Which Way Home

Directed by Rebecca Cammisa and released in 2009, Which Way Home is a film that follows a numbers of unaccompanied children and adolescents riding on top of "la bestia" in an attempt to reach the United States. This Academy Award nominated film follows the children from different Central American countries through Mexico and into the United States. Not all of the children arrive in the U.S., and of those who make it, not all of them stay. At the time of filming, about 5% of immigrants arriving at the US/Mexico border were unaccompanied minors. Today, that number is much higher, with the first 8 1/2 months of the 2014 fiscal year experiencing a 99% increase in unaccompanied minors than in 2013.

The film's trailer...

...and a clip from the film.

President Obama: Executive Action for Immigration Reform

President Obama recently announced that he would be taking executive action on immigration reform. His policy reform will give respite to 4 million undocumented immigrants in danger of deportation, as well as overhauling the country's immigration system. The president plans to put even more effort into cutting down illegal immigration along the nation's boarders---there are already 3,000 additional border patrol agents stationed along the southwest border and fencing, drone and ground surveillance has more than doubled since 2008---target those who compromise national security and public safety, hold undocumented immigrants accountable with criminal background checks and taxes, increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the immigration court system, and protect the victims of crime, human trafficking, and exploitative labor. 

Below is the Presidential Address that Obama gave November 20th, on immigration reform through executive action. 

When Guests Overstay their Welcome

Two men burned tents and opened fire in a Syrian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. The attack wounded two refugees and comes two days after a Lebanese soldier was killed by Syrian militants. The soldier---the fourth to be captured and killed---was a captive of Nusra Front, a Syrian offshoot of al-Qaeda, and was killed in response to the arrests of women identified as wives to ISIL fighters.

Lebanon currently has the highest concentration of refugees compared to its population in the world, with one out of every four residents being a refugee. Predictably, resentment against these refugees is growing as accusations that this displaced population is hiding militants in tents in order to facilitate attacks against the Lebanese army. 

(http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/12/07/Gunmen-open-fire-on-refugee-camp-in-Lebanon-2-wounded.html)

Lebanon is experiencing increasing violence between its national army and Sunni Muslim insurgents. As the 1.1 million refugees settle down for the cold winter, Lebanese tempers grow hotter, and many blame refugees for taking jobs, lowering wages, overburdening schools and hospitals, and draining welfare programs. 

(http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/150120/gunmen-open-fire-on-refugee-camp-in-lebanon-two-wounded)

As violence and discrimination against displaced Syrians grows more frequent and refugees continue to flee from Syria, 36 international organizations including Oxfam, Amnesty International, Save the Children, and Islamic Relief have banded together in calling for rich countries to accept tens of thousands for resettlement. According to reports from Amnesty International, just 1.7% of Syrian refugees have been accepted into the international community.  Together, Germany and Sweden have received just under 100,000 applications for asylum from Syrians, while the UK, France, Italy, Spain, and Poland have agreed to admit only 2,000 refugees all together. 

In the UK specifically, only 90 Syrians (according to Amnesty International) have been resettled. These refugees were accepted under Britain's new Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme specifically for Syrian refugees. As for the Gulf states like Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE among others, none have accepted any refugees, nor have they offered to accept any in the future. 

Unable to manage the number of refugees already inside the country, Syria's neighboring states Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan are imposing new restrictions on border crossings in attempts to slow the flow of families fleeing into their state.

A Turkish soldier speaks with Syrians trying to enter Turkey at an unofficial border crossing (http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/11/19/uk-syria-crisis-germany-idUKBRE8AI0B120121119)

This plea for wealthy nations to share the responsibility of caring for Syrian refugees comes  two weeks after the World Food Program was forced to halt its food voucher program due to lack of funding. This program assisted hundreds of thousands of Syrians living as refugees in Turkey and neighboring countries, but now many will go hungry and cold during the winter months.

(http://www.humanosphere.org/basics/2014/01/syrian-refugees-lack-access-information-news/)

To learn more facts about Syrian refugee resettlement, click here.

