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 |  Daily scribbles on writing and living. How to get rid of cobwebs in my brain. CLOSED. |
| It skipped my mind but it’s important enough to address the issue: June 20 was World Refugee Day. World Refugee Day 2016 must be an occasion for the global community to recommit itself to the foundational principles enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, as well as in the Geneva Conventions, to uphold and defend the humanity and internationally guaranteed rights of the most vulnerable. (UNHCR) The core principle is non-refoulement, which asserts that a refugee should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom. This is now considered a rule of customary international law. Since World War Two there hasn’t been that many people displaced or fleeing, an estimate worldwide of 65 million people at large. 65 million people in refugee camps or on the run: it’s mind blowing. I just can’t rap my mind around that staggering figure: 65 million faces! In Europe the borders are closing fast, the situation for a lot of people is devastating. In my country the Netherlands, we are dealing with concerned and angry citizens who will not have refugee camps in their neighborhood and the city councils who have to decide otherwise. My stand? I think people always have the right to flee from mischief and harm. I think it’s our global and individual obligation to make that possible. I think giving them solace in their own region of the world is best, but when they flee to other parts they have to be welcomed, by following certain rules of engagement. I also think that it’s necessary to take in refugees with great care, don’t put 1000 newcomers into the vicinity of a town with only a few hundred citizens. That won’t work. People don’t integrate that way. There will be hostility and fear, and cultural clashes. Welcome individual families to our cities, towns and neighborhoods. And if individuals behave badly, use the law to stop them. Change is imminent, the human race thrives on it. |
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