International Journal Advances in Social Science and Humanities
Available online at: www.ijassh.com
REVIEW ARTICLE
An Outlook Approach on Human Rights - Migrants and Refugees
Varam Venkata Narasaiah
Political Science, Silver Jubilee Govt. College (Autonomous), Kurnool, A.P.,India
Abstract
Human Rights are those minimal rights that individual need to have against the State or other Public ascendancy by virtue of their being members of the human family, irrespective of any other consideration.Human rights today have acquired legitimacy and significance in the external relations of the world community, but also in the domestic relations between the State and its citizens. Current migration flows have placed the issue of migration high on the international agenda. The magnitude and complexity of the phenomenon is such that international migration can no longer be considered peripheral to the mainstream of development policies. The Syria conflict has triggered the world’s largesthumanitarian crisis of our generation. Today, every country is affected in some way by migration either as country of origin, transit or destination, or sometimes a combination of these. International migrants are a heterogeneous group. The growth of cities in the developing world is often built on the labour of migrants, but they seldom share fully in the wealth that is created. Exclusion is exacerbated by political systems that do not give equal voice to all urban residents (temporary or permanent), and by social systems that privilege some people according to gender, ethnicity or other affiliations. Refugees are not receiving the support and services they need and the neighbouring countries increasingly feel that they are being left alone to deal with the crisis, including grave risks to their own stability. This paper gives an outlook approach on Human Rights, Migrants and Refugees.
Keywords: Human Rights, Syria conflict, Displaced persons, Migrants, Refugees.
Introduction
Human rights are not a monopoly of any privileged class of people. Human rights are universal in nature, without consideration and without exception. The values such asdivinity, dignity and equality which form the basis of these rights are inherent in human nature. Today, migration is at the forefront of political and legislative agendas in many countries and is also a topic of continued public debate at the international level. While this debate has centered either onthe perceived challenges posed by migration or on its contribution to developmentand poverty alleviation, the inextricable connection between migrations, development and human rights has been insufficientlyexplored.
The almost 200 million persons living outsidetheir country of birth are internationalmigrants of one type or another
International migrants are a heterogeneous group. From highly skilled professionals to the young men and women who are smuggled across borders to work in sweat shops, they include people who have been in the country for decades and those who arrived only yesterday. In many situations, migrants are integrated into the economy and society of the country in which they live, their rights are respected, and there are few obstacles to their ability to contribute economically, socially and culturally. In other situations, however, migrants’ rights are less respected, and in order to lead secure and productive lives, they need human rights protection and are indeed entitled to it. It is often migrants with irregular status that are most in need of this protection.
UNHCR’S
Calls
for
Global
Resettlement
United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) has urged the
international community to show solidarity with countries hosting Syrian refugee’s in the region by offering greater refugee resettlement opportunities, humanitarian admission places, family reunification or otherforms of admission for Syrian refugees.
UNHCR’ s specific call for states to offer 130,000 placesfor Syrian refugees by the end of 2016 - which was widelysupported by NGOs - is at present just 20,000 places shortof being fully pledged, one year early, by nearly 30 states.
Europe has led the way in that response, with over 60% ofthe places pledged either for resettlement or for other types of admission coming from 21 European states.Outside of Europe, the biggest contribution has been madeby Brazil, in a humanitarian visa programme that has so farissued over 7,000 visas. Security concerns have impededthe largest resettlement countries, particularly
the UnitedStates, from responding
significantly to UNHCR’s call for resettlement places. UNHCR estimates that approximately 10% (400,000) of theSyrian refugees currently in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraqand Egypt, is currently in need
of resettlement and othertypes of admission.
Humanitarian
Admission
Programmers
With respect to Syrian refugees,
humanitarian admission wasoffered first by Germany, and later also by Austria, France,
Ireland and the United Kingdom.
“Humanitarian admission”can actually be considered an umbrella term for several different sub-programmes, including family reunification programmes, using different referral mechanisms and aimingat time-efficient refugee processing to provide temporary protection to Syrian refugees. Responding to pleas from civil society, churches and Syrianfamily members in
Europe, the German Humanitarian
Admission Programmes (HAP) have
provided access toprotection for 20,000 Syrians, the majority of whom havearrived in Germany.Both the German and Austrian programmes have admitted the a large part
of cases through referrals from
familymembers, churches and civil society partners, with the otherpart processed by
UNHCR on the basis of
resettlementprotection and vulnerability criteria.
Legal status offered under humanitarian admission programmes in Europe varies from two-year temporary residency status
(Germany and Ireland), to 5-yeartemporary residency (UK), subsidiary protection (France) and full refugee status (Austria and France). Given thenature and scope of the conflict in Syria, it is highly likelythat those Syrian refugees with temporary residence willhave their stay extended or made more permanent.
There are no mechanisms for identification of potential victims of trafficking among asylum-seekers in the reception centers and migrants in detention are screened insufficiently and often without victim support and in absence of trained gregarious workers.
Moreover, the officials of law enforcement and asylum and migration ascendant entities do not always have an opportune understanding of the distinction between trafficking and smuggling in human beings. Consequently, even those potential victims of trafficking who may come forward and “self-identify” themselves, can remain unnoticed and their desiderata unaddressed.
