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Asylum seekers Refugees

According to international refugee law, a refugee is someone who seeks refuge in a foreign country because of war and violence or out of fear of persecution. However, things may often lead to a situation where the host country will not see them as legitimate migrants and treat them as illegal aliens. Non-governmental organizations concerned with refugees and asylum seekers have pointed out difficulties for displaced persons to seek asylum in industrialized countries. The lack of opportunities to legally access the asylum procedures can force asylum seekers to undertake often expensive and hazardous attempts at illegal entry.

Refugees According to international refugee law, a refugee is someone who seeks refuge in a foreign country because of war and violence or out of fear of persecution. However, things may often lead to a situation where the host country will not see them as legitimate migrants and treat them as illegal aliens. Non-governmental organizations concerned with refugees and asylum seekers have pointed out difficulties for displaced persons to seek asylum in industrialized countries. The lack of opportunities to legally access the asylum procedures can force asylum seekers to undertake often expensive and hazardous attempts at illegal entry. People displaced by the effects of climate change have often been termed "climate refugees” or "climate change refugees". Sea level rise and raising global temperatures threaten food security for many around the world. Higher temperatures are expected to further raise sea level by expanding ocean water, melting mountain glaciers and small ice caps, and causing portions of Greenland and the Antarctic ice sheets to melt. Therefore, people living in low lying islands and the Arctic home will become refugees. A refugee camp is a place built by governments or NGOs to receive refugees. People may stay in these camps, receiving emergency food and medical aid, until it is safe to return to their homes or until they are retrieved by other people outside the camps. However, more often than not, refugees are not resettled. In the meantime, they are at risk for disease and physical and sexual violence. Apart from physical wounds or starvation, a large percentage of refugees develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or depression. They are also at high risk for suicide. Among other symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder involves anxiety, amnesiaand nightmares. Flashbacks are characteristic to the disorder: The patient experiences the traumatic event, or pieces of it, again and again. It is not a simple process for refugees to return home. This is a very complex issue and every situation is different. Therefore, the following have to be taken into account in case of return. Refugees: may never have had property (e.g. in Afghanistan) cannot access what property they have (Colombia, Guatemala, South Africa and Sudan) ownership is unclear as families have split and division of the land becomes an issue death of owner may leave dependents without clear claim to the land Refugee populations consist of people who are terrified and are away from familiar surroundings. There can be instances of exploitation at the hands of the citizens of the host country. Instances of human rights violations, child labor, mental and physical torture and sexual exploitation, especially of children are common. In many refugee camps in three war-torn West African countries, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, young girls were found to be exchanging sex for money, a handful of fruit, or even a bar of soap. Most of these girls were between 13 and 18 years of age. In most cases, if the girls had been forced to stay, they would had been forced into marriage. They became pregnant around the age of 15 on average. Parents tend to turn a blind eye because sexual exploitation becomes a ‘‘mechanism of survival’’ in these camps. As they are undocumented immigrants, they are detained in prisons for three months with adult criminals, without any legal representation or medical help. Once in prison, they are victims of more violence and physical neglect. After release they are left to fend for themselves since their undocumented status does not allow access to the few existing services that could help them. World Refugee Day occurs on June 20. Refugee Week is a nationwide festival designed to promote understanding and to celebrate the cultural contributions of refugees and involves many events such as music, dance and theatre.