Ethnic Rohingya refugees from Myanmar wave as they are transported by a wooden boat to a temporary shelter in Krueng Ray, Aceh Besar, on April 8, 2013. (Reuters Photo/Junaidi Hanafiah)
Jakarta. Not since World War II have so many people been on the move, with over 50 million worldwide fleeing persecution and war, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees said in a report released to mark World Refugee Day on Friday.
Emerging conflicts and stubborn old ones have produced an uptick in the number of people forced to flee their homes, the UNHCR said in its report titled “War’s Human Cost: Global Trends Report 2013.” Indonesia remains a transit point for refugees from war-torn nations such as Afghanistan and Somalia.
If the number of forcibly displaced were to be settled in one geographical location they would make up the 26th largest nation in the world, with a population of 51.2 million.
Intra-national upheavals such as the civil wars currently underway in Syria and Somalia lead to massive internal and cross-border displacement. The level of displacement recorded in 2013 is the highest on record since the beginning of comprehensive data collection in 1989, the UNHCR said.
The multiplicity of refugee crises means that the outflow of people has reached levels unseen since 1994’s Rwandan genocide, the report said.
The UNHCR estimated that the number of newly displaced individuals reached 10.7 million people by the end of 2013. That is more than Jakarta’s population of 9.8 million people.
Pakistan has remained for 22 years the country with the largest number of refugees living within its borders — many of whom come from Afghanistan.
Among countries losing citizens because of conflict, Afghanistan has seen the most flee abroad, with 2.5 million people, keeping it in the top spot for the past three decades. Afghans also account for one in every five refugees in Pakistan.
The internal conflict in Syria places the country at number two for the outflow of refugees, and the only new entry among the top three, with the third being Somalia.
In five years, Syria reversed its status as the second-largest host for refugees in the world. It also takes top position in terms of internally displaced persons (IDPs), with 6.5 million people left homeless within its borders because of civil war.
Although the media often highlights the daring travels of asylum seekers across mountains and oceans, the number of IDPs far exceeds those who have fled their countries to seek sanctuary. There are currently 33.3 million IDPs versus 16.7 million refugees.
“I think that does much to reflect the fact that things tend to get worse before, eventually, they get better,” UNHCR High Commissioner Antonio Guterres said in an interview in Geneva, Switzerland on the group’s website. “And things tend to happen in an unpredictable way.”
According to a press release issued by the UNHC, the Syrian conflict is the main source of the increase in the number of refugees, at 2.5 million. In total there were 6 million more individuals displaced last year than at the end of 2012.
The report suggests that Syria could take over Afghanistan’s position by the end of this year, with the highest number of refugees, should internal conflict continue to drive people from their homes.
The need to find a long-term solution for refugees who have safely crossed the border is pressing, with 6.3 million people categorized as living in “protracted refugee situations.” That means people have spent five years or more in an asylum country.
Additionally, legal issues sometimes complicate the quest for sustainable solutions. While Indonesia ranks fifth among countries where new asylum claims are lodged, it has yet to ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention, which obligates the state to provide care for refugees within its borders.
However, Manual Jordao the UNHCR representative in Indonesia, praised the government’s actions to accommodate foreigners who are not legally its responsibility.
“Although remaining a non-signatory to the International Refugee Instruments, Indonesia has been a de facto strong supporter of refugee protection,” he said in an e-mailed statement distributed by the UNHCR.
Still, refugees in Indonesia cannot continue with their education, resettle, or seek employment because their status does not provide them the same benefits as citizens or regular visa holders.
Many come from the Middle East, such as in Afghanistan, as well as parts of Asia, hoping to make it to Australia by boat and seek asylum.
There remain two possible solutions for refugees currently residing in Indonesia: voluntary repatriation or resettlement to a third country.
The first option is rarely feasible. The year 2013 saw the fourth lowest level of repatriation rates in almost 25 years, suggesting that relocation to a third country was more probable than a return home.
When questioned about a way to definitively end the problem of displacement, High Commissioner Guterres pointed to the realm of politicians.
“Well, the solution is political. There is only one way to end displacement, that is, to stop conflicts. It is to find peace. And that capacity is lacking in today’s world. But in between, people suffer,” he said during a recorded interview. “Conflicts emerge and dramatic relations of human rights appear, and the international community has lost much of its capacity to prevent conflict situations and to solve them in a timely fashion.”
The UNHCR’s 52-page report compiled data from governments around the world on the affected groups.
By Andrea Wijaya on 11:11 am Jun 21, 2014
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