Research
9/19/16
Refugee Research
Most of what I know about refugees at the start is from the small amount of conversations I hear on the news; what is knowingly a huge issue, is not new to the global environment. World War 1 led to the major presence of refugees all over the world. The timeline really showed the progression and lack of solution for what truly is a refugee crisis. I still cannot believe 65 million people, one in every 113 people, in the world are refugees. Their living conditions are no where near livable and the policies in debate do not seem to grasp the danger these people struggle with daily.The 1951 Refugee Convention was the first step in figuring out how to handle the growing issue.
A refugee is defined as any person who is oustide his or her country of origin or habitual residence and is unable to return due to a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership of a particular social group. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which allows anyone the right to seek asylum, only prohibits persons who have committed war crimes or other serious crimes from exercising this right. Once granted, refugee status can be lost if obtained by deception. If a person fears harm in their own country, they must first seek asylum before becoming a "refugee" in official terms, and typically are relocated to refugee camps to await the decision of their status. The host country or UNCHR makes the final decision on whether an asylum seeker can be granted refugee status and will then be set on the path to citizenship in the host country.
9/22/16
Mercy Corps Research
I spent a lot of time reading the image to the right; it was the very first information about Syria on the webpage. Resulting from anti-government demonstrations beginning in March of 2011, government violence has lead to conflicts that have forced 11 million people - half the country's pre-war population - to flee the country and millions more to be displaced within Syria. The U.N. estimates that it will cost $7.7 billion to meet the needs of the most vulnerable Syrians in 2016. Syrians have fleed to Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, and Greece. But these people are escaping their country only to find their host countries in conflicts and struggles to support the refugees in addition to internal problems. Also, the journey out of Syria is dangerous can be deadly, such as the rough passages across the Mediterranean Sea.
Most refugees live outside of camps and struggle to pay rent by taking on odd jobs for minute amounts of money. Most refugees in Turkey and Iraq live in urban areas and can legally work, yet the language barrier is challenging. In Jordan, the refugee camps run by the government aim to provide safe communities as a sort of structure and support, but families can feel trapped and crowded. Thus, they seek shelter in nearby towns and abandoned buildings. Za'atari, the first offical camp in Jordan, has approximately 79,000 Syrians; it is one of Jordan's largest cities made up of tents, makeshift shops, and schools. Because more than half of all Syrian refugees are under the age of 18, the lack of access to schooling is detrimental. Besides the lack of schooling, refugees lack access to water sources and are more susceptible to diseases.
With airstrikes against ISIS and fighting around the refugee camps in Aleppo, Syrians are increasingly in danger and cut off from external aid. Over 250,000 people, half being civilians, have been killed in the war, human rights have not been upheld, and cities have been destroyed. There are currently 4.8 million Syrians throught the region - the world's larget refugee population. Almost 5 million Syrians have registered or are awaiting reistration with the UNCHR.
Source: mercycorps.org article "What you need to know about the Syria crisis"
9/28/16
TedTalk: Marwa Al-Sabouni: How Syria's architecture laid the foundation for brutal war
Marwa and her husband are architects living in Syria. After 6 years of war, she explains how her city of Holms has turned almost completely to rubble.
What was once a place of tolerance, as Marwa describes, has become a place that fosters violence and hatred. She blames the change on outsider architects who believed the traditional set-up of the cities to be "un-modern" and thus tried to update them. By relocating monuments and other forms of differentiation, the new structure led to a loss of identity within the people of Syria. Marwa believes architecture relates to the character of a community and provides a sense of belonging in community members. Communities that expressed nothing but tolerance when churches were located next to mosques now lack understanding between sects due to separation. Distinct social groups have formed from the alienation of groups after misguided urban zoning of "inhumane" architecture. Marwa explains how it is easier to destroy a place if you do not view it as belonging to you, which is what the new architectural separation has caused. Marwa said, "conflict is much easier between pre-categorized areas where the “others” live." Rebuilding after war should focus on avoiding mistakes that led to the current war and recapturing traditional values of coexistence. Therefore, the fragmentation of communities needs to be glued back together. Marwa exclaims, "Architecture is not the axis around which all human life rotates, but it has the power to suggest and even direct human activity."
