Mood swinging against refugees

More than 250,000 people have died since 2011 when violence broke out in Syria, and at least 11 million people in the country of 22 million have fled their homes. Syrians are now the world’s largest refugee population, according to the United Nations.

Most are struggling to find safe haven in Europe. The mood was already turning against the millions of Syrian men, women and children driven into destitution by a war that has gone on for four and a half years.

Some countries have told them to stay out. Hungary even built a razor-wire fence along its border, and neighboring countries have been following suit. And previously generous countries like Sweden and Germany that welcomed thousands were already pulling back.

In the United States, where candidates running in upcoming presidential elections comment on most major issues, the Paris attacks had already triggered caustic opposition to Obama’s plans to scale up the number of Syrian refugees.

Then on Sunday, came news that one of the Paris bombers carried Syrian identification papers — possibly forged — and the fear of Syrian refugees grew worse.

[CNN]

Out of the lab and into the field

Most appeals for refugees focus on immediate necessities: clothes, food, shelter. But medium and long-term innovation is needed, and that’s where developments across STEM disciplines really come into their own.

Engineering is a clear starting point: sanitation, shelter and supply lines are all essential in any crisis. Dr Hayaatun Sillem, of the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) agrees: “Many critical aspects of humanitarian relief efforts rely on excellent engineering, from design and layout of refugee shelters to maximize their capacity, to the creation of efficient communication and transport networks that allow information to be shared and resources moved quickly across a humanitarian supply chain.”

Up to 115 people die every hour in Africa from diseases linked to contaminated drinking water and poor sanitation, particularly in the wake of conflicts and environmental disasters. Dr Askwar Hilonga recently won the Royal Academy of Engineering Africa Prize, which is dedicated to African inventions with the potential to bring major social and economic benefits to the continent. Hilonga has invented a low cost, sand-based water filter. The filter combines nanotechnology with traditional sand-filtering methods to provide safe drinking water without expensive treatment facilities. It has the potential to save thousands of lives and provide a cheap, efficient and quick way for refugee camps and emergency shelters to provide safe drinking water from any source.

[The Guardian]

Canada’s Syrian refugee resettlement plan

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with his cabinet today where one of the top priorities was to discuss a plan to resettle 25,000 refugees.

The fast-track Liberal plan needs to work out the logistics of how to get them here before year’s end, and where to house them once they arrive.

“We, as a country, are going forward to provide quick and substantial help to some of the most distressed people on the planet,” said Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister John McCallum  after the cabinet meeting.

The Canadian Armed Forces is expected to play a crucial role in the refugee resettlement process.

It’s expected refugees will be chosen from Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, and Canada’s representative at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees says U.N. staff are trying to keep expectations realistic.

[CBC]

UN warns of humanitarian crisis for Nepal’s children

The UN has warned that Nepal’s children, already hit by devastating earthquakes, are facing a new humanitarian crisis as the country reels under political strife and blockade in the Terai region bordering India, severely impacting their health.

United Nations Children Fund (Unicef) executive director Anthony Lake commented,
“The declining stocks of gas, food and medicines, together with the closure of schools due to political strife in the Terai plains and shortages of fuel throughout the country, are not only inflicting damage to the lives of the children now they threaten the future of the country itself,” he added.

Warning that shortage of fuel, food and medicines could severely impact the capacity to deal with diseases like pneumonia, Lake said that the misery would be more intense in winter, which is just weeks away.

Nepal is facing acute shortage of essential goods as Madhesi groups have enforced over a month-long blockade of all border crossings in the Terai region with India, demanding proportional representation in the new constitution.

Lake also expressed concern about children being out of the school. “When the doors of the schools are closed on children, they close also to their dreams and ambitions. And thus to the futures of their families, their communities and their nation,” Lake was quoted as saying by the Kathmandu Post. According to the Unicef, more than 1.5 million children are out of school in the Tarai region now.

[Times of India] 

German reception centers to help speed up process of accepting or repatriating refugees

Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the agreement on Thursday to set up three to five reception centers nationwide that would expedite the process of either accepting or repatriating refugees.

For weeks, opposition parties have been urging Merkel to reduce the number of the refugees in the country, saying that local authorities are struggling to deal with the refugee influx.

About 758,000 have already arrived so far this year, with around one million expected to reach the country by the end of 2015.

In addition, Germany is facing pressure from its neighbors eager for Europe’s top economy to take the refugee task off their shoulders.

 [Aljazeera]

Mass migration of refugees has only just begun

They arrived in an unceasing stream, 10,000 a day at the height, as many as a million migrants heading for Europe this year, pushing infants in strollers and elderly parents in wheelchairs, carrying children on their shoulders and life savings in their socks. They came in search of a new life, but in many ways they were the heralds of a new age.

There are more displaced people and refugees now than at any other time in recorded history–60 million in all–and they are on the march in numbers not seen since World War II. They are coming not just from Syria, but from an array of countries and regions, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, even Haiti, as well as any of a dozen or so nations in sub-Saharan and North Africa. They are unofficial ambassadors of failed states, unending wars, intractable conflicts.

The most striking thing about the current migration crisis, however, is how much bigger it could still get.

While the flow of migrants to Europe this year already represents the biggest influx from outside the Continent in modern history, many experts warn that the mass movement may continue and even increase–possibly for years to come. “We are talking about millions of potential refugees trying to reach Europe, not thousands,” Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council.

[New York Times]

Refugee children settle in long dreamed of life in Europe

The bags are packed, the goodbye hugs done. The Afghan, Eritrean and Sudanese boys are on the move again, but this time it’s a happy occasion: After months of hardship traversing continents, the teenage refugees are finally on the way to English homes where they can settle down for a long dreamed-of life in Europe.

The dozens of boys are unaccompanied child refugees who have come to the end of a long, risky journey by boat, foot, truck and train. Upon reaching the shores of Dover they were brought to a reception center in Kent, southern England, where they were given temporary shelter. As the teenagers leave for more permanent social housing or foster homes, they are seen off by another group of boys who are eagerly awaiting their turn.

Europe’s migrant crisis has seen a record surge of unaccompanied child asylum seekers fleeing civil war, conscription and poverty at home to countries including Britain and Sweden, which have scrambled to provide care for thousands of newly arrived minors. Most are boys aged between 14 to 18 hailing from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Sudan.

“I’m happy to leave today,” said Sadiq, a shy 17-year-old Sudanese, who said he wanted to become an engineer. Like all the refugees interviewed at the center, his full name cannot be reported because they are minors under government care.

Like the other youngsters, Sadiq had made it to Europe alone after leaving behind his family, and may never see his loved ones again. He lowered his head when asked about his homeland, where a years-long conflict has killed thousands and driven millions from their homes.

“Since I left I have had no information, I don’t know anything about my family. I’m very sad because of that, but what can I do?”

Record surge of child refugees to Europe

In Kent, the main English county receiving refugee children from the Middle East, arrivals jumped from 296 in September 2014 to almost 800 in the same period this year. Almost all land in Dover, a key port connected by rail and road to France.

And in Sweden, which takes the largest number of refugees per capita in Europe, the Migration Agency says almost 1,300 minors sought asylum in a single week in September–a staggering increase from about 400 a week in June. The agency estimates that a total of 12,000 unaccompanied children would have sought asylum in the country this year.

“The municipalities have never been close to having a situation like this before, ever,” said Kjell-Terje Torvik, an expert at the Swedish migration board who has worked with child refugees for over a decade. “Even though we knew the numbers were going to rise, this is far beyond our imagination.”

Social workers say many child refugees have to take off alone because of desperate circumstances: Some became separated from their families in war; others are alone because their family cannot afford to send more than one member abroad. Younger refugees also often have better chances of getting asylum in Europe.

Compared to adult asylum seekers, unaccompanied children are treated under a different set of rules in many European countries. Because they are more vulnerable, they are separated from other migrants and refugees on arrival at their destination country, and transferred to local reception centers like the one in Kent. There they stay for up for two months while authorities make further plans for them: Some will transfer to social housing with supervision by social workers or a guardian–a “god man” in Swedish, meaning a “good person”–while others stay with local foster families. All have the right to accommodation and welfare benefits including education, health care, and money to buy food and clothes.

At the Kent reception center, which has been overflowing with young refugees since the summer, facilities are clean and resemble those at a student hostel. Newcomers are given a welcome pack of toiletries, pajamas, a copy of the Quran or a Bible. The rooms are small, but each is fitted with bunk beds, a sink and a mirror in the corner. The scene is remarkable in its ordinariness: A big group of boys is playing games and watching a teen music TV show in the lounge, while others are relaxing and chatting in the courtyard.

“They go out to familiarize themselves with English life –they play football, go to the shops,” said Sue Clifton, county manager overseeing the center. “They learn about the expectations of living in England.”

[AP]

Huge change of circumstances for young refugees

It’s a huge change of circumstances for teenagers who have crossed the Mediterranean squeezed onto small boats with hundreds of other migrants. Some had seen their families killed. One said he hung on under a truck from France for 10 hours before finally reaching Dover. Another was held at gunpoint in Libya. Lacking money for the whole journey, some are forced into prostitution, A journey from Afghanistan to Sweden could take months, sometimes years, he said.

A journey from Afghanistan to Sweden could take months, sometimes years, Kjell-Terje Torvik says. “They have been showing tremendous strength. Even though they have been witnessing very hard things in their home country, the separation from their family is a trauma in itself. Sometimes (officials) encounter children crying out of control in the night … it’s a very hard situation in a foreign country, not knowing the language, without their families.”

Authorities in Britain and Sweden say their resources have been strained hiring extra staff and trying to find new homes for the influx, which has not shown signs of slowing. Over the summer, Kent officials have had to put some children in taxis to other counties to find a suitable foster home because there was simply nowhere to house them. Officials estimate that each child refugee costs the county 30,000 pounds ($45,500) a year.

In Malmo, the Swedish city receiving the bulk of the country’s child refugees, social services have opened five new reception centers and hired some 70 extra staff to cope since August. Annelie Larsson, who heads the city’s social services, said it receives an average of 80 children every day, with most arriving by bus, train or car from neighboring Denmark. Most are unlikely to reunite with their families, she said.

Sweden, with its strong tradition for solidarity and children’s rights, will continue to attract scores of refugees–and will keep on accommodating them. And in Kent, officials are also trying their best to secure more central government funding for their work.

For the children, that’s a ticket to a dramatically improved future. “I want to continue my education here–back home I couldn’t go to school. I miss (my family), but no, I wouldn’t want to go back,” said Simon, 16, who left his parents and seven siblings in Eritrea. Is Europe a dream come true? “I don’t know. I’ll wait to find out what the reality is.”

[AP]