In some countries, there is a practice of apperceiving as victims of trafficking only those persons who have acceded to participate in malefactor proceedings that result in convictions. This limits the victim identification to those who avail in prosperous prosecutions omitting victims who opted not to cooperate with police and those who did cooperate but whose trafficker was not convicted.
Humanitarian Visas
To provide for safe and legal entry, humanitarian visas havebeen issued at diplomatic representations to enable personsarriving in the issuing country to access expedited asylum procedures on arrival. France has issued around 1,400 humanitarian visas (‘visasau titre de l’asile’) to Syrians during 2013-2015, all of whomhave applied for asylum in France upon arrival. Several othercountries have issued visas to Syrians on humanitarian grounds, mobilising existing legislation and available visainstruments, e.g., in Germany (Residence Act), Switzerland (Emergency Visas) and Portugal (Temporary Stay Visa).
Student Visa Programmes
Stepping up in the context of the Syrian refugee crisis,a number of national and regional governments, NGOs, universities, and university organisations have shown great interest in offering student visas, acting even as donorsthrough a waiver of
admission fees as well as in
selectionprocesses.At the same time, accessibility of student admission programmes has, on occasion, been compromised by excessive admission criteria, such as providing proof ofprevious education that was only available in Syria. Further, a number of study programmes provide time-limited visas, with no option to extend, convert or renew, nor provide waysto support longer-term stay after the expiration of the study programme.
Protection Challenges in the Region
The protracted nature of the Syrian conflict has resulted in a vast majority of refugees facing destitution and living below the poverty level.The large majority of Syrian refugees live outside officialcamps, in cities, towns or informal camp settings in ruralareas.
Women and girls are facing an increasing degree ofisolation, violence and insecurity. Sexual and gender-based violence, including domestic violence, is widespread.Half of Syrian refugees are children and just under1 million Syrian refugee children are currently of schoolage, while only 49% are enrolled in schools. Despiteefforts by host countries, public school systems areoverburdened. Secondary and higher education are becoming a rare possibility. These children risk becominga lost generation if education options are not expanded.
Syrian Displacement
Tragically, this number continues to increase in 2015.
Figure: The body of a Syrian child washed ashore in Bodrum, Turkey, on Sept. 2, 2015, after a boat carrying refugees sank off the Greek island of Kos.[Source: www.huffingtonpost.com]
The neighbouring countries and Syrian refugees need to be provided with sufficient financial support from the international
community to provide humanitarian
assistance to an increasingly vulnerable and impoverished refugee population. For the majority of Syrians who will remain in the neighboring countries, additional measures are required to ensure more livelihood and education opportunities. Migration and
development cooperation should be
strengthened to promote cooperation between universities, cities and diaspora communities in the neighboring countries and Europe.
Due to the overall lack of other opportunities, recognized refugees often remain in the reception centers for asylum-seekers long after being granted protection which delays their effective integration into the society. Social welfare benefits and assistance are inadequate and expose persons granted protection to poverty with insufficient means to meet basic needs.
Lack of local language instruction further hinders prospects for integration and access to gainful employment. Lack of employment opportunities other than poorly paid menial labour prevents refugees from becoming self-sustainable. Such lack of adequate solutions and support mechanisms can become a push factor for many to resort to (irregular) onward movements in search of better economic and social opportunities.
All countries in the region are State Parties to international human rights conventions, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. All have likewise ratified the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
Protection of Migrants’ Human
Rights
The core principle of the international human rights regime is that human rights are universal, indivisible, inalienable, and interdependent. As set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, migrants are first and foremost human beings, included in the “everyone” of Article 2: “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” The principle of universality implies that States of origin, transit, and destination are all responsible for the protection of migrants’ human rights.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress
and Punish Trafficking inPersons,
Especially Women and Children and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, which entered into
force respectively. The Protocols
supplemented the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime to prevent and combat trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, protect and assist the victimsof human trafficking, and strengthen thecooperation among States.
origin, countries of transit andcountries of destination. A human rightsapproach which emphasizes State responsibilityfor the promotion of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights initio may recast development policiesin a way that would reduce emigrationcaused by the inability of States to ensurethe exercise of nationals of their right to development [1-6].
Conclusion
Today, every country is affected in some way by migration either as country of origin, transit or destination, or sometimes a combination of these. International migrants are a heterogeneous group. The growth of cities in the developing world is often built on the labour of migrants, but they seldom share fully in the wealth that is
created. Migrants contribute to
developmentin their home countries through remittances, and to their host countries through their work and cultural diversity and in some countries to population growth and change in age structure. Human dignity is also at stake in countries of destination when migrants are subject to violence, abuse and discrimination. If countries of origin and destination are to reap the full development benefits of migration not just counted in terms of volume of remittances and cheap labour, respectively, but also in terms of the linguistic and cultural value that migrants may bring it is essential to address the social and human rights aspect of migration as well as the more obvious economic gains.
References
1. Basantani KT, Human Rights, Science, Technological Development.
2. Sheth (2002) The Future of Human Rights. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
3. According to The Syrian Network for Human Rights 211,000 havebeen killed in Syria since 2011. Source: Report: Civilian death tollin Syria around 211.000 (World bulletin, 13 March 2015).
4. Health 3RP Regional Refugee & Resilience Plan 2015-2016 in Responseto the Syria Crisis. 5. Hidden victims of the Syrian Crisis: Disabled,
Injured and Older Refugees (Help Age International and Handicap International, 2014), p. 4,12.
