Challenging the refugee “crisis”
What’s the crisis - the people at the border or the international community’s failed response?
A quick internet search for the phrase ‘refugee crisis’ reveals millions of references by pro- and anti-immigrant governments, news organizations, academic reports, and NGOs. Most, if not all, of these sources agree on one thing — there is indeed a crisis.
However, what all of these sources disagree on is what the crisis is.
Is it the situation in the home country which influenced migrants and refugees to move, like war or famine? Is it the sheer numbers of migrants and refugees traveling through countries not their own, sometimes referred to in collectivizing and dehumanizing language such as swarms, surges or invasions? Or is it the inability of the international community to create safe, legal pathways for migrants and refugees — instead leaving them with few choices but to risk their lives traveling by foot or raft in search of protection?
Since the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis, immigration has overwhelmed European and American political debates and news feeds, giving the impression that the global population is in flux. In reality, the vast majority of people continue to live in the country of their birth. Only 3.6% of the global population, or 281 million people, are international migrants (an umbrella term for anyone who crosses an international border, forced or voluntary).
Only 3.6% of the global population are international migrants.
Of that 3.6%, only 0.4% (32.5 million) are refugees who have crossed an international border in need of protection from persecution.
Only 0.4% of the global population are refugees.
Shrinking this number yet again, of those 32.5 million refugees, only 1.47 million (0.01%) are in need of immediate emergency resettlement. The majority of refugees are able to relocate to neighboring countries, or return to their homes once the immediate danger passes.
Only 0.01% of the global population are refugees in need of immediate emergency resettlement.
So despite media and political discourses showing a world in flux, only 3.6% of our global population has moved across a border. Of that 3.6%, only 0.4% are refugees. Out of 0.4% refugees, only 0.01% are in need of immediate emergency resettlement. In a world of 8 billion people, surely we could work together to safely relocate 1.47 million refugees (0.01%) — right?
After all, the European Union acted with swift and decisive support for Ukrainian refugees, removing legal barriers to residency, work, healthcare, education and housing to offer protection to 4.8 million displaced Ukrainians. The United States was quick to assist as well, and by July 2022 had admitted 100,000 Ukrainian refugees in only 5 months.
Why were the European Union and United States able to swiftly and decisively support Ukrainian refugees, but not the rest of the 1.47 million who are in need of immediate emergency resettlement?
The Global Solidarity Gap
Amnesty International calls this difference in response the global solidarity gap:
“Many powerful politicians and influential media might give the impression that rich countries, particularly in the West, are doing more than enough to help people fleeing war and persecution. But in reality, the picture looks very different.
The international community, and in particular wealthy nations, are failing to meaningfully share the responsibility for protecting people who have fled their homes in search of safety. In other words, they are failing to agree on and support a fair and predictable system for protecting people forced to leave everything behind because of violence and persecution.
Instead, lower- and middle-income countries are doing much more than their fair share — hosting more than double the number of refugees that high-income countries are.”
The global solidarity gap is now the normal standard in international funding, which is why many watched the world’s response to Ukrainian refugees with delight and frustration — delight because there still exists solidarity for refugees, but frustration because so many of the world’s refugees are currently not the ‘right’ refugees.
Years of the global solidarity gap has resulted in comparatively few refugees being resettled, which created another gap.
The Refugee Resettlement Gap
In 2021, there were only 23 countries who accepted refugees.
The UNHCR estimates that only 1 in every 540 refugees were resettled in 2021 — that’s only 3% of the estimated 1.4 million refugees who need to be resettled from around the world.
David Scott FitzGerald in his book Refuge Beyond Reach explains:
“The grim truth for almost all people fleeing violence is that overseas resettlement programs are not an option. There is no legal line where they can register and wait as their number advances. Resettlement is like winning the lottery. At least since 1994, annual refugee resettlement flows as a percentage of the global refugee population have never exceeded 1%…
For 99% of refugees, the only way to find safety in a country in the prosperous democracies of the Global North is to reach its territory and then ask for asylum.”
Every year there are far more refugees than submissions for resettlement. Contrary to what the news may have us believe, only a fraction of those fleeing persecution are able to apply for resettlement. Consider this graph since 2011:
The resettlement gap makes a refugee being resettled as likely as winning the lottery, which has led some refugees with little choice but to risk their lives and travel by foot or raft towards country borders where they can request asylum.
FitzGerald observes that instead of legal pathways, there exists a catch-22: Destination States insist on selecting relatively few refugees to relocate per year, all the while fortifying their borders and visa pathways to prevent migrants and the rest of the refugees from traveling safely and legally to their territories. Amnesty International explains:
“Many wealthier states continue to prioritize policies that will deter people from seeking asylum, and finding ways to stop people coming altogether. At the same time, they are putting the onus on nearby countries to protect people fleeing for their lives. Such restrictive and short-sighted policies are forcing women, men and children to take dangerous land and sea journeys, putting their lives at risk and fueling human rights abuses.” Amnesty International
Refugee Resettlement in the U.S.
Every year the U.S. president sets a ceiling for the number of refugees that can be admitted to the country. Since the Refugee Act of 1980, the number of refugees that the U.S. accepts has been shrinking in proportion to the overall global need for resettlement. After a high at almost 210,000 admissions, the U.S. accepted only 11,411 refugees in FY 2021 and 25,465 in FY 2022.
Considering the U.S. population is almost 334.7 million, 25 thousand refugees is minimal.
Since the passage of its Refugee Act in 1980, the United States has admitted only 3.1 million refugees.
The Real Crisis
What is the real crisis? It’s our failed response, not the refugees seeking protection abroad or at our borders.
The real crisis is that the international community can’t get their act together to resettle 1.47 million (0.01%) refugees in a world of 8 billion people.
The real crisis is that the U.S. has a refugee ceiling — not a refugee floor — to ensure that the U.S. safely relocates refugees every year.
The real crisis is that we — citizens, politicians, diplomats — have let this refugee resettlement gap grow, all the while congratulating ourselves for the mere thousands that we do relocate, while the millions are driven to risk their lives on foot or boat to reach our borders in hopes of seeking asylum.
We are the real crisis, not the refugees.
