Is Migration The Greatest Danger To Human Survival and Human Flourishing In Future?

Many of the concerns, which were considered erstwhile as mundane and addressable have turned acute and insurmountable with the passage of time-such as massive displacement of people as refugees, threats of climate change and simmering conflicts in the regions of West Asia, Africa, and even Europe. However, owing to the limitation of space and time the analysis will be restricted to the crisis emanating from refugees in West Asia, , Africa, and of recent movement out of Ukraine. First, the reasons for migration are looked in-depth. No one can forget the tragic capsize of boat in a sea near the Greece coast, overturning of a container carrying immigrants in a border town in Mexico, use of physical force to stop the immigrants at European borders, or a family of immigrants frozen to death on a Canadian border - are some of the myriad images that come to the immediate memory. Certain countries have become the factories of immigrants due to implosion of rules, change of regimes, countries torn apart through ethnic clashes or pure climate catastrophes causing people to leave their homes and fields and wander in a nomadic ordeal . The specific terms pertaining to ‘refugee’, Internally Displaced Person (IDP) and ‘migrant’ have been explained as per statute. The important agencies, associated with handling of refugees have been looked into and how they have been addressing the various concerns involving the issues. Then, the focus is on education, health and income issues faced by the refugees, and whether they could have been catered to adequately by the existing agencies. Finally the road ahead for the future is also laid out.

The world has been a silent witness to disruptive technological changes, globalisation - led movements of people and products, changing dimensions of sovereignty, rising questions on multilateralism, heightened challenges from terrorism, violence and conflict situations, extreme weather events, last but not the least, the Covid-19 pandemic, etc. have put a question mark on existence. Many of the concerns, which were considered erstwhile as mundane and addressable have turned acute and insurmountable with passage of time. Never since World War II have so many people been forcibly displaced,’ (Fleming, 2014).

Looking at the enormity of the crisis, one could observe : ‘Almost 108.4 million people had been forcefully displaced worldwide at the end of 2022 as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order.’ (UNHCR, 2023) This is almost more than three times than the number 22 years ago and still rising every passing day. No one would have ever thought that the situation would degenerate to this level, whereby it could be considered as one of the impending crisis before the world. As rightly captured, ‘Once thought to be a temporary problem at the end of World War II, the refugee problem worldwide has increased dramatically, with multiple conflicts and humanitarian crises occurring simultaneously’ (Mingst, Karns & Lyon, 2017).

Looking at the regions, one could safely conclude that no region of the world is immune from the plight of forced immigration and refugee crisis. As could be observed, ‘The largest corridors tend to be from developing countries to larger economies, such as those of the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Germany; large corridors can also reflect protracted conflict-and related displacements, such as from the Syrian Arab Republic to Turkey (the second largest corridor in the world)’ (World Migration Report 2022). The figures show that Asia and Europe predominate the international migration numbers, and this could be due to specific events other than overall trends. It is also intriguing to note that there are soft underbellies within the regions identified as hotspots or prone to migration. It may also be important to note that ‘83% of the displaced refugees are hosted in low-and-middle-income countries and 72% are hosted in the neighbouring countries’, (UNHCR, 2022).

Setting the tone

First, what comes to mind is why do people migrate? The answer is subjective and subtle. People migrate for studies, work, jobs, societal kinship on a routine and positive manner, or it is forced, stressful, crisis ridden, climate driven, ravaged with war or persecution. Even though both might be having completely different meanings altogether, but one thing which underlies in both the phenomena are anxiety, uncertainty and vulnerability to be exploited and overwhelmed by the situation. Many-a-time, the eternal search for meaning ends with a tragic capsize of boat in a sea near the Greece coast (Lee et.al., 2023), overturning of a container carrying immigrants in a border town in Mexico (Al jazeera, 2023), use of physical force to stop the immigrants at European borders (Dempsey, 2020), or a family of immigrants frozen to death on a Canadian border (Venkatraman, 2022) - are some of the myriad images that come to the immediate memory, when one talks and reads and thinks about the current subject.

‘UNHCR observed that most new refugees came from just five countries: Central African Republic, 71,800; South Sudan, 61,700; Syria, 38,800; Afghanistan, 25,200; and Nigeria, 20,300.’ (UN News, 2021). This does not mean that the displacement is only restricted to countries in far flung Africa or the perpetual simmering zone of Afghanistan or Syria. The visibly peaceful Europe has also seen recent surge of massive displacements in the context of the attack on Ukraine. As rightly observed: ‘Europe is poised to experience a level of population upheaval not seen on the continent since the 1940s. Exactly a week has passed since the war began, and already more than 1 million Ukrainians have fled to neighbouring Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Moldova,’ (Zamore, 2022).

