[News] The irony of 'World Refugee Day': 'Celebrating', then blaming the victims

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeastmonitor.com
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230619-the-irony-of-world-refugee-day-celebrating-then-blaming-the-victims/>
The irony of 'World Refugee Day': 'Celebrating', then blaming the victims
Dr Ramzy Baroud - June 19, 2023
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[image: image.png]

Fadi, a Syrian teenager, with curly hair and an acne-covered face, has
miraculously survived one of the greatest migrant boat disasters in the
modern history of the Mediterranean.

Only 104 people have been rescued from a boat that carried an estimated 750
refugees after it capsized
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/16/timeline-how-the-refugee-boat-tragedy-unfolded-off-greece>
on 13 June in the open sea near the coastal town of Pylos.

Scores of lifeless bodies have been pulled out from the water, and many
more have washed ashore. Hundreds are still missing, feared dead, many of
whom are women and children, as they huddled on the lower deck of the
30-meter boat.

Fadi survived. A heart-rending photo
<https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12201781/The-Mediterranean-mass-graveyard-Greek-boat-tragedy-feared-one-deadliest.html>
shows the young Syrian sobbing as he met his older brother, Mohammed, who
rushed to the port of Kalamata, Greece, to see him. The two brothers could
not embrace, as Fadi was still trapped behind metal gates in a confinement
made for the survivors.

The latest boat disaster tells a much bigger story than the sympathetic
news headlines attempted to convey. It is a story of war, poverty,
inequality and despair.

The identity
<https://www.npr.org/2023/06/15/1182373326/dozens-are-dead-and-hundreds-feared-missing-from-migrant-ship-sinking-off-greece>
of those who died at sea gives us clues to the origins of the story. They
were Syrians, Palestinians, Afghans and more. These refugees were seeking
safety, coveting mere survival.

The sad irony is that the latest episode of this seemingly endless horror
took place exactly one week before the United Nations was set to 'celebrate'
World Refugee Day <https://www.un.org/en/observances/refugee-day>, held on
20 June of each year.

Most references to this day by the UN, UN-related organisations and
international charities around the world seem to emphasise empowerment
<https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/world-refugee-day-giving-displaced-ukrainians-voice>
and positivity
<https://www.fastretailing.com/eng/sustainability/news/2306151100.html#:~:text=2023%20represents%20the%20third%20edition,%22Hope%20away%20from%20home.%22>.
A statement by the UN Refugees Agency
<https://www.unhcr.org/world-refugee-day> (UNHCR) spoke of "honouring the
refugees around the globe" and referenced Refugee Day as one that
"celebrates the strength and courage" of refugees.

The contradictions of the discourses pertaining to the refugees should be
too obvious to miss. But we often do. Too many lavish dinners will be
catered in the name of the refugees in many Western capitals and embassies
around the world. Diplomats will demand action, and well-paid intellectuals
will enunciate the moral and ethical responsibilities of governments and
civil societies. Many will clap and numerous business cards will be
exchanged. But little will change.

Over 23,000 refugees have drowned
<https://www.statista.com/statistics/1082077/deaths-of-migrants-in-the-mediterranean-sea/>
or gone missing while trying to reach European shores between 2014 and
2022. The real number is expected to be much higher as there are no
official records of how many people embark on these deadly journeys in the
first place. "We have hundreds of records of bodies that are washed up to
Mediterranean shores when we don't know of any known shipwreck," Julia
Black of the International Organisation for Migration told
<https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12201781/The-Mediterranean-mass-graveyard-Greek-boat-tragedy-feared-one-deadliest.html>
the *BBC*'s *Today Program*.

The identity of the victims – Syrians, Palestinians, Afghans, Sudanese … –
should have been a major clue as to why people take such terrible risks,
only to reach European countries, where they endure great hardships,
including racial discrimination, just to survive.

Yet, we hardly confront the real culprits behind all of this: weapon
manufacturers and military interventionists, and political meddlers who
provoke and/or exacerbate conflicts. These individuals and governments see
the Middle East, Africa and the rest of the Global South as mere space for
geopolitical rivalries, cheap raw materials and human and economic
exploitation.

But, when the outcome of such dreadful policies results in the least
irritant to the socioeconomic fabrics of Western societies, desperate
refugees become villains, to be shunned, ignored, imprisoned and deported.

In reality, world refugees, estimated
<https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/insights/explainers/100-million-forcibly-displaced.html>
at over 100 million, are not 'celebrated', but mostly vilified. They are
seen as a burden, not an opportunity to confront and fix the underlying
problems, old and new, that led to their original displacement.

While visiting
<https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/news/press-statement-president-von-der-leyen-italian-prime-minister-meloni-dutch-prime-minister-rutte-and-2023-06-11_en>
Tunisia on 11 June, along with far-right Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia
Meloni, and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the President of the European
Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, was adamant about rebranding the tragedy
of refugees as something else entirely.

In their joint statement, the high-ranking European politicians vowed to
break "the cynical business model of smuggler(s)" because "it is horrible
to see how they (the smugglers) deliberately risk human lives for profit."
Considering that the arms industry is one of Europe's most thriving
business models, one cannot help but pause at the irony of such remarks.

No other collective experiences illustrate Western complicity as that of
the Palestinian people. Thousands of them have perished while escaping for
their lives from Israel's horrific wars and sieges. They were dying in
large numbers as soon as Zionist militants began the systematic ethnic
cleansing <https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jps.2006.36.1.6> of
Palestine in 1947-48.

Yet, after 75 years of such suffering and pain, western countries continue
to do everything in their power to support Israel and disempower – even
blame – Palestinians.

Indeed, those who are truly interested in commemorating World Refugee Day
ought to fully fathom the protracted Palestinian refugee experience to
truly understand where the problem actually lies.

On a recent trip to Turkiye, I met with many Palestinian refugees, mostly
from Gaza, whose families were also made refugees by Israel in 1948, and
again in 1967. These mostly young people are anxiously awaiting the
opportunity to cross the sea into Greece, then to other European countries
in search of work.

Mohammed B. told me that he had attempted 9 times to reach Greece. "The
last time I was caught. I was severely beaten and left for dead in a dark
forest," he said, "but I will try again."

Mohammed's uncle was killed by Israel during the First Intifada; several
members of his family died due to the lack of medicine in the besieged
Strip, and nearly 35 members of the family, mostly children, live in a
three-bedroom house that was bombed by Israel on two separate occasions.

Mohammed and millions like him are not the villains. They are the victims.

For World Refugee Day to matter, it must address the root causes of such
complex and ongoing problems. Only an honest and deep understanding can
serve as a starting point for a meaningful conversation and, hopefully,
meaningful actions.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not
necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.
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