9/28/16
New Americans in Rhode Island
The American Immigration Council produced a fact sheet regarding immigrants, Latinos, and Asians in Rhode Island.
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1 in 8 of all Rhode Islanders is foreign-born
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Over half are naturalized citizens who are registered to vote
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- 13.6% (or 75,047) of registered voters in Rhode Island were “New Americans” in 2012
- Purchasing power of these groups has skyrocketed in the last 25 years
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Immigration boosts housing values in communities
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Immigrants comprised 15.2% of the state’s workforce in 2013 (or 86,565 workers), according to the U.S. Census Bureau
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If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Rhode Island, the state would lose $698.0 million in economic activity, $310 million in gross state product, and approximately 3,780 jobs
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Unauthorized immigrants in Rhode Island paid $33.1 million in state and local taxes in 2012
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Rhode Island’s 5,549 foreign students contributed $212.2 million to the state’s economy in tuition, fees, and living expenses for the 2013-2014 academic year
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In Rhode Island, 22.6% of foreign-born persons who were naturalized U.S. citizens in 2011had a bachelor’s or higher degree, compared to 20% of noncitizens
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The number of immigrants in Rhode Island with a college degree increased by 65.3% between 2000 and 2011
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In Rhode Island, 85.9% of children with immigrant parents were considered “English proficient” as of 2009
10/1/16
Burundi
There are over 300,000 people fleeing Burundi after political crisis erupted there 18 months ago. There does not seem to be an end to the growing number as long as the crisis persists. Most people are in search of asylum or international protection. While the UNHCR expects the number to continue rising, neighboring countries and aid agencies are struggling to provide adequate shelter, protection, and life-saving services. "The reception capacities of host countries are severely overstretched and conditions remain dire for many refugees." The UNHCR asks for international aid to maintain efforts for peace and to increase support for host countries. Tanzania is currently home to the most Burundian refugees, approximately 163,084, and requires an additional camp to house refugees to alleviate crowding. Rwanda's emergency shelters, holding 70% of the 81,000 refugees in the country, are beginning to deteriorate. Similar conditions are occurring in Uganda, Dem. Rep. of the Congo, and other surrounding countries. Most of the refugees are women and children. "Half of the Burundian refugees in Rwanda are children, many of whom arrived unaccompanied or separated from their families." The UNHCR requested US$175.1 million for the Burundi humanitarian response in 2016 and has only received about 3% of that to date, US$4.7 million. They thank donors but urgently appeal for more funding.
10/1/16
Refugee Health Clinic: Hasbro Children's Hospital
www.hasbrochildrenshospital.org/services/refugee-health-clinic/services.html
Hasbro Children's Hospital developed a health clinic to serve the needs of refugee children arriving to Rhode Island from the rest of the world. The clinic opened in 2007 with the goal of examining and following up on caring for these children. The clinic provides comprehensive, collaborative, and cost-effective care to refugee children and their families. Children have come from countries such as Liberia, Burundi, Eritrea, Iraq, Somalia, and Nepal. Refugees must receive a comprehensive physical exam - required by the Office of Refugee Resettlement - within 30 to 60 days of arrival. The Refugee Clinic works closely with International Institute if Rhode Island, a volunteer resettlement agency that provides many services, including educational training, job placement, and assistance finding housing. Staff at the Refugee Clinic work closely with other hospital departments such as Psychiatry, The Samuels Sinclair Dental Center, and Interpreter Services. Clinic interpreters - many being former refugees themselves - also act as drivers, educators, health promoters, and navigators of the US health care system.
10/4/16
Haitian Refugees
The island of Hispaniola is made up of the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. This article follows the stories of a Haitians who lived in the DR for many years but were forced by the DR's government to return to Haiti. The first portion was about a man who lived in the DR for 40 years, was attacked and then asked the government for help (which was denied), and then was forced to return to Haiti because he was not legally Dominican. Another woman was forced to leave behind her two young children with her Dominican-born husband, while she was forced to return to Haiti. Roughly 40,000 Haitians are said to have left the DR to return to Haiti, leaving everything they own and their families to now have nothing; they are forced to live in unfit conditions and do not receive sufficient aid. The DR government claims that these deportations were voluntary, but no one this reporter talked to felt as though they had a say in the matter. More than half a million Haitians live and work low paying jobs in the DR. Most considered themselves Dominican even though they never became official citizens of the country. Those are the people facing this governmental struggle regarding the real threat of deportation.
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In 2013, the Dominican high court issued a ruling retroactively removing citizenship from anyone born to non-Dominican parents since 1929.
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In 2014, Dominican President Danilo Medina passed a law giving unregistered Haitians until June 17, 2015 to officially become residents.
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But “the law has been fraught with design and implementation flaws that have thwarted the re-nationalization process.”
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"Officially, the government was not due to start deporting people—both those who had their citizenship removed by the 2013 court decision and people who had never registered at all—until August. But human rights groups say many people are being picked up and left at the border on an ad hoc basis, and others are fleeing an uptick in anti-Haitian discrimination and violence like the attack on Joseph’s house."
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"While conditions are already bad, the situation will get much worse if the Dominican government follows through on its threat later this month to start deporting Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent en masse to a desperately poor country still coping with the thousands of people displaced internally by the 2010 earthquake. Months ago, the Haitian government pledged to build a new relocation camp between Fond Parisien and Malpasse for the new arrivals, but at the time I visited, there was little at the site other than a sign."
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(As someone who has been to Haiti, I understand how different their views are on time, especially in construction projects. Their system doesn't allow for a quick build of anything with easily found materials and tools. It is incredibly different in all aspects than what we are used to in America.)
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The Haitian government has promised to give 1,000 gourdes ($20) to anyone who leaves the camp to set up a new life in Haiti, “but other than that, they have done very little. If there are more deportees it will get bad. Civil society can’t replace the government.” says one refugee.
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When asked if a refugee considered himself Dominican or Haitian, he replied quickly, “I’m Haitian. If I was Dominican, they could not have expelled me like a dog.”
10/4/16
One Family's Story from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcHdKpIBcUE&feature=youtu.be&t=1s
The video featured Clement and Aline Shaman, refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They had dedicated themselves to helping women and girls fight the discrimination they faced in the DRC. In the DRC, women are continuously facing marginalization and the fear of being violated; they have no voice and no rights. Families send boys to school, but not girls. So Clement and Aline were part of a nonprofit organization for promoting education, human rights, and economic self-sufficiency. Their goals were to give hope to women, encourage them to stand up for themselves, and find them housing and scholarships for schooling. Their allegiance with the organization brought the injustice from the government and army. In 2008, army soldiers came into their home, tied up Clement, and violated Aline. Luckily, they were not able to violate their two daughters because they managed to hid under their beds. After the horrendous act occurred, the family ran away to a neighboring village. The army returned to their house with orders to kill them, but luckily they had left. The army burnt down their house and the office where they worked. The Shaman family knew they were not safe being nearby and continued to walk for three nights. They crossed a lake and made it over the border to Rwanda where they stayed for only 2 nights. They kept walking until they reached Uganda, where they did not know anyone but were aided my priests at a church. They found a hospital and Aline was checked for HIV, which is a common consequence after the type of violation she faced. Talking to an official from DRC, the family was told, "we heard you died" and knew that they still we not safe. In May of 2008, the family flew from Uganda to Bangkok, Thailand and arrived with no money and no place to live. They arrived at the Amnesty International office there and were helped to request protection from the UNHCR. Their 3 month tourist visas expired, leaving them susceptible to being jailed for being in Thailand illegally. They could not get jobs or go to school during their entire stay in Thailand, and they did not know any English. Clement learned English in order to help others as an interpreter at hospitals and in interviews. After a patient 5 years and 9 months in Bangkok, the family was finally able to travel to the United States in 2014.
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there are around 400 tribes in the DRC and there are 4 national languages. French is the official language of the country, but it is only taught in schools. Therefore, if people did not have the necessary schooling, people from different parts of the country would not be able to communicate (because French is the only common way to do so).