Example - Refugees and Asylum Seekers Essay

(Original by MT, 2020)

Remember, this is a SECTIONAL essay and needs the sectional template

At least 79.5 million people around the world have been displaced from their home: among them, about 26 million people are refugees, and around half of those are under the age of 18 (“Figures at a glance,” 2020, June 18). One of the countries from which large numbers of refugees come is Yemen, which is experiencing ongoing conflict. This topics is important because Japan does not accept many refugees, and maybe understanding why refugees have left their homes and the issues they face might change this. Therefore this essay first gives some background on the situation in Yemen, then looks at the three problems faced by refugees, and finally outlines some possible solutions.

Background

This section describes the background to the current situation in Yemen, which has caused many people to flee and become internally displaced, refugees, and asylum seekers. There are three stages of the current crisis - the Yemen conflict, other countries’ intervention, and aerial bombing from Saudi Arabia. The first stage is the Yemen conflict. In the 1970s, people who lived in the north Yemen resisted the Ali Abdullah Saleh government to deprive them of a right of governance (Yoshinaga, 2019, September 13). The Houthi movement (known formally as Ansar Allah), which is Shia Muslim minority, attacked the capital city, Sanaa, and the Saleh government escaped from it to Saudi Arabia (“Yemen crisis: Why is there a war?” 2020, June 19). Since that time, the Yemen war has continued between the Saleh government and the Houthi movement (“Yemen profile - timeline,” 2019, November 6).

The second stage is other countries’ intervention. In 2015, Saudi Arabia formed a coalition of states with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and started intervention in the Yemen conflict on the side of the Yemeni government (“Yemen war: No end in sight,” 2020, March 24). While United States supplied some weapons to these regions while, on the other side, Islamic Republic of Iran supported the Houthi movement with drone technology (“Yemen war: No end in sight,” 2020, March 24). These inventions caused an expansion of the Yemen conflict and an increase in refugees leaving the area (“Yemen war: No end in sight,” 2020, March 24). The third stage was aerial bombing from Saudi Arabia. In March 2015, Saudi Arabia started aerial bombing inside Yemen (“Yemen nanmin ga 380 mannin,” 2019, December 30). Because of this, more than 14 million people have faced severe food shortage, and also 18 million people have experienced acute malnutrition (Nonaka, 2016). Therefore, many escaped from Yemen to Markazi refugee camp in Djibouti which had welcomed 4,474 refugees from Yemen by 2016 (Nonaka, 2016). The next section focuses on three problems facing refugees who flee to other countries, using the example of Djibouti.

Problems faced by refugees in Djibouti

This section describes the kinds of problems faced by refugees in Markazi refugee camp, Djibouti. There are three main problems facing these refugees - lack of education, lack of food, and disease. The first problem is lack of education. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), only 31 percent of 13,000 school age children (5-17 years) can access enough education in Djibouti (“Djibouti,” 2019). This is because the supply of educational equipment does not reach demand due to the large number of refugees (“Djibouti,” 2019).

The second problem is lack of food. Around 74 percent of the refugee population lives on less than $3 per day in Djibouti, so they cannot buy enough food and get adequate nutrition everyday (Krishnan, 2017, July 27). In fact, 5,963 refugee children in the country are suffering from severe acute malnutrition (Krishnan, 2017, July 27). The third problem is disease. Increasing numbers of refugees from Yemen cause shortage of sufficient medical support, so they cannot all be treated (“Djibouti inter-agency update,” 2016, December). For example, UNHCR showed that 104 out of 2,209 people had chronic illnesses at the Markazi camp over the past three months (“Djibouti,” 2017, October). In summary there are three problems - lack of education, lack of food, and disease - of which the most serious is lack of food. The next section looks at some possible solutions for these problems.

