Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Refugees Deserve the Support of International Community!

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Refugees Deserve the Support of International Community!

The miseries and sufferings of refugees continue and world powers especially, the European Union has to come up with a unanimous decision in this regard. Thanks to some of the tragic and heart-melting incidents and following photos, international opinion greatly changed in this regard. In the beginning, only Germany was the country to welcome the refugees warmly but now, more and more countries are joining this generosity and number of refugees to be accepted by them has considerably increased.

Although this year was the record-breaking year in terms of number of refugees fleeing to European countries but having a look at the prospects of expansion of disaster of terrorism and ISIS in a number of Gulf states and rise of Taliban in Afghanistan, it is feared that the worst phase is yet to come. The intervention of Russian air force in Syria, the intensification of conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the continuation of sectarian clash in Yemen and the re-emergence of Taliban in different parts of Afghanistan all indicate that the worst part is yet to come. The recent increase in fighting between Taliban and Afghan security forces in Afghanistan has resulted in a situation when majority of Afghans have lost hope from the future of the country and thousands of young men and hundreds of families have started fleeing the country. The recent incident of the fall of Kunduz province to Taliban also gave rise to the fears that country’s future stability appears bleak and it is on the verge of falling into the hands of Taliban and other non-democratic powers. Although USA, Australia and almost all the European countries have announced considerable increase in the number of refugees they would accept, it is feared that many more will be knocking at their gates in near future and no kind of quota might be sufficient in this regard. It is also a message to all those who are against the refugees and want to stop their inflow into European countries. It is a message that they should be mentally ready to accept many times more refugees in the following years if their leaders do not work to bring peace in the disturbed countries from where these refugees are coming.

Other day, an Afghan student of Kabul University had posted on Facebook that instead of taking his university entrance card, he is going to take his passport and leave the country. He was absolutely hopeless of the future of the country and wanted to make his future in one of the developed countries. He had written that he felt really sad to leave his country but he was left with no other option. Just like this student, it must be kept in mind that people never leave their home country and families easily. They try their best to compromise with the worsening situations. However, when they see that their lives are in danger and the country remains no more a place to live, then they decide to leave their country. Almost all the refugees also realize that they will have to endure innumerable difficulties on the way and many of them can embrace death before reaching to their destiny. In the same way, they may also be turned back even if they reach to a developed country after all the toil and hardships. It also remains a fact that the economic conditions in Europe and America are also not suitable as they once used to be. Now people cannot earn thousands of dollars with less effort and they will have to work very hard to earn good enough to support their living. All these harsh realities show that no one leaves the country until it does not become a matter of life and death. Those who keep criticizing the refugees, terming them to be those who leave their homelands in greed and desire for more luxurious living, must understand these realities as well. While making decision regarding the fate of these refugees, leaders of the developed countries should not forget this reality.

It is laudable that people who love humanity welcomed the refugees in a number of European countries while there were also some leaders and individuals who could not conceal their hatred against this influx of refugees. Before criticizing any refugee and expressing the hatred against them or their background, these realities must be kept in mind.

Other day, an interesting point caught the attention of a number of readers. The writer had written that instead of issuing permanent citizenship to the refugees, they should be issued with long-term conditional documents so that they should be returned to their homelands once peace is restored in their countries. This act would not only repel the fear of some Europeans who are afraid that inflow of Muslims in such large numbers might change them into minority or imbalance the proportion of followers of faiths in their countries, but it would also discourage those who are leaving their countries only for the sake of obtaining the passport of a country which can bring many opportunities for them. The host countries can also make an agreement with the refugees that they would return to their homelands once peace and economic stability comes there. Similarly, the host countries should educate or teach them skills so that they should be the useful members of their societies after they return to their homelands.

All the above measures are those that indicate the problem and the condition will remain the same until we do not address and solve the actual reasons of this problem. People choose to leave their countries due to war or economic instability. In all the countries from where these refugees are coming, these two factors are evident. In all these countries, either the lives of people are in danger or they are not able to earn a sufficient income. In this regard, we must hail and encourage all those voices and efforts that talk of peace. War is not the solution to any problem and all the evils get birth of the curse of war and destruction. No kind of democracy or economic stability can be brought by bloodshed.

Secondly, international powers should sit and make plans to bring economic stability in countries from where people are fleeing due to poor economic conditions. It would be wise to spend the money in building infrastructure, establishing industries and creating jobs instead of spending it to refugees once they enter your country and become dependent on your economy.

In case of Afghanistan, majority of people are not afraid of the war as they have been facing this for more than four decades now but unemployment and widespread poverty forces them to cross their borders in search of good jobs or economic opportunities.

Just like other political issues, the problem of refugees is easy to be understood and it does not need the wisdom of Aristotle. The only thing needed is sincerity with the refugees and their countries that are burning in fire actually started by the international powers to control the world.

Muhammad Rasool Shah is a permanent writer of Daily Outlook Afghanistan. He can be reached at muhammadrasoolshah@gmail.com

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