# data[].attributes.body
Julia Vergeer

# data[].attributes.body
Pieters mindmap

# data[].attributes.body
Jamie

# data[].attributes.body
Lex Speijer

# data[].attributes.body
Jamie's

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Climate change is set to cause a refugee crisis of "unimaginable scale", according to senior military figures, who warn that global warming is the greatest security threat of the 21st century and that mass migration will become the "new normal".

The generals said the impacts of climate change were already factors in the conflicts driving a current crisis of migration into Europe, having been linked to the Arab Spring, the war in Syria and the Boko Haram terrorist insurgency.

Military leaders have long warned that global warming could multiply and accelerate security threats around the world by provoking conflicts and migration. They are now warning that immediate action is required.

"Climate change is the greatest security threat of the 21st century," said Maj Gen Munir Muniruzzaman, chairman of the Global Military Advisory Council on climate change and a former military adviser to the president of Bangladesh. He said one metre of sea level rise will flood 20% of his nation. "We're going to see refugee problems on an unimaginable scale, potentially above 30 million people."

Previously, Bangladesh's finance minister, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, called on Britain and other wealthy countries to accept millions of displaced people.

Brig Gen Stephen Cheney, a member of the US Department of State's foreign affairs policy board and CEO of the American Security Project, said: "Climate change could lead to a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions. We're already seeing migration of large numbers of people around the world because of food scarcity, water insecurity and extreme weather, and this is set to become the new normal.

"Climate change impacts are also acting as an accelerant of instability in parts of the world on Europe's doorstep, including the Middle East and Africa," Cheney said. "There are direct links to climate change in the Arab Spring, the war in Syria, and the Boko Haram terrorist insurgency in sub-Saharan Africa."

After Donald Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, won the US presidential election in November, Cheney said he expected senior military officials to impress upon Trump the grave threat posed to national security by global warming. "I've got to believe there are enough folks on the national security side that we can make a dent in this."

R Adm Neil Morisetti, a former commander of the UK maritime forces and the UK's climate and energy security envoy, said: "Climate change is a strategic security threat that sits alongside others like terrorism and state-on-state conflict, but it also interacts with these threats. It is complex and challenging; this is not a concern for tomorrow, the impacts are playing out today."

Morisetti said climate change would mean the UK military will be deployed more often to conflict and disaster zones. The military leaders were speaking ahead of an event in London on Thursday.

In September, a coalition of 25 US military and national security experts, including former advisers to Ronald Reagan and George W Bush, warned that climate change poses a "significant risk to US national security and international security" that requires more attention from the US federal government.

In 2015, a UK foreign office report made a stark assessment of the dangers posed by unchecked global warming, including very large risks to global food security, increased risk of terrorism as states fail, and unprecedented migration that would overwhelm international assistance.

"Countries are going to pay for climate change one way or another," said Cheney. "The best way to pay for it is by tackling the root causes of climate change and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. If we do not, the national security impacts will be increasingly costly and challenging."
Topics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Climate change will stir 'unimaginable' refugee crisis, says military

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Climate change is set to cause a refugee crisis of "unimaginable scale", according to senior military figures, who warn that global warming is the greatest security threat of the 21st century and that mass migration will become the "new normal".

# data[].attributes.body
Julia's

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A refugee is a person who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country ... "
- The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees

Protecting refugees is the core mandate of UNHCR. This booklet answers some of the most commonly asked questions about refugees themselves and how the agency attempts to help them. Who, for instance, can qualify as a refugee and on what grounds? Can people be excluded and why? - a particularly sensitive issue given the international preoccupation with terrorism. What rights does a refugee enjoy and what obligations? What is the role of governments and of UNHCR itself? It also explores related issues including the development of 'temporary protection', the future of millions of so-called internally displaced persons and statelessness.
How are refugees protected?
Governments normally guarantee the basic human rights and physical security of citizens. But when civilians become refugees this safety net disappears. UNHCR's main role in pursuing international protection is to ensure that states are aware of, and act on, their obligations to protect refugees and persons seeking asylum. However, it is not a supranational organization and cannot be considered as a substitute for government responsibility.

Countries may not forcibly return (refoulement) refugees to a territory where they face danger or discriminate between groups of refugees. They should ensure that refugees benefit from economic and social rights, at least to the same degree as other foreign residents of the country of asylum. For humanitarian reasons, states should allow a spouse or dependent children to join persons to whom temporary refuge or asylum has been granted. Finally, states have an obligation to cooperate with UNHCR.
What rights does a refugee have?
A refugee has the right to safe asylum. However, international protection comprises more than physical safety. Refugees should receive at least the same rights and basic help as any other foreigner who is a legal resident, including freedom of thought, of movement, and freedom from torture and degrading treatment.

Economic and social rights are equally applicable. Refugees should have access to medical care, schooling and the right to work.

In certain circumstances when adequate government resources are not immediately available, such as the sudden arrival of large numbers of uprooted persons, international organizations such as UNHCR provide assistance. This may include financial grants, food, tools and shelter and basic infrastructure such as schools and clinics. With projects such as income-generating activities and skill training programmes, UNHCR makes every effort to ensure that refugees become self-sufficient as quickly as possible.
What are the obligations of a refugee?
Refugees are required to respect the laws and regulations of their country of asylum.
Who decides who is a refugee?
Governments establish status determination procedures to decide a person's legal standing and rights in accordance to their own legal systems. UNHCR may offer advice as part of its mandate to promote refugee law, protect refugees and supervise the implementation of the 1951 Refugee Convention. The agency advocates that governments adopt a rapid, flexible and liberal process, recognizing how difficult it often is to document persecution.

