11. Problems of Refugees and Displaced Persons

The United Nations defines “a refugee as every person, who owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.” (U.N. 1984)

Thus many international movements of population involving very large numbers have occurred due to compelling reasons of political, religious or racial character. Perhaps the largest movement of people in this century has occurred in the Indian sub-continent. The partition of the British India in 1947 into the Indian Union and Pakistan led to large exodus of the refugees into each nation from the other. Estimates indicate that not less than 7 million persons went to Pakistan from India and more than 8 million people came to India from Pakistan. Indo-Pakistan war in 1971 also caused a large number of people from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to move into the north-eastern states of India as refugees, and this became a permanent problem for the region, as much as “Bihari” Muslims continue to be problematic for Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Some of the largest forced international migrations in history have occurred through times in Asia. For example, in the 12 years following 1975 more than 1.7 million refugees have left Vietnam, Kampuchea and Laos. Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, in 1979, produced a flow of refugees which has led to some 2.7 million being temporarily settled in Pakistan and 1.5 million in Iran. Most of these refugees are still in the camps in the neighbouring countries. Due to political disturbances in Sri Lanka, large numbers of Tamilians have entered India, and are staying in Tamil Nadu.

It is found that on humanitarian grounds the refugees are often given shelter by the governments of various countries. However, the sudden influx of the refugees creates enormous pressure on the native society. It leads to short supply of essential commodities, ecological imbalances and health hazards in the countries of asylum. The large magnitude and the various economic, political and social dimensions of the exodus of the refugees create many problems, particularly for the countries of destination. Sometimes they cause political complications in the receiving countries. They organize themselves by forming groups, and pressurize the governments for some concessions. For example the United Kingdom, Canada and Sri Lanka are facing political and racial crises due to migration. Sometimes this causes clashes between the natives and migrants. Sri Lanka is a recent example of this.

UNHCR- Global Trends :Forced displacement in 2016

♤ An unprecedented 65.6 million people around the world have been forced from home. Among them are nearly 22.5 million refugees, over half of whom are under the age of 18.

♤ More than half of refugees globally come from three countries: Syria, Afghanistan and South Sudan.

♤ Nearly two-thirds of Syrians have been forced to flee their homes.

♤ Developing regions host 84 percent of the world’s refugees.

♤ Lebanon cares for the largest number of refugees relative to its national population, with one in six people a refugee, followed by Jordan (one in 11) and Turkey (one in 28).

♤ Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees (2.9 million) followed by Pakistan (1.4 mln) and Lebanon (1 mln).

♤ At least 10 million people are estimated to be stateless.

But, in some instances, the refugees do make a positive contribution to the development of the host country, when settled in sparsely populated areas, by clearing and cultivating land.

Rohingya Crisis

On October 9,2016 border posts on the border of Myanmar and Bangladesh were attacked by a group of Islamic militants. The attack, that was reported to have been carried out by Rohingya Solidarity Organisation, was soon followed by a counter terrorism insurgency carried out by the Tatmadaw (Burmese military).

Myanmar has been under severe attack from the international community in recent times for what is being considered as ‘genocide’ against the Rohingya Muslims. Considered by the United Nations as the “most persecuted minority group in the world”, the Rohingyas are a stateless group of people concentrated in western Myanmar, and facing brutal assaults from the Burmese state and military.

According to a UN report, at present around 5,500 Rohingya refugees have been registered in India. The Rohingyas trace back their ancestry to those who were brought into western Myanmar (referred to as Arakan previously and as Rakhine at present) by the British colonial government when they took over Burma in 1824.

In 1982, the Burmese government passed a Citizenship law under which Rohingyas were classified as ‘associate’ citizens. The rules laid out for ‘associate’ citizens deprived Rohingyas of holding any government office and several other citizenship rights. Further clauses of discrimination restricted their movements and even marriages and birth rates within the community were closely monitored and inhibited.

The assault on the Rohingyas has been fast gaining attention from Jihadists around the world, making the ground ripe for extremism.

An advisory commission chaired by Kofi Annan was tasked with finding solutions to the ethnic conflict in Myanmar's Rakhine state. The report recommends urgent and sustained action on a number of fronts to prevent violence, maintain peace, foster reconciliation and offer a sense of hope to the State's hard-pressed population.