Transcript The Refugee Crisis - City of Sanctuary

The EU Migrant Crisis
Or is it a Refugee Crisis?
Migrants or refugees?
Migrants usually have choices, refugees don’t
no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a
shark
....
you have to understand,
that no one puts their
children in a boat
unless the water is safer
than the land
Extract from ‘Home’ by
Warsan Shire
The Humanitarian Crisis in Europe
The Flight of Refugees
Main destinations
85% of
refugees
live in this
area
SYRIAN DISPLACEMENT
About 11.6 million Syrians have been
displaced, nearly half of Syria’s entire
population. Most of them are scattered
within Syria, but 3.9 million were living
abroad by the end of 2014 – nearly all of
them in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.
Despite the drama of migrants
trying to cross the Mediterranean
to reach Europe, most Africans
displaced by conflict stay in Africa.
Background to the humanitarian crisis in
Europe summer of 2015
• Mare Nostrum – search and rescue disbanded in Jan 15 – policy failed
• Highest flow of refugees since the second world war ( half a million)
• Arab Spring – 2011 and backlash – Yemen, Egypt, Libya,
• Syria – one fifth of current refugees
• Repressive regime in Eritrea, ongoing genocide in Darfur, sectarian regime
and ISIS in Iraq, return of Taliban in Afghanistan, Boko Haram in Nigeria
• UNHCR Refugee camps – ill prepared, undersupplied - loss of hope
• Greek islands ( recession akin to Great Depression)
A world crisis of historic proportions
Source: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 2014
• 59.5 million forcibly displaced people due to conflict
• 14 million newly displaced in 2014
• 10 million stateless people
• 1.7 million claimed asylum
• 26 countries admitted 105,200 refugees for resettlement
• At the end of 2014, almost 55 million people depended on the
protection and assistance of UNHCR and partners.
Iconic photo that caught our attention
Syrian Crisis
Over 4 million
refugees
Nearly 8 million
displaced inside
Syria
Over 12 million
in Syria needing
humanitarian
assistance
Summer 2015
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Germany announces welcome to all Syrian refugees (800,000)
Chaos and border controls (opening and closing)
Suspension of the EU's Schengen zone
Demands for an EU wide asylum system
Quotas and fair share
• (the formula based on population, GDP, previous asylum applications and unemployment)
• Lack of consensus
• Rising of walls, razer wire fences, teargassing, water cannons
• Cameron agrees to accept 20,000 Syrians over 5 years, £100m into camps
#refugeeswelcome
Calaidipedia
World
Migration
Interactive map from
International Organisation for Migration
The facts about asylum – Definitions
Refugee
“A person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for
reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular
social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his
nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of
the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside
the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or,
owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.”
The 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
In the UK, a person is officially a refugee when they have their claim for asylum
accepted by the government.
Asylum Seeker
A person who has left their country of origin and formally applied for asylum in
another country but whose application has not yet been concluded.
The facts about asylum – Definitions
Refused asylum seeker
A person whose asylum application has been unsuccessful and who has
no other claim for protection awaiting a decision. Some refused asylum
seekers voluntarily return home, others are forcibly returned and for
some it is not safe or practical for them to return until conditions in
their country change.
‘Illegal’ immigrant
Someone whose entry into or presence in a country contravenes
immigration laws. (cf. Article 31)
Economic migrant
Someone who has moved to another country to work. Refugees are
not economic migrants.
All are people
UK comparison with Jordan
Comparison of GDP
Comparison of refugees
GDP
No of Refugees
78
60000
0
UK
1
20,000
Jordan
UK
Jordan
Will today’s refugee crisis become the
holocaust of our generation?
How do we want history to remember us?
What are we doing in the UK to support those in the refugee camps,
the countries that host them
and the EU countries in the front line?
What are we doing to support and welcome asylum seekers who are
already here?