Solutions to problems faced by refugees in Djibouti

This section describes three organisations working to address the issues outlined above - the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the World Food Program (WFP), and Africa Humanitarian Action (AHA). The first solution is LWF. They are assisting refugee’s daily life by providing supplies to the Markazi camp to help with educational shortages (“Djibouti: Help for refugees,” 2015, July 20). In fact, according to UNHCR, they provided 11 teacher tables and chairs, 103 desks for the pupils, 13 cupboards, 11 blackboards, 1,356 textbooks for children, and many pencils (“Djibouti inter-agency update,” 2017, January-February).

The second solution is the WFP, which provides food regularly in Markazi camps (“Djibouti,” 2017, October). In fact, they provide 9 kg of wheat flour, 1 kg of pulses per person, 1 litre of cooking oil, 0.5 kg of sugar and 0.15 kg of salt once a month (“Djibouti,” 2017, October). Also, in 2017, they distributed dry rations there, and 1,340 individuals (397 families) benefitted from this distribution (“Djibouti inter-agency update,” 2017, January-February).

The third solution is AHA, which is an Africa-based NGO (“About us / who we are,” n.d.). They ran three 24 hour clinics and treated 1,270 refugees there in Markazi camp (“Djibouti inter-agency update,” 2016, December). In addition, they conducted house-to-house visits to chronic patients to follow up on their needs (“Djibouti inter-agency update,” 2016, December). In summary there are three solutions - LWF, WFP, and AHA - of which the most effective is AHA.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this essay first looked at the reasons why Yemen is producing refugees, then saw how there are limited solutions to the issues in Markazi camp where those refugees initially arrive. Because of the intense Yemen conflict, Yemen people are forced to leave their country and live in a refugee camp in Djibouti, but their quality of life is really low (Nonaka, 2016). Although many organizations try to assist them, it is not enough, and more and more refugees are coming from Yemen still now (Nonaka, 2016). As such, people who want to help should do two things: in order to help refugees in Djibouti, they should donate to UNHCR (https://www.japanforunhcr.org/lp/children). At the same time, in order to improve conditions for refugees there, especially their health, they should donate to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) (https://www.msf.or.jp/landing/drtv/).

(1075 words)

##References About us / who we are. (n.d.). Africa Humanitarian. Retrieved November 23, 2020, from https://africahumanitarian.org/previous_countries/djibouti/

Djibouti. (2017, October). UNHCR. https://reporting.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/UNHCR%20Djibouti%20Fact%20Sheet%20-%20October%202017%20%5BENG%5D_0.pdf

Djibouti. (2019). UNHCR. https://reporting.unhcr.org/djibouti

Djibouti: Help for refugees from Yemen. (2015, July 20). Lutheran World. https://www.lutheranworld.org/news/djibouti-help-refugees-yemen

Djibouti inter-agency update for the response to the Yemen situation #50. (2016, December). UNHCR. https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/588759a34.pdf

Djibouti inter-agency update for the response to the Yemen situation #51. (2017, January-February). UNHCR. https://www.refworld.org/pdfid/58c7fc1a4.pdf

Figures at a glance. (2020, June 18). UNHCR. https://www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html

Krishnan, S. (2017, July 27). 10 important facts about refugees in Djibouti. Borgen Project. https://borgenproject.org/refugees-in-djibouti/

Nonaka, A. (2016). Senka wo nogarete – Yemen nanmin kyanpu no genba kara [Avoiding the war – from the view of refugees camp in Yemen]. Ajiken World Trend, 248, 15-1.

Yemen crisis: Why is there a war? (2020, June 19). BBC News Online. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29319423

Yemen nanmin ga 380 mannin ijyou ni [The number of Yemen refugees is more than 3,800,000]. (2019, December 30). Pars Today. https://parstoday.com/ja/news/middle_east-i57851

Yemen profile - timeline. (2019, November 6). BBC News Online. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14704951

Yemen war: No end in sight. (2020, March 24). Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/09/yemen-the-forgotten-war/

Yoshinaga, T. (2019, September 13). Kaisetsu: “Wasurerareta naisen” no yukue [Interpretation: Where is “the forgotten war”]. NHK. https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/new-middle-east/forgotten-civilwar/