World Refugee Day

Image: UNICEF

Today, 20th June, is World Refugee Day. This day offers us an opportunity to reflect on the tragedies that have forced so many individuals and communities to leave their homes. It can also be a day which inspires us to redouble our efforts to assist the huge numbers of refugees and people displaced within their own countries. In total, there are currently more than 65 million people forcefully displaced from their homes worldwide, a greater number than at any time since the Second World War. More than 22.5 million are refugees and more than half of all refugees are children. Each displaced person has their own reason for leaving home, and often it is a combination of factors including conflict, hunger, drought and natural disasters, which forces populations to flee.

Ireland has been active in assisting vulnerable displaced persons in both high-profile refugee crises, such as the Syrian and South Sudan humanitarian crises, but also in responding to lesser-known crises, such as the ongoing forced displacement of people in North-Eastern Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin and Somali refugees in Kenya. Ireland partners with two of the UN agencies most closely involved in addressing the urgent needs of refugees and displaced people globally: the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and the UN’s children agency, UNICEF. Ireland has provided a total of €36.8 million in core support to UNHCR since 2012 and €46.2 million to UNICEF. We also provide funding for specific UNHCR and UNICEF programmes providing assistance to refugees in various countries, including Uganda, which is now hosting the largest refugee population in Africa. We also support the work of various agencies, such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent and partner NGOs, such as Concern Worldwide, Trócaire and Plan International, to enable them to continue to respond to the critical and growing needs of refugees in crisis situations.  These include Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia and Uganda, Burundian refugees in Tanzania, and Central African refugees in Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Below are just some examples of refugee crises where Ireland is providing life-saving assistance to ensure that refugees’ basic needs are met and their human dignity respected.

Lebanon

As the conflict in Syria continues to cause injury, disease and death, millions of Syrians have left their homes in search of safety. As a neighbouring country, Lebanon is perceived to be a safe haven by many fleeing war and an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees are now living in Lebanon – a number equivalent to a third of the country’s population.

Syrian refugees in Lebanon live among Lebanese communities and in informal tent settlements in more than 1,700 locations across the country. Yet, once refugees reach Lebanon, they still face many challenges. In 2017, over half of the estimated total population of 5.9 million in Lebanon are projected to require humanitarian assistance. Lebanon has existing economic and social difficulties, with a high proportion of Lebanese living under the poverty line. Displaced Syrians, Palestine Refugees in Lebanon and Palestine Refugees from Syria, one of the most vulnerable groups in the region, are all struggling to find sustainable livelihoods and many are living below the poverty line and require assistance.

Children have also been severely impacted as a result of the Syrian conflict. A quarter of a million displaced Syrian children between 3 and 17 years old remain out of school - exposing them to physical and/or psychological violence, child labour and exploitation, early marriage, and recruitment by armed groups. Although Lebanon has allowed Syrian children to enrol for free in public schools - limited resources, lack of school readiness, obligation to work and Lebanese policies on residency and work continue to pose significant barriers to education.

Ireland has responded to the Syrian crisis by providing assistance to those displaced within Syria and those who have left their homeland as refugees. Since 2012, Ireland has provided €76.5 million in humanitarian assistance to Syria and the region, in addition to our core support to many of the organisations responding to the crisis. Last year Ireland provided €25 million in humanitarian assistance to the Syrian crisis and we have pledged the same again in 2017. Since 2012, Ireland has provided almost €9 million in humanitarian assistance to Lebanon for the Syria crisis, provided to the UN (UNRWA, UNHCR and the UN Humanitarian Pooled Fund) and NGO partners (Trócaire, Oxfam, Christian Aid and Concern).

In addition, the Rapid Response Corps is a roster of skilled and experienced volunteers who make themselves available to be deployed by Irish Aid at short notice to work with UN humanitarian agencies in their humanitarian or emergency response operations. Since 2012, 13 members of Ireland’s Rapid Response Corps have been deployed to Lebanon. The Rapid Response Corps is part of the broader Rapid Response Initiative, which enables Ireland to react with great speed to evolving humanitarian crises, by prepositioning stocks of humanitarian supplies in various United Nations Humanitarian Response Depots, managed by the World Food Programme. Ireland has also provided funding to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, which responds to crises across the globe, including severe humanitarian crises such as the refugee crises caused by conflict in Syria, Yemen and South Sudan.

South Sudan

Nearly 4 million, or one in every three, South Sudanese have been forced to flee their homes since conflict erupted in December 2013. South Sudan is now one of the most severe humanitarian crises in the world with nearly two  out of three people of its total population of 12 million in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. In the last four years, 2 million people have been internally displaced in the country, and 1.9 million people have fled as refugees to neighbouring countries. Young people have been most impacted by the crisis, with two-thirds of South Sudanese refugees under the age of 18.

In response to this ongoing humanitarian crisis, Ireland has provided crucial assistance to those affected by this crisis, both in South Sudan and in neighbouring countries, particularly in northern Uganda, and in Gambella in western Ethiopia, where many have sought refuge from fighting. Since 2012, Ireland has provided almost€48 million in humanitarian assistance to this crisis, including €11 million last year, and €9 million so far this year.

Airlift to Uganda for South Sudanese refugees

Burundi

Over 400,000 people have fled Burundi since April 2015, following protests against President Nkurunziza seeking a third term and a harsh government response which included kidnappings, extrajudicial killings and arbitrary detention in the country’s overcrowded prisons. The majority of these refugees are now living in refugee camps in Tanzania, with significant numbers also living in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ireland has responded to the crisis with support to UN agencies and NGOs who are providing assistance to those within Burundi and refugees across the region. In 2016, €200,000 was provided to UNOCHA towards a protection capacity project in Burundi, with additional funding provided to Christian Aid and Oxfam for livelihoods and food security projects within Burundi. In Tanzania, Irish Aid provided €1.5 million in 2016 to the World Food Programme and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for food rations and for the construction of schools for the many refugee children. Further support was provided to NGOs such as Concern and Oxfam who are providing essential services to refugees in Tanzania and Rwanda.

Life for a South Sudanese refugee in Uganda

As South Sudanese refugees continue to arrive in Uganda, Irish Aid is providing critical assistance for Susan and other mostly women and children in the refugee settlements through the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).