Migration

Last week was the 40th Anniversary of the Six Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors in 1967. The attention on the Anniversary however was not given a glorious Battle of Britain style remembrance by much of the international media. Unlike many states who often take pride in remembering their victories in times of conflict, the Six Day War is blamed for being the catalyst of the Israel-Palestinian conflict inherited today by much of the international community. Last week’s Economist focused their front page and introspective articles on the problems since the conflict. The BBC in their program this past weekend Our World on BBC World showed a mini-documentary on the effects of the conflict as well.

The end result of the 1967 war was seen by many as the start of a refugee crisis that in large part affects the stability of the Middle East region today. During the intensive conflict, Israeli forces took the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Many of the inhabitants of the West Bank in 1967 were displaced earlier after conflicts in 1948 in the Israeli War of Independence and in 1967 there was a further movement of people inside the West Bank but also towards Jordan and Lebanon. The end result of intensive fighting on both sides in 48’ and 67’, but also related conflicts in 56’, 73’ and later in 1981-82 in Lebanon and the Golan Heights lead to the external and internal displacement of many Palestinian people outside their initial historical villages. Today the Palestinian people reside mostly in the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and even inside Israel proper.

Many of these Palestinian refugees have settled in refugee camps since 1948, as well as ones established after 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in Jordan, and in Lebanon. In the last two weeks conflict inside Lebanon between the Lebanese armed forces and radical groups operating inside Palestinian refugee camps inside Lebanon itself have erupted. After 40 years of being refugees, many of these camps have grown to beyond tents and unpotable water and sewage to become small concrete towns, often cut off from the rest of Lebanese society and wholly supported by charities and international relief funds. The UN mission in Lebanon, UNRWA details the situation of the Refugee Camps, which while having minimal concrete infrastructure, suffer from lack of proper supporting infrastructure, unemployment, and severe overcrowding.

In the past three weeks, militant forces have used these camps to fight against Lebanese forces. Many of the refugees have been caught in the crossfire, and while precise information is limited on the effects and casualties of the conflict inside the camps, it is certain the conflict is growing at an exponential rate.

Many of the concerns of Palestinians in Lebanon have shadowed activities in Gaza and the West Bank. The two main political parties of Hamas and Fatah in the Gaza Strip have fallen into quite severe and violent conflict in Gaza since Israel pulled out of Gaza a year and a half ago. While Hamas, often referred to as a militant group by many of its critics was elected with a majority in Gaza, in Lebanon the nature of militants and their response have lead to more of a push by Palestinians in Lebanon to form coalitions to reject militant actions and cease conflicts with the Lebanese army and inside the camps themselves. In any interview with Steve Paiken on The Agenda, a summary of the situation for Palestinians was said to be the worst since 1967 by a table of four leaders in the Palestinian community interviewed in Canada two weeks ago. It is likely that with conflict in Gaza, Lebanon and perhaps the West Bank soon enough, the state of the Palestinians will be the worst case scenario for refugees for years to come.

Spain has always held a unique position regarding immigration in Europe due to its proximity to Africa via the Straits of Gibraltar, its colonial possessions in North Africa, and the existence of the Canary Islands off the African coast. These Spanish Islands off the coast of Africa have made them a magnet for refugees from many West African states.

Recently the Spanish Government has made a commitment to crack down on illegal immigration, much coming to the Canary Islands. Reflecting the desire for new tougher policies, nearly 750 illegal migrants were “repatriated” back to their home country of Senegal this week. Many of these immigrants come on small, often unsafe boats which often produce many casualties during the voyage from Africa, and in much of the rest of the world. With the Spanish Interior Ministry claiming that nearly 31,000 illegal migrants sail to the Canary Islands alone each year, it is a difficult problem for all states involved and often a perilous journey for the migrants themselves.

The dangerous situation of the migrants spurred some Spanish newspapers this week to publish articles and photos of migrants who have died during their journey to Spain and Europe. In El Mundo, a photo showing the bodies of dead migrants were highlighted with the note that said: “They are not sleeping, they are dead”. These gruesome photos were said to be the first time such images were published in Spanish newspapers, hoping to deter Migrants from making the journey which could lead to death for many. While this deterrence strategy is questioned by many, there is no doubt that refugees everywhere face certain perils in their journey for a better life.

On April 21st 2007 Egyptian born Canadian Mohammed El-Attar was ultimately convicted as a spy in an Egyptian court this past weekend. He was accused of spying for Israel and recruiting Arabs in Canada to assist him in his activities. While the court claims to have obtained a confession of his activities, it is said by El-Attar that his confession was obtained under torture and that much of the evidence against him is falsified. While Canadian officials are looking into the case, no overt actions have been taken to assist El-Attar in his dilemma in Egypt. He has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labour.

Assistance to Canadian citizens abroad has become an issue since last summer’s conflict in Lebanon, where many Canadian citizens of Lebanese origin were seeking assistance from the Canadian government but resided and had legal citizenship in Lebanon at the same time. While no formal differences or rights exist in Canadian law distinguishing citizens who immigrated to Canada and those who were born in Canada, there may be some customary distinctions made by a response to those who hold dual citizenship in Canada and another country, and are convicted of crimes in their country of 2nd nationality and birth.

