You would be excused for thinking that the miserable plight of such people would bring out the best in us and we would be falling over each other to help in any way we could. This is far from being the case, however.

Most people are conditioned to take care of number one; this is ingrained in their DNA. They may pay lip service to the values we hold dear and try to take the moral high ground but deep down they are very different beasts. They would much prefer the problem to ‘go away’ and the refugees to become someone else’s problem. First and foremost there is the obvious fact that refugees are ‘different’: they may subscribe to a different religion as in the case of the Rohinga who are Muslims living in the majority Buddhist country of Myanmar; they be a different race or tribe as in the case of Ethiopia or be looked down on for historic reasons as in the case of Arab refugees. This in itself is a formidable barrier to any hope of building bridges but there is also the economic cost. These people who come streaming across the borders are sick, injured, starving and exhausted; they need to be provided with food and shelter, medical attention and counseling. The initial burst of hospitality soon wears thin, funds are reduced to a trickle and the local population begins to grumble. Eventually, there is a spate of hate crimes, camps are set alight and all the misery suffered by the refugees is pushed to the back pages of newspapers and to the backs of people’s minds.

An attitude such as this is bound to bread a deep seated hatred fueled by years of day to day suffering which no amount of education can remove if it comes too late. The seeds of rage and resentment fester and grow in the children and the young who grow up in refugee camps resulting in a generation of youth who are beyond help. The outlook is very grim for these people and those who turned their backs on them in their hour of need. This should be reason alone to try and seek out a mutually beneficial solution to the problem. It goes without saying that the first thing the international community needs to do is deal with the problems that caused the refugees to take to the roads in the first place. Every avenue should be explored to address issues of minority rights in countries where the said minorities have had to flee. If it is proven that crimes against humanity have been committed, the international criminal courts should intervene. In sort, the leading powers of the world should not drag their feet. A second solution is to try and benefit from the skills refugees possess to transform them into useful members of the new society they have become a temporary part of. Refugees come from all walks of life: there are doctors and nurses, teachers and engineers and many more besides. These people would feel a lot happier if they were allowed to use their skills for the benefit of all. There will be far less resentment in the host country if the visitors are seen to be pulling their weight.

In conclusion, there will always be groups of people who are displaced for reasons ranging from natural disasters to civil war. The populations of host countries that receive refugees should explore every avenue to try and make these unfortunate people welcome. Making it easier for them to become productive members of society for the duration of their stay is a solution that should please all sides.