Global Refugee Forum takes stock of international response to the biggest human displacement in history

People stand near tents at the Sahlat Al-Banat makeshift camp for internally displaced people set-up next to a waste dump on the outskirts of the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, on July 10, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 14 December 2023
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Global Refugee Forum takes stock of international response to the biggest human displacement in history

  • With 114 million people displaced worldwide, aid agencies and developing nations demand concrete action at Geneva summit
  • Saudi Arabia has provided $18.57 billion in aid to refugees in the Kingdom, KSrelief chief Abdullah Al-Rabeeah tells forum

LONDON: Even before the war in Gaza led to the displacement of some 1.9 million people, the world was already in the throes of the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War, with conflicts, crises and climate catastrophes forcing people from their homes.

More than 114 million people are now on the move worldwide, up from 75 million in 2019, with conflicts in Ukraine, Syria and the Sahel, drought on the Horn of Africa, and economic crises from Lebanon to Venezuela sending people in search of security.

In response to these immense challenges, which have significant implications for the economies of host and transit nations, the UN has organized its latest Global Refugee Forum in Geneva — its first since the pandemic — which ran from Dec. 13 to Dec. 15.

“The Global Refugee Forum is taking place at a time when displacement around the world is at record levels,” Ezekiel Simperingham, the global lead on migration and displacement for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, told Arab News.




King Abdullah II of Jordan delivers a speech during the Global Refugee Forum, in Geneva on December 13, 2023. (AFP)

“This is compounded by climate change, conflict and diseases, but the needs of refugees and other displaced people are urgent and complex.”

The forum’s opening sessions on Wednesday were dominated by the issue of Gaza, where the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which began on Oct. 7, has led to the displacement of some 85 percent of Gazans.

Opening the forum with a call for an immediate ceasefire, Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, warned that continued fighting would only add to the number of globally displaced.

“A major human catastrophe is unfolding in Gaza and, so far, the (UN) Security Council has failed to stop the violence,” Grandi said in his opening remarks, referring to Washington’s recent veto of a motion calling for a ceasefire.

He warned that further displacement in a region already saturated with refugees from multiple ongoing conflicts posed a major threat to security and stability.

His comments reflected a tweet he posted earlier in the week warning that “massive displacement” beyond Gaza’s borders would not only be “catastrophic for Palestinians, who know the trauma of exile” but impossible to solve, “further jeopardizing any chance of peace.”

Since Hamas launched its unprecedented cross-border attack on the towns of southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,400 people, most of them civilians, and taking some 240 hostage, the Gaza Strip has come under sustained bombardment by the Israeli Defense Forces.

Although the IDF’s stated aim is to destroy Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007, Israel’s military campaign has come at the cost of some 17,000 lives, the majority of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Some Arab states, including Egypt and Jordan, have accused Israel of trying to drive the Palestinians out of Gaza altogether in a repeat of the Nakba, or catastrophe, of 1948, which saw the population forced from their homes to make way for the new Israeli state.




More than 114 million people are now on the move worldwide. (AFP)

If Gaza’s two-million strong population were to spill out into Egypt and other neighboring countries, it is likely they would never be permitted to return, making the possibility of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel even less likely.

Such a wave of dispossessed humanity would also place an immense burden on the shoulders of neighboring countries, which already host vast numbers of Palestinians alongside millions displaced by the war in Syria.

Speaking at the Global Refugee Forum on Wednesday, Jordan’s King Abdullah II said that the world must not turn its back on the displaced or on host nations, warning that a failure to act risked “leaving a lost generation behind.”

“Instead of making headway in resolving this ever-evolving and expanding refugee crisis, and even as new displacement crises emerge, we see attention waning. We can’t afford for this to continue,” he said, citing the 1.4 million Syrians including 650,000 refugees hosted by Jordan.

Abdullah pointed to what he called a model of “fluctuating support” from governments in Europe and the wider Western world, where refugees have at times been welcomed, as in the case of Ukrainians, and at other times refused entry.

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Also speaking at the forum on Wednesday, Colombia’s vice president, Francia Elena Marquez Mina, likewise called for greater support from Western nations. Her country, which sits at the crossroads between South and Central America, has played host to millions of Venezuelans and other nationalities escaping hardship and persecution.

Robinah Nabbanja, prime minister of Uganda, which is host to the world’s fourth largest refugee population, also said an “enormous strain has been placed on our meager economic resources” by the displacement crisis — a burden that has not been shared by wealthier nations.

