Thursday, September 14, 2017
Commentary
Southern Cross, Page 15
World Refugee Day: Did you miss it?
By Tony Magliano
W orld Refugee Day, June 20, came
and went with hardly a notice. I
almost missed it.
Sadly, little mention was given in the
secular and even religious world to the
unprecedented refugee crisis endured
by countless fellow human beings who
have fled their homes with little more
than the shirt on their back.
According to the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees’
(UNHCR) latest report titled “Global
Trends,” as of 2016 over 65 mil
lion people worldwide - a record
high - have been forcibly displaced
as a result of persecution, violence,
conflict or human rights viola
tions (see: http://www.unhcr.org/
globaltrends2016).
Every single day 28,300 brothers
and sisters are forced to flee from their
homes.
Especially sad is the fact that children
account for over 50 percent of the refu
gee population.
In just the last six years the number
of displaced persons throughout the
world has increase approximately 50
percent - from 45.2 million to the cur
rent 65.6 million.
Armed conflicts in Syria, Iraq,
Afghanistan, Yemen, Burundi, Central
African Republic, Democratic Republic
of the Congo, South Sudan and Sudan
continue to be the major driving force
for this dramatic increase in displaced
persons according to UNHCR.
Although the humanitarian need is
tremendous, only less than 1 percent of
all refugees are resettled worldwide.
According to CNN, at least 2,859
migrants died trying to cross the
Mediterranean Sea in 2016.
U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees Filippo Grandi said, “At sea,
a frightening number of refugees and
migrants are dying each year. On land,
people fleeing war are finding their way
blocked by closed doors.”
And while not entirely closed, the
United States’ refugee doors are barely
cracked open.
In fiscal year 2016, according to
the Pew Research Center, the U.S.
under the Obama administration only
allowed 84,995 refugees into the coun
try. And from war-tom nations like
the Democratic Republic of the Congo
and Syria, the U.S. only permitted the
entry of 16,370 and 12,587 refugees
respectively.
To make matters worse, President
Trump is proposing lowering the total
number of refugees permitted into the
U.S. in fiscal year 2018 to just 50,000.
Granting such small numbers of des
perate refugees permission to enter the
U.S. is gravely immoral.
In contrast, according to the UNHCR,
the tiny nation of Lebanon is host to the
largest number of refugees relative to
its national population - where one in
every she persons is a refugee. That’s
equivalent to the U.S. taking in 55 mil
lion refugees!
Please email and call your two U.S.
senators and congressperson (Capitol
switchboard number: 202-224-3121)
urging them to robustly increase fund
ing to poorer nations like Lebanon who
are struggling to host millions of refu
gees. Additionally, urge them to allow
at least 110,000 refugees - as proposed
by Obama - into the U.S. this coming
fiscal year.
It is also very important to strongly
request your congressional delega
tion to significantly increase - not
cut - Department of State funding for
comprehensive negotiated diplomatic
interventions into all areas through
out the world suffering from armed
conflicts that are causing the refugee
crisis. And insist they stop fueling these
armed conflicts by ending weapon sales
and grants.
Also, kindly consider a gener
ous refugee donation to Catholic
Relief Services (see: http://bit.
ly/2tkQi2n).
And please sign this UNHCR pledge
(see: http://bit.ly/2qPBMdT).
Let’s tirelessly work and pray to be
a part of the refugee solution, and not
a part of what Pope Francis calls the
“culture of indifference.”
Tony Magliano is an internauonally syndi
cated SOCIAL JUSnCE AND PEACE COLUMNIST. He
IS AVAILABLE TO SPEAK AT DIOCESAN OR PARISH
GATHERINGS. TONY CAN BE REACHED AT TMAG@
ZOOMINTERNET.NET.
Millions of people living in Texas fled Hurricane Harvey and millions in Florida,
Georgia, and South Carolina migrated to safer ground ahead of an impending
natural disaster. Above, people wait in line to purchase propane gas in Boca
Raton, FI, Sept. 6. Hurricane Irma was scheduled to hit the Sunshine State
Sept. 9. (CNS photo/Joe Skipper, Reuters)
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