The Refugee Crisis - A Women's Rights Issue

From the Editor

What is the common denominator between South Sudan and Myanmar? At first glance, there does not seem to be much similarity between the two countries. However, a second look reveals a worrying trend. Refugees have been spilling out of the countries into neighbouring ones and others farther afield for quite a while now. The reason: civil war in South Sudan and a relentless and egregious persecution of the Rohingyas in Myanmar.

Beside these two countries, others that have become the largest sources of refugees, often due to armed conflict, are Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Eritrea and Burundi. According to UNHCR and the 2016 Global Trends, the numbers are enormous: by end of 2016, there were 65.6 million refugees worldwide, of whom 40.3 million were internally displaced persons. What does this mean for the rest of the world? Hosting refugees has several repercussions, including environmental degradation and the risks of the insecurity that drove out the refugees in the first place spilling over into the host countries.

Furthermore, the influx of refugees into a country ratchets up pressure on the recipient country’s public social services, frequently triggering conflicts with host communities. A survey commissioned by Amnesty International on the Refugees Welcome Index in 2016 showed the differences in the attitude of the citizens of a number of countries towards the prospect of refugees arriving at their doorsteps. Though some showed great willingness to welcome refugees, others were not too keen. Russia, for example, was placed on the bottom rung of the index.

How does Uganda and its people fare in terms of their attitude to refugees? Uganda is considered one of the most welcoming refugee host countries. It has been hosting refugees right from World War II to date and so has a long history in that sphere. It also has conducive laws, policies and practices related to refugees. However, recently a scandal broke regarding irregularities and scams in the management of resources meant for refugees that might mar the hitherto excellent reputation of Uganda as a destination for refugees.

Even at the best of times, however, refugees face lots of challenges, with the most vulnerable refugees being women, children, the disabled and the elderly. These challenges include physical assault, exploitation, sexual harassment and rape within the refugee settlements – sometimes as a result of patriarchy, sometimes borne out of the frictions and cleavages that drove the refugees away from their home countries. The situation is frequently made worse by the fact that many of the refugees would have been traumatised by horrific experiences and are, upon arrival at their new destination, in dire need of psychosocial support. However, not all is lost. For example, in order to protect female refugees against sexual and gender-based violence (SGVB), a raft of measures have been envisaged – some of them multisectoral, and others requiring scaling up protection services, involving men in fighting SGBV, and leveraging the role of government. More succinctly, however, there are practical ways to help refugee women survive the conflict, build peace, and forge better futures. The above, and more, is what Arise 64 is about. Enjoy!

You can download the whole issue as pdf.