This past month another Canadian citizen of foreign birth was convicted in China. Huseyin Celil was charged and convicted for terrorist acts against the Chinese government and sentenced to life imprisonment. Celil, a member of China’s small Muslim population initially escaped a Chinese prison in 2000 and eventually came to Canada and gained citizenship in 2005. Canadian officials claim that their calls for diplomacy with the Chinese government have gone unanswered and that they will make strident efforts to assist Mr. Celil. With the number of cases of Canadians being convicted of political crimes abroad and some being tortured in the process, the rights of foreign born Canadians will likely continue with future convictions of Canadians in foreign countries. Canada currently has one of the highest percentages of foreign born citizens in the world.

In 2006 the UNHCR reported that nearly 26,000 Somalis made the journey from Somalia to Yemen that year, and approximately 330 died while 300 were declared missing and reported dead. With the ongoing conflict in the East African nation of Somalia, the urge to leave for many grows as the conflict continues. The risk of travelling to Yemen since the beginning of 2007 has grown rapidly however, with this year alone 113 people have gone missing and 35 were confirmed dead in their sea voyage from Somalia on refugee boats on March 22nd 2007. Last week as well, another 365 arrived in Yemen, where smuggles forced 34 refugees overboard and who consequently drowned.

“As the smuggling boats entered the Yemeni waters, coast guards began firing on them, causing one boat to capsize,” Sadat Mohammed, head of refugee affairs in the Somali community in Sana’a

Their fate was not merely from just falling overboard according to Mr. Mohammed. Twenty of the refugees who resisted were apparently stabbed in the process of escaping from the coast guard.

With one in ten refugees to Yemen coming on smugglers boats, and the fact that the majority do land in Yemen and do improve their standard of living, there will likely not be a reduction in refugees to Yemen from East Africa, as well as refugees to other countries coming from the region. With the large number of migrants in Yemen from Somalia and Ethiopia, there is a hope from local leaders in Yemen from East Africa that greater attention will be paid to the rights of those leaving the region and losing their lives in the process.

On April 17th 2007 the BBC World Service broadcast a story which until recently has received little attention in the media. With the tensions and deaths of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and the UN focus on Iran and missing sailors, the consequences of conflict in the region has only recently focused on the resulting refugees leaving Iraq for neighboring countries and overseas.

Today the UN addressed the issue of Iraqi refugees. The UN wanted the two main recipient countries, Syria and Jordan to accept more refugees from Iraq. Approximately two million reside outside Iraq in Syria and Jordan alone, with another 50,000 leaving Iraq each month. With around 4 million Iraqis residing outside their home country worldwide, the strain on Syria and Jordan in not only accepting more refugees, but maintaining the current refugees in good care is likely a burden too hard to bear.

“I hope this conference will galvanise international support to provide them with more protection and assistance and I hope it will mobilise resources in establishing much needed protection space,” Ban Ki-moon – UN Secretary General

The UN urged all countries to accept a number of refugees from Iraq, and for the wealthier countries such as the US and EU to assist financially as well as accepting a number of refugees into their own countries as well. The only solution is international solidarity on the issue, said High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres before the conference held today by the UN refugee agency. He claims this as the worst refugee crisis to hit the Middle East since 1948.

Where Iraqis have fled to:

Syria: 1,200,000
Jordan: 750,000
Gulf states: 200,000
Egypt: 100,000
Iran: 54,000
Lebanon: 40,000
Turkey: 10,000
Internally displaced: 1,900,000
Source: UNHCR

For Stories of Individual Iraqi Refugees: BBC News - Iraqi Refugee Stories 

The fate of boat people who seek a better life by taking to a voyage at sea to reach the shores of more prosperous countries are random at best. Three stories illustrate the conditions and result of such attempts to escape poverty around the world.

In Senegal, with the results of poverty and recent civil conflicts, many Senegalese seek to enter Spain via small boats which land in secluded areas of Southern Spain and disappear into society and larger cities of the Iberian region or beyond into France and the rest of Europe. Due to recent civil wars, the islands of Ellenkine and Carabang in the Casamance Region of Senegal has become a departure point for many illegal immigrants into Southern Europe. The move has also attracted many authorities, who took hundreds of illegal immigrants of various backgrounds into custody on April 8th.

The fate of many migrants are not always just prison. Smugglers near Yemen today dumped nearly 120 Ethiopian and Somali migrants into the sea. The migrants were coming from Somalia to Yemen in a series of three ships, and a number of them were forced, some through physical violence, to dive into the sea for unconfirmed reasons. This comes two weeks after 35 dead African migrants and 113 missing migrants were also lost in the Gulf of Aden on their way to Yemen.

In a odd twist of fortune, The Miami Herald has a story about two refugees with a different fate. Jean-Ferdinand Monestime, a Hatian who came by boat to Florida is awaiting his asylum hearing in the US, while a refugee from Cuba, Francisely Bueno who came to the US in a similar manner has been recruited by the Atlanta Braves AA farm team to pitch for their club. With some assumption of scandals recruiting boat people is noted in the article, the issue of the detention of boat people in the US, and the rights of Cubans to claim political asylum is discussed in the light of rights and sporting abilities.