Responding to these calls, Yoko Kamikawa, Japan’s foreign minister, said that it was time for the world to take “a more forward-looking approach” to the issue of displacement.

“We can’t improve the situation merely by providing food, water and shelter,” she told the forum. “I believe we all must envision a future where every refugee and displaced person can talk about their dreams and have opportunities to work hard to make their dreams come true.”

Emphasizing the urgent need for conflict resolution, Yoko said the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, could help ease some of the suffering, but stressed it could not address the underlying causes.




The UN has organized its latest Global Refugee Forum in Geneva which ran from Dec. 13 to Dec. 15. (AFP)

“UNHCR can help save people’s lives and ease some of their suffering, but it cannot resolve conflict. (That) is the responsibility of politicians such as myself, and many others here today,” she said.

Mindful of its responsibility to assist vulnerable communities, Saudi Arabia has provided more than $18.57 billion in aid to refugees in the Kingdom to date, according to Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, the supervisor general of Saudi aid agency KSrelief.  

Speaking at the forum, Al-Rabeeah said the Kingdom hosts 1.07 million refugees, who account for 5.5 percent of the nation’s population, and provides them with free health care, educational opportunities and help to integrate with their new communities.

Saudi Arabia has also provided $1.15 billion in aid to refugees in other host countries around the world, Al-Rabeeah added, revealing that the Kingdom plans to launch several new projects worth $170 million, including the provision of $40 million of aid for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, and $10 million for the Global Islamic Fund for Refugees.  

Despite these efforts, many of those working in the humanitarian sector have expressed concern over the lack of willingness among other developed countries to match their rhetoric with policy action.




Palestinians wave their identity cards as they gather to receive flour rations for their families outside a UNRWA warehouse in Rafah. (AFP)

Taking the UK as an example of this trend, Sile Reynolds, head of asylum advocacy at Freedom from Torture, noted a disconnect in the government’s championing of humanitarian support for children and its policy aim of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda.

“As the UK delegation champions its ambitious package at the forum, its colleagues back home celebrate the dubious success of passing the second reading of a bill that torches the UK’s international commitments to refugee protection,” Reynolds told Arab News.

“Why would any state take seriously the UK’s promises to share responsibility for ensuring the protection and welfare of refugees?

“The same UK government is conspiring and scheming to send children, fleeing the exact same conflict and persecution as those subject to the Global Refugee Forum’s worthy ambitions, to an uncertain future in Rwanda.”

In 2019, the Global Refugee Forum garnered more than 1,400 initiatives and pledges to support displaced people and host nations. However, to date, fewer than a third of these have been met.

Carenza Arnold, a spokesperson for the UK-based charity Women for Refugee Women, said while the forum represented “a great opportunity” to push forward initiatives to support people seeking safety around the world, it is vital these are put into action.

INNUMBERS

• 114m Refugee population worldwide in 2023.

• 43.3m Global refugee population who are children.

• 4.4m People who are deemed stateless.

• 69 percent Refugees living in countries neighboring their place of origin.

(UNHCR)

“We know that there’s an increasing number of people who are forced to flee their homes to save their lives each year,” Arnold told Arab News.

“It is crucial that initiatives are put into place to support people to move safely when they need to, to recover from the trauma they have experienced, and to rebuild their lives with dignity.”

For South Sudanese refugee Adhieu Achuil Dhieu, who addressed the forum on Wednesday, one essential component to redressing the waning interest was by offering refugees a platform to share their stories.

Recognizing the “increased participation” of displaced peoples in strategic dialogues since the 2019 forum, Dhieu said: “There is still considerable distance to go before we realize genuine refugee leadership.

“There must be tangible change led by displaced and stateless persons, to secure our rightful place in the decision-making processes that impact our lives.”

Adding that “displacement is a temporary challenge, not a permanent condition,” Dhieu said that governments had to up their funding for refugee-led organizations, reminding global leaders that the escalating refugee crisis was “a shared responsibility.”




King Abdullah II of Jordan (L) speaks with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi (R) during the Global Refugee Forum, in Geneva. (AFP)

Najwa Al-Abdallah, chief executive of Amna, formerly the Refugee Trauma Initiative, shares Dhieu’s perspective.

“Our vision of refugees determining their futures, unbounded by the impacts of conflict and displacement and our mission of nurturing joy and belonging aligns with the message of the forum,” Al-Abdallah told Arab News.

“That message has so far emphasized refugee leadership, trauma informed solutions and community as an answer to a complex problem.”

She added: “The global community cannot thrive if its most vulnerable are left behind. Let’s make this forum count.”


