Issue 6: November 1, 2020
Staff
Avery Wang: Contributor, Layout
Xander Starobin: Contributor, Web Design
Diya Britto: Contributor, Social Media
Maya Britto: Contributor
Andrew Szabo: Contributor
Wongel Gebru: Contributor
In this issue...
We're covering how an order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in March endangers the lives of refugees and migrants, the violent turning away of refugees at Croatia's border by Croatian authorities, the economic challenges refugees face due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and art's purpose as a powerful tool of advocacy for refugees.
CDC Issued Order Endangers Refugees and Migrants At United States Border
By Diya Britto
On March 20, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an order suspending the right for people from countries where a “quarantinable disease” exists from entering the United States. The order states that the “suspension of the right of such introduction is necessary to protect public health,” including the health of agents stationed at the border. Migrants arriving by land are now being held in designated border stations, and are not permitted to enter the United States.
Although the CDC issued this order to protect US public health, it puts the lives of migrants and refugees at risk. According to the order, migrants are “held in common areas of the facilities, in close proximity to one another, for hours or days, as they undergo immigration processing.”
These conditions violate social distancing guidelines that are necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19, raising migrants' risk of contracting the virus. Asylum seekers and refugees have no choice but to stay in these facilities; they cannot return to their home countries because dangerous, potentially life threatening situations are what made them flee in the first place.
According to a media note from the United States Department of State, on September 30, 2020, President Trump proposed lowering the total number of refugee admissions for Fiscal Year 2021 in a report submitted to Congress. The note states that “the United States anticipates receiving more than 300,000 new refugee and asylum claims in Fiscal Year 2021. Of that number, up to 15,000 would be refugees admitted through the U.S. Refugee’s Admissions Program.” This number is the lowest cap of annual refugee admissions in United States history.
Civil rights activists have responded to both the CDC-issued order and Trump’s proposed refugee admissions cap. According to a written statement from Manar Waheed, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) senior legislative and advocacy counsel, “over the past three and a half years, [the Trump] administration has shown a callous disregard for human life and hatred for Black and Brown communities.”
Following the order issued by the CDC in March, Waheed said, “the government also continues to conflate refugee admissions and asylum in order to use one system to shut down another — our immigration laws provide for both, not one or the other.”
Waheed expressed her disappointment at America’s role in the refugee crisis over the past few years, implying that the United States has a responsibility to improve the ways in which it helps people from around the world who are seeking safety.
Croatian Authorities Turn Away Refugees at the Border with Violence, Violate International and European Union Law
By Maya Britto
Croatian police have been violently expelling countless refugees at Croatia’s border in direct defiance of legislation by the European Union (EU) and international law as defined by the United Nations. Despite numerous reports of violent crimes at the border, Croatian authorities in charge of border operations continue to deny these allegations.
According to the 2020 World Report by the Human Rights Watch Organization, an international non-government organization, multiple credible reports have stated that Croatian police have used metal sticks, batons, and pistol grips to attack migrants at the Croatian border with Bosnia and Serbia. The same report also states that Croatia blocked entry for up to “9,487 people at its border” during the first eight months of 2019.
According to reports from Amnesty International, a non-governmental organiztion focused on protecting human rights around the world, groups of refugees have been forced to remain in police custody for long hours in Croation territory before forcibly being sent back to either Bosnia or Herzegovina. They may only try to apply for asylum once they have re-entered their home country. This practice of turning away groups of asylum seekers without assessing individual cases is prohibited under international law.
Many organizations, including the Council of Europe High Commissioner for Human Rights and The Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, have voiced concerns regarding the use of violence by Croatian police to push back migrants from the border.
Despite evidence from multiple organizations and media sources of these crimes, a statement from Croatia’s Ministry of the Interior declares that these claims are “another in a series of unfounded and factually unsubstantiated accusations against the Croatian police due to its persistence and determination in protecting the state border and the external border of the European Union.”
Croatia has been an EU Member State since July 1st, 2013. According to a statement by the European Commission, the executive branch of the EU, “EU Member States have a shared responsibility to welcome asylum seekers in a dignified manner, ensuring they are treated fairly and that their case is examined to uniform standards so that, no matter where an applicant applies, the outcome will be similar.” The violent actions of the Croatian government and police are in clear, direct infringement upon this directive.
The Common European Asylum System, or CEAS, is a collection of directives and regulations EU Member states must abide by in order to provide asylum applicants fair and consistent treatment anywhere in the EU. The EU initiated this system in 1999, but reformed it between 2011 and 2014 because of an increase in asylum applicants, according to a report from the United States Library of Congress.
