Megan Lucia
(WTNG 321)
Research
From World War I until now there have been refugess trying to flee their home countries to a better life in a different country. 1943 was the first time an organization was created to provide huminatrian relief to refugees, the organization that was the creation was called UNRRA. The number of refugees reached its highest recorded number 59.5 million in 2015. The true definition of a refugee is someone who is unable to return to their orginal residence because of fear of prosecution. I have never really done much research on refugees before so the concept of asylum is not something that I know much about. According to the article someone who has crossed borders is someone who is seeking asylum. The Refugee Status Determination has a process on figuring out if this person can be considered a refugee. The first part is the interview and the second part is the research into the person's country. There is a lot of information about the process of seeking refuge that many people do not know about. Refugees seem to be getting more hate in today's world then they ever have before. The media plays a big role in this in what they cover and what they don't. This article does a good job at outlining the long process.
Refugee Reading 9/15/16
Syrian Crisis 9/22/16
March 2011 is when the Syrian Crisis all started. The protests that were once peaceful turned into a huge war. According the the UN an estimated 6.6 million people are displaced because of the Syrian war. The majority of the people that have been killed have been citizens of Syria, and because of the war many citizens have starting fleeing. The majority of Syrian refugess are fleeing to Jordan and Lebenon for the hope of a better life. The largest number of Syrian refugees is in Iraq with 1 million, but many of those refugess are trapped there. Most people believe that refugees live in camps but that is not the case. A camp named "Azraq" opened in 2014 and it gives a new a new meaning to refugee camps. Instead of tents for the refugess to live in it has steel caravans making the camp look more like a home. One of the most important things is for people to help out. One of the most easiet things that someone can do is to tell friends to spread the word. One of the other things that people can do is to donate, any small amount helps.
Lib Guide Sources 9/29/16
2 Sources Used:
- http://inhabitat.com/6-designs-to-help-refugees-live-a-better-life/
In the article titled " 6 designs to help refugees live a better life" by Lucy Wang, she goes into detail about devices that could improve a refugees life. One of the first things that she mentions in the article is solar powered shelter. These shelters are made with sturdier materials that will last longer, and the overall look of the shelter is much nicer and might give people a sense of home. Another solar powered item that she mentions is a portable solar power charger station. A dutch company named WakaWaka, created this to make it easier for people to charge their phones and tablets so they can communicate with other people. One of the most important things that she mentions is an app, that lets you help the refugees. The app is out of the UK and is called "ShareTheMeal". It lets you feed anyone refugee that you want, even a little bit helps. In the next article posted by the Maggie Program a non-profit organization that creates shelters for refugees, discusses the many designs that they have for shelters. One of the models the Maggie V03 is meant for colder climates, and is energy smart. Hopefully this company can create more models to help the refugee crisis.
Lib Guide Summary on African Country and the Americas 10/3/16
Article Title: "People Living "In Sheer Terror" Around Lake Chad"
In the article titled above posted by Medecins Sans Fronteires Doctors without Borders talks about the African region of Lake Chad. Boko Haram is the group that is constantly forcing people out of their homes, making others become afraid forcing them to flee the country. Doctors without Borders is stepping in to assess the situation that is becoming more and more of a problem. One of the doctors, Dr. Jean-Clément Cabrol visited and noticed that there is a big lack of health care. Many health facilities have had to be closed because many of the staff members also needed to flee the country. The people that are left are left stranded with no one to help them. Another problem that Doctors without Borders faces is that they are many locations that they are not able to reach. The future is very unknown to these refugees, but all that organizations like Doctors Without Borders can do is to continue all the help that they have thus far given to the refugees.
Article Title: "#Crossing Mexico"
In the article titled above written by Augus Morales discusses the American side of the refugee crisis, people trying to flee from Mexico. The article follows the story of Juan Ramon Salvador, and his journey to safety with his family. There are many different routes people can take to reach safety, the route that his family chose was the Pacific, the most popular one. There are many areas along the route that are very dangerous they could possibly be killed. Many refugees board a train called "The Beast", but the Mexican government now does not want anyone boarding this train. The most vulnerable people are women and children along the route. The reason why many Mexicans are fleeing the country is because of gangs, or as they call them "maras". Many people are unable to leave Mexico because of the all the legal hoops that they have to jump through.
According to both Clement and Aline Shabani, a women's life in the Dem. Republic of Congo is very hard. Women are considered not important and their voices should not be heard, because of this it was very hard for Aline Shabani to talk about the memories she had from Congo. The two of them are dedicated to helping girls in DRC standing up and fighting for the rights that they deserve. Trying to empower women to speak up in the DRC is not an easy task because they are constantly fearing the repercussions that the government might bring upon them for trying to help women. Women play a big role in the DRC because they are the ones that are responsible for providing food for their families, but women are only seen as that in the DRC and nothing more. Clement and Aline Shabani are frustrated with the government because nothing is changing, so they are trying to talk about their story so it could possibly help women and other people in the Dem. Republic of Congo have hope and faith that someday maybe something will change.
"Ten years since the war Liberian refugees feel they cannot return"
Article: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-23676470
Many years after the civil war in Liberia occurred, people are still facing effects of what the war brought. The video shows a women by the name of Telfair Mar who lost her husband during the war and is still haunted by the day her husband died. She knew the people who killed her husband which makes it harder for her to live her life. Telfair decided to go live in a refugee camp near Lagos, and has been living there for twenty-one years along seven hundred other refugees who fear returning to Liberia. After all the years that she has been living there, the owners of the property where the camp lies are coming back to reclaim the property. Many people in the camp are not sure as to if they are going to return to Liberia or not.