UNHCR's 57-member Executive Committee sets non-binding guidelines that may be useful in this respect and the agency's "Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status" is an authoritative interpretation of the 1951 Convention. In countries which are not party to international refugee instruments but who request UNHCR's assistance, the agency may determine a person's refugee status and offer its protection and assistance.
Are persons fleeing war or war-related conditions such as famine and ethnic violence refugees?
The 1951 Geneva Convention, the main international instrument of refugee law, does not specifically address the issue of civilians fleeing conflict, though in recent years major refugee movements have resulted from civil wars, ethnic, tribal and religious violence.

However, UNHCR considers that persons fleeing such conditions, and whose state is unwilling or unable to protect them, should be considered refugees. Regional instruments such as Africa's OAU Convention and the Cartagena Declaration in Latin America support this view.

Some countries, particularly in western Europe, argue that civilians fleeing generalized war or who fear persecution by non-governmental groups such as militias and rebels, should not be given formal refugee status. It is UNHCR's view that the origin of the persecution should not be decisive in determining refugee status, but rather whether a person deserves international protection because it is not available in the country of origin.
Who helps the internally displaced
Internally displaced persons (IDPs)flee their homes for the same reasons as refugees, but remain within their own country and are thus subject to the laws of that state. In some crises, and though it does not have a specific mandate in this area,UNHCR assists several million, but not all of the estimated 20-25 million IDPs worldwide.

These operations are initiated at the request of the U.N. Secretary-General or the General Assembly, with the consent of the country involved and have included recent crises in the Middle East, the Balkans, Africa and Afghanistan.
Must every refugee undergo individual status determination?
People who apply for refugee status normally need to establish individually that their fear of persecution is well-founded. However, during a mass exodus such as occurred from Kosovo or Africa's Great Lakes, it may not be possible to carry out individual screening. In such circumstances, particularly when civilians are fleeing for similar reasons, it may be appropriate to declare 'group' determination of refugee status, whereby each civilian is considered as a refugee, prima facie - in other words, in the absence of evidence to the contrary.
How does UNHCR distinguish between a refugee and an economic migrant?
An economic migrant normally leaves a country voluntarily to seek a better life. Should he or she elect to return home, they would continue to receive the protection of their government. Refugees flee because of the threat of persecution and cannot return safely to their homes in the prevailing circumstances.
May governments deport persons who are found not to be refugees?
Persons who have been determined, under an equitable procedure, not to be in need of international protection are in a situation similar to that of illegal aliens, and may be deported. However, UNHCR does urge that protection be granted to people who come from countries devastated by armed conflicts or generalized violence. The agency also advocates that rejected asylum seekers be granted the right to a review before being deported.
Can a draft evader be a refugee?
Every country has the right to ask its citizens to bear arms in periods of national emergency. However, citizens should have an equal right to conscientious objection. In cases where the option of conscientious objection is not observed, or where a conflict violates international norms, draft evaders who fear persecution on political or other grounds may be eligible for refugee status.
Can a criminal be a refugee?
A criminal who has received a fair trial for a common law offense and who flees his country to escape jail is not necessarily a refugee. However, a person accused of these or other non-political crimes, whether innocent or guilty, may also be persecuted for political or other reasons, and is thus not necessarily excluded from refugee status. Furthermore, people convicted of the 'crime' of political activism may well be refugees.
Can a war criminal be a refugee?
Persons who have participated in war crimes and violations of international humanitarian and human rights law - including the crime of terrorism - are specifically excluded from the protection accorded to refugees.

In practice, especially during a mass exodus, it is sometimes difficult to separate persons suspected of serious human rights violations from bona fide refugees especially for a humanitarian organization such as UNHCR which is neither a police force or a judicial body. In the 1990s, for instance, known violators were living in the huge refugee camps for Rwandans established in surrounding countries.

The most viable solution is to provide support initiatives such as the international tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, to bring war criminals to justice. UNHCR is obligated to share with these and other relevant U.N. organizations pertinent facts on such issues while sensitively handling information which refugees have confidentially divulged to field staff.
Can a soldier be a refugee?
A refugee is a civilian. A person who continues to pursue armed action against his or her country of origin from the country of asylum cannot be considered a refugee.
Can women facing persecution because they refuse to comply with social constraints be refugees?
Women, like men, may be persecuted for political, ethnic or religious reasons. In addition, someone fleeing discrimination or severe persecution for her failure to conform to strict social codes has grounds to be considered for refugee status. Such persecution may emanate from a government authority or, in the absence of adequate government protection, from non-state actors. Sexual violence, such as rape, may constitute persecution.

Such discrimination should have consequences that are significantly prejudicial. A woman who fears attack for her refusal to wear a chador or other restrictive clothing, or because of her desire to choose her own spouse and live an independent life, may qualify to be a refugee.

