Refugees need a bailout package too
19 June, 2009 | By Jumana Al Tamimi, Associate Editor
(Gulf News)
Dubai: The amount of money needed to bail out the banks in America
could end the suffering of nearly 42 million refugees in the world, and
with a considerable surplus, a United Nations official said.
$700 billion (Dh2.5 trillion) were expected to save the American banks
troubled in the current financial crisis, the American government
announced.
While the Abu-Dhabi-based UN regional advisor did not provide specific
figures on the refugees' problem in the Arab world, he said "developing
countries host 80 per cent of all refugees, underscoring the
disproportionate burden carried by those least able to afford it".
According to UNHCR statistics, most of the refugees are currently
present in Syria with nearly 1.4 million people. It is followed by Iraq,
where nearly 3.1 million people are displaced within the borders of their
country. More Iraqi refugees live in Syria, Jordan and Iran.
Most of the Somali refugees are in Yemen and many Sudanese refugees
from Darfur are also displaced in their own country.
In all, there are nearly six million refugees in the Middle East, the most
volatile region in the world, apart from millions of Palestinian refugees,
who come under the umbrella of another UN organisation: UNRWA.
Political upheavals from Iraq to Somali and Sudan, as well as unrests and
fears of persecution are still forcing generations of people to live in
camps away from their homes and neighbourhoods, Quol told Gulf
News in a interview on the eve of the Refugee Day on June 20.
"It is no secret that political solution will probably solve a lot of issues,"
he said.
In some areas, like Somalia, people are still waiting for the situation to be
improved back home.
"They can't return to their countries, like the situation in Somalia, and the
situation has been there for at least 20 years, you have generations of
people, born and raised in refugees camps in the region and beyond,"
Quol said.
Iraq, which witnessed three wars in the past 30 years, and was under
UN Economic sanctions for nearly 13 years, along with Afghanistan,
make together nearly 45 per cent of all refugees under UNHCR's
responsibility in the world.
UNHCR is responsible to provide protection and assistance to refugees
and internally displaced persons. Through talking with many western
countries, it also helps political asylum seekers to settle in safe places.
The economic element is another aspect for the refugees problem.
While it might pull some people outside their countries, it is a important
"ingredient" in the solution recipe.
Funding is "always falling short," Quol said. "That is why we are calling
on wealthy nations" to pay more attention to the needs of the refugees.
Courtesy
19 June, 2009 | By Jumana Al Tamimi, Associate Editor
(Gulf News)
Dubai: The amount of money needed to bail out the banks in America
could end the suffering of nearly 42 million refugees in the world, and
with a considerable surplus, a United Nations official said.
- "The cost of rescuing banks in
developed countries is much
higher than rescuing the
refugees and the internally
displaced persons," Saado
Quol, Senior Adviser to United
Nations Higher Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR), said.
$700 billion (Dh2.5 trillion) were expected to save the American banks
troubled in the current financial crisis, the American government
announced.
While the Abu-Dhabi-based UN regional advisor did not provide specific
figures on the refugees' problem in the Arab world, he said "developing
countries host 80 per cent of all refugees, underscoring the
disproportionate burden carried by those least able to afford it".
According to UNHCR statistics, most of the refugees are currently
present in Syria with nearly 1.4 million people. It is followed by Iraq,
where nearly 3.1 million people are displaced within the borders of their
country. More Iraqi refugees live in Syria, Jordan and Iran.
Most of the Somali refugees are in Yemen and many Sudanese refugees
from Darfur are also displaced in their own country.
In all, there are nearly six million refugees in the Middle East, the most
volatile region in the world, apart from millions of Palestinian refugees,
who come under the umbrella of another UN organisation: UNRWA.
Political upheavals from Iraq to Somali and Sudan, as well as unrests and
fears of persecution are still forcing generations of people to live in
camps away from their homes and neighbourhoods, Quol told Gulf
News in a interview on the eve of the Refugee Day on June 20.
"It is no secret that political solution will probably solve a lot of issues,"
he said.
In some areas, like Somalia, people are still waiting for the situation to be
improved back home.
"They can't return to their countries, like the situation in Somalia, and the
situation has been there for at least 20 years, you have generations of
people, born and raised in refugees camps in the region and beyond,"
Quol said.
Iraq, which witnessed three wars in the past 30 years, and was under
UN Economic sanctions for nearly 13 years, along with Afghanistan,
make together nearly 45 per cent of all refugees under UNHCR's
responsibility in the world.
UNHCR is responsible to provide protection and assistance to refugees
and internally displaced persons. Through talking with many western
countries, it also helps political asylum seekers to settle in safe places.
The economic element is another aspect for the refugees problem.
While it might pull some people outside their countries, it is a important
"ingredient" in the solution recipe.
Funding is "always falling short," Quol said. "That is why we are calling
on wealthy nations" to pay more attention to the needs of the refugees.
Courtesy
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