One of the key aspects of this reformed CEAS is the Reception Conditions Directive, which “aims to ensure better as well as more harmonised standards of reception conditions throughout the Union,” as stated by the European Commission in a report titled “A Common European Asylum System.” The recent actions of the Croatian government and police fail to adhere to the defined standards.
Economic Vulnerabilities of Refugees Magnified by COVID-19
By Wongel Gebru
Already faced with limited sources of income, refugees are encountering further reduced job opportunities and exacerbated socio-economic challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, further highlighting refugees’ economic vulnerabilities.
A report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that 70 percent of refugees live in countries where their right to work is restricted or nonexistent. 66 percent of refugees experience restrictions about their right to the freedom of movement by the government. 47 percent of refugees experience restrictions about their right to have a bank account. Due to these restrictions, most refugees are forced to work in lower-paying, less stable job positions that the International Labour Organization (ILO), an organization that promotes social justice and human and labour rights, has judged to be “highly impacted by the pandemic.”
The World Bank estimates that COVID-19 will cause the fourth-worst global recession in the past 150 years. According to the World Bank, many businesses are already generating lower revenue, forcing them to find ways to reduce operational costs, such as lowering wages, laying off employees, or, in some cases, shutting down completely. These business decisions are leading to mass unemployment, lower pay, and lower productivity, creating new challenges for millions of refugees that live in low or middle-income countries. The World Bank forecasts that a drop in wages and working hours will cause a 3.6 percent fall in global per capita income, triggering the first rise in global poverty since 1998.
According to a report in April 2020, the World Food Program (WFP) forecast that the job closures, a decrease in agricultural production, and disrupted supply chains caused by COVID-19 will likely cause 265 million more people to suffer from acute food shortages compared to 2019. Similarly, according to a report from the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the IRC’s Regional Vice President for East Africa, Hafez Ghanem, explained that the aforementioned economic effects of COVID-19 are expected to be magnified for refugees and those living in conflict zones. Ghanem commented that in conflict zones, current circumstances, curfews, and movement restrictions "may cause more suffering than the disease itself."
Using the projected growth rates from the April 2020 World Economic Outlook from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Refugees International examined the macroeconomic effects of COVID-19 on countries that host large numbers of refugees. The results of their research indicated that low to middle income countries with the highest refugee populations will likely struggle this year more than low to middle income countries that host few refugees.
Refugees Find New Voices, Seek Solace in Artistic Expression
By Xander Starobin
Art can provide refugees with a powerful advocacy tool to communicate stories and a means of self-development and personal expression. Refugees engage in artistic pursuits of a multitude of disciplines and for a variety of reasons.
Numerous individuals and organizations run projects to promote artistic engagement in refugee communities. According to a UNHCR report, renowned photographer Reza Deghati created a project in 2013 called Exile Voices in which he leads photography workshops for youth in refugee camps around the world. Initially, he worked only at the Kawergosk camp in Iraq, but he now has expanded the project further and established workshops in numerous refugee camps.
According to the report, Deghati explains that he regularly visits each camp, and has also trained individuals in each camp who can teach the students about photography in his absence. According to the project website, the Deghati hopes to “empower people in vulnerable situations by training them to tell their own stories.”
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Similarly, artist and educator Joel Bergner runs an organization called Artolution, which facilitates art projects involving murals and sculptures. Artolution works in the Za’atari and Azraq refugee camps in Jordan, leading art-making projects and discussions to help Syrian youth and their families explore the challenges they face as refugees, their hopes for the future, and their longing to return home. Some of the murals are collaborative efforts between the Syrian refugees and the local Jordanians, with the hope that these endeavors will help ease tensions and promote social unity between these populations. The organization has engaged hundreds of children since its foundation in 2013.
In Kenya, the UNHCR runs the Artists for Refugees Project, an initiative which provides a platform for refugees to discover, explore, improve, and showcase their talents. According to a UNHCR report, Henry Ohanga, a leading Kenyan rap musician, and Victor Ndula, a renowned illustrator have worked with the project as mentors for refugee artists. They lead workshops and offer guidance with regard to musical and visual arts endeavors. One aspect of the mentorship involves training in entrepreneurship skills so the refugees can potentially earn a living through their art. The project also aims to empower the voices of refugees living in Kenya in order to help create a positive narrative about the refugee population.
Some of the world’s most famous artists are refugees. Freddie Mercury, singer and frontman for the rock band Queen, fled India in 1964 to escape the violence of the Zanzibar Revolution. At just two years old, in 1960, singer-songwriter Gloria Estefan and her family fled Cuba after Fidel Castro’s rise to power. World War II forced painter Salvador Dalí and photographer Marc Chagall to leave Europe. Dalí escaped France just after the Nazi invasion in 1940, and Chagall escaped France in 1941 with the assistance of the organization that would later become the International Rescue Committee.