Humanitarian crises, terrorism and refugees

World Refugee Day fell on June 20. Marking the event, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) stated in its latest report on global trends that an unprecedented 65.6 million people were uprooted from their homes by conflict and persecution by the end of 2016. That is the highest the figure has been in the seven-decade history of UNHCR. 

This is a staggeringly high number, and certainly unacceptable. “It speaks louder than ever to the need for solidarity and common purpose in preventing and resolving crises, and ensuring together that the world’s refugees, internally displaced and asylum-seekers are properly protected and cared for while solutions are pursued,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi said. 

The report indicated that while the number of those uprooted internally was less than in 2015, the number of those seeking safety across international borders as refugees topped 22.5 million, the highest number seen since UNHCR was founded in 1950. 

The conflict in Syria, now in its seventh year, saw the world’s biggest exodus of refugees, with 5.5 million leaving the country. In terms of overall displacement, Syria accounts for the biggest numbers, with 12 million people — that is 65 percent of the population — displaced internally or living outside the country as refugees. With this disastrous war — which has destroyed the country and changed the composition of its demographic and population, and is still far from over — it is unlikely people will be returning to their homes any time soon, if ever.

Just look at Afghanistan, starting with the Soviet invasion in 1979, a civil war and the US invasion in 2001 to combat the Taliban. There are still 4.7 million Afghans who are refugees or displaced, the second highest number after Syrians.

Iraqis account for 4.2 million displaced people, Somalis 1.1 million, while the latest surge of refugees and displaced is from South Sudan. The long-standing Palestinian refugee situation involves more than 5 million people, while Yemen’s war has displaced around 2 million people, the majority internally.

Notice that almost all these refugees mentioned are from Muslim countries, which suffer from conflicts, terrorism and humanitarian crises.

A recent report by the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Center for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) on the humanitarian situation in the Muslim world paints a gloomy picture. The numbers are scary and depressing: 61.5 percent of all displaced people in the world are in Muslim countries — members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Approximately 80 percent of all those recently internally displaced across the world during 2014-2015 were in OIC countries. Seventy-one percent of people requiring humanitarian assistance globally reside in OIC countries. 

Sixty-seven percent of all refugees had originated from OIC countries. And the top-three countries, which are collectively a source of 53.7 percent of all refugees in the world, are OIC member states: Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia.

Despite all this, the wider world is suffering from donor fatigue, as well as its own economic difficulties. Not enough money is being raised for any of the current humanitarian disasters in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Afghanistan, the Rohingya in Myanmar, and of course the Palestinians suffering under the Israeli occupation and blockade of the Gaza Strip. The security situation is also not helping. Most of these places are devastated by war and terrorism. 

Meanwhile media reports suggest that a fear of prosecution under UK and US counter-terror laws hinders those trying to provide humanitarian assistance in areas held by militants. 

Ironically, much of the world news coverage last year focused on refugee resettlement to developed countries, including efforts by some states to restrict access and even erect border fences. 

However, figures in the UNHCR report showed that 84 percent of refugees worldwide were in developing or middle-income countries at the end of 2016, with one in every three (4.9 million people) being hosted by the world’s least developed countries including Yemen and Somalia. Just as Muslim countries are the source of most refugees, they are also host to most refugees, in places such as Turkey, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon and Chad. 

Proximity to the conflict plays a role, but also the lack of consensus internationally when it comes to hosting refugees. Furthermore, countries and communities hosting refugees and other displaced people need support, the absence of which can cause instability, have consequences for life-saving humanitarian work, or lead to secondary displacement. 

As the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “This not about sharing a burden. It is about sharing a global responsibility, based not only the broad idea of our common humanity but also on the very specific obligations of international law. The root problems are war and hatred, not people who flee; refugees are among the first victims of terrorism.”

• Maha Akeel is director of the Public Information and Communication Department at the Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Twitter: @MahaAkeel1