WP1 Final Draft Syrian Refugee Crisis: The Only Way is International
The summer of 2018 changed my life forever. Not only was it the summer leading up to my senior year of high school, but I had some of the most eye opening and character building experiences of my life. I was fortunate enough to accompany my father who was working alongside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the Zaatari Syrian refugee camp in Amman, Jordan. It was there that I saw how eighty thousand refugees lived crammed together in metal shacks, raising families within two square miles. I saw the high spirits of kids playing soccer made out of garbage and the look of loss and helplessness in the eyes of adults as they looked beyond the chain link fences that kept them caged in camp. From my time spent in camp, I saw the restrictions placed on the Syrians and the resulting lack of opportunity and hope for the future generations being born and raised in this camp. Outside of Zaatari, I heard the complaints and concerns the Jordanian citizens had about their tax money being spent on refugees that did nothing but hurt their economy and use up their resources. While some believe Jordan should establish national refugee regulations that would give the government reign to treat refugees however saw fit, the best way to regulate the Syrians would be through international law where every refugee around the world would be treated equally regardless of their origin.
Looking at the current situation in Jordan, as of January 2022, 1.3 million Syrians are currently registered with the UNHCR, seeking refuge in Jordan. The high volume of Syrian’s fleeing from Syria is a direct result from the civil war that erupted back in March of 2011 where dangerous and violent conflicts within the country forced hundreds of thousands of women and children to flee from their homes into surrounding countries like Jordan. Upon fleeing their own borders, Syrians were not embraced with open arms by their Jordanian neighbors and other countries. No, in Amman Jordan a refugee camp was quickly and haphazardly constructed in the middle of the dessert. The camp is surrounded by barb wire and chain link fences designed to keep refugees in and serves a permanent reminder that their stay within Jordan is only temporary. Armed trucks and tanks patrol the perimeter and military personnel walk amongst the rows of shacks made out of scrap metal and plastic. Families of 10+ are forced to live in a one room make shift hut where electricity and hot water are considered a vast luxury. The children within the camp have little access to school and no education is available for kids over the age of 16. Most girls in the camp don’t attend school past the age of 13. Once “graduated” the children have no access or opportunity to anything sort of secondary education and are thus forced to stay home with their parents, helping them run their household. The Jordanian government has been extremely strict in the restrictions placed on the refugees seeking to find jobs and education outside of their camp. Refugees are not allowed outside the camp unless given a permit from the Jordanian government. The government controls everything the refugees do from where they can go and what they’re allowed to do within the camp.
As a result of having a nationalistic focus on the refugee crisis, innocent kids’ futures are being compromised. The laws currently in place look to separate and segregate the refugees from the citizens of Jordan, believing that the separation is necessary in order to protect the livelihoods and jobs from Jordanian citizens. But in doing so, the people that are hurt the most are the children who played no part in being placed in their current situation. Children in the refugee camps currently do not have access to a college or university education. They have no opportunity to go out and find work or discover what kind of career they’d want to pursue. Most children haven’t even left the camp and their world is made up of the two square miles they live in. In addition to the children, adults who were previous doctors, lawyers, artists, etc have no ability to continue their practices being stuck in the camp and have no opportunity to add to or contribute to the community around them, often times leading them to feel defeated, hopeless, and depressed. While these camps offer safety away from the physical dangers found in their homeland, they offer no hope or support to continue the lives thousands in a sustainable manner.
Nevertheless, there are international laws already in place to help regulate refugee crisis. For example, The 1951 Convention is an international law that created after World War II. The Convention is considered the foundation of “international refugee law” and defines what refugees are, prevents refugees from being forced back to their countries of origin, and establishes the refugees and signing countries’ rights/responsibilities. More refugee crisis emerged especially in the 1960’s, thus the “1967 protocol” was adopted which essentially is an “integrally-related document to the 1951 Convention that removed its time and geographic limits, applying the refugee definition to all eligible persons.” It works in conjunction to the 1951 Convention and serves as an additional piece or add-on to the already established law. As of April 2015, around 76% of all countries have adopted the 1951 and 1967 refugee protocols. In adopting these protocols, countries are required to “establish and maintain a national asylum system.” In essence, the laws require the countries to create and or authorize national authorities to establish some sort of framework or structure for protecting refugees that find themselves in their borders.
In other words, the national authorities play a key role in maintaining the framework set by the 1951 and 1967 protocols. National authorities of each country that adopted these protocols are in charge of determining which institutions are responsible for refugee processing, monitoring the implementation of the national laws, and gather relevant data to review impacts of their programs. Giving national authorities that kind of power is what has been detrimental to the Syrian refugee crisis. It has allowed the Jordanian government to belittle the refugees, getting away with treating them less than human beings. Currently, refugees have almost no rights or say in what happens to them within the Jordanian borders. They are forced to stay in camp and are victims to random camp searches and interrogations without cause.
Having equal and uniform international law when regulating the Syrian refugee crisis makes the most sense because it would ensure that every refugee is treated equally and receive the rights that they are born with. In order for there to be equal treatment across the board, there would have to be a unanimous decision amongst all the countries who have adopted and agreed upon the 1951 and 1967 refugee protocols. All countries would work together to implement a set framework of rules, guidelines, and regulations of how refugees would be admitted, protected, and implemented into the host country’s communities. The framework would be the same for every country involved and any national authority decision making would be completely cut out of the equation. In creating such a system, not only would the refugees be benefitted in being able to continue leading relatively normal lives, but the host countries economies and infrastructure could also benefit from the influx of refugees. For instance, historically, refugees immigrating into Jordan have increased the country’s opportunities to advance its national development.
Therefore, it is best to approach the Syrian refugee crisis through strengthening and re-arranging the international laws already established in today’s world. Not only will the refugees of today find meaning in their lives once more, but tomorrow’s generation will benefit from the plethora of opportunity they could have access to. Finding a way where multiple countries can find a way to work together towards a common goal could be the stepping stone to solving bigger, more complex issues like finding solutions to aiding global poverty, women’s education, and countless other global issues. At the end of the day an international approach could also lead to more world peace, but one can only hope.
Works Cited
“Fact Sheet: International Refugee Protection System.” National Immigration Forum, https://immigrationforum.org/article/fact-sheet-international-refugee-protection-system/. Accessed 31 Jan. 2022.
Jordan’s Refugee Crisis — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. https://carnegieendowment.org/2015/09/21/jordan-s-refugee-crisis-pub-61338. Accessed 31 Jan. 2022.
Karasapan, Omer. “Syrian Refugees in Jordan: A Decade and Counting.” Brookings, 27 Jan. 2022, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2022/01/27/syrian-refugees-in-jordan-a-decade-and-counting/.
Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. “What Is a Refugee?” UNHCR, https://www.unhcr.org/what-is-a-refugee.html. Accessed 31 Jan. 2022.
“Syrian Refugee Crisis: Facts, FAQs, and How to Help.” World Vision, 13 July 2021, https://www.worldvision.org/refugees-news-stories/syrian-refugee-crisis-facts.
