The Global Scale of Refugee Movement Coursework Assignment (Coursework Sample)

15LLP209 - Diplomacy: Policy, Practice and Procedures 1:The Global Scale of Refugee MovementNameInstructorInstitution
Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u The Global dimensions about refugees PAGEREF _Toc440833302 \h 3The Geneva Convention PAGEREF _Toc440833303 \h 3The impact of ISIS on the refugee crisis PAGEREF _Toc440833304 \h 5Impact of refugees in European Nations PAGEREF _Toc440833305 \h 6Impact on diplomatic practice PAGEREF _Toc440833306 \h 7Crises management theories PAGEREF _Toc440833307 \h 9i.Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and adaptation of animals to their environment PAGEREF _Toc440833308 \h 9ii.Psychological theory regarding human fulfillment and growth PAGEREF _Toc440833309 \h 9iii.Developmental life cycle PAGEREF _Toc440833310 \h 10iv.Ability to deal with Trauma PAGEREF _Toc440833311 \h 10The EU-Turkey agreement PAGEREF _Toc440833312 \h 10The G20 Summit in Turkey PAGEREF _Toc440833313 \h 11REFERENCES PAGEREF _Toc440833314 \h 13
The Global dimensions about refugees
Migration, also known as large human mobility, including internally displaced persons and refugees was not on this scale and not to the west. The persistent human disasters, effects of climate change, and frequent armed conflicts have forced every government to pay a closer attention to mass exodus of individuals, whether voluntary or forced. This has led to the evolution of foreign diplomacy priorities and general diplomatic thinking that reflects the new reality of international foreign policy reality- we are living and experiencing an era of unprecedented human mobility.
There are millions of suffering people in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the North of Africa escaping war and hunger, waiting to find refuge in Europe (Zizek, 2015). However, many European nations have yet to decide on what action to take in response to the increasing pleas to open wide their borders for the refugees that desperately need aid. Many liberals have voiced their resentments on how the European nations have allowed thousands of refugees running for their lives to drown in the Mediterranean (Zizek, 2015). While the liberals are pleading with Europe to show solidarity with rest of the world by taking in refugees, the anti-immigrant populists have claimed that Europe should prioritize protecting its people’s way of life and let the Middle East and African solve their own problems (Zizek, 2015). Nonetheless, some countries have in the past opened their doors to refugees and there are others such as Canada and German among others that have accepted to share the burden of resettling refugees fleeing conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
The Geneva Convention
Article 1 of the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees is fundamental in understanding the refugee crisis and the next cause of action. The preamble (explained through the first and the second paragraph of Article 1), inter alia, is the source of object and purpose of a treaty (Robinson, 1953; Hathway, 1991). According to Robinson (1953) and Hathaway (1991) the preamble states that the internal community has a responsibility of upholding the principle that human beings are entitled to enjoying fundamental rights of freedoms and rights without prejudice. These rights and freedoms constitute those spelled out in the Universal Declaration of Human rights. In addition, it requires the United Nations to express a profound concern regarding the refugees and endeavor to protect, ensