YUGA: Refugees

YEA enewsletter: May 2009

In This Issue
Refugees: the facts
What is Plan doing?
What you can do!

"While every refugee's story is different and their anguish personal, they all share a common thread of uncommon courage – the courage not only to survive, but to persevere and rebuild their shattered lives."
— Antonio Guterres, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 2005

Refugees: the facts

According to Refugees International, “a refugee is legally defined as a person who is outside his or her country of nationality and is unable to return due to a well-founded fear of persecution because of his or her race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.”

Fast facts about refugees:

• Although the numbers of refugees had declined since 2002, in 2006 the numbers increased again to 9.9 million people.
• By the end of 2007, there were 11.4 million refugees.
• According to the 2007 UN Refugee Agency’s Statistical Yearbook, the Middle East and North Africa regions hosted 25% of all refugees. The Americas region, whose refugees are primarily from Columbia, houses only 9% of the overall refugee population.
• In this 2007 report, the top refugee hosting countries, in order from greatest number of refugees to least, include: Pakistan, Syrian Arab Republic, Islamic Republic of Iran, Germany, Jordan, United Republic of Tanzania, China, United Kingdom, Chad, and the United States, respectively.
• As of the end of 2007, the leading country of origin of refugees was Afghanistan. The UNHCR reports that there were approximately 3.1 million Afghan refugees in 2007.
• Combined, Afghan and Iraqi refugees make up almost half of all the refugees under the UNHCR’s responsibility.

Why are there refugees?
Refugees occur for many different reasons, including:

• violence/war
• political strife
• economic problems
• religious repression
• natural disasters
• harsh working conditions

Asylum-seeker

According to Refugees International, “an asylum seeker is a person who is seeking to be recognized as a refugee, but has not yet received formal refugee status.”

Fast facts about asylum-seekers:

• At the end of 2007, approximately 740,000 individuals were still awaiting a decision on their asylum claim.
• This number has decreased by a third since 2002.
• The largest number of cases that were either undecided or on appeal was in South Africa, with a total of 171,000 asylum-seekers.
• The United States was not far behind with 84,000 pending cases.

Internally Displaced Person

According to Refugees International, “Internally displaced people (IDPs) have been forced to leave their homes as a result of armed conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations, but unlike refugees they have not crossed an international border.”

Fast facts about Internally Displaced Persons:

• The number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) under the UNHCR’s responsibility included 13.7 million people at the end of 2007. This number is a one million person increase from 2006.
• Columbia has one of the largest IDP populations.
• Iraq’s IDP population increased from 1.8 million people at the beginning of 2007, to 2.4 million people by the end of the year.
• Countries such as Lebanon and Nepal have made significant progress finding solutions for IDPs.

Stateless persons

According to Refugees International, “Stateless people are individuals who do not have a legal bond of nationality with any state, including people who have never acquired citizenship of their birth country or who have lost their citizenship and have no claim to citizenship of another state.”

Fast facts about stateless persons:

• It is difficult to measure the magnitude of statelessness because these people often lack identity documentation and may not be recognized as legal residents in the place where they live.
• Studies do reflect a drastic reduction in the number of stateless people from 2006 to 2007. This is a direct result of programs in Nepal and Bangladesh.
• In Nepal, a massive campaign issuing citizenship certifications is underway.
• In Bangladesh, the government is registering members of the Bihari/Urdu- speaking communities.
• As a result of these programs, the number of stateless people has dropped from 5.8 million people in 2006 to under 3 million people at the end of 2007.

* Statistics all taken from the 2007 UNHCR's Statistical Yearbook. Please visit the UNHCR's website for more statistics.

What is Plan doing?

A focus on Kenya and Darfur

Kenya:
After the December 27, 2007 presidential election of President Kibaki in Kenya, violence ensued from opposing parties. According to the UN, this violent unrest uprooted about 250,000 people. When this occurred, Plan:

• provided emergency aid to displaced Kenyans by providing high energy and high protein foods, milk and soya flour, firewood, water purifiers, medicine, and equipment for families for shelter.
• utilized one of its primary schools in Uganda as a place of shelter for hundreds of children from Kenya.

Darfur:
Darfur, which lies in western Sudan, has had ongoing turmoil since 2003. Massive amounts of violence have killed and injured many of Darfur's citizens. In Darfur, Plan:

• operates in North Darfur to provide IDPs with medical and psychological support and care.
• provides children, expectant mothers, and other vulnerable groups with primary healthcare, water and sanitation, and child protection.
• remains to support Darfur today, despite major cutbacks in funding from other organizations.

What you can do!

Learn: Read more about what Plan is doing in Darfur and Kenya.

Explore: Read what life in an IDP camp is like!

Advocate: Visit the United States' Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.

Join: Learn more about YUGA and how to create your own YUGA group!

Donate: Make a donation to Plan to help support a child refugee in Darfur.

Inform: Visit the UNHCR's website for the most recent statistics on refugees across the globe.

Watch: Visit our film library to learn more about the impact of being a refugee on children.

What is the Youth Engagement and Action (YEA) Program at Plan USA?
The YEA program at Plan USA links U.S. youth with dynamic opportunities for participatory involvement, real-world understanding and local action on global issues.

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