Uniting for Refugees

Today is the day when bloggers unite to raise awareness of the horrendous problems of refugees.

Recently I posted about refugees from the Congo. Sadly these multitudes are just the tip of the iceberg. The world is full of displaced people, who are either running away, or have been chased away, by other people or by an environment crisis, from their homes and most of their dear possessions. I can’t begin to imagine how this must feel, but my heart goes out to them.

The United Nations has a Refugee Agency. Just take a look at their website for a glimpse of the extent of the problem. This year they ran a pilot project prior to setting up an annual Global Needs Assessment planned to launch next year. Its aim is “to outline the total needs, the costs of meeting them and the consequences of any gaps.” Their pilot covered the needs of the refugees in Cameroon, Ecuador, Georgia, Rwanda, Thailand, Tanzania, Yemen and Zambia. They found that, despite previous UN intervention, around 30% of the basic needs of these people remained unmet. They might have no shelter, sanitation, healthcare, education. They might rarely know where their next meal was coming form, or when they would be able to eat. They might still be in fear for their physical safety. They have estimated that they need a budget of $63.5 million dollars to ensure these needs are met in 2009. And that’s just in those eight countries.

On a different level altogether, is Refugees United , a not-for-profit organisation set up to help reunite refugee family members. Refugee families are lucky if they manage to stay together. Even tiny children can get separated from their parents. As a parent and grandparent myself, I just feel panic set in when I think of my five year old granddaughter being separated from her mother and the rest of us.

It seems that all I can do is support charities. Other than that, I feel pretty helpless in the face of all this suffering. I can only dream of a time when we can all live together harmoniously, and noone will ever have to flee their home or lose their children or family members to displacement.

Here and There - a Comparison

Tonight I opened the door to a knock and had to crouch down to be level with the two tiny witches chanting, “Trick or treat.” I offered my basket of treats and one took an apple, the other a toffee éclair. Thump and rustle went their pails of treats and a shadowy mum at the end of the garden path echoed their thanks. Those kids were having a great time out in the dark and a grown up was keeping them safe.

I couldn’t help comparing it with the horrific scenes from Africa that were on the TV news tonight. Congolese refugees outside an aid station had been waiting with no food for two days. They ran out of patience and broke through the gates to get at food for their families. It was a stampede and the children got in the way. The images of terrified tiny faces were heartbreaking. The news team and aid workers intervened and pulled tiny bodies out from under the scrum while the cameras rolled on. Children were separated from their families for long periods. Some were injured with blood streaming down their faces. Why do we let these things happen in this day and age? I am aching for them as I write. Saddened and furious.

Things don’t change much. Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid was the source of this photo of an African refugee camp in 2005.

But here it’s Halloween.

Photo by D’Arcy Norman: licence as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/