Millions of people around the world are displaced from their homes and need help to survive. Refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs), asylum seekers and stateless individuals are all displaced by violence, conflict or natural disaster. The global refugee crisis is complicated by the fact that most refugees are hosted in neighbouring countries prone to conflict, instability and human rights violations themselves. This can create a vicious circle in which the safety of refugees and host communities is inevitably compromised as competing interests collide.
While war and persecution are the most common cause of displacement, a person can also become a refugee through hunger, poverty or discrimination for their religion, gender or sexual orientation. When large groups of people are forced to leave their country at once, they can be granted refugee status on a ‘prima facie’ basis, which means they can never return home without risking their lives or freedoms.
Displaced people need to rebuild their lives in safety and dignity. However, in order to do so, it’s crucial to address the causes that force them to flee their homes in the first place. This requires a commitment to respect the 1951 Refugee Convention and other international legal instruments that protect displaced people’s right to asylum. Manipulating refugee populations for political and strategic purposes only reduces their safety, while commoditizing them as bargaining chips is counterproductive to long-term peace. Reversing the trends of protracted and intractable conflicts, building safe pathways for return home, enabling self-sufficiency and providing access to education are key elements in this effort.