Solidarity with refugees: Beyond words, into action

'Humans, in different ways, are all refugees' — these words often resonate with my thoughts. 'Homelessness,' 'uprootedness,' 'fear,' and 'helplessness' — these are the terms that World Refugee Day reminds me of.

In the world today, there are more than 120 million people who have been uprooted from their homes, and are thus without any home. These people have been forced to flee from their homes because of wars, conflicts and violence, fear for life, human rights violations or break-downs of law and order in a society. The number of the uprooted people is equal to the population of Japan.

Out of these 120 million people, 40 million are refugees in countries other than their country of origin, 70 million are internally displaced people (IDPs) within their own countries, 8 million are asylum seekers and 4 million do not have a country of their own.

Today, the number of Palestinian refugees exceeds 5 million. In Ukraine, more than 6 million people have fled their country and 6 million more are IDPs. The internally displaced people in Yemen have reached 4.5 million. Europe hosts 1 in 3 refugees in the world. The number of refugees hosted in Europe exceeded 12 million by the end of 2022. 

Turkey continues to be the world's largest refugee-hosting country, home to 4 million refugees. Close to half of all refugee children, 48%, remain out of school. Refugee learners lose an average of 142 days of school because of closures. At pre-primary level, only 42% children are enrolled, 68% at the primary level, and 37% at the secondary level.

The notion of 'refugees' has a broader dimension — it is linked to uprootedness, homelessness, fear and helplessness. This is precisely why a refugee seeks 'refuge' somewhere else as well as in someone else. That refuge is not always 'physical refuge', but also 'emotional refuge'. The uprooted people seek refuge in other countries. 

Because of the oppression, violence and sexual assaults they endure, many women become emotional refugees. At that point, they seek refuge in families, justice and humanity.  Those with physical and mental disabilities also seek refuge in the state. And when at the end of the day, people do not get any refuge anywhere, they seek refuge in God with tearful eyes.

Similarly, in our personal life, we constantly seek refuge in something. When we were little, did we not seek refuge in mothers' sarees? Did it not appear to us to be the safest refugee of the world? When fear engulfs us, we surrender to the affectionate words of our fathers. When defeats make us vulnerable, we take refuge in the reassuring words of our teachers. When despair throws us in darkness, we lean on the shoulders of our friends as a refuge. In sorrow and hopelessness, we seek refuge in the arms of our loved ones. 

It must be remembered that in sorrow, people seek refuge in others, while in happiness, they give refuge to others.

A person also seeks refuge within themselves. People seek refuge in their emotions and tears. In many instances, we have nowhere to go, but to our own emotions. People often silently surrender to tears in the face of despair, injustice, and disgrace. When people are hurt by the words or the deeds of their loved ones, they seek refuge in tears, emotions and silence. Tears and emotions do not have language of their own, yet they solace people.

Yet often not everyone gets refuge every time even though they seek one. In the world, there are millions of people who are still without a home. In various rich cities, thousands of people are yet to have an address. People who suffer from deprivation are also refuge seekers from door to door. The state is oblivious to all these. A lot of societies deprive the minorities of their rights, many sinister forces oppress them and actively try to uproot them from their homes. 

Are the state and the society able to provide places of sanctuary to women, who are victims of violence and rape? Must we return to that not-so-desired thought that, in the end, people can rely only on themselves — that they alone are their own saviours?

The refugee issue is not only a humanitarian problem, but a developmental and political problem as well. That is why it deserves more attention than what it currently gets. Humanitarian assistance alone cannot reduce the extent and the depth of displacement. 

For a sustainable solution to the refugee problem, countries must undertake such policies and measures, which would end conflict and establish peace, reduce the risks of poverty and disasters so that the affected people can go back to their homes or be rehabilitated in places on their relocations, integrating into those communities.

Data collection can play a major role in formulating such policies and strategies. In short, with regard to refugees, three sets of measures would be critical — coordination of strategies, which is more relevant now than any other times; financing for addressing the refugee problem and maintaining robust data framework. We must remember that the price of inaction is going up every day and the refugee population has been paying that price.

What is needed the most today is solidarity with all the refugees of the world and an understanding of their situations. Solidarity should not be limited to words only — it also implies actions in support of the refugees. 

It means listening to them and spreading their news all over the place through advocacy and awareness building. Solidarity with refugees implies supporting their rights of being protected, bringing an end to the conflicts so that they can safely return to their homes. 

The most important thing about solidarity with the refugees is to declare clearly and courageously that no refugee is alone and we all are staying by their sides. The main theme of this year's World Refugee Day is therefore a fitting one — 'solidarity with refugees'.

Dr Selim Jahan is the former director of the Human Development Report Office and Poverty Division at the United Nations Development Programme, New York, US.