The article I found for this week, entitled Rot or Die: Iraqi refugees in Lebanon tells a tragic story of Iraqi immigrants that are considered illegal in Lebanon because the country does not adhere to international refugee laws and are thus imprisoned. This situation has layers of immigrant abuse, denial of international aid required for asylum seekers, unlawful imprisonment and general disrespect for these immigrants' rights as human beings. This precarious situation is summed up: "by first arresting and detaining Iraqi asylum seekers who do not have valid visas, and then giving those in detention a “choice” between returning to Iraq or indefinite detention, Lebanon in practice commits refoulement—and thereby violates international law."
The questions that arise in this situation, especially as the US is withdrawing from Iraq in the next few years is, who will take care of these people? Who is responsible for these immigrants and refugees? Is it neighboring countries, the international community, the US itself? These are questions that need to be addressed and quickly especially in light of these immigrants escaping one human rights abuse and falling victim to another.
ok it's Iraq but it's interesting
-
Here is a link to a blog put up by Morgan on a different Blog. There are a
number of entries that tie more to your topic than theirs. Enjoy.
15 years ago
Posts
I think that this is a very important subject to be discussed. From what we read in the Gregory book, it is clear that the UN is often unable to serve its purpose in cases like this-- which would have been preventing the refugee situation in the first place. It will definitely be interesting to see who takes (or is given) responsibility for the care of the refugees. In my personal opinion, the US should obviously be a main party. Something telling for the future of the UN will be the extent to which it is involved, and how much leadership it is allowed.
ReplyDeleteI found this story to be sinteresting and surprisngly alarming. It reminded me of another refugee problem in the middle east, the Palestinians. With both refugee problems numbering into the 100,00s its sad to see what is happening to these people. It is easy to start ubderstanding the type of disdain many arabs feel towards western powers in light of policies that have been put in place in many arab countries.
ReplyDeleteI would say that the U.S. has a direct responsibility to Iraqi refugees, and there are a few different ways of fulfilling our responsibility to protect them. One is to improve conditions within Iraq so that fewer people leave and those who have left feel safe in returning. Considering the refugee crisis involves millions of Iraqis, other forms of (externalized) support are essential. Diplomatic pressure from the U.S. may help change the situation in Lebanon, and financial/humanitarian aid could help refugees in other parts of the world. Of course, the U.S. can also give asylum to refugees within its own borders as well.
ReplyDelete