Making the most of human mobility, by António Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and William Lacy Swing, Director General, International Organization for Migration
Human mobility ranks alongside population growth, urbanization, climate change and resource scarcity as one of humankind's megatrends. It is also, and always has been, one of the ways that people in difficulty seek to improve their lives.
International migration - which already stands at well over 200 million people - is likely to increase substantially over the coming years. Throughout the globe, people are being pushed and pulled by events and forces that are largely beyond their control.
Natural disasters, for example, are growing in frequency and intensity. Meanwhile, the nature of conflict is changing. Civilians are increasingly being targeted for attack, often by unruly armed groups and militia forces whose primary objective is to displace people and seize their possessions and land.
An instinctive reaction to migration, particularly when economic times are lean, is to try to block or end it. Rich states formulate policies to make arrival harder while the unscrupulous use anti-foreigner sentiment to stir discontent or win votes. In developing countries, which host four-fifths of the world's refugees and migrants, sympathy gives way to fatigue and resentment against refugees and migrants grows.
For IOM and UNHCR, the organizations we lead, both of which are approaching their 60th anniversaries, the interaction of the megatrends and the evolving nature of conflict and displacement is blurring the traditional distinctions between refugees and migrants and accentuating the importance of our working together in response.
Migrants and refugees are using the same routes and means of transportation to reach the same destinations. Largely because of tighter border controls, people on the move often find themselves in the exploitative hands of human smugglers and traffickers, entering countries without passports or visas and often placing a heavy burden on asylum determination and immigration procedures.
According to international law, everyone is entitled to exercise their fundamental human rights. Refugees, asylum seekers and irregular migrants are no exception to that rule. In reality, however, the rights of migrants and refugees are often violated.
In places throughout the world, they are subjected to arbitrary and discriminatory treatment by the authorities and other members of society. In some of the world's most prosperous states, women and children who have arrived in a country without the required papers can be held in detention for weeks or months on end.
Even the most fundamental human rights principle - that people should not be returned to a country where their life or liberty is at risk - is being tested. A recent rash of involuntary returns in regions across the globe testifies to the vulnerability of even long-established legal norms.
States have every right to control their borders and to safeguard the security of their nationals. But they also have a responsibility to craft constructive responses to the challenges posed by the growing mobility of the world's population.
On one hand, there is a need to ensure that people can move by choice rather than by necessity, and that they have safe, orderly and lawful migratory channels available to them. When this is achieved, the contribution that migrants and refugees make to the global development process is maximized.
On the other hand, it is essential for states to ensure that victims of persecution are effectively protected when they flee their countries. Millions of people throughout the world owe their lives to the fact that they were able to become refugees.
Meeting these twin challenges is key. We must not allow political opportunism and xenophobic sentiments to prevent people like Albert Einstein and Marlene Dietrich from finding the sanctuary they need. We must not allow the rich contributions of refugees and migrants to be obscured.
In a globalized, interconnected and insecure world, people will become increasingly mobile. Our response should not be governed by fear and rejection. Instead, a determined effort is required to protect the interests and rights of all.
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UNHCR Global Appeal 2007 - List of Acronyms
1 Dec 2006 ... CPR Conflict Prevention and Post-Conflict Reconstruction Network DAC Development Assistance Committee (United Nations) DAFI Albert Einstein Academic Scholarship Programme for Refugees DAR Development ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2006 - Global Programmes Overview
1 Jun 2007 ... in the Field; the Albert Einstein Academic Scholarship Programme for Refugees (DAFI); private sector fund raising and the mainstreaming of standards and indicators into programming and planning. ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2007 - Global Programmes summary
1 Jun 2008 ... protection; Project Profile, which focuses on improving registration in the Field, the Albert Einstein Academic Scholarship Programme for Refugees (DAFI); the global cluster activities to support ...... -
National Activity Plan 2005: Czech Republic
20 Jun 2005 ... Programme includes photo exhibition, samples of refugees' cuisine, and info on WRD, UNHCR and NGO partners. Popular bands performing on 20 June wearing UNHCR's "Einstein was also a refugee" T-shirts. ...... -
Integrating teaching about refugees, asylum and migration in your class activities - Dutch - 9 to 12 - teachers' guide
3 Oct 2017 ... ... kan Albert Einstein als voorbeeld gebruiken als je les geeft over vluchtelingen in de Tweede Wereldoorlog. De beroemde fysicus vluchtte naar de Verenigde Staten. Informatie over Einstein kan je ...... -
UNHCR Global Report 2005 - List of acronyms
1 Jun 2006 ... CPR Conflict Prevention and Post-Conflict Reconstruction Network DAC Development Assistance Committee (United Nations) DAFI Albert Einstein Academic Scholarship Programme for Refugees DAR Development ...... -
DAFI helps refugee agronomist contribute to growth of Afghanistan
26 Feb 2010 ... But then he thought about the Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative, or DAFI, under which thousands of refugees - including his slain brother - have pursued a higher education. Funded by ...... -
Refugees in South Africa: Great Expectations vs. Great Frustrations
25 Apr 2003 ... and tertiary levels. This year, 220 refugees applied for 13 tertiary scholarships under the Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative Fund, which is financed by the German government. ...... -
Refugee Education in Urban Settings: Case Studies from Nairobi, Kampala, Amman, Damascus
8 Dec 2009 ... Operations Plan CSO Community Services Officer CTA Community Technology Access DAFI Albert-Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative DIPS Division of International Protection Services DPSM ......