10 Facts on Refugees
I thought for this post I would just reflect on some of the facts about refugees. Throughout my research I have come across so much information about refugees and would just like to share the 10 facts that hit home for me.
1. There were 21.3 million Refugees world wide in 2015 - which is just shy of the population of Australia. 4.9 million of these come from Syria (Refugee Council of Australia 2016)
2. 65.3 Million people were displaced at the end of 2015 (UNHCR 2016)- that is the equivalent of Australia's population times by about 3.
3. Children made up 51% of the refugees in 2015 (Refugee Council of Australia 2016)
4. "4.8 million Syrians are refugees, and 6.5 million are displaced within Syria; half of those affected are children"
5. "many refugee children have to work to support their families. Often they labor in dangerous or demeaning circumstances for little pay".
6. "Between 2 million and 3 million Syrian children are not attending school"
7. 24 people were forced to flee their home countries each minute in 2015 (UNHCR 2016)
8. The highest refugee concentrations are in some of the poorest countries with 80% of the world’s refugees hosted in developing countries. This often has negatives impacts with the citizens of the country- competing for scarce sources such as land, hospitals, housing, food and water (UNHCR 1997) (Do Something (n.d.) .
9. There are a variety of high risk medical issues and conditions that refugees may face with the highest being abuse and domestic violence, anxiety and adjustment disorder, depression, diabetes, torture and PTSD, intestinal parasites, and dental caries. Language barriers do not help when it comes to treatment as it may mean delays in diagnostics and care (caresearch 2016).
10. In 2011 895,000 individual applications for refugee or asylum status were submitted to governments and UNHCR - ONLY 11% WERE FULFILLED (Do Something (n.d.).
Most people have been forced to flee because of conflict in their country. Imagine seeing you house and surrounding community blown up or destroyed, imagine having to leave your life behind in order to be safe. Imagine being unsure about everything. Imagine seeing loved ones die, this is the reality for a lot of refugees, especially those in Syria.
