Refugees - the Casualties of Conflict

Refugees - the Casualties of Conflict

Stes de Necker

Today the world is still criticizing Germany for what Hitler did to 6 million Jews, 70 years ago, but remain silent about all the Treblinka's, Dachau's, Buchenwald', Auschwitz's, Birkenau' and Ravensbruck's we see in the world today.

The total number of people forcibly displaced worldwide has reached 45.2m people, the highest level in almost 20 years, according to a report published today by the UN's High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

The annual 'Global Trends' report shows that as of the end of 2012, more than 45.2m people were forcibly displaced compared with 42.5m at the end of 2011

Around 35.8m persons were of concern to the UNHCR by end 2012, the second highest number on record, according to their latest report. The highest figure since 1993, when recording keeping began, was in 2009 with 36.5m persons of concern.

According to the UNHCR report, the conflict in Syria has forced 647,000 people to flee mainly to neighbouring countries. This was the largest annual exodus by a single refugee group since 1999, when more than 867,000 people fled Kosovo.

Afghanistan continues to be the main source country of refugees with 2.6m by the end of 2012. 

Whilst Pakistan is host to 1.6m refugees, the largest number worldwide, Iran has the second largest number of refugees with 868,200.

The UNHCR state that in the last year, 23,000 people per day were forced to leave their homes due to conflict and persecution. Developing countries host more than 80% of the world's refugees

In 700 refugee camps currently spread all over the world, the same tragedies that were prevalent in the camps of Germany and all other POW Camps worldwide, are playing itself out each and every day, while the world looks on. In most instances, ‘passive murder and elimination’ have replaced the active murders which took place in the German and other camps 70 years ago.

Most of these refugees’ lives disappeared before them in the blink of an eye.

War, violence or fear for their family’s safety force them to flee their homes.

And after finding shelter far from their families and loved ones, they were forced to become dependent on handouts of food; possibly have no clean drinking water and no access to health care.  

It is in such desolate and precarious conditions that millions of people around the world, including the inhabitants of Camp Liberty and Camp Ashraf, must survive every day.