What Does Returning Home Mean for Refugees?
More than two thirds of all refugees worldwide come from five countries, and if sent back, could face a continued threat of insecurity, persecution and economic hardship. Earlier this year, the Danish government stripped 94 Syrian refugees of their residence permits after declaring parts of Syria safe enough to return to. This is not an isolated case. In just 2020, more than one million Afghan migrants were deported to Afghanistan from neighbouring Pakistan and Iran. And in a report released in April, Human Rights Watch said Burundian refugees, who fled following deadly clashes in the 2015 presidential election, have been subjected to enforced disappearances and tortue by Tanzanian police, forcing them to sign up for voluntary return.. It has become common practice to repatriate refugees involuntarily whether they are ready or not, which rights groups say is a direct violation of international human rights law. We've teamed up with lexicographer & #refugee supporter @susie_dent to pay homage to the myriad people, stories & experiences that make up the word "refugee." Submit your definition https://t.co/ucbRk0n8lT #ARefugeeIs pic.twitter.com/7ogUvaud57  UK for UNHCR (@UNRefugeesUK) June 11, 2021  It stipulates that no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm. It also says no refugee should be forced to go back and should be able to make a free and informed choice to return. And in the case of repatriation, it must be done in a safe and dignified manner. In the first half of 2020, about 102,600 refugees have been repatriated to their country of origin, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). After being forced to leave by host countries where they were hoping to find safety, migrants and refugees face an agonising future of violence, persecution, and economic hardship posing a continuous threat in their country of origin. And when refugees do return, they are often traumatised, isolated and unlikely to find employment or access to healthcare and basic necessities. The following is a breakdown of the security climate in the five countries where 67 percent of refugees originate from globally. Syria  The Syrian war began after a violent government crackdown on public demonstrations in 2011, which were taken out in support of six teenagers who were arrested after they scribbled graffiti in opposition to the Bashar al Assad regime. An armed insurgency soon followed by a number of moderate opposition groups, chiefly the Free Syrian Army which captured swathes of territory across the country. By 2014 the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), aka Daesh, was on the rise in Syria and had begun to seize control of large parts of the country, at one point controlling around one-third of the country.