Part I: Refugees and the Global South

The “unexpected welcome” received by the thousands of families arriving at the Torkham and Chaman border crossing points between Pakistan and Afghanistan has protected the world from another tragedy that could have had epic proportions. It was in October that Pakistan had announced that it would deport hundreds of thousands of “unregistered foreign nationals” which would affect not just Afghan refugees, but also Uyghurs from China and Rohingya’s from China.

While Pakistan is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 protocols which premise non refoulement, this forcible repatriation will mean that millions of people living in refuge in Pakistan will be displaced again, losing whatever little they built up, and be forced back to a country still impacted by the conflict that had driven them away.

Elsewhere in Central Asia, thousands of ethnic Armenians are also now fleeing Azerbaijan and seeking refuge in Armenia. This after the Azeri military secured complete control over the once autonomous region of Ngorno Karbakh, situated near Azerbaijan’s border with Armenia. It is estimated that 100,000 people would have sought refuge over this month, most except those who are elderly, infirm or have no relations whatsoever left in Armenia.

The spectre of being forced out as refugees also looms large for over two million Palestinian residents of the Gaza strip. While for now both Egypt and Jordan have refused to accept Palestinians, and borders remain closed. The bombings continue to kill besieged and starving populations in an open air prison. For most people of the world this is unjust and disproportionate retribution for what should only be seen as terrorist act of the Hamas on 7^th October.  With the Israeli attacks not showing any signs of ending, it is quite likely that the coming months will see hundreds of thousands seeking refuge.

So as conflict continues to create refugees and is likely to create more in the near future, there is growing discomfort with welcoming refugees that can be seen in the Global South. There are multiple factors behind the growing hostility to refuges and people seeking refugee beyond borders. Foremost are economic concerns, and in the Global South there are some justification for this feeling.  In Pakistan, for instance, where over 12.5 million people fell below poverty line in the past one year and now nearly 40% of the country’s population is struggling to get its basic needs met, it will need a brave government, ready to risk its future to continue to host refugees. Ethiopia which hosts over 700,000 refugees from Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and Eretria also faces a similar challenge. United Nations Development programme estimates that 68.7 percent of the population in Ethiopia is multidimensionally poor while an additional 18.4 percent is classified as vulnerable to multidimensional poverty.

While it is also true that refugees, provided the legal regime allows them, have been known to eke out livelihoods and seek self-enterprise, without any access of state support, we need to recognize that the existing image of the refugee and migrant does not evoke much empathy. While we may blame populist and chauvinistic sentiments that have been aggravated by an aggressive media that continues to portray refugees in negative light, we also need to recognize that the international community, and especially the Global North has always failed to support the countries of the Global South who have been bearing the brunt of the refugee crisis. UNHCR data shows 75 per cent of refugees and people seeking refuge across borders are hosted by low and middle income countries, with the Least Developed Countries providing asylum to 20 per cent of the total.

As far as possible, refugees too prefer to move to neighbouring countries. Ability to move quickly to survive, familiarity with language and culture, aided by porous borders and lax detection mechanisms mean that refugees have better chances of being undetected and survive persecution and peril. For the working classes, costs of long journeys are also difficult to afford. Global data tells us that 69% of refugees take refuge in neighbouring countries and thus on the face of it, the Refugee crisis can be understood to be a Global South matter. An overwhelming number of refugees are from the Global South and hosted by countries in the Global South.

However, we must never forget the complicity of countries in the Global North in creating and abetting the refugee crisis, either directly or through the proxy wars. This is mostly overlooked in dominant global approaches to support and protect and address the refugee crisis. This selective silence and opposition on acknowledging, and ensuring reparations is criminal for the millions of refugees of our world today. Absolved of all responsibility for damage, for instance, the erstwhile occupiers of Afghanistan bear almost no accountability to millions of people who have sought refuge out of Afghanistan to save their lives from the cross fires, or for that matter direct assaults. Even the current attacks in Gaza and the ongoing push of settler colonialists in the West Bank, which is threatening to create a new dimension to the Palestine refugee crisis, would not have been possible without the enabling of countries led by the United States of America.

While we cannot and should not seek to compare relative status of different refugees, the conspicuously racist behaviour of many European Governments and administrations to Afghan refugees needs to be highlighted. Many were not only forced to return to Kabul but later reportedly asked to move to make way for Ukranian refugees arriving into Europe. This was also true about Germany and across the world in the manner in which Australia treats refugees from the Global South.

Given the racist attitudes that the Global North continue to display against refugees, and especially refugees from the Global South in particular, their role in creating the global refugee crisis, and how the Global South continues to bear the overwhelmingly larger burden of hosting refugees, we need to apply the principle of common but differentiated responsibility to the Global Refugee Crisis. The Global North must be made to provide both financial reparations for past failure and financial support for the ongoing and future role that the Global South plays and will continue to play in providing refuge to people seeking it.

Disclaimer: The article was originally published on Firstpost. The views expressed in the article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of ActionAid Association.