The current global migration crisis has permeated political discourse around the world. The conflicts that push people away, and the benefits that pull people to certain states are dynamic and multifaceted. The specific situation of people who flee their home country in search of safety is brought to question here, and the complexities and contradictions the process involves. Displaced persons seeking asylum are protected under the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention, but sovereign states actively implement restrictive measures that serve to criminalize asylum seekers and they are pushed to create their own refuge, as demonstrated by informal camps (Haglund, 2012). The global treatment and opinions towards asylum seekers are symptomatic
…show more content…
After World War II there was concern over the international responsibility to respond to an event like the Holocaust and the refugee crisis it produced (Healey, 2004). The 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (later called the Refugee Convention) was grounded in Article 14 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of human rights which recognizes “the right of persons to seek asylum from persecution in other countries,” (United Nations, 1951, p. 2). The Convention led to the definition of a refugee …show more content…
As of 2013, 51.2 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide, 1.2 million of those people are asylum seekers. The top hosts to refugees are Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, but the top destinations are South Africa, Germany and the United States. The top countries of origin are Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia with more than half of all refugees worldwide coming from these three countries (see figure 1) (UNHCR, 2013). The demographics of global migration show that asylum-seeker flows are predominantly from the global South and that there is an obvious and deep racialization of asylum seekers. Another important thing to consider is the reason for such large numbers of migrants from specific areas. The current influx of migration has been said to be the largest and most complex since World War II, and has created a discourse around a global migration crisis (Metcalfe-Hough, 2015). Receiving states are having difficulties accommodating for the incoming migrants, and many citizens and governments have reservations in regards to accepting migrants. This reservation is manifested in the securitization of migration and the criminalization of seeking
After World War II there was concern over the international responsibility to respond to an event like the Holocaust and the refugee crisis it produced (Healey, 2004). The 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (later called the Refugee Convention) was grounded in Article 14 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of human rights which recognizes “the right of persons to seek asylum from persecution in other countries,” (United Nations, 1951, p. 2). The Convention led to the definition of a refugee …show more content…
As of 2013, 51.2 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide, 1.2 million of those people are asylum seekers. The top hosts to refugees are Pakistan, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, but the top destinations are South Africa, Germany and the United States. The top countries of origin are Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia with more than half of all refugees worldwide coming from these three countries (see figure 1) (UNHCR, 2013). The demographics of global migration show that asylum-seeker flows are predominantly from the global South and that there is an obvious and deep racialization of asylum seekers. Another important thing to consider is the reason for such large numbers of migrants from specific areas. The current influx of migration has been said to be the largest and most complex since World War II, and has created a discourse around a global migration crisis (Metcalfe-Hough, 2015). Receiving states are having difficulties accommodating for the incoming migrants, and many citizens and governments have reservations in regards to accepting migrants. This reservation is manifested in the securitization of migration and the criminalization of seeking