9/19/16- The most interesting part of the website for me was the legal framework page. Beginning in 1951 at the refugee convention, the guarantee of international protection for refugee's was set into motion. These protections related to the rights of refugees as well as the duties of the nations who grant them asylum. The convention also established the definition of a refugee as a person who must leave their country and is not able to return to their country for fear of persecution. Individuals may be denied refugee status if they have committed a war crime, or when the government decided that the individual does not deserve the international protection. Although an individual does have the right to appeal the denial. Lastly the site talks about the difference between and asylum seeker and a refugee. An asylum seeker is an individual who has fled to another country for fear of being physically harmed or persecuted in their native homeland. a refugee is described as a person who leaves their native country without an instance of crisis.
9/21/16- The peaceful anti- war demonstrations in Syria began in march of 2011, and have only gotten more brutal since which is demonstrated in the drastic loss of population. I found it interesting, yet very shocking that half of the countries population has been killed or forced to flee the country often by foot. And it is estimated that more than half of those are children under the age of 18. Because of the commencement of the civil war, basic necessities are sparse and those who are able to flee face even more struggle. Lebanon and Jordan have welcomed many refugees, but are limited because of their size. In 2013 Syrains were able to escape to Northern Iraq when a new boarder crossing was opened, but face similar conditions because of their own conflict. They are also fleeing to Trukey with help from the Mercy Corps. Refugee camps which were started in Jordan in 2012, have little clean drinking water, and unclean conditions promote the spread of life threatening disease. Education for children is also complicated because the amount of people, they have been forced to split the day in half to accommodate more children.
9/26/16- TED Talk let us help refugees thrive, not just survive. Melissa Flemming adresses the topic of helping refugees flourish while they are in camps awaiting to rebuild their hometowns. I found it really interesting that one of the questions that she asked the refugee's was what did you take when you fled your home, and she explained that it was one of the most revealing questions that she often asked. She then tells the story of a family that was forced to leave Syria, and the hardships that they faced even though they were able to leave Syria. Just because they were able to leave the country did not mean that things got easier. With only 20% of the children refugees who have made it to Lebonon are in school, yet she tells that almost all of children that she talked to told her that education was the most important thing in their lives. This is because it gives them hope and a future. She explains that not investing in refugees is a huge mistake, because the way that we treat the uprooted will shape the future of the world. If the children in refugee camps are not helped and educated, they will become a "lost generation" because they will be trapped in a place that is not home, and will not have the education to move further in life.
9/29/16-
How Architecture Can Redefine the Regugee Crisis. I thought it was really interesting that the author connected politicians, urban planners, environmentalists, terrorist groups and lawmakers all as groups that have used the issue of security to justify the things that they do. Although when we think about the refugee they are being displaced from their homes because of others intentions of security, which have only resulted in the opposite for them. He ties this into architecture with the movement of those in the profession to build new models of infrastructure that supports displacement and mobility. The article states that a normal stay in a refugee camp is 17 years, because individuals are caught between the two boarders of country who does not accept them, and a country that they are unable to return to. The ill-equipped camps call for a need to improve and assist and architecture has the ability to lessen the trama inflicted by displacement.
Education Under Fire. This article focus's on the idea that refugee children from many countries are not being provided the education that normal children should be. For many reasons including limited resources, destruction, and language barriers children are unable to receive education that they need. 53% of Syrian children living the in 5 main host countries are not in school. Countries have tried to provide as much as they can, but resources are limited after taking care of their own people. Lastly the article talks about the possible ways that could help refugees receive education in these areas.
10/3/16-
# Crossing Mexico. This page claims that nearly 300,000 central Americans enter Mexico with the hope of migrating into America. Unfortunately, many of the refugees only find what they are aiming to escape. The route through Mexico is no different than the path of many refugee's, it is long and often dangerous. The Mexican government has launched a plan to contain the migration, and limit the use of the train because it creates a negative image of the situation. The refugees are being taken advantage of by organized crime, and crooks. Medecines Sans Frontiers reports that 58% of migrants are subject to sexual violence, theft, abduction, verbal intimidation, and armed threat. Around 57,000 undocumented minors were arrested at the US-Mexican border from October 2013 to June 2014, according to US officials. A fact that was hi lighted by media across the world, which really brought attention to the problem. Many of the migrants risk their lives in hopes of making it to America, the main motivation being the "American Dream".
People Living "In Sheer Terror" Around Lake Chad. Violence and attacks by Boko Haram have cause the mass displacement of people from their homes around Lake Chad. Around 2.5 million people have been forced to move from their homes because of violence, terror, and fighting. Civilians experience a cycle of terror when they face the same conditions when they flee to other parts of the country as when they are able to leave the country. Whilst completing daily chores they live in terror that they may be harmed at any moment. Doctors Without Boarders, as well was Medecines Sans Frontiers have stepped their medical response to the area. Health care facilities are scarce, and often lack many essential supplies needed to remain open. Basic services are not sufficient to care for the already fragile area. MSF colabs with ministries of health to deliver lifesaving health care as well as water and relief items. However they are not able to reach and meet all of the needs of the region.
10/6/16-
"One Families Story From the Dem. Republic of Congo". War and suffering is common issue among all of the refugees, they are forced to leave their country where they were otherwise happy before the chaos started. They all have no choice but to leave, many without any of their personal belongings. Another common theme was that women and girls are not considered in society, and they have no voice. It also seems that a majority of the people are passionate about spreading the stories that they have experienced to others. Every story that I read the individual was emotional about their story and what they experienced but it didn't effect the way that they told the story.
How a Liberian Refugee is Liberating Child Soldiers at Scale. Sheikh Turay a social entrepreneur refugee from Liberia is striving to bring his country out of poverty. After being a child soldier for the country he was sent to the Ivory Coast where he lived for 14 years and worked as an elementary teacher. When he returned to Liberia he saw the once farmed and profitable land was over grown and young children were left with little to no money to survive with. According to the article 76% of Liberia's population lives on wages of below 1$ per day. He then realized that if the farms were workable it would be a great opportunity to employ the children, he started the Liberation Chocolate Project. Today, profitable, Liberation Chocolate employs 50 former child soldiers by revitalizing the cocoa farms. Sheikh has also partnered up with Nova Monda Chocolate in Colorado.