In 1984, the European Parliament determined that women facing cruel or inhumane treatment because they seemed to transgress social mores should be considered a particular social group for the purposes of determining refugee status. The United States and Canada have exhaustive guidelines relating to gender-based persecution, and there has been similar progress in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
Can a woman who fears that she, or her infant daughter, will be genitally mutilated claim refugee status?
In France, the Netherlands, Canada and the United States, it has been officially recognized that genital mutilation represents a form of persecution and that this can be a basis for refugee status. In one case, a woman who feared persecution in her country because of her refusal to inflict genital mutilation on her infant daughter was recognized as a refugee.
Is a person who fears persecution because of sexual orientation eligible for refugee status?
Homosexuals may be eligible for refugee status on the basis of persecution because of their membership of a particular social group. It is the policy of UNHCR that persons facing attack, inhumane treatment, or serious discrimination because of their homosexuality, and whose governments are unable or unwilling to protect them, should be recognized as refugees.
What is temporary protection?
Nations at times offer 'temporary protection' when they face a sudden mass influx of people, as happened during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s and later in Kosovo, when their regular asylum systems would be overwhelmed. In such circumstances people can be speedily admitted to safe countries, but without any guarantee of permanent asylum.

Thus 'temporary protection' can work to the advantage of both governments and asylum seekers in specific circumstances. But it only complements, and does not substitute for the wider protection measures, including refugee asylum, offered by the Convention.

Temporary protection should not be prolonged, and after a reasonable period of time UNHCR advocates that people benefiting from this should be given the right to claim full refugee status. Those rejected should, nonetheless, be allowed to remain in a country of aslyum until it is safe to return.
What does UNHCR do to protect refugees from physical assault?
Refugees, especially the elderly, women and children, are often vulnerable to violence. Rape, in particular, is a common element in the pattern of persecution that drives refugee families from their homes, as civilians increasingly become the deliberate targets of sectarian warfare. Civilians may also be sexually assaulted during their flight and on arrival in their country of asylum, by officials, locals, or other refugees.

UNHCR field staff attempt to prevent conditions that may encourage such assaults, offering victims special care and ensuring a proper legal follow-up which could include trials for suspected perpetrators. Preventive measures include improving camp layout or upgrading basic facilities such as lighting and walls and encouraging refugees to institute night patrols.
How can unaccompanied children find their families?
An unaccompanied minor is one "who is separated from both parents and for whose care no person can be found who by law or custom has primary responsibility." The number of unaccompanied child refugees varies widely, but often comprise 2 to 5 percent of a refugee population.

UNHCR works with other agencies such as the Red Cross, UNICEF and Save the Children, to ensure that unaccompanied children are identified and registered, and their families traced. In the Rwandan crisis in the mid 1990s, an estimated 67,000 children were reunited with their families.
What is UNHCR's policy on resettlement?
Voluntary repatriation is the preferred long-term solution for the majority of refugees. However, because of an ongoing threat of persecution or other reasons, some civilians cannot repatriate and are unable to live permanently in their country of asylum. In those circumstances, resettlement in a third country may be the only feasible option.
Can refugees request resettlement in a specific country?
In normal circumstances, no. But in the interests of family reunification, refugees may request resettlement in countries where their close family members are living.
Which countries maintain a resettlement quota?
Of the 189 member states of the U.N., only a handful establish annual resettlement quotas, including Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the USA. Other countries may consider submissions from UNHCR on a case by case basis, normally because of family reunion or strong cultural links.
Why are quotas not always filled by UNHCR?
Governments are not always ready to adapt their quotas to rapidly changing needs, and often establish them in response to domestic interest groups, targeting specific nationalities. Resettlement countries may also turn down cases such as families with pressing medical problems, who may be more costly in terms of welfare payments, or who may have limited ability to integrate rapidly. In general, although some countries do accept difficult to place hardship cases, most resettlement countries prefer educated refugees with strong family and cultural links, an intact family structure, and a high likelihood of rapid integration. Such families may not always correspond to the pressing protection cases which UNHCR attempts to resettle.
Are there asylum guidelines on stowaways or people rescued at sea?
Shipmasters have an obligation under international law to rescue any persons in distress at sea. In some cases, such as the exodus of Vietnamese boat people, such persons were asylum seekers. Clandestine stowaways may also be asylum seekers.

Persons rescued at sea should be disembarked at the next port of call, where they should be admitted, at least on a temporary basis, pending resettlement. Some flag states of rescuing ships have provided guarantees of resettlement for persons rescued at sea.

There is no binding international convention relating to stowaway asylum seekers and their reception varies very widely. UNHCR advocates that, wherever possible, stowaways should be allowed to disembark at the first port of call, where their refugee status may be determined by the local authorities. If a port state does not allow a stowaway to disembark, and the ship's next port of call is in a state where the stowaway's life is threatened, then the action is tantamount to forcible return (refoulement).

In such cases, UNHCR officials try to arrange an on board interview and if the asylum seeker is found to be a refugee, they assist in finding a permanent solution - usually third country resettlement.
What does UNHCR do to prevent statelessness?
The right to a nationality is widely recognized in international law and constitutes a status from which other rights may derive. However, several million people worldwide probably remain statelessness especially in some countries of the former Soviet Union. The problem may be particularly acute among children of parents of mixed origin, or who are born in a country other than their parents' country of origin, since they do not necessarily gain citizenship of the place where they are born.

There are several international documents which deal with the issue including the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness which underlines that a person may not be deprived of nationality on racial, ethnic, religious or political grounds. It sketches out measures to prevent statelessness resulting from the transfer of territory; and establishes rules for the granting of nationality to persons born in a country who would otherwise be stateless. The U.N. General Assembly has entrusted UNHCR with overseeing the Convention.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Protecting Refugees: questions and answers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A refugee is a person who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country ...

# data[].attributes.body
Jamie's

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
There's a risk of resentment towards people being given asylum in communities that already feel powerless and under pressure

s a researcher focusing for more than a decade on inequality and the stigmatisation of working-class people and communities, particularly connected to council estates, I fear what will follow this summer's refugee crisis. Harrowing images of people being packed into trains, and children's bodies washed up on beaches has led to an almost involuntary reaction to offer help among European people who still live with the legacies of the 1939-45 war. As a result, the government policy U-turn means that Britain can now take in refugees and the chancellor, George Osborne, has announced that some of the £12bn international aid budget can be offered to local councils to help house refugees in the UK.

During the early 2000s, refugees arrived and settled in Britain from many wartorn places, most of our making. At the time, I was working with a group of women living on a council estate in Nottingham who were becoming increasingly worried about the number of what they called "asylum seekers" living in an already very poor and under-resourced neighbourhood.

The tensions on the estate had been rising for some time due to housing waiting lists, the lack of housing, and the length of time people were waiting to see a GP. Although the women did not blame the asylum seekers exclusively, they could see the added pressure on services.

But they told me that they were most unhappy and frightened that every day, as they walked through the precinct, a group of men they referred to as "Iraqis" were constantly asking them for "business", meaning sex. It happened to me on several occasions. The women felt angry and disrespected at these incidents.

One woman told me that she and a group of women had "battered" (physically attacked) "one of the Iraqi asylum seekers" for asking to buy sex from one of the women's 15-year-old daughter. When I spoke to this woman about it, she said: "Why should we be the only ones having to put up with this?"

My research over many years in poor and structurally disadvantaged community's shows clearly that fear and anger are ever present. The constant competition for limited resources, whether social and physical, like housing and state benefits, or symbolic resources, such as value and respect, generate an acute anxiety among communities that are being squeezed by a government.

The women I was working with in Nottingham were aware of how accusations of white working-class racism are played with by politicians, the media and the do-gooders, as they called teachers and social workers - the people who, they knew, never had to put up with this. They were careful about what they said, and who they complained to, about those they called the Iraqis.

Migration has always been a strong feature of working-class communities in British cities, and a feature that those communities are proud of and celebrate. In St Ann's in Nottingham, we are very proud of our connections to Jamaica and to Ireland; both cultures are celebrated and have over time merged into what I have called "Being St Ann's".

I now live in Tower Hamlets in east London and have recently been undertaking ethnographic research with local white working-class women. They have been interested to know what I think about the refugees. They didn't want to tell me what they thought until they knew I wouldn't judge them. These women are proud to live in Bethnal Green and are proud of the neighbourhood's Jewish and Bengali connections. However they also live under constant threat of being moved out of the borough where they have lived all their lives, as rents rise and homes become more scarce. They are anxious about who else will move into their neighbourhood and whether these refugees will be "given" an affordable home, when they live day to day not knowing if they and their children will be able to stay.

The women in Nottingham and in Bethnal Green are fully aware of the pressures on the limited resources within their neighbourhoods, and they know they are expected to share the very little they have, while others may stand in judgment of their complaints. They see this as something else they have no control over. The dominant narrative in Britain for working-class people is about feeling powerless, having no say, being disrespected, and having accusations of ignorance, small-mindedness and racism thrown at you if you point out that your neighbourhood can't take much more. These feelings of uncertainty about territory, status and power where material rewards are unevenly distributed and are continually shifting, leave people on insecure ground, which encourages the erection of boundaries. These can be physical, as we see in our government erecting fences, but boundary erection can be symbolic and social, where we see people as different, a threat to our way of living, a drain on our resources.

They know they are expected to share the very little they have, while others may stand in judgment of their complaints

Over the last 20 years, and especially during New Labour's modernising project, poor, working-class communities have looked for other representation, sometimes in the form of Ukip. Sometimes they have removed themselves from the debate altogether and become inward focusing. As refugees start to come into Britain, tired and desperate, politicians from left or right, local or national, must not be allowed to make political capital from their situation, and from the people already struggling in poor communities.

The women of Nottingham said to me in 2005 "we don't begrudge anyone a roof who needs it", but at the core of suspicion and fear of the "other" is the lack of resources. The consequence of austerity measures is that working-class families all over Britain have found themselves struggling to stay in their homes, to feed and clothe their families, and to keep warm. As people are being evicted from their homes because of the bedroom tax, and hundreds of thousands socially cleansed out of parts of London, Bristol and Manchester because the land they live on is worth more than they are, we cannot allow local councils and private landlords to profit from Osborne's offer to fund homes for refugees in Britain. Last week the head of Barnet council, in north London, asked private landlords to offer properties for rent that will be paid for by the EU. This is the same council that residents of Sweets Way housing estate have been fighting - in order to be housed and allowed to stay in the borough after their homes were sold to a private property developer.