The Stateless

Although the two pregnant refugees involved in a standoff with Australian police this past week have agreed to enter the Darwin detention center, none of the issues they were protesting against have been resolved. While indefinite offshore detention and the quality of life in those detention centers needs to be addressed, the most pressing issue for the two soon-to-be mothers is the citizenship their children will be given a birth. Current Australian policy prevents the children born in Australia to "unauthorized maritime arrivals," non-citizens, or non-permanent residents from getting citizenship until the age of ten and have spent most of their life in Australia.

A recent court case tested this policy. Ferouz Myuddin, an eleven-month old was born in Brisbane after his mother was transferred to an onshore hospital from Nauru. He, like the other babies of asylum seekers in detention, was not given citizenship even though he has a Queensland birth certificate.

Ferouz Myuddin and his mother leaving the hospital shortly after his birth. (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/16/asylum-seeker-babys-fight-for-refugee-status-goes-to-federal-court)

The Myuddins are Muslim Rohingyas who fled their home in Myanmar (Burma) because of religious persectution. The Ferouz's parents are also applying for citizenship for their son as a "stateless" migrant since as a Rohingya, he is ineligible for citizenship in their home country. 

The Australian government's original ruling that the newborn Ferouz was an "unauthorized maritime arrival" was later supported by a ruling from the federal court. As an unauthorized arrival, Ferouz cannot claim refugee status, and he, along with 100 babies in the same situation, could be sent to Nauru indefinitely. There is also a call to amend Australia's Migration Act wichi would retrospectively declare any baby born of the "boat people" as unauthorized arrivals regardless of their place of birth. Thus prohibiting them from applying for permanent protection visas and requiring that they are sent to offshore holding facilities. 

 Children in one of Australia's offshore immigration detention centers. (http://impunitywatch.com/refugee-advocates-concerned-over-australian-plan-for-asylum-seekers/)

Children being held at the Nauru detention center. (http://impunitywatch.com/refugee-advocates-concerned-over-australian-plan-for-asylum-seekers)

In addition to the its controversial refugee resettlement deal last month with Cambodia, Australia also reintroduced a past immigration policy that gives refugees temporary visas under which they can be sent home if conditions in their home country have begun to improve. 

The number maritime arrivals to Australia's Christmas Island  increased sharply in 2012 and 2013, and the number of refugee deaths has also increased. The government's effort to stop the boats includes deterrents like tow-backs or sending boats back on their own. These tactics don't seem to have decreased the number of boats appearing in Australian waters, have caused serious concerns for the safety of passengers, and have brought accusations by the UN and other human rights groups that Australia is avoiding international obligations.

A TV report on the Darwin bus standoff this past week

 

Hell no, we won't go!

Helen Davidson

Monday 1 December 2014 20.35 EST

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A three-day standoff between Australian police and two pregnant women ended on Monday. Maryam Shirvani and a second, unnamed woman along with their husbands and Mrs. Shirvani's 12-year old son, are eight months pregnant and were flown to Australia to give birth. The families claim that officials promised to house them in the local community or in a hotel, and that they only realized that they were going to stay in an immigration detention center when their bus drove through the compound gates. The government on the other hand, denies making any promises to the family.

The family has asked to return to Nauru immediately despite the inferior medical care, rather than return to detention. This preference is not unexpected for those familiar with the conditions and psychological exhaustion experienced by those detained on Nauru. The women involved in the stand-off had already spent over 15 months on Nauru before being granted official refugee status and placed in a temporary resettlement camp on the island. They had thought that their new status would protect them from being held in an immigration facility again. Many pregnant women have been transported from offshore immigration detention centers to onshore centers because of Australia's excellent medical facilities, but these women and their partners are the first who were already found to be genuine refugees before being taken into custody.

