Refugee+Facts

=__Refugee Facts__=

Who are "refugees"? The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) defines a "refugee" as a person who has fled his/her country of nationality (or habitual residence) and who is unable or unwilling to return to that country because of a "well-founded" fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. This definition of a "refugee" excludes those who have left their homes only to seek a more prosperous life.What happens to refugees as they flee persecution? The refugee journey is a long one. Many refugees are forced to leave their homes without warning and cannot even bring basic necessities with them. When these individuals flee, they try to get to a country where they will be allowed to stay until they are allowed to migrate as a refugee. For every person who gets to a refugee camp, there is one who does not. Once the individual reaches the refugee camp, he/she is often placed in an overcrowded and under-supplied camp and exposed to disease, crime, and other harsh conditions. The individual usually stays in the camp until the United States or another country accepts his/her application for residency. The wait for acceptance ranges from one month to eight years or more. Less than ½% of those who apply for refugee status are actually approved to come to the United States.

How does a refugee become a refugee?The process for proving "refugee" status is often very difficult. The countries that accept refugees for resettlement examine the lists of individuals and determine if any of these individuals meet their own criteria for resettlement. This process can take a long time; even after a refugee is accepted as eligible for resettlement, there is often a very long wait for an available slot in the country that has accepted his/her application. What are the options for refugees? How many refugees resettle in the U.S. each year? The United States limits the number of refugees accepted for resettlement each year. During the year 2006, 70,000 refugees were approved to resettle in the U.S. but only approximately 50,000 were accepted.
 * 1) //Repatriation//: Most refugees would prefer to return to their country of origin. They are allowed to return only if conditions stabilize enough so that their safety is guaranteed upon return.
 * 2) //Nationalization//: The second option for refugees is to remain in their host country or "country of first asylum" (a country near to their country of origin). However, host countries often become overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of refugees arriving and are often unable to permanently support them and therefore, are unable to offer the option of nationalization.
 * 3) //Resettlement//: The last option is for refugees to resettle in a third country, usually the U.S. or Western Europe. This is the least preferable option as far as the welfare of these individuals is concerned because it brings refugees into a different environment far away from their homelands.

New Zealand   accepts 750 quota refugees every year. About 120 of the 750 come to New Zealand. We have not been receiving very many refugees from Africa into chch recently although we did bring in 28 people from Eritrea last year. Eritrea is on the border of Ethiopia. We did have about 600 refugees from Somalia living here and they came in from 1993 until 2004. We also have has 200 Ethiopian refugees brought into Chch over a similar time as the Somalis. In other parts of New Zealand we have people from The Congo Republic, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. The planning for the next quota year has just been completed and we expect to have people from Rwanda, Burundi and Congo as part of the quota. In Chch our biggest group of people in the past year have been refugees from Bhutan. I hope this helps and I am happy to answer more specific questions if you have any. Best wishes, Anne-Marie Reynolds

The refugees usually leave their country because of persecution, most commonly in times of war. The definition of a refugee is” a person who has fled their country because of persecution and cannot be offered protection if they return. United nations High Commission for Refugees give them the refugee status, by assessing their reason for fleeing their country. They must be able to prove they cannot return for fear of persecution and the 5 main reasons a person is given the refugee status is because of their religion; race; nationality; political opinion; belong to a social group that has ‘offended’ the ruling regime of a government. Life is very difficult in a new country as often the culture is very different and they leave loved ones behind they may never see again. They do not choose NZ. We are one of 15 countries that accepts a yearly quota of refugees and the refugee is presented to one of those countries for resettlement. If they do not accept coming to NZ or another country, then they may just have to stay in the refugee camp. They face quite a few challenges. Leaving family behind is so difficult. Many have suffered from torture and trauma and this results in anxiety, sleeplessness and bad memories surfacing at any time. The refugees who settle have a positive affect on all who work with them. They are committed to a good future in NZ and their children usually do extremely well at school. They often work in areas that New Zealanders don’t want to work in so are valued in the workforce. Hope this helps your studies. Best wishes, Anne-Marie

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