Our response must be that all social inequality is unjust. We must turn our anger on to those ideologues who promote austerity measures, social cleansing and a policy of profit before people, and not on to each other, whether the others are Syrian refugees needing a place of safety, or poor British working-class mothers living on council estates and struggling to get by. I am not religious at all but I have always enjoyed stories and my favourite parable is the Widow's Mite - a widow donates only two small coins, while the wealthy people of Jerusalem donate large amounts of their wealth, Jesus explains that the widow gives everything she has while the wealthy are extravagant and showy - consequently it is those that have the least who often give the most but it is often difficult to recognise.

While the wealthy and the powerful make grand gestures of buying islands and giving homes, and the liberal left offer their spare rooms, in reality it will be the working-class people of Britain who will share the little they have.
Topics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The refugee crisis will hit the UK's working class areas hardest | Lisa Mckenzie

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There's a risk of resentment towards people being given asylum in communities that already feel powerless and under pressure s a researcher focusing for more than a decade on inequality and the stigmatisation of working-class people and communities, particularly connected to council estates, I fear what will follow this summer's refugee crisis.

# data[].attributes.body
Lex'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Sweden received more refugees per capita than any other European country last year, but many Swedes have started to question the country's immigration policies as crime rates and extremism are on the rise.

We are one of the least racist countries and we have great policies when it comes to giving welfare to immigrants and we don't make a difference between immigrants and residents or citizens even. So when it comes to all that I think we have been great, but we also need to understand that it's not an eternal order, that everything will work fine in Sweden, so when we reached a limit, we reached a limit, and this is our limit.

Ivar Arpi, columnist for the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper

Traditionally, Sweden has been viewed as welcoming to refugees.

In 1970, most immigrants came from other European nations such as Finland, Yugoslavia, Denmark and Greece. The 1980s saw people come from Iran, Chile, Lebanon and Turkey.

In the past 10 years, the numbers have taken off and in 2015, nearly 163,000 individuals applied for asylum in Sweden, a nation of 9.8 million people.

Syrians accounted for 51,000 of these asylum seekers, 41,000 came from Afghanistan, 20,000 from Iraq, along with thousands from Eritrea, Somalia and Iran. A combined 4,000 came from Albania and Kosovo.

Today, around 1.6 million people living in Sweden were born in another country - that is 16 percent of the population.

Many new arrivals are languishing in temporary housing, beggars and homeless live in the streets, and some neighbourhoods have seen an uptick in violence and extremism.

Concerns over security are growing and recent information about members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) living in Sweden and going to fight in Syria has received lots of media attention. According to Swedish police, around 300 people, many of them from the city of Gothenburg, are believed to have gone to Syria.

Then there's violent crime - in the past several months murders and assaults have taken place in asylum centres and in neighbourhoods with large numbers of immigrants.

The Sweden Democrats, the only party that has been advocating a more restrictive immigration policy, is now the third largest party in opinion polls, despite efforts by established political parties to isolate it.

So, what is behind the recent backlash against immigration in Sweden? Why is the tide turning for refugees in Sweden?

Al Jazeera went to the Swedish community of Ostra Goinge, an area that has received a number of new immigrants, to speak to citizens and politicians about the country's immigration policies.

Mayor Patric Aberg is a member of the Moderate Party, traditionally seen as a business-friendly party opposed to the ruling Social Democrats. He is calling for a "pause" to accepting applications for asylum. While he speaks of economic benefits he says there's a need to foster better "social integration".

"In Sweden right now I think we need a pause. In a very short period of time, since June last year, we have received more than 100,000 refugees. As you may have seen here in our community, we have very few apartments, we don't see a growth of jobs enough to employ all those coming ... We cannot in such a short period of time take care of so many people, our system cannot handle this," Aberg says.

"You look around the world and you hear reports about what's going on in Stockholm, Sweden, Europe and ask: will the people arriving here bring these problems with them? And I think this spread of fear is growing and we really need to work hard to ease their fear. It's not as unsafe as people think. But it's a feeling people have and we should take it seriously," he says.

Locals in Ostra Goinge have mixed feelings about refugees and migrants settling in Sweden.

"I guess they are all doing the best they can... but, well, I guess we have too many immigrants. It's been hard on the schools and our welfare system ... We have received so many, and it takes time for them to integrate ... We have had problems with break-ins here, I have had a break in. That's something I never experienced before," says citizen Maria Alm.

We also speak to the Swedish Interior Minister, Anders Ygeman, who is responsible for police and border controls; Marja Lemme, a political scientist at Stockholm University; and Ivar Arpi, a columnist for the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.
You can talk to Al Jazeera too. Join our Twitter conversation as we talk to world leaders and alternative voices shaping our times. You can also share your views and keep up to date with our latest interviews on .

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sweden's backlash: Why the tide is turning for refugees

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sweden received more refugees per capita than any other European country last year, but many Swedes have started to question the country's immigration policies as crime rates and extremism are on the rise. We are one of the least racist countries and we have great policies when it comes to giving welfare to immigrants and we don't make a difference between immigrants and residents or citizens even.

# data[].attributes.body
Pieter's

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
1. The war in Syria shows no signs of ending. People continue to flee, and refugees in neighbouring countries are now losing hope that they can return

Inside Syria, the situation has continued to worsen, with fighting intensifying in all regions and the economy and services in a state of general collapse. This is driving yet more people to leave, but is also having a profound impact on those who have already escaped to neighbouring countries.

