Being a refugee is fairly unimaginable to those of us who have grown up in living in a safe and peaceful country. It is hard to even comprehend the kind of struggles and hardship that comes from being a refugee. Global Footprints, a website dedicated to issues like refugees, debt, migration and the environment, explains the struggle beautifully, describing refugees in the following manner: “Refugees leave their homes and their country because they have no other choice. They are forced out by factors such as war, persecution, natural disasters, environmental crises and poverty. They may also leave because their government will not or cannot protect them from serious human rights abuses or meet their needs. Whatever the reason, refugees leave their homes because they fear for their own life or safety, or that of their family. Many refugees leave their homes suddenly and are able to take very few if any of their possessions with them. Sometimes they face many days of travel, with little food and in fear of their lives.” (globalfootprints.org, 2009).
Not only do refugees face the horrors that forced them to leave their homeland, as well as the usually hard and dangerous journey away from the violence, but most end up living in terrible conditions in refugee camps, with not enough food to go around, a lack of sanitation, education, health care and supremely overcrowded conditions. “Fifty per cent of refugee dwellings are inadequate and hundreds of thousands struggle to pay their rent, according to the findings.” (UNHCR, 2014) Many must continue this lifestyle, however, as they have no other choice and no financial means to flee. The website http://www.uniteforsight.org/refugee-health/module3 shares terrible horror stories about the lifestyles and conditions in refugee camps, conditions that no human being should have to live with. It is inhumane that we allow people to live like this rather than accept their applications for coming to Canada.
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| Refugees being kept in horrible surroundings in Somalia. |
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| Desolate living conditions in a refugee camp in Chad. |
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| Congolese children in a refugee camp escaping from war. May 2014. |
- Persecution because of race, religion, sexuality, etc...
- War/Conflict
- Violence (ethnic, tribal and religious violence being the most common)
2014 Civil War in Africa
The majority of the 15.2 million refugees in the world come from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Colombia, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran and Sri Lanka. All of these countries are known for conflict and violence. Approximately 80% of the refugees are women and children and 46% of refugees are under the age of 18. Only 11% percent of the 15.2 million people who annually ask for safety receive what they as for. (All statistics provided by dosomething.org, 2012.)
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| Map Depicting Refugee Migration Across the Globe (As shown, the majority come from Asia and Africa) |
These statistics are ridiculously high. This is yet another reason that I believe that the Canadian refugee policies are far too harsh. People should not be forced to live in the conditions stated above and we in Canada have the resources to help. It is against every human being natural rights to force them to live in areas of conflict, violence and harsh persecution, as well as to live in conditions that are that desolate. We should be trying to help those people and the world has ample means to help much more than 11% of those who seek protection. In my opinion, we should be trying to help, not turning people away. Because of how many people who could be helped are turned away, and because we do have the capabilities to accept more people, Canada’s refugee policy is far too harsh, particularly considering how terribly many of these people must live and the fact that we are capable to help resolve a part of this issue.
This video shows the devastating journey that refugees
must make to get to safety and the conditions and desolation
present in the refugee camps through shots of the refugees
and the camp.
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