Origins of Refugees: Countries of Origin of Colorado Refugee and Asylee Arrivals

Origins of Refugees:
Countries of Origin of Colorado
Refugee and Asylee Arrivals
UN High Commissioner
for Refugees António
Guterres
"We are witnessing a paradigm change,
an unchecked slide into an era in which
the scale of global forced displacement
as well as the response required is now
clearly dwarfing anything seen before.”
Wars, conflict and persecution have forced more people than at any other time since
records began to flee their homes and seek refuge and safety elsewhere.
A refugee is someone who has fled
from his or her home country and
cannot return because he or she has
a well-founded fear of persecution
based on religion, race, nationality,
political opinion or membership in a
particular social group.
Refugee Statistics for 2014
• 13.9 million people became newly displaced – four
times the number of the previous year
• Officially, there are 19.5 million refugees worldwide
(up from 16.7 million in 2013)
• Half the world's refugees are children
• Syria is the world's biggest producer of both
internally displaced people (7.6 million) and refugees
(3.88 million at the end of 2014)
• UNHCR refers only about 1 percent of all refugees for
resettlement in a third country.
Colorado welcomed
2287 refugees in 2014:
• Afghanistan: 124
• Burma: 445
• Democratic Republic of Congo: 176
• Eritrea: 94
• Ethiopia: 66
• Iraq: 516
• Nepal (Bhutan): 243
• Somalia: 400
Free
Partly Free
Not Free
What are POLITICAL RIGHTS and
CIVIL LIBERTIES?
Political Rights
• Electoral Process
• Political Pluralism and
Participation
• Functioning of
Government
Civil Liberties
• Freedom of
Expression and Belief
• Associational and
Organizational Rights
• Rule of Law
• Personal Autonomy
and Individual Rights
Freedom in the World 2015:
Numerical ratings range from 1
to 7, with 1 representing the most free and 7 the least free. The average of a
country’s political rights and civil liberties ratings determines whether it is Free,
Partly Free, or Not Free.
Country
Afghanistan
PR Score
CL Score Status
6
6
Not Free
Burma
6
6
Not Free
DRC
6
6
Not Free
Eritrea
7
7
Not Free
Ethiopia
6
6
Not Free
Iraq
6
6
Not Free
Nepal (Bhutan)
3 (3)
4 (4)
Partly Free
Bhutan 1992
7
6
Not Free
Somalia
7
7
Not Free
Political Rights:
(1=BEST, 7=WORST)
6
Civil Liberties:
(1=BEST, 7=WORST)
Iraq: Situation
in Country
6
STATUS:
NOT FREE
• Iraq was also ranked Not Free before the U.S. invasion and during
most of the years Saddam Hussein was in power, made the Worst of
the Worst list.
• Iraq received its highest score of 5.5 in 2006 and again from 20102014.
• Iraq’s political rights rating declined from 5 to 6 due to the Islamic
State militant group’s attempts to destroy Christian, Shiite, Yazidi,
and other communities under its control, as well as attacks on
Sunnis by state-sponsored Shiite militias.
Iraq Sub-Scores
Political Rights
Score
Civil Liberties
Score
Electoral Process
8/12
Freedom of
Expression and
Belief
5/16
Political Pluralism
and Participation
5/16
Associational and
Organizational
Rights
4/12
Functioning of
Government
1 /12
Rule of Law
0/16
Discretionary Political -3/0
Rights Question
Totals
11/40
Personal Autonomy 4/16
and Individual Rights
13/60
Burma: Situation in Camps
• Refugees begin arriving in Thailand in the 1980s and 30 years later,
it remains one of the most protracted refugee situations.
• Approximately 150,000 registered refugees live in 9 designated
camps in Thailand along the Thai-Burmese border
• Harsh restrictions on refugees’ freedom of movement, residents
prohibited from leaving the camps, earning income, or obtaining
quality education for their children.
• Camps are overcrowded, located in remote mountain locations,
often distant from hospitals and towns, accessible only by dirt roads
• Camp residents experience domestic abuse, depression, and other
social and mental health problems, including abuse by other
refugees.
Political Rights:
(1=BEST, 7=WORST)
6
Civil Liberties:
(1=BEST, 7=WORST)
Burma: Situation
in Country
6
STATUS:
NOT FREE
• For many years, Burma, or Myanmar, was among the Worst of the
Worst, ranking at the very bottom of FH’s rating system. It has been
Not Free every year since 1972.
