Refugee organizations have welcomed an outpouring of support as they provide care for millions of Ukrainians who have fled their homes since the start of the Russian invasion.
But they also have decried the absurd treatment of nonwhite refugees who have faced racist rhetoric and been turned away at European borders.
Ukraine has added nearly 2 million people to what already was a global refugee crisis. Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a record 84 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide — about 1 in every 95 people, the UN Refugee Agency estimates.
Today, the Ukrainian exodus is rapidly rising as people flee military bombardment by Russia.
Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, told the UN Security Council last week that support for Ukrainians was direly needed while reminding them of humanitarian conflicts unfolding in other parts of the world.
“Please let us not forget the continuing plight of Afghans, of Syrians, of Ethiopians, of the Rohingya people from Myanmar, and of many others — all of them never wanted to be refugees,” he said. “They never wanted to be forced to flee their homes, and they all hope to return to their country as quickly as possible.”
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At the Immigrant Rights Clinic at Rutgers Law School in New Jersey, the staff has been helping Afghans, Hondurans, Salvadorans and Venezuelans, among other groups, to gain asylum and defend against deportation.
“There are conflicts occurring as we speak in many pockets of the world. Even for people not in active conflict zones, we have people devastated by climate change and other emergencies,” said Leena Khandwala, managing attorney of the clinic’s state Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative.
Refugee crises around the world
There’s been a surge of local donations for Ukrainians. Here are six more humanitarian crises around the world where your support could make a difference — and information on how to help:
- Syria: In 2011, a government crackdown on a pro-reform protest movement spiraled into civil war, with interventions from Iran, Russia, the US and Turkey. More than half of the country’s population has been displaced, sparking making up the world’s largest refugee and displacement crisis. About 6.8 million are refugees, with most now living in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Another 6.6 million are internally displaced, meaning they were forced out of their homes but remain in Syria.
- Venezuela: Six million people have left Venezuela since 2014, escaping violence, inflation, gang warfare and shortages of food, medicine and essential services. They include more than 186,000 refugees and nearly a million asylum seekers. Others are considered “displaced abroad,” meaning they are in need of international protection but have not applied for asylum.
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- Afghanistan: Decades of war have fueled a crisis in flux, as many families have left, returned and are being displaced again. The country has faced economic collapse since the US withdrew forces last summer and the Taliban took power, a situation intensified by continued instability, sanctions and the US seizure of $7 billion in Afghan bank assets. The UN estimates that 3.5 million people are displaced inside Afghanistan — including 700,000 who fled homes in 2021. Another 2.6 million are refugees mainly in Iran and Pakistan.
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- South Sudan: The country has seen ongoing fighting between rival armed groups aligned with the government and opposition forces, with human rights abuses and famine fueling a humanitarian crisis. Nearly 4 million people have fled their homes, and more than 2.3 million are in neighboring countries including Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
- Myanmar: The Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority group, have faced persecution and violence in Myanmar. More than 1.1. million have fled the country, with most going to Bangladesh. Nearly 600,000 are internally displaced.
- Democratic Republic of Congo: About 5.6 million Congolese are internally displaced — including about 2.7 million uprooted last year alone — due to armed groups fighting for territory and control and targeting civilians. Nearly a million refugees and asylum seekers have fled.
how to help
You can donate online to help refugees, asylum seekers and displaced people in need.
www.usatoday.com
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism