JRS Dispatches No. 313

In response, JRS Great Lakes redoubled its commitment in the conflict-ridden region, prioritising the protection and accompaniment of thousands of men, women and children in the most vulnerable circumstances.

Projects were strengthened in the six official UN camps, and three unofficial camps around Masisi town where humanitarian assistance is at a bare minimum. Teams also established new projects in five camps in nearby Mweso, involving local people from the surrounding villages to avoid fuelling tension between displaced and local communities.

The pillars of JRS work

Formal and informal education and assistance to people in the most vulnerable circumstances continued to form the three pillars of work carried out by JRS field staff.

In close cooperation with local communities, JRS built four secondary schools in Masisi town and two in Mweso, guaranteeing access to education for more than 1,500 students. More than 200 teachers received training in core curriculum subjects and pedagogic techniques, and 60 schools where provided with teaching materials.

JRS informal education services are designed to encourage IDPs not to lose faith in their own abilities through the provision of training and support to set up income-generating activities. More than 90 girls and 15 boys completed literacy and dressmaking courses. Graduates received 20 US dollars towards the cost of a sewing machine and started their own small businesses.

Approximately 380 women took part in vocational education courses in literacy and bag-making in Masisi town, after which the bags were sold to JRS for the pupils in the schools. At the end of 2011 these activities were extended to Mweso.

Last year, JRS also established counselling services and began activities to raise awareness of the rights of the victims of sexual- and gender-based violence (SGBV), an evil for which DRC is sadly considered the world capital. Protection for victims and steps to reduce impunity levels are priority issues for JRS in 2012.

"We continue to accompany these people day after day, spending time with them in the camps. We’re aware that our work represents a mere drop in the ocean, in view of the vastness of the suffering which reigns in this part of the world, but we are very determined to restore a minimum of dignity and hope for the future", added Mr Giannese.

In May 2009 a boat carrying approximately 200 forced migrants was pushed back by the Italian authorities to Libya. The migrants were never given an opportunity to lodge a claim for protection. Instead, they were handed over to the Libyan authorities under dictator Ghaddafi, placing them in in danger of being forcibly returned to their countries of origin, i.e. of persecution.

On 25 February last, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg published their judgment in the Hirsi Jamaa And Others vs Italy case. The Court unanimously held that several human rights of the applicants had been violated, including the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment and the right to judicial remedies.

Border controls and migration management, the JRS statement continued, remain legitimate but should never violate the rights of asylum seekers and refugees.

“We are profoundly satisfied by the recognition of the illegality of this practice – unanimously condemned by Italian and European NGOs – which has already cost the lives of far too many people”, said JRS Italy Director Giovanni La Manna SJ.

“We hope this sentence will definitively put an end to border management policies which systematically trample the right to asylum and encourage the Italian government to begin taking its responsibilities towards refugees seriously, including those to be stipulated in the new agreements with Libya.

Moreover, JRS Europe hopes the EU and its member states draw the appropriate conclusions.

“If asylum seekers are intercepted at the European borders they must have a chance to lodge a claim for protection and to challenge any negative decision. Simply closing the borders against these human beings would violate the values and standards upon which the EU is built”, said JRS Senior Advocacy Officer Stefan Kessler.

“All border control operations, be it on the Mediterranean Sea under the aegis of the EU border agency FRONTEX, or the erection of the infamous fence at the border between Greece and Turkey, must contain effective safeguards for the rights of forced migrants seeking protection”, Mr Kessler concluded.

Both social networking and multimedia were presented as tools to promote the voices of refugees and forcibly displaced persons, share their stories and quickly inform the public in the event of a crisis or new positive development.

One important objective of the meeting was to work toward the creation of web pages for all regions. The websites are tools for sharing information and multimedia about JRS projects in the field, as well as spiritual reflections, news related to refugee issues and JRS work around the globe. By clicking on the following links, you can view the websites of JRS Asia Pacific, JRS Eastern Africa, JRS Europe, JRS Latin America and JRS USA.

Now we have nothing at all and, what's more, our lives are still in danger", said Mr Mateene, head of Kishondja unofficial camp in Masisi, eastern DRC.

Although the war officially ended 10 years ago, peace and stability are nothing but an illusion for the population of the eastern regions. The camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) are overcrowded and living conditions are at best precarious. Most camp residents are still vulnerable to random attacks, and must get by without assistance.

Kishondja camp is home to more than a 1,000 IDPs and Emmanuel's story is similar to that of more than half a million others forced to flee their villages due to atrocities carried out by armed rebel groups active in North Kivu and violent clashes between the rebels and regular DRC armed forces. Personal privacy is impossible due to close confinement. People live in cramped mud huts, and the rudimentary sanitary facilities are frequently the cause of devastating diseases, especially for the young.

North Kivu is home more than 30 official IDP camps, hosting approximately 80,000 people. But there are many more unofficial camps where living conditions are even more difficult. For instance, in the camp where Emmanuel lives, IDPs did not receive plastic sheeting from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to protect them from the violent tropical storms, nor do they receive food regularly from the World Food Programme.

Despite having left their villages because of the insecurity, IDPs continue to live in danger.

"People are constantly attacked in the forests just outside the camp and the security forces do nothing to protect them. Not to mention our women who, every day, are victims of rape when they leave the camp to search for food and firewood", explained Emmanuel.

Kindling optimism in the camps

JRS teams know well that most IDPs dream of returning home and enjoying the kind of peaceful and existence lives Emmanuel led before the war. They also know that with the instability in the region this is not going to happen overnight.

In the interim, all they can do is reinforce their support in the 14 official and unofficial camps around Masisi and Mweso towns where JRS provides emergency assistance, and informal and formal education services.

It is not just about offering quality services, but about accompanying individuals and families through the most traumatic moments in their lives, helping them feel less alone and courage in their hearts. Although this work is a mere drop in the ocean of suffering in North Kivu, teams hope the JRS style of proximity to IDPs will in some way rekindle their desire to live and hope that the future will not abandon them.

Johannesburg, 10 February 2012 – In most of our minds the word refugee conjures up images of rows upon rows of tents or mud shelters stretching out to a dusty horizon. This tent city image further lends itself to a sense of temporariness and the associated idea that these people are awaiting rescue in the form of rapid resettlement to a western country or perhaps return to their homeland.

In the last ten years however the world of the refugee has rapidly shifted. The refugee camp is now the exception rather than the rule: 58 per cent of all refugees reside in urban areas, mostly in the rapidly growing slums of the cities in the global south.

Johannesburg hosts an estimated 450,000 people in refugee or refugee like situations. This is the largest concentration of refugees anywhere. Damascus, Cairo, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Amman, Bangkok and many others also host large forced migrant populations.

The significance of this shift

It must be said that life in a refugee camp is never rosy, and the duration of stays in camps has been steadily increasing, Camps can be a hotbed of illness, violence and boredom. Most inhabitants adopt coping mechanisms for these long stays that vary from the clever to the criminal.

The crucial factor is that, without a firm plan for onward movement, camps essentially trade the right to safety with a whole host of other human rights — to movement, to gainful employment, to education and so on. Without an 'exit plan' there is little to live for.

Nonetheless camps do generally provide basic food and shelter and a semblance of safety. For the urban refugee there is no such security.

In some cities the UNHCR or a local NGO provides money for shelter and food for three months only. In that time, the urban refugee is expected to: register with the authorities and begin processing their refugee case; gain a working knowledge of a new language; train themselves so they can find sustainable employment; and locate new accommodation, while at the same time keeping their documentation in order, their family fed, children in schools, sick people looked after and so on.

All this while negotiating a complex social transition into an often-hostile local population in an urban area characterised by high crime rates and crumbling infrastructure.

Little wonder that many become prey to criminal activity. Young women are forced into transactional sex to help pay the rent, men are forced to pay bribes to prevent their hard won hawkers permits being torn up by local police. Many work illegally in informal jobs prone to all kinds of exploitation.

The fact that some of these people do make a transition of sorts says much about the capacities within many refugee populations. In Johannesburg 75 per cent of the forced migrant population is economically active, 35 per cent to a degree that they are able to send remittances to relative back home; 83 per cent of Somalis and around 63 per cent Congolese speak English.

Surely this is a good news story. It indicates a new manner in which those considering assisting such populations must operate. Clearly the old camp provision-of-service mentality is neither applicable nor affordable. With leadership, imagination and in a spirit of cooperation the capacities within these populations must be brought to bear.

Yet governments, perhaps fearful of the long-term impact of local integration of large groups of immigrants on local employment, increasingly restrict refugees' rights.

In South Africa, the education system has in recent times relied heavily on skilled Zimbabwean teachers. This can be seen as a problem, or a short-term solution to an identified skills gap. What is to stop Zimbabweans being employed in training roles to capacitate further the teaching population?

Regrettably there is now talk of eliminating the asylum seekers' right to work, a short-term measure which will end up costing the South African community more in the long term as it tries to cope with the humanitarian crisis that is likely to result.

It is true refugee movements can be unpredictable, making it difficult to frame policy. But more recognition could be given to the skills base of refugee populations and their capacity to adapt to new situations quickly. In such cases governments have a clear task to educate the local population of the overall benefits that can accrue as, at the end of the day, everyone stands to benefit.

There is a need for leadership. Let us not be misled: forced migrants' anonymity in the cities of the global south must not be construed as a reason for the international community — particularly its wealthier members — to abrogate further its responsibilities. But new ways to do this must be found.

The first step is for people to come together to enable the story of the urban refugee to break the chains of anonymity and become widely heard.

The second is for refugee community groups, local organisations and international players to learn to work together, each bringing their unique set of capacities to the table.