So that the Return of Refugees and the Solutions of their Problems can be Sustainable… Lessons Learnt from the Case of Rohingya Relocation
The issue of Syrian refugees has resurfaced after attempts made by some countries hosting them to return them to Syria or other regions under various pretexts. Some states have started finding their own special solutions after the halting of the political solution process; for example, the United Kingdom announced its intention to transport asylum seekers to Rwanda, where their applications will be processed while they are there, and that is starting on the 14th of Huzayran/June 2020.
Meanwhile the Turkish government has announced its intention to return about one million with the “voluntary return” project to residences it will establish in the Syrian North. All according to standards and guarantees that the return would be voluntary and that it does not go against international laws, standards that should guarantee stability for people and assures their safe return and dignity.
The issue of refugees returning to their countries is considered one of the most complicated and problematic issues that can vary with the variation of conditions and nations. Especially that it can be implemented with accordance with the 22 “protection obstacles” that the UNHCR set, and in other cases it can be ignored in some regions or nations; which only contributes to complicating some of the issues and magnifying refugee suffering, instead of empowering them.
Perhaps studying past examples and experiences and highlighting the contexts accompanying them would be the best way to extract lessons that can help refugee communities improve their living conditions in host nations they reside in, and the conditions of their return to their countries later. The case of Rohingya refugees in Bangladeshi camps is one of the experiences that require studying and analysis to learn from its mistakes and prevent their reoccurrence.
There are several aspects of similarity between the case of the Rohingya and the Syrian case, and they are: the scale of asylum seeking to neighbouring nations and European states; which formed problems in some nations on the economic, political or societal levels. Another similarity is the political deadlock and inaction of the international community towards this issue for a long time, with a decrease in humanitarian aid along with worse humanitarian conditions for refugees. All increasing the number of challenges faced by hosting nations to the point of them trying to find a solution according to available resources, which was the option of returning refugees under pressure to unsafe areas or under worse conditions, without satisfying the required conditions for their safe return.
Despite the points of difference between the political context of the Rohingya and Syrian issues, and despite the differences in the solution proposed by the Bangladeshi government of “redistribution” and solutions states hosting Syrian refugees proposed of voluntary return and resettlement; which are differences considered radical by some, it does not mean we should ignore studying these experiences and analysing them and learning from their points of strength while avoiding the mistakes and errors that could cause more complicated issues.
Read the full report (Arabic)
مديرة الوحدة المجتعية في مركز الحوار السوري، بكالوريوس في الهندسة من جامعة دمشق، دبلوم في التخطيط العمراني وإعادة الإعمار المستدام، عملت في مجال الإعلام المكتوب والمسموع لعدة سنوات، نشرت العديد من الأوراق والتقارير البحثية في مواضيع سياسية واجتماعية، وخاصة ما يتعلق بأوضاع اللاجئين وقضايا المرأة