When people flee from war, they usually do so hoping to return soon. So they move nearby, perhaps to family or friends in a nearby town, or just across the border, where they can keep an eye on their homes and livelihoods. But after more than five years of conflict, many Syrians have now abandoned that hope. Their homes have been devastated, their families torn apart, and there is little prospect for peace. With nothing left, and their places of exile under increasing strain, hundreds of thousands of people are now ready to travel much further to find the security they so desperately need.

2. Living as a refugee in neighbouring countries is untenable for many refugees, who are not permitted to work and are sliding deeper into poverty

For millions of Syrians, their first place of safety was a neighbouring country - like Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt and Iraq. But few refugees can continue to pay rents at all, even on tiny and crowded rooms. Many refugees face eviction from their places of shelter.

In most countries, refugees are not allowed to enter the labour market formally and face sanctions if caught. In Jordan, for example, they risk being returned to the camps; in Lebanon, they are forced to sign a pledge not to work if they wish to renew their residency status.

Without income, people are forced, first, to spend their savings, and then to take on debt. Even worse options may then lie in store. After years of gruelling costs, many are simply no longer able to pay for rent, food or basic items.

3. There is not enough international aid to help refugees in the region

Normally, refugees might turn to aid agencies like UNHCR, which are running many programmes to help them survive. But the scale of the problem is so large, and it has been going on for so long, that donors are struggling to find the money to pay for these schemes. When the numbers of Syrian refugees arriving in Europe surged last month, UNHCR began to receive new donor pledges to increase aid in neighbouring countries. Even so, this year's international appeal for Syrian refugees is just over half funded. Recently, World Food Programme vouchers were cut for thousands of refugees, forcing many into "negative coping strategies", including begging and child labour.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest

Syrian refugee Soultana Solaibi, 54, cooks food for her family at a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon. Photograph: Bilal Hussein/AP

In Jordan, many refugees have also lost free access to healthcare. Almost 60% of adults with chronic conditions are now forced to survive without medicine - up from 23% in 2014. Refugees in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt say cuts like these are the last straw, leaving them little choice but to leave.

4. Children are going too long without an education

Syrians prize education highly. But in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey there are simply not enough opportunities for Syrian children to be educated. In Jordan, 90,000 Syrian children are going without a formal education, and 20% of refugee children have abandoned school in order to work. Many girls are losing out after being forced into early marriage, another survival mechanism. Even in Lebanon, where education is free for Syrian children, transportation costs are prohibitive and many have to miss classes in order to support their families; 200,000 will be out of school this year, and young people looking for a university education have almost no options at all. If they are to get the skills to live a productive life, to go back home and rebuild after the war, parents of Syria's refugee children arriving in Europe say education is crucial.

5. Countries in the region hosting four million refugees, without commensurate international support, have imposed new restrictions

Neighbouring countries have not been compensated for welcoming huge refugee populations, which has put an enormous strain on their infrastructures. In tiny Lebanon, host to well over one million Syrian refugees, the government has resorted to imposing new regulations making it harder for Syrian refugees to gain asylum. Most people fleeing Syria can only enter Lebanon if they show border guards an air or ferry ticket to Turkey. Refugees already in Lebanon must pay the equivalent of £130 per year to stay, as well as pledging not to work. In Jordan, the government requires all Syrians living outside of camps to get new identity documents to access services, but their cost (£27) is simply too high for many to afford.
6. The portrayal of a welcoming Europe on television and social media
Syrians inside and outside the country avidly follow the news. News stories of difficult journeys across the Mediterranean and through the Balkans end in Austria and Germany with scenes of refugees greeted with applause, flowers and teddy bears. For Syrians, the idea that they could seek asylum in a country offering the combination of safety, work prospects and education was worth the steep smugglers' fees and the danger of getting there. Many also fear the gates will close soon and the only time to travel is now.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest

Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel poses for a selfie with a migrant from Syria, September 2015. Photograph: Imago/Barcroft Media

So what is the solution? Obviously, all countries with influence must step up efforts to end to the Syrian war. But until there is peace, the countries hosting four million refugees must receive the infrastructure and development support they need while fully funding UNHCR and partner organisations to provide for the basic needs for refugees. We continue to advocate for employment schemes to allow refugees to earn and contribute to local labour markets.

At the same time, refugees must be offered more legal avenues to reach safety in the world's richer countries through increased resettlement quotas, more flexible family reunification schemes and humanitarian and student visas. Syrian refugees would certainly then think twice before leaving their region and risking their lives on a journey to Europe.

For more information: http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/regional.php
Join our community of development professionals and humanitarians. Follow@GuardianGDP on Twitter. Topics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Six reasons why Syrians are fleeing to Europe in increasing numbers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
1. The war in Syria shows no signs of ending. People continue to flee, and refugees in neighbouring countries are now losing hope that they can return Inside Syria, the situation has continued to worsen, with fighting intensifying in all regions and the economy and services in a state of general collapse.

# data[].attributes.body
Julia's

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
After months of fear and uncertainty, even refugees who have reached safety face a psychological battle to get back on their feet

ome arrive and can't sleep at all. Others arrive and immediately fall asleep for days on end," says Pina Deiana, shouting from the front seat of a car clearly no stranger to the unforgiving roads of Sicily.