Certain countries have become the factories of immigrants due to implosion of rules, change of regimes, countries torn apart through ethnic clashes or pure climate catastrophes causing the people to leave their homes and fields and wander in a nomadic zone . Let’s start with an imagery, which is very recent in times, almost ten million people on the streets of India to move back to their roots, when the national lockdown was kicked in to prevent the spread of Covid-19 during March 2020. It was nothing but migration, which was internal and within the country, from metropolitan cities to the hinterland states. In the recent past, Syria has been the epicentre for refugee creation and literally distressed citizens of Syria have flooded the neighbouring countries. As could be seen from the fact that, ‘the conflict in Syria is the world’s biggest producer of refugees, which accounts for the biggest numbers, with 12 million people (65 per cent of the population) displaced internally or living outside the country as refugees. Leaving aside, the longstanding Palestinian refugee situation, Colombians (7.7 million) and Afghans (4.7 million) remained the second and third largest displaced populations, followed by Iraqis (4.2 million)’. (Edwards, 2017) These numbers just reconfirm the enormity of the emerging crisis like situation across the globe.

Then, the next huge migration that has rattled the international borders of India and Bangladesh is of Rohingyas out of the neighbouring Myanmar. Perceptible migration out of Sri Lanka was observed in the recent months in the wake of the huge economic turmoil of the country. Who can forget the wild migration of citizens from Afghanistan when the sudden withdrawal of US forces occurred, transferring power to the Taliban? The border checkpoints at Pakistan were flooded with immigrants who wanted by hook or crook to cross the Durand Line. The most poignant picture in recent times is that of the hordes of people making all kinds of efforts to move beyond the borders of Ukraine to save their lives and of their children. Thousands of international students at Kyiv got stuck in the borders of Poland and Belarus, to move beyond Belarus endangering their lives, while some perished in the process. The Central and Southern American Continents have also registered unprecedented crisis of displacement and migration. The significant issue concerning the movement of the people in this part is linked to the utmost desire and aspiration of citizens to be a part of the United States of America. This is not just a trend, but a desire to ensure that the children and future generations could at least live without fear of life and livelihood. However, it is a different reality that very few numbers of persons could get this in their entire lifetime.

Theoretical Underpinnings

Migration as a phenomenon could be traced back in time and it is natural to move from a place to another. With rise of State, economy and concepts such as sovereignty and citizenship, issues pertaining to migration become socially, politically and culturally value-laden. The problem raises questions as to whether nation -states could function and flourish the way they have been performing under the severe infliction of international immigrants. There is a dichotomy to the problem. On the one hand, there are nation-states in the continents of Europe, North America, and Australia, which actively seek active working-age migrant workers to run the economy, to make products for the country as well as trade, but on the other hand there are host of other countries which find it difficult to stop the flow of immigrants. This has created a complex situation to handle and ponder over.

Before getting into the conceptual dimensions of ‘refugee’, one must look into the aspects of who is defined as a refugee and how the person is different than a ‘migrant’. As per International Organization for Migration (IOM), migrant is defined as ‘an umbrella term, not defined under international law, reflecting the common lay understanding of a person who moves away from his or her place of usual residence, whether within a country or across an international border, temporarily or permanently, and for a variety of reasons.’ (IOM n.d.) As per UN Refugees and Migrants, ‘while there is no formal legal definition of an international migrant, most experts agree that an international migrant is someone who changes his or her country of usual residence, irrespective of the reason for migration or legal status. Generally, a distinction is made between a short-term or temporary migration, covering movements with a duration between three and 12 months, and long-term or permanent migration, referring to a change of country of residence for a duration of one year or more.’ (UN Refugees and Migrants, n.d.)

For the policymakers, irrespective of the category of migrants, the main challenge is how to address the concerns and make possible arrangements for human needs and ensuring minimum levels of support in terms of health, education and employment needs of the migrants. Looking at the three main reasons for the impending crisis, David Miliband of International Rescue Committee provides the following: ‘The first is the weakness and division of the global political system, reflecting a retreat from diplomacy, a retreat from the global stage by the West; Secondly, a growing number of fragile States, partly reflecting the interconnectedness of the modern world - fragile states that are unable to develop political systems that can contain religious, ethnic, political difference within peaceful boundaries. And the third reason is one where there is a lot of fear -mongering within parts of the Islamic world.’ (Miliband, 2018). In addition to the existing fault-lines of refugee crisis, climate-led forced migration has exacerbated the concerns multi-folds for the future.

