WHEN THE ROUGH SEAS ARE SAFER THAN LAND

Presently we are witnessing one of the greatest humanitarian emergencies of modern history. According to the global trends report of the United Nations High commission for refugees, the number of people displaced by conflict, persecution, war, violence, and life threatening situations-refugees, stateless people, internally displaced persons and migrants– has reached the highest level ever recorded. By the end of 2005 the number of displaced people, worldwide was 65.3 million. More
graphically put, one in every 113 human beings on this planet is forced to flee from home 24 people being thrown out ever minute, it comes to 33,972 people a day. More than half of the world 's refugees are under the age of 18 . Just three countries-Syria, Afghanistan, and Somalia account for above 50 percent of the refugees on earth today, about six in Syrians are now displaced.
       Their journeys are fraught with peril. Appalling tales of tragedies feature daily in the headlines. Over 2 lakh refugees have risked their lives this year to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, mostly by rickety fishing boats or flimsy dinghies, those that make it to a safe destination are
frequently met with hostility and intolerance. In some worst scenarios, there are horror stories of human trafficking, enslavement sexual exploitation, torture and extortion of asylum seekers. The host
communities making an earnest effort to provide relief to the hordes of refugees knocking at their doors are often overburdened by the sheer numbers arriving.
       While calling for consolidation of resource for successfully intergrating refugees into our societies, Angelina jolie, UN refugee agency’s goodwill ambassador asks; “Can we turn our backs on the world
and hope we can wait for storms to stop?”
       So, let’s us stand together with the refugees, let us recognize our own humanity in the struggles of others. Let us Open our hearts to those who need help, so that the desperate may find new hope and
lives torn apart may be restored.
       As we bow our heads for the million of refugees fir their courage, determination and strife for human dignity, in the face of horrendous trials and tribulations devastating trauma of deprivation fear and uncertainties, let us whisper a prayer in our hearts and reach out our hands in solidarity with them.

-Dionnie Fernandez
  2nd Bsc FND