Refugee numbers on rise again, says UN
Mike Steketee; 18/6/08
Refugee numbers around the world are rising after a five-year decline, with conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq boosting the numbers. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres says there is a threat of further increases because of multiple conflicts, bad governance, competition for scarce resources as a result of climate change and instability generated by food and fuel price rises that have hit the poor. The UNHCR’s report on global trends for last year, released yesterday, estimates the number of refugees under its responsibility rose by 1.5million to 11.4million, with the volatile situation in Iraq making a significant contribution. It was the second year of increases after five years of falls. The total excludes persons who are displaced by conflict but stay within their country: that number grew last year by 1.6 million to 26million.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23881773-5013404,00.html
Mock camp highlights huge rise in refugees
Paola Totaro; 18/6/08
The number of people uprooted and surviving solely through the care of the UN refugee agency reached a historic high at the end of last year. According to a report released in London yesterday by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, 11.4 million refugees are trying to survive outside their countries. Another 26 million men, women and children have been displaced inside their countries by war, tribal conflict or persecution. In a bid to emphasise that the numbers have risen for the second year running, the United Nations set up a mock Darfur refugee camp around Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square. The incongruous camp sprang up overnight, a clutch of domed tents, blankets, food boxes and the sorry detritus that humans carry in flight.
See: http://www.theage.com.au/world/mock-camp-highlights-huge-rise-in-refugees-20080617-2s5t.html
Climate change refugees the forgotten people
Emma Brindal; 18/6/08
Australia has a duty to help those who will lose their homes to rising sea levels. This is National Refugee Week, an appropriate time for Australians to consider the plight of climate refugees — those people being displaced as a result of sea-level rise, drought and extreme weather events.This crisis is set to eclipse all refugee crises to date in terms of the number of people affected — it is estimated that about 200 million people could be displaced by 2050 with a sea level rise of only 50 centimetres — yet there has been no co-ordinated international effort to tackle this problem. People are being displaced now from communities such as those in the Sunderbans — particularly in Bangladesh — yet not even the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees affords them protection.
See: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/climate-change-refugees-the-forgotten-people-20080617-2s5b.html