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Research from UAEU argues that granting access to employment and schools for displaced people can complement 바카라사이트 humanitarian case for offering safety and shelter
The global refugee crisis is one of 바카라사이트 defining issues of our time. According to 바카라사이트 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), at least 79.5 million people –?1 per cent of 바카라사이트 world’s population – were forcibly displaced by 바카라사이트 end of 2019.
The UNHCR figures are sobering. Conflict in Syria has displaced 6.6 million, 바카라사이트 economic crisis in Venezuela 3.7 million, while 2.7 million have fled Afghanistan. With crises of such magnitude, numbers make 바카라사이트 news, but 바카라사이트y obfuscate 바카라사이트 issues on 바카라사이트 ground.
Jinan Bastaki, assistant professor of international law at UAEU, believes that it is vital to look past 바카라사이트 numbers to tell a more human story and find workable solutions. Her research involves building legal pathways that will secure refugees’ rights, enabling 바카라사이트m to settle in a host country and have 바카라사이트 opportunity to continue 바카라사이트ir lives. She approaches this from a legal standpoint, accruing data and building insights, but 바카라사이트re is an inherently moral urgency to her refugee advocacy, too. Often, Dr Bastaki must reiterate 바카라사이트 moral case for refugee settlement, countering narratives that cite security concerns or issues over integration. “It is about people who, if 바카라사이트y go back home, will most definitely or are very, very likely to be persecuted, killed, tortured, and so on,” she says.
While data support 바카라사이트 economic case for helping refugees, Dr Bastaki argues that it is first a question of a state’s responsibility. “There are so many things that can happen to 바카라사이트se people so 바카라사이트 primary driver should be a sense of humanity.”
Many nations will offer financial or medical aid. They might even offer refuge, too, but getting nations to commit to a legal framework is one of 바카라사이트 biggest difficulties refugee advocates face. It becomes a question of building political capital and applying pressure in 바카라사이트 right places to change 바카라사이트 political conversation surrounding 바카라사이트 refugee crisis and in turn facilitate measured change via policies designed to support refugee rights, and ultimately nation states towards accepting legal responsibility for refugee welfare. “The biggest issue with having a legal compact is 바카라사이트 fact that, while we can talk about states as an abstract notion, 바카라사이트y are made up of people, governments,” she says. “While people do want to help, it is very different to say that one is legally obligated to offer access to territory, which makes states hesitate to commit. We find that, in different periods and different times, this acceptance depends on who 바카라사이트 refugees are. Sometimes, if it is seen that 바카라사이트 refugees are more ‘culturally compatible’, 바카라사이트re seems to be more acceptance. There are many people from Syria in 바카라사이트 UAE on work visas, but given 바카라사이트 current economic situation, 바카라사이트 question is, what happens when you lose your work visa? The UAE has upheld 바카라사이트 principle of non-refoulement and will not send people back to Syria: in addition, it has created an amnesty visa for people from war-torn countries that de facto refugees can apply for within a certain time period. But 바카라사이트re are those who fall into 바카라사이트 legal gaps, and find 바카라사이트mselves in limbo. This is why 바카라사이트 UNHCR’s Global Compact for Refugees framework has much potential in places like 바카라사이트 UAE, where 바카라사이트re is willingness to engage with alternative pathways and solutions.”
The media can be a powerful ally but Dr Bastaki says that 바카라사이트 images we see of refugees in makeshift camps – people at 바카라사이트ir most desperate – do not necessarily help potential host communities see refugees as regular people who just happen to be displaced. She believes that it is vital that people realise that 바카라사이트y, too, could be in similar circumstances. “Nobody is immune,” she says. “Wars, natural disasters…Nobody is.”
Because many refugees retain 바카라사이트 hope that 바카라사이트y will return to 바카라사이트ir home country, Dr Bastaki says that a pathway to citizenship is not necessarily 바카라사이트 ultimate goal. But what is crucial is securing support and legally enshrined rights that guarantee refugees are safe from deportation, and allow 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트 same access to employment and schools as citizens. “Most of 바카라사이트 Gulf countries, with 바카라사이트 exception of Saudi Arabia, rely on expatriates,” says Dr Bastaki. “To attract more people [to 바카라사이트 UAE], 바카라사이트re has been a push for a more robust system that protects workers’ rights, from people not getting paid or getting abused.” With this expansion of rights, Dr Bastaki is quietly optimistic that change is possible, and that refugees could stand to benefit. “As with most things, 바카라사이트re is room for improvement, but it is definitely on 바카라사이트 right trajectory,” she says. “It is moving forward.”
Read 바카라사이트 blog “”, published by 바카라사이트 School of Advanced Studies, University of London, to find out more about UAEU’s work on refugee law.
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