Issues of concern of Refugees

The refugees face plethora of uncertainties and disparaging situations in the new place of inhabitation - in an asylum, a makeshift camp, temporary structures or a ghettoed community. It has always been something which is far from any normal way how regular citizens of that country live and are entitled to a host of privileges. But for the refugees, it is almost a fortune to fight and gleefully accept a small facility so to say. Out of a host of challenges faced by the refugees, the most common concern pertains to the life and safety of the refugees. But the critical challenge is being that of provision of education for the refugee children, basic health amenities for the entire family, and last but not the least an income opportunity to earn in a dignified manner by the host country. The most vulnerable among the migrants are the children and women, who suffer the most adverse situations on a constant note. Among the host of issues, which have been captured are those of education, healthcare and income.

Education: The single most important intervention that could change the entire landscape of the refugee assimilation to the host country is that of focused intervention in the education sector. As has been observed in case of multiple developing economies, leapfrogging to the developed category through better focus and intervention in the education sector is a great example to be emulated for the refugee rehabilitation. Education could not only be the trigger but could also act as the reagent to facilitate greater job opportunities and also economic growth. As rightly remarked, ‘the education harnesses the creativity, energy and idealism of the refugee youth and young adults, casting them in the mould of role models, developing critical skills for decision-making, amplifying their voices and enabling rapid generational change,’ (Kovalenko, 2020).

Talking about the multiplier effects of education, “the gains in educational enrolment revealed in the UNHCR report on refugees and education, small as they are in percentage terms, still represent life-changing opportunities for tens of thousands of refugee children, adolescents, and youth,” (Grandi, 2019).

Health: The next important parameter is that of access to basic health facilities for the refugees, either free or at a reasonable cost. But the underlying fact that unless healthcare access is provided unobtrusively, it won’t be able to achieve it’s desired outcome. As observed, ‘refugees and migrants remain among the most vulnerable members of society and are often faced with xenophobia; discrimination; substandard living, housing and working conditions, and inadequate or restricted access to mainstream health services.’ (WHO, 2022). They face everyday challenges to find solace in availing the healthcare facilities provided by the host country. This precisely subsumes the kind of access barriers faced by the refugees in the countries of transit as well as destinations from time-to-time. The existing inaccessibility was led bare during the Covid-19 pandemic, while most of the countries were struggling to get a fair amount of vaccine doses and life-saving medicines all through. The plight of the migrants is too distressing. In fact, we are yet to get research data on how the refugees were hit hard during the Covid-19 pandemic at a global and local levels and what could have been the learning points for the future. But, whatever little has been reported, it has indeed pointed to the abysmal health access for refugees and their frustrations.

Income: This could precisely be most telling reason as to how the entire refugee community grapples with the idea of access to work and basic income. There are very few success stories in terms of participation in the economic wellbeing of a region, province or country by the refugee community at large amid huge spreads of despair and exploitation. But the islands of success act as a silver-lining and possibly a window for the future to embrace. The fact that refugees being gainfully engaged not only creates economic prosperity for themselves, but also creates a positive contribution to the host nation’s overall economy. As could be seen, in Uganda in 2014, 80 percent of refugees in the Capital city Kampala needed no humanitarian aid because they were working.’ (Miliband, 2017).

Another important dimension is creation of employment opportunities for the refugees and facilitation of income leading to economic growth of the host country, as has been seen in many European countries too. As could be seen, ‘ageing societies with a shrinking native working-age population, such as Germany, benefit from the arrival of younger refugees, who provide a demographic dividend. As well as complementing the skills of older, more experienced workers, refugees can help pay for the growing numbers of pensioners.’ (Legrain, 2016). Understanding the critical importance of creation of jobs, ‘the World Bank Group announced US$2.2 billion in development funding for refugees and hosting communities, as well as a separate funding window to boost the private sector and create jobs,’ (Gaynor & Bigg, 2019). Finally, subsuming all the initiatives and interventions pertaining to creation of jobs and provision of income opportunities, several key steps that could be adopted for refugee economic inclusion are: ‘(i) Assess refugees’ skills early, facilitate job matching soon after arrival, and provide up-skilling training; (ii) Recognize overseas qualifications, especially those from the region; (iii) Increase attention linking youth to the labour market; (iv) More investment in education and training is needed to improve labour market outcomes; (v) Sensitize both refugees and potential employers on refugees’ right to work.’ (Sarr et.al, ,2022). Many individual countries have undertaken a number of steps to address the aforesaid concerns.

