By Nilima Adhikari
The rate of Ukrainian
exodus probably is the largest mass exodus after the Second World War. The
generosity Europe showed to the Ukrainian refugees is commendable, both people
and European countries welcomed the Ukrainian refugees wholeheartedly, EU
member countries have agreed to accept Ukrainian refugees for up to three
years without asking them to apply for asylum, but Europe has never been so generous when it came to
the Syrian refugees and refugees from other parts of the world. EU calls this the largest humanitarian crisis
that Europe has witnessed after the two consecutive world wars, but we can't
ignore the fact that the world faced the humanitarian crisis of similar
magnitude in the 2015 refugee crisis, caused by the Syrian war. Europe's response
to these two crisis is startlingly different. Borders are opened with whole
heartedness for Ukrainian refugees but were closed for Syrian refugees and
refugees from other part of the world. Ukrainian refugees are projected as
civilized, prosperous and different from refugees of third world countries
The invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq and the 2011
Arab uprising in the Middle East led to the increase in the number of refugees
trying to enter Europe. The host countries took them as economic and social
burden. Contemporary society creates a contrast between those who have right
and those who are devoid of rights. Although mankind fought many revolutions to
establish their right, Hanna Arendt, a prominent political theorist, argues
that refugees lost their rights which were assumed to be unalienable, therefore
she believes there is no such right like unalienable. Refugees lack the
unalienable rights the citizens possess because once they leave their country
they belong nowhere. Refugees with no choice and no hope have no option but to
steal, beg or cross the border illegally, as boarders are always closed for
these people in dire need of shelter and protection.
We all know women and children are hardest hit
by war, 45 percent of child refugee came just from two countries Afghanistan
and Syria alone before the Russia's 'special military intervention' in Ukraine.
Many of Syrian and Afghan children were accompanied by minors those children
often lacked documents and were extremely vulnerable. Refugees and migrant
children face many difficulties including malnourishment, drowning during sea
crossing, dehydration, kidnapping, rape and murder. When they arrive in the
foreign country they often face discrimination and xenophobia. The territory
and boundary we have created is simply a means to keep some in and the others
out, it simply stripes us of our humanity. Although people have always migrated
across borders, but migration of people at the massive scale is really a matter
of concern because of different policy of nation-states towards refugee, and
the social, economic and pressure it exerts to the host country is also a
matter of consideration but the countries bounded by international laws and laws
on rights of refugee have responsibilities towards refugee and they are oblige
to be hospitable towards them.
Refugees too have "right to have
rights" at theoretical level but once they leave their country they belong
nowhere and have no means to establish their rights. As soon as they became
refugee their right as the citizens gets lost, the country they left and the
country they seek refuge to both became alien to them and they became right
less. Hanna Arendt the prominent political theorist in her book "the
Origin of Totalitarianism" argues "some kind of political membership
should be provided to refugees and refugees should be able to speak and be heard
and appear before the public which is the confirmation of their political
rights. If refugees cannot voice their concerns, able to take part in political
processes that influence them, they are rendered voiceless".
Xenophobia, though nobody wants to acknowledge
is the prominent reason why refugees from Middle East and other parts of the
world get different response, many claim that immigration threatens the
Europe's national and cultural identity. Even though EU says it is committed to
promote human rights, the action and words doesn't imply the same. Xenophobia
whether direct or indirect, deters EU from generating a collective solution to
the refugee crisis and becoming more humane when it came to Syrian, Afghan and
other refugees. As more people from conflict zones in Middle East continued to
seek asylum in Europe, the fear of supposed Muslim invasion has grown, and made
the host countries worried that the entrance of refugee. There is the
widespread fear that such refugees could affect their countries' social and
cultural identity, and at the same time may increase terrorist activities. This
mentality which doesn't have a logical base has developed hostility towards the
refugees.
Though the European countries are the
first to sign the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees, to
address to the need of millions of refugees after Second World War, have failed
to acknowledge that Syrian and Afghan refugees too had the identical needs,
pain and agony like that of Ukrainian refugees. The past century has been one
characterized by war, conflict, forced migration, and expulsion resulting in
massive human displacement. Being forced to leave the country and not being
welcomed anywhere, and without the access to the basic necessities of life, the
life of refugees is really very pathetic and it should be the concern to the
whole world.
Alan Kurdi, a three year old Syrian boy
drowned in Mediterranean Sea whose photograph made the headlines of every news
in 2015 is the representative of the ordeal faced by children refugee. Those
children who survived the perilous journey arrive mentally and physically
exhausted. Due to their age and vulnerability, children continue to face
extreme challenges, even after they settle on the safe place this displacement
leaves severe impacts on their health, education and overall wellbeing .Kurdi
died when his family was trying to reach Canada via the route of Mediterranean
Sea in extremely dangerous conditions. After moving to various cities in Syria
to escape civil war, his family settled in turkey. Kurdi's family members were
hoping to join their relatives in Canada after his aunt filed for refugee
sponsorship. But their visa was rejected by Department of Citizenship and
Immigration Canada. Kurdi's father feels Canadian government in one or the
other way responsible for the death of Kurdi as they were denied visa they
ultimately had to board a small boat to illegally reach the place of refuge.
The photograph of Kurdis' body caused international outrage. That photo of
drowned Alan Kurdi shows the gravity of refugee crisis and shames the humanity
and the nation-states who claim to have been formed for the welfare of
humanity. Many refugees have died in the
way while searching countries of refuge, many people have died while being
smuggled to safe countries, smuggled because the host countries have closed
their borders. As the possible justification of states for closing their
boarders is their claim of sovereignty over their territory. A state says as it
is sovereign it has right to decide who is included and who is excluded from
its territory.
The treaty of " Westphalia"
established the concept of sovereignty and after the ratification of treaty an
understanding was established that the states would be sovereign and there
won't be any interference in their domestic affairs by another country,
employing this concept the states closed
boarders for the refugees, the concept of sovereignty that was
applicable for that time and circumstance can't be true to today’s scenario
because things and circumstances both social and political have changed now and
the act of closing the boarders in the name of sovereignty is certainly not justifiable.