Overcoming our fears
• We haven’t any room
• Lebanon hosting 1.5 million refugees and same size as Cornwall / Japan
same size but 4 x the population / only 9% of land occupied in UK
• Not enough jobs
• Jobs increased when immigration increased
• Not enough houses
• Yes, we need to invest and build more – for all of us, not just refugees
• We should solve UK problems first
• We are one of the richest in the word and our problems don’t compare
to Greece or Syria or Lebanon or so many other countries.
• Our economy won’t cope
• We need more young people for our economy due to our aging
demographic
Overcoming our fears
They are a burden on our economy
On the contrary many research studies from around the world
have found that welcoming refugees has a positive or at least a
neutral effect on a host community's economy and wages.
• Once settled, refugees add more value to the economy each year than the
entire original cost of receiving and resettling them.
• Refugees create new jobs, and even raise the wages of natives
• Refugees help increase specialisation of work including the upgrading of
native workers jobs and wages
• Migrants are more likely to be a worker in the NHS than a patient
• Refugee children make a positive contribution to schools ( Ofsted 2013)
• The more efficient processing and integration of refugees the quicker the
return
Overcoming our Fears
• Islamification of Europe
• If we accept 4m Muslims EU ratio of 4% Muslim will rise to 5%
• High birth rates
• Not borne out be the facts or research (birth rates drop with education and increased
standard of living, low birth rate amongst Syrians, mostly highly educated)
• Crime
• Less likely than native population / own home grown terrorists
• Collapse of social systems
• Unlikely - we have the infrastructure and capacity to plan/ aging
demographic
Overcoming our fears
“They are a security threat”
• Effective measures already in place
• Stringent background checks are made
• Many extremists in Middle East are from Europe with EU
passports
• We have our own home grown terrorists
• Well organised terrorist groups would not send their
fighters on dangerous journeys when they have the
means to use safe legal routes.
Demographic Crisis in Europe - Source Financial Times
• Old- age dependency ratio growing (no of young people needed to
support older generation)
• Europe needs 42 m more young people by 2020, 200m by
2040
• Jean-Claude Yuncker quota endorsed by Financial Times
• Refugees will become workers, producers, tax payers if policies
allow them to
• Research shows more likely to create jobs and drive up wages
“Compassion makes good economic sense, xenophobia doesn’t”
Leonid Bershidsky
Three routes to refugee status in UK
Asylum
Resettlement
Relocation
Various journeys
Gateway
Programme
SVPRS
750 pa in UK via
UNHCR camps
216 to 20,000 via
UNHCR Syrian
camps
Some across mountains,
deserts and seas
Lengthy and complex
process no right to
work
31,000 last year
A Complex Asylum Process
UK Asylum Journey involves
• Families living at 50% below the poverty line
• Insufficient benefits to maintain contact with solicitor
• Shared, no choice accommodation, in hard to let properties
managed by external contractors
• Periods of destitution between refusal and appeal and on gaining
refugee status or refusal with no chance of returning to country
of origin
• Detention at any time – indefinite, no judicial oversight
• Possible deportation after many years building a family life
What can individuals do?
• Political Action
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Write to your Councillor, MP, MEP (writetothem.com)
Petitions (Government, 38 Degrees, change.org )
Destitution, detention, health care, dignity
Sanctuary in Parliament
• Donate
• Major international charities including World Food Programme
• Doctors of the World (for Calais)
• Local charities (Red Cross, Refugee Action, City of Sanctuary)
• Volunteer
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Welcoming and integrating
Befriending
Fundraising
Teaching English/conversation clubs
Calaidipedia.co.uk
What can you do?
Work in your sector to learn and raise awareness
• Health (maternity, mental health)
• Schools (inclusion, integration)
• Faiths
• Arts (music, crafts, books, poems, sharing stories )
• Sports
• LGBT
• Women
Core Principles of City of Sanctuary
• Mainstream, grassroots movement – all sectors involved
• Building bridges between ‘local people’ and refugees
• Strengthening and broadening the support base for asylum seekers
and refugees
• Helping create a culture of hospitality and welcome
• Celebrating the contribution of refugees to society
• Creating and enhancing networks between key players
www.cityofsanctuary.org
Remember the person behind the figures