Refugees demand dignity and peace - AN APPEAL
Wars and armed conflict, are one of the greatest threats to human rights. Since last century, they have caused the death of millions of people. Many generations separated from their villages, homelands and cultures have suffered indescribable pain. Sadly, similar suffering and devastation is still happening today!
According to United Nations data More than 100 million people, half of whom are children, have been displaced to many countries due to the devastation caused by war and oppression. Yet, countries have given protection status as refugees to only a small proportion of those displaced due to war and oppression.
Refugees lives are in serious danger. They are being used as cheap workforce, lynched, harassed and raped in the countries they go to and face degrading treatment. In addition, their situation is being used as political blackmail by the states of the countries they escape to.
“It should not be forgotten that being a refugee is neither a choice nor a destiny. Wars waged by governments are solely responsible for this situation. War does not solve problems; it only postpones the solutions of the problems.”
- Ned EL-ATTAR, Executive Director, SOHRI
The 2022 war in Ukraine, conflicts in Myanmar, Afghanistan, and the number of people displaced as a result of the ongoing war in Syria has increased. As stated in Article 14 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed by 198 countries:
“Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.”
This right is also included in many international agreements together with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is an assurance against oppression. A life free from oppression is one of the main aims of human rights.
Rights and responsibilities go hand in hand. States must respect and protect human rights. But in the wake of intense migration, many refugees have been exposed to racism, discrimination, and violence in different countries and some lost their lives. They have been used as cheap labor. Some even lost their lives as a result of work accidents. As well, as getting infected with various diseases because they live in unhealthy environments.
This is all a concern for us at the Swedish Observatory for Human Rights Information. No one should ever be subjected to another oppression where he/she has fled. The only thing that can be done to prevent people from being sentenced to such a tragic life is to create a ground for dialogue between the parties and build a dignified and lasting peace. Peace results in a humane life, and hope for all.
We, as believers of peace, call on all states to fulfill its human rights responsibilities and improve all its policies in regards to the status of refugees, in a manner befitting human dignity.
