REFUGEES

Who is a refugee?

U.N. definition (1951 Convention):

A refugee is a person who “owing to a well–founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country”

POLITICAL REFUGEE

Other definitions:

Economic refugee…

Someone who is seeking a higher material standard of living

Environmental refugee…

Someone fleeing the destruction of a natural disaster

INCREASING NUMBERS

• Wars• Creation of

new countries• Changes in

governments

Characteristics of a refugee

• Takes only what they can carry

• Initial journey is on foot or by other primitive form of transportation

• Lacks documentation• Has no clear

destination• Hopes to return

home someday• Is a part of an

unstratified group

Why be a refugee?

Political:

-Fear for life, persecution, forced/evicted

Social:

-Religious persecution, ethnic/racial persecution, rights denied due to gender or sexuality

Environmental:

-Natural disaster, pollution, epidemic/disease, famine

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Syrians Migration

• Due to Civil War going on in Syria

• Neighboring countries like Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon have taken on refugees

• Syrian refugees are now migrating to Europe

• Next couple slides will show the largest Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, it is now Jordan’s 5th largest city.

• Click on the following link and see the article on what the United States plans to do with Syrian refugees:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/09/10/obama-wants-10000-syrian-refugees-next-year-refugee-ceiling/72011308/

IMPACTS OF REFUGEES

• Deforestation• Land degredation• Water pollution

• Disease• Crime/social strife• Famine

ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIAL

Immediate concern…housing

Housing Solutions?

IKEA Housing

SOLUTIONS?

• Voluntary repatriation (cooperation by country for the return of the refugees to their home country)

• Local resettlement

• Resettlement elsewhere

United Nations High Commission on Refugees

Link

• Click on the link below and play the Syrian Refugee simulation. Will you make the right choices to survive?

• http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32057601

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