We're heading to a refugee support centre deep in the rugged countryside, where Deiana has her first appointment of the day. While her colleagues at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) treat arrivals for everything from severe burns to injuries from violence, it is at these centres that Deiana deals with the less visible scars of the migrants' journeys. She is one of only two MSF psychologists stationed on the island, and so over-stretched that our interview can only be squeezed in during a bumpy car ride.

Deiana's work starts at the shore, in the first-aid reception centres nestled among the coastal rocks. The demand for psychological support has been high: this year MSF introduced "psychological first aid" for victims of particularly traumatic sea crossings. Pozzallo, the nearest port, has received 8,000 refugees since January.

But for Deiana's patients, this symbolic moment of arrival in Europe is so often the beginning of another long journey - that of psychological recovery. Much of this process happens in the place we visit today, an elegant country house now doubling up as one of the 16 "exceptional" support centres on the island that Deiana spends her days zig-zagging between.

"When we arrive here we are out of our mind. We have taken so much suffering," says Thierno Mouctar Barry, a former patient of Deiana's who has now been at the centre for six months. "We need psychologists like Pina to bring us back to the land ... back to reality."

He lifts up his shirt to show the bite marks on his left arm - crescent shaped reminders of the 28 September 2009, an evening of severe police brutality in his native Guinea that sparked the beginning of his migration journey: Senegal, Mauritania, and then to "another type of hell" - Libya.

"Before, I could not tell my story without crying. If I didn't get that support I would probably be a different person," says Barry.

Barry is just one of the hundreds of patients Deiana has treated this year. Most are male, between 19 and 30 years old, from Nigeria, Mali, Gambia and Senegal. "One man was convinced he was still in the desert," says Deiana, recalling a recent case of acute psychosis. "He was drinking the water in the bowls for the dogs and eating leaves from the trees. He had frequent flashbacks where he thought he was being beaten by his traffickers again. He could hear traffickers telling him if he didn't drink urine they would kill him. He told us he couldn't lie down because when he did he could feel dead bodies on top of him."

Another patient was recently referred to her with symptoms that resembled epilepsy. "Her eyes would roll back into her head and her arms would go completely rigid - but it wasn't really epilepsy, it was a psychological crisis ... It started when she was captured with 400 people in the desert in Sudan during her journey here. The fear was still very strong."

The psychological and social stresses often experienced by refugees during migration can double the prevalence of severe disorders (psychosis, severe depression and disabling anxiety), and increase the figures of mild to moderate mental disorders from 10% to 15-20%, according to the World Health Organisation (pdf). Indeed Deiana says the number of cases in Sicily so far has been significantly more than they expected.

"But this does not mean these people are psychologically weak," Deiana points out. Rather, she thinks, the figures are testimony to the cumulative impact of extraordinarily difficult experiences. "Remember most people we meet have travelled for one year or more before landing in Sicily. So one year of danger, of dangerous situations ... with smugglers, with men in the desert, with combat situations in Libya."

The stressful wait during the months after arrival is often when trauma takes shape. "The past comes back, the present is difficult, and the future is uncertain," says Deiana. People sometimes arrive in good mental health and become increasingly depressed as the months wear on.

The consequences of failing to provide sufficient psychological support to those that need it are well established, according to Richard Stott, clinical psychologist and specialist in anxiety disorders and trauma. "There is a risk of long-term mental health conditions developing, including chronic post traumatic stress disorder, depression and risk of suicide," he says. "Untreated mental health conditions can be detrimental not only to the wellbeing of the individual, but also compromise physical health, parental functioning and the wellbeing of children and other family members."

Despite this, mental health support is often neglected. "In the current refugee crisis, with tens of thousands of desperate and exhausted refugees attempting to reach safe havens in Europe, mental health and psychosocial wellbeing is somewhat overlooked amid all the needs that are vying for attention," says Pieter Ventevogel, senior mental health officer at UN refugee agency UNHCR.

Guglielmo Schinina, head of mental health at the International Organisation of Migration, is familiar with the argument that in the current crisis, other needs such as shelter should be prioritised. "But I think European countries are more ready than we think ... I think there is capacity to deal with this," says Schinina. "The problem is that this capacity is not activated."

It is in the months after arrival that 'the past comes back, the present is difficult, and the future is uncertain'

It is not only psychologists that can provide support, says Ventevogel, and it shouldn't be limited to those with clinical mental disorders: "Perhaps the most important thing to do is to treat refugees with respect and dignity, preserving and strengthening their autonomy and self-efficacy. It is critical that all who are involved in the refugee response, from border guards or police officers to medical personnel, have been properly trained in assisting people who are in great distress. One does not need a degree in psychology to support the mental health of refugees."

There is, of course, a risk of misdiagnosis, point out some officials; many behaviours refugees show are not necessarily signs of mental health problems but natural responses to their circumstances. And this issue is further complicated by a lack of translators and cultural mediators, says Chiara Montaldo, the MSF coordinator accompanying Deiana on her visit.

"Last year one Nigerian man was at the centre in Pozzallo and he was doing a voodoo ceremony, which was normal for him. The operator there, however, thought it was a kind of 'craziness' and referred him to the psychiatric department. This unfortunately happens quite often."

"One of the first questions I ask is, 'How do you treat this problem in your country?'" says Deiana. Many patients ask her for access to traditional healers.

