by Vanessa Cort
THERE can be nothing more traumatising than having to flee the land of your birth –often with little more than the shirt on your back – to go to someone else’s country where everything is strange and new.

Such is the plight of refugees the world over who have been forced, through war, poverty, political oppression, natural disasters, or a combination of those, to leave their countries for foreign shores, sometimes thousands of miles away.

In recent years, we in this country have ‘opened our doors’ to neighbouring Venezuelans and Haitians fleeing their homeland for a chance of a better life here.

Some tell stories of hardships that we can only imagine –the shortage of food, unavailability of potable water, poor housing and little or no health care.

International news abounds with graphic images and poignant tales of the mass exodus of refugees from Central America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Many embark on dangerous journeys over land and by sea, risking ‘life and limb’ to get to Europe or the United States.

Thousands do not make it to their destination, instead ending up in refugee camps where they live for years in unsanitary conditions, usually in tents, with little hope they will leave.
Young children are, particularly, at risk in these camps, where disease spreads quickly and mothers struggle to keep their offspring fed and safe. The elderly rarely survives the journeys or living in the ‘tent cities’.

Host countries reel under the influx of refugees. They bemoan insufficient funds to provide proper housing, food and clothing for refugees and displaced persons who often face hostility and open rejection.

A recent agreement between the British and Rwandan governments to relocate asylum seekers landing in the UK to Rwanda, has been met with mixed reactions. In fact, the move has been thwarted by last-minute injunctions blocking it from the European Court of Human Rights.

The agreement, signed by the two countries in April, was intended to settle displaced persons in Rwanda with the British government covering up to US$157 million in expenses, initially.

Those opposing the move have accused the two governments of engaging in human trafficking, while the UK and Rwanda argue that that was precisely what they were trying to prevent.

Furthermore, the issue of human trafficking has been one of the concerns of Ukrainian refugees who have complained of being bombarded by criminal elements seeking to exploit their situation.

The International Refugee Organisation says that “Over 100 million people have now been forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of ongoing conflicts and crises in countries like Ukraine, Afghanistan and Yemen”. And a United Nations release stated that that was a result of the doubling of the numbers over the past 10 years.

According to CAFOD – the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales – World Refugee Day, which was celebrated last Monday, was intended “to honour refugees around the world who show strength and resilience as they are forced to flee their homes”.

This year the focus has been on safety and the Agency declared that, “Every person has a right to seek safety – whoever they are, wherever they come from and whenever they are forced to flee”.

Pope Francis has challenged world leaders to do more to protect refugees and migrants, particularly because women, children, the elderly and the disabled – already vulnerable – “face the greatest hardship when they leave their homes”.

Locally, Cecilie Becker, Head of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), has appealed to Guyanese to be supportive of refugees and migrants in our midst. The Organisation held an interactive exhibition prior to World Refugee Day, to take visitors through the various challenges faced by displaced persons.