Browse by Theme: Refugees

I met several Syrians in Jordan and Turkey during a recent visit (mid-January). All of them said they just wanted the war and the violence to stop so they could go home. Some were more hopeful than others that this would happen soon. But that’s what they all wanted.

So, what if we try to be a bit optimistic. Are we ready to respond if we get what we’re asking for?

Ahead of the Syria conference in London in early February, donors and governments in the region are working closely to agree a new plan for responding to the refugee crisis in the region. The private sector will be critical to its success.

Last Thursday 22nd October, over sixty people from diverse backgrounds joined a panel debate at CARE International’s 70th anniversary exhibition in London to discuss lessons learned from the humanitarian and wider response to the global refugee crisis.

Tonight, CARE International hosts an event in London to discuss the global refugee crisis with representatives from DFID, UNHCR, the British Refugee Council, MSF and the Syrian Legal Development Programme, a local organisation working on the protection of civilians and adherence to international humanitarian law inside Syria. How the UK and others should respond to the refugee crisis is hotly debated amongst politicians, the media and general public. Here are four ideas for tonight’s debate.

CARE will be holding a panel discussion on 22 October to explore what we can learn from the current crisis to inform a new global deal for refugees.

While 3.9 million people have fled Syria, EU heads of state meeting in Brussels – with migration at the top of the agenda – are focusing more on containment and return, than on providing safe and legal options for asylum. The unprecedented global refugee crisis needs a new approach and Europe’s response falls far short.

Over the past 20 years much has been done to ensure that responses to sexual violence in emergencies are put in place. Years of advocacy, lobbying and implementation on a shoe-string have ensured that gender-based and sexual violence is at least being talked about in the right places and at the right level (such as last year’s Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, led by William Hague and Angelina Jolie). But are we turning a blind eye to one of the biggest, and most silent, human rights violations of our time?