• Traditionally, one of three standing country resolutions at the UNGA
(along with DPRK, and Iran). Syria has been added in recent years.
• Civil liberties rating declined in 2014 from 5 to 6 due to restrictions
on media freedom, including the arrest and imprisonment of a
number of journalists.
Burma Sub-Scores
Political Rights
Score
Civil Liberties
Score
Electoral Process
3/12
Freedom of
Expression and
Belief
6/16
Political Pluralism
and Participation
6/16
Associational and
Organizational
Rights
4/12
Functioning of
Government
3/12
Rule of Law
1/16
Discretionary Political -3/0
Rights Question
Totals
9 / 40
Personal Autonomy 5/16
and Individual Rights
16 / 60
Political Rights:
(1=BEST, 7=WORST)
7
Civil Liberties:
(1=BEST, 7=WORST)
Somalia: Situation
in Country
7
STATUS:
NOT FREE
• For almost every year since 1977, Somalia has been ranked among the
Worst of the Worst, ranking at the very bottom of FH’s rating system. It
has been Not Free every year since 1972.
• It’s ambassador to Geneva, Yusef Bari Bari, was killed earlier this year
in a terrorist attack in Mogadishu, as were five MPs.
• The Shabaab, an extremist group that once controlled most of
southern Somalia, remained an active presence in the country despite
significant gains made by the joint Somali National Army–African Union
mission against it.
Somalia Sub-Scores
Political Rights
Score
Civil Liberties
Score
Electoral Process
0/12
Freedom of
Expression and
Belief
1/16
Political Pluralism
and Participation
0/16
Associational and
Organizational
Rights
0/12
Functioning of
Government
0/12
Rule of Law
0/16
Personal Autonomy 1/16
and Individual Rights
Totals
0/40
2/60
1992
Political Rights:
7
Civil Liberties:
6
STATUS:
Bhutan:
Situation
in Country
NOT FREE
• During the 1990s, the Bhutan government sponsored an ethnic cleansing
campaign that removed between 80,000 and 100,000 people, one-sixth of
Bhutan’s population.
• By the mid-1980s, the government increasingly viewed the country's more
populous Nepali-speakers as a threat. After a census revealed Southern
Bhutanese to be in the majority in five southern districts, authorities
began to apply a discriminatory citizenship act arbitrarily to strip
thousands of Southern Bhutanese of their citizenship.
• Between 1990 and 1992, soldiers raped and beat Southern Bhutanese
villagers, and forcibly expelled tens of thousands.
Political Rights:
(1=BEST, 7=WORST)
7
Civil Liberties:
(1=BEST, 7=WORST)
Syria: Situation
in Country
7
STATUS:
NOT FREE
• Syria has been ranked Not Free since 1981 and has been ranked among
the Worst of the Worst, ranking at the very bottom of FH’s rating system
since the civil war began in 2012.
• It recently surpassed North Korea in achieving the lowest levels of
freedom in the world.
• Civilians are subjected to both massive violations of human rights by the
regime, particularly though a “surrender or starve” policy, as well as
violations of humanitarian law by both the state and Islamic Insurgents.
• Syria is the world's biggest producer of both internally displaced people
(7.6 million) and refugees (3.88 million at the end of 2014)
Syria Sub-Scores
Political Rights
Score
Civil Liberties
Score
Electoral Process
0/12
Freedom of
Expression and
Belief
2/16
Political Pluralism
and Participation
0/16
Associational and
Organizational
Rights
0/12
Functioning of
Government
0/12
Rule of Law
0/16
Discretionary Political -3/0
Rights Question
Totals
-3/40
Personal Autonomy 0/16
and Individual Rights
2/60
THE SPECTRUM
Worst of the Worst
Which countries received the worst possible
ratings (7 on the scale of 1-7) for both Political
Rights and Civil Liberties?
Worst of the Worst
PR: 7, CL: 7
Central African Republic
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
North Korea
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Can the World Do More? - YES
• Between 340,000 – 450,000 asylum seekers to Europe since
January for an overall EU population of about 500 million.
(Less than .075% of Europe’s population)
• U.S. with 41 million foreign born residents (13% of our
population) has more than twice the population of non-EU
foreign born people in Europe.
• Studies repeatedly show that immigrants, including refugees
contribute to economic development far beyond the social
benefits they take and with native born populations in both the
EU and the U.S. reproducing below replacement levels,
immigrants are critical to future economic growth to sustain
otherwise aging populations.
Free
Partly Free
Not Free