The women finally exit the van after three days.
(http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-02/pregnant-refugee-bus-standoff-enters-third-day-near-darwin/5933112)

Sadly, the families are now accusing detention center of cruelty, alleging that staff parked the van in the sun on purpose, turned off the air-conditioning, allowed the temperature within the van to reach dangerous levels to the point where both women fainted, and limited access to food and water. A spokesperson for the detention center adamantly denies all of these claims, saying that "Health and welfare of the individuals was monitored throughout this incident," and that "the individuals involved had access to food, water and amenities, and the Department and service providers facilitated access to toilets and health professionals."

These two families, like the many others living on Nauru are living in limbo, as neither Australia nor Nauru will allow them to settle permanently. It looks like the only option for these families is to resettle in Cambodia under the new Australian/Cambodian immigration deal. This agreement allows Australia to send its refugees to Cambodia in exchange for increased aid funding.

A World Food Program without Food

(http://www.voltairenet.org/article185350.html)

The World Food Program (WFP) has discontinued its food aid program for the 1.6 million Syrian refugees due to a lack of funding. The program provided food vouchers to refugees living in the already overburdened countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt. According to the WFP, it needs $64 million to support refugees through December, and the likelihood that such funding will come through quickly seems very low. 

The WFP voucher program has already injected around $800 million into host country economies struggling to accommodate the 3.2 million refugees who have fled Syria. The program also offers assistance to the 7.6 million internationally displaced persons who remain inside Syria. Refugees were given $1 a day to spend at local stores. Although small, this source of income was essential, as in some of the host countries such as Jordan, refugees are not permitted to work. With temperatures dropping and new cuts being implemented in U.N. run camps, the timing couldn't be worse. 

(http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30275514)

Without the assistance program, refugees will demand more of local services and charities, making them less welcome in areas where they are already seen as a drain on limited local resources and a financial burden on local families. Lebanon has recently closed its checkpoints in order to prevent more refugee from entering its borders. This is because the nation is unable to take care of the 1.1 million refugees already living within its borders.

The relief agencies still operating in the area are perpetually underfunded and can only offer relief to the most vulnerable. Unfortunately, without the WFP, that number is sure to rise quickly and dramatically. Living expenses such as buying winter clothes and paying for gas for heating are rising, while informal labor like seasonal agricultural or construction work is ending. Parents will be forced to pull children out of school to save tuition and transportation costs, and many families will need to move into U.N. camps where WFP food aid is still provided, but where shelter is in the form of chilly weatherproofed-tents. Some may decide to return to Syria and re-enter dangerous conflict zones.

Many large NGOs like the Red Cross as well as the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have been unable to manage the incredible number of refugees currently displaced by the Syrian civil war. To put statistics into perspective, the number of refugees currently displaced by the conflict is the largest number since the Second World War. 

Many host governments are beginning to flounder publicly under the burden of caring for so many refugees with such little help from the international community. A few weeks ago, Jordan discontinued providing free healthcare to registered refugees, and the government is now considering cutting free education to displaced children. According to Oxfam, as of September 2014, only eleven countries had contributed over 50% of what was calculated to be their equal share of funding aid. 

(http://redcrescent.org/photos.html)

Refugees Stage Hunger Strike in Greece

Syrian refugees living in Greece staged a hunger strike last week in front of the parliament building in Athen's Syntagma Square. Refugees held banners in Arabic, English, and Greek demanding protection from exploitative landlords, better documentation, and freedom to enter other EU nations. Protesters have been occupying the square since November 19th and began a hunger strike on the 21st in solidarity with immigrants in the Amygdaleza detention center ten kilometers outside of Athens. 

EU law requires that refugees request asylum in the first country they enter. This restriction has prevented Syrians from leaving Greece, a country that has been unable to handle a recent influx of refugees. The only way that refugees can leave Greece under the current European immigration policy is on a tourist visa. In addition, Syrians can only stay in the country for up to three months every six months, all of which makes earning full legal status incredibly difficult. 

                           

To make matters worse, Lebanon and Jordan, Syria's neighbors, have said that they are unable to accommodate any more Syrians, which will continue to increase the strain on Greek the immigration and social services departments. 

According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein, over 200,000 have died since March, 2011 in the Syrian conflict.