Russia jails lawyer for 7 years for criticizing Ukraine campaign

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Russia jails lawyer for 7 years for criticizing Ukraine campaign

Dmitry Talantov, 63, was arrested in July 2022 after describing the acts of the Russian army in the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Bucha as being reminiscent of “Nazi practices“
Safronov is now serving a 22-year sentence on treason charges

MOSCOW: Russia on Thursday sentenced a senior lawyer who had defended a jailed journalist in a high-profile case to seven years in prison for denouncing Moscow’s Ukraine offensive on social media.
Dmitry Talantov, 63, was arrested in July 2022 after describing the acts of the Russian army in the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Bucha as being reminiscent of “Nazi practices.”
Talantov was for many years president of the Udmurtia lawyer association and in 2021 was the defense lawyer for Ivan Safronov, a journalist covering military affairs whose arrest shook Russia’s media community.
Safronov is now serving a 22-year sentence on treason charges.
A court in the Udmurt Republic found Talantov guilty of actions aimed at spreading hatred and of knowingly distributing “fake” information on the Russian army — charges made possible with a censorship law adopted shortly after Moscow sent troops to Ukraine.
In an emotional speech in court, Talantov said he feared he would not survive the prison term, but also stood by his convictions.
“I am 64 and it is hard for me to imagine that I will come out of prison alive,” Talantov said, according to an audio of the speech published by rights group Perviy Otdel.
Talantov has been in pre-trial detention for two and a half years and has spent two years in an isolation cell, saying the Russian national anthem blasts out there in the evening and at dawn, before a staunchly pro-Kremlin radio show is played.
“I am waiting for words of peace. They do not come,” he said.
He described his conditions as a “Middle-Ages cell with only a (toilet) hole and a tap,” saying “time kills a person” in isolation.
His voice breaking, he addressed his wife saying: “Olga, forgive me, I love you.”
According to a letter he sent to Perviy Otdel, Talantov was arrested while at his summer home in the summer of 2022.
More than 300 lawyers had signed a petition calling for his release at the time.

Germany offers re-deployment of Patriot air defense units to Poland

Updated 28 min 19 sec ago
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Germany offers re-deployment of Patriot air defense units to Poland

  • The units could be deployed for up to six months, the ministry said
  • From January to November 2022, Germany had already deployed 300 troops

BERLIN: Germany has offered to re-deploy Patriot air defense systems to NATO ally Poland at the start of the new year, the German defense ministry said on Thursday.
The units could be deployed for up to six months, the ministry said in a statement.
“With this we will protect a logistical hub in Poland which is of central importance for the delivery of materials to Ukraine,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said.
From January to November 2022, Germany had already deployed 300 troops together with three Patriot units to Poland.
They were based in the town Zamosc, about 50 km (31 miles) from the Ukrainian border, to protect the southern town and its crucial railway link to Ukraine.
The deployment was triggered by a stray Ukrainian missile that struck the Polish village of Przewodow in November 2022, in an incident that raised fears of the war in Ukraine spilling over the border.


Putin says Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv gets nuclear weapons

Updated 34 min 3 sec ago
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Putin says Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv gets nuclear weapons

  • Putin said it was practically impossible for Ukraine to produce a nuclear weapon

ASTANA: President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would head off any attempt by Ukraine to acquire nuclear weapons and would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if such a scenario unfolded.
The New York Times reported last week that some unidentified Western officials had suggested US President Joe Biden could give Ukraine nuclear weapons before he leaves office.
Putin, speaking in Astana, Kazakhstan, said it was practically impossible for Ukraine to produce a nuclear weapon, but that it might be able to make some kind of “dirty bomb.”


One year on, daily ‘stop genocide’ protests target Israel’s embassy in Korea

A collage of photos show daily one-person rallies held by People in Solidarity with Palestinians in front of Israeli embassy.
Updated 39 min 47 sec ago
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One year on, daily ‘stop genocide’ protests target Israel’s embassy in Korea

  • South Korea observes significant growth in the Palestine solidarity movement— Embassy protests held by members of over 200 Korean civil society organizations