Road Ahead

In the words of David Miliband ‘this is not just a crisis, it’s a test. It’s a test that civilizations have faced down the ages. It’s a test of our humanity. It’s a test for us in the Western world as to who we are and what we stand for. It is a test of our character, not just our policies’ (Miliband, 2017). Refugees being accommodated in the host country in the best case scenario, still have to undergo constant trials and tribulations to earn their rightful place among the legal citizens. One of the most important questions before the refugees is the plight to observe the continuation of the establishment that caused their eviction from their motherland. Further, the overall safety and security of the family members remains the highest priority while deliberating against any thought of returning ever to their own country. There is no doubt that the issue is a complex one. As argued ‘they lie at the intersection of a range of policy fields: humanitarianism, development, migration, human rights, post-conflict reconstruction, disaster -risk -reduction, and state-building,’ (Betts & Collier, 2018). Thus, the overall solution or way forward has to emanate from the range of policy narratives indicated above.

Why the crisis of refugees is the most important narrative in this century is the fact that every passing moment some citizen somewhere is being persecuted and getting converted to a refugee leaving everything behind and without any realistic goal or aspiration for the future. The factor that causes the maximum pain is the death of dreams, the smothering of hope and impending darkness engulfing the lives of refugees. But a path must be carved to give a glimmer of hope to millions of refugees who either languish in a camp or wait endlessly at the border gates of a prospective country of emigration. As rightly captured, ‘the most enduring shortcoming in the global response to the worst refugee crisis since the World War II remains the failure to combine aid with diplomacy to address the underlying grievances and conflicts that lie at the roots of this human exodus around the world’, (Patrick, 2019).

To usher a new era in the refugee rehabilitation, the critical factor to get the refugees feel at home could only be achieved through financial prosperity, a semblance of self-esteem, a hope for future survival and growth. Even though this looks the only plausible way to rehabilitate, in practice, nevertheless it is the most challenging one even to this date. First of all, the refugees are never considered an entity to be welcomed to any country: Second, they are always looked up as intruders who could pounce on the scarce resources of the host country. Third, the refugees could take up the jobs and thus make the original citizens strive for the limited space in the jobs and employment sector. Fourth, the refugees fail to pay for the health care and insurance costs, which significantly constitute the fulcrum of social security for the citizens. Last but not the least, the cultural difference and hiatus between the incoming migrants and the inhabitant citizens never allow easy assimilation and inter -mixing of cultures, thus making the overall amalgamation challenging mankind for a long time. As rightly said: ‘Not only are refugees not a burden, rather they are welfare-enhancing assets. Indeed, accepting, protecting, and empowering refugees is a win-win-win formula: for the refugees themselves, for the country of destination, and for the country of origin’ (Bahar,2018). The recent scourge of refugees in the Ukraine war has laid bare the deep-rooted fault lines associated with the crisis and may throw open an opportunity to look at the issue with a completely new dimension.

The other most important aspect of how the refugee crisis could be addressed is to look into the creation of conducive atmosphere for ensuring return of refugees to the homeland post - resolution of the crisis or conflict. However, in case of long -drawn -conflict-ridden States and provinces, it becomes almost impossible for the situation to normalise to see refugees return to their homeland. But it can only happen if houses are rebuilt, enough avenues are created for jobs, schools are reconstructed for children and the inhabitants are not persecuted by any one group or formation under duress. This can ensure at least a sizable number of refugees who have been displaced domestically or even beyond boundaries of the countries could come back and settle down in their respective places.

Looking at the issues related to designing an effective policy for refugees, it has to be dynamic, widespread and multi-pronged. Further, one must also register that crisis, persecution and climate -led disasters would keep on adding new migrants and refugees to the existing pool, who have been catered to by multiple agencies. So, rather than being feeling lost and negative, all the concerned institutions in their respective domains may trigger the change to provide a calming impact on the refugees. Going further and searching for an answer and a way forward to address the issue, Alexander Betts has given a ‘four out of box ideas for how we can expand refugees’ choices and still make everyone else better off. (Betts, 2016).

As far as raising the awareness is concerned, there have been multiple initiatives undertaken. This awareness is crucial to seek the rightful place in the index of important global challenges seeking direct and indirect answers. This may look like a baby step towards making the ordinary citizens as well as policymakers aware of the gulf that needs to be covered to come up with a credible but practical solution to the long standing issue. The best single most organisation to take up the existing challenge is no other than the United Nations and its agencies on refugees. However, while it is important to understand that UNHCR plays the most important role in taking the glide path, ‘the UNHCR has a legal mandate to help, but it is chronically underfunded and increasingly insignificant. Under the prevailing ‘care and maintenance’ model, the UNHCR and its partner agencies act as surrogate States, keeping refugees in limbo for years.” (The Economist, 2017) To conclude, the words of Mellissa Fleming, Head of Communication for the UNHCR ‘how we treat the uprooted, will shape the future of world’. (Fleming, 2014) .

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