Helping patients to find a way of anchoring themselves in their new situation is also important, though supporting refugees through grief can be a real challenge. "I did not know what to do in Islamic culture when somebody dies and you don't have the body," Deiana says.

In the end she worked with the local church in the cemetery in Pozzallo to try to mark graves for those lost. Many however remain nameless. As we prepare to leave, a staff member points to a traditional Malian house built by a recent resident - "an important symbolic piece of home".

"These people are stronger than us," reflects Deiana on the drive back to Pozzallo. Her job takes her to dark places - nightmares, flashbacks, profound grief and loss - but it is a story of human resilience she wants me to leave with.

Helping to reestablish refugees' trust in humanity, something so often severed after their traumatic experiences, makes it "a very beautiful job" she adds. "It might be a drop in the sea but I can be useful to these people."
Join our community of development professionals and humanitarians. Follow@GuardianGDP on Twitter. Topics

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Refugees and mental health: 'These people are stronger than us'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
After months of fear and uncertainty, even refugees who have reached safety face a psychological battle to get back on their feet ome arrive and can't sleep at all. Others arrive and immediately fall asleep for days on end," says Pina Deiana, shouting from the front seat of a car clearly no stranger to the unforgiving roads of Sicily.

# data[].attributes.body
Julia's

# data[].attributes.body
Jamie's

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Placards by the group spoke of 3,000 homeless children in Ireland and the need to house local people first.

The protest began directly opposite the Holy Cross Mercy primary school before moving to Linden House, a former guesthouse which has hosted asylum seekers in the past.

A Garda from the nearby garda station was on duty at the entrance.

At the gates of the house local councillor Donal Grady addressed the gathering to rounds of applause, before handing in a petition, stating the concerns, signed by those protesting.

"Firstly to make clear we believe that people from war torn areas like Iraq and Syria should be accepted in our country," Mr Grady read before outlining concerns about the lack of consultation with the community.

"We have no knowledge of the vetting procedures these people have been through and they are being housed across the road from a local school," he said.

"The town had a large number of homeless and they should be looked after first," he continued.

Angry voices in the group which gathered outside Linden House referred to the fact some of the men who arrived on Friday were carrying iPhone sixes; and a lot of them smoked.

Others shouted about the Irish people paying for the accommodation.

"What fire officer signed off on safety for that house for 55 people," a mother of three who identified herself as Karen asked.

Pat Sullivan, who is involved with the jarveys in Killarney, asked why the Department of Justice had hidden the fact they were re-opening what was a vacant and derelict building.

Work took place at night under lights, two local women said. Most people said they objected to the lack of notice to anybody in Killarney by the Department of Justice.

"It's not healthy having fifty five men with nothing to do all day," another parent said.

Meanwhile three of the men who arrived at Linden House spoke briefly to the media.

Others remained inside but opened the door to where a Christmas tree stood to accept the letter of protest.

A 25-year-old man from Albania told this remoprters he had been in Ireland with four years, in Galway and the west waiting for his application to be processed.

"Give me work and I don't stay here," the man said. The accommodation in Killarney was "very good," he said, when asked about the standard of the building which had been vacant.

It was the first time he had come across such a protest and he asked not to be identified in photographs. A second man also from Albania said he had been in Ireland with two months.

A 48-year-old man from India said he was from the Punjab and was seeking asylum because of the war there, he had been housed first in Donegal and was in Ireland two months.

There was a brief angry confrontation between one woman and the Albanian man when she asked him where his family was; others remarked how the asylum seekers had "brilliant English" however, Cllr Grady moved the woman away.

Meanwhile, Mr Grady, who organised the protest, had previously called for the building, which is privately owned, to be leased by the council and used for local homeless persons.

Killarney already hosted 120 asylum seekers in two State owned properties, he explained.

"We have people coming in and we don't know the first thing about them. Killarney has its own problems. I can pick out 40 people in this town who won't have any warmth tonight," he said.

"We stress it is not that we don't wish refugees to be accommodated in Killarney but we believe it should be done under consultation with the local community and when we are in a position to help the nationwide plan after we have accommodate local families who have been either homeless or years on the housing list," Mr Grady said on Saturday.

The Department of Justice said it is expected that the applicants arriving in Killarney will be from different countries.

"There has been an increase in applications for international protection in Ireland. The latest figures (as of end November 2017) suggest that 2,620 persons applied for international protection this year compared with 1,982 in the same period last year."

There has been strong criticism of the Department of Justice by public representatives because of lack of consultation with locals or with the county council and other bodies.

Michael Healy-Rae received confirmation earlier this week of the arrival of the refugees. He said he has been inundated with calls from locals concerned about pressure on the housing lists and about the proximity to local primary schools.

"We have questions that need answering. Surely someone in the Department of Justice could have contacted the county council," Mr Healy-Rae said.

His brother Danny raised the matter in the Dáil.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Protesters raise concerns over newly opened asylum centre in Killarney

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Placards by the group spoke of 3,000 homeless children in Ireland and the need to house local people first. The protest began directly opposite the Holy Cross Mercy primary school before moving to Linden House, a former guesthouse which has hosted asylum seekers in the past.

# data[].attributes.body
Pieters

# data[].attributes.body
Jamie's

# data[].attributes.body
Lex'