SEOUL: Across from the Israeli embassy in Seoul, Lee Hyun-ah was holding a big red banner, as she stood in a lone daily protest calling for an end to Israel’s onslaught, massacres, and occupation of Palestine.
The banner, with writing in Korean, Arabic, and bold English letters reading “Stop Genocide Against Palestinians,” has appeared in front of the embassy every workday since November last year, when UN experts and international rights groups began warning that Israel’s mass killings in the Gaza Strip were unfolding into a genocidal campaign.
The one-person protests have been organized by Urgent Action by Korean Civil Society in Solidarity with Palestine — also known as People in Solidarity with Palestinians — a coalition of 226 South Korean civil society organizations whose members have been volunteering to rally on specific days.
Lee, a 20-year-old student in Seoul, was taking part for the first time.
“I finally found the courage and decided to participate,” she told Arab News, recalling how she began to learn about the decades of Israeli occupation of Palestine only last year.
“I was appalled. There are fundamental virtues, ethics, and values in this world. I cannot believe one group can just attack, invade, and commit genocide. I felt compelled to act.”
Lee’s protest on Monday was the 267th lone demonstration held by Urgent Action in front of the Seoul embassy.
The coalition was established in October 2023, soon after Israel launched its war on Gaza, in which its military has since killed over 44,000 people and injured more than 100,000. The real death toll is believed to be much higher, with estimates by medical journal The Lancet indicating that, as of July, it could be more than 186,000.
The Korean civil society coalition, which includes BDS Korea — a group affiliated with the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement — has also been organizing mass protests, film screenings, and boycott campaigns tailored specifically for South Korea.
Their efforts to raise awareness are bearing fruit, as the number of people joining is rapidly increasing. From just a handful of activists, the movement has grown significantly, with over 2,000 people participating in its Palestine solidarity rally last month.
“Our group was very small. It was about five to seven people working together. There were limitations on what we could do because it was so small,” BDS Korea leader Deng Ya-ping told Arab News.
“Before October 2023, there were very few organizations in South Korea that were acting in solidarity with Palestine ... But after forming People in Solidarity with Palestinians, more civic groups joined, and individuals unrelated to any organization have started participating as well.”
The group is advocating for a change in the South Korean government’s stance on Israel’s occupation and demanding that it stop Korean companies from selling weapons to the Israeli military.
“In July, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel must halt its military occupation and that all nations have a responsibility to make Israel comply. So, the Korean government is also responsible ... the most obvious way to do that is to ban arms trade. That is the biggest request we have toward the Korean government,” Deng said.
“Other than that, Korea is a part of the UN Security Council. Korea voted in favor of the resolution that the US vetoed, which called for an end to the genocide and a ceasefire. Therefore, Korea should act accordingly, pressuring Israel to stop.”
The sentiment that the South Korean government is not doing enough is common among those joining Seoul protests — as is their resolve to persist, even when the embassy staff try to stop them.
While the embassy denies the claims, one of the protesters, Lee S., who has been involved in the Palestine solidarity movement since 2016, recalled its attempts to harass them.
“Sometimes embassy workers would come out during our protests to complain or try to provoke physical confrontations. But we never got into the fights. And they would systematically tear down our posters,” Lee said.
“But the South Korean civil society will continue to speak out loudly until the genocide in Gaza ends. We will not stay silent.”


Presidential aide says Ukraine ready to host second peace summit soon

Updated 28 November 2024
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Presidential aide says Ukraine ready to host second peace summit soon

  • Ukraine held its first “peace summit” in Switzerland in June
  • “Thanks to active work with our partners, a joint peace framework has already been developed,” Yermak said

KYIV: Ukraine is ready to host a second global summit aimed at ending Russia’s invasion in the “nearest future,” the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Thursday, local media outlets reported.
Ukraine held its first “peace summit” in Switzerland in June, bringing together over 90 countries to draft a resolution based on Ukraine’s proposed conditions to end the war.
However, Russia was not invited to that summit and dismissed its deliberations as meaningless without Moscow’s participation. It has also said it would not take part in any follow-up summit organized by Ukraine.
“Thanks to active work with our partners, a joint peace framework has already been developed, which will become the basis for the Second Peace Summit, and Ukraine is ready to hold it in the near future,” Yermak told a conference, according to Ukrainian media.
China also stayed away from the June summit, while other major non-Western powers including India, Saudi Arabia and Mexico withheld their signatures from the summit communique, underlining the diplomatic challenge Kyiv faces in marshalling broader global support for its cause beyond its Western allies.
Yermak’s comments came as Russian forces continue to make steady territorial gains in eastern Ukraine while also pounding energy infrastructure in Ukrainian cities and towns.
Kyiv and its European allies are also waiting to see how US President-elect Donald Trump will handle the Ukraine issue. He has criticized the scale of US financial and military support for Ukraine and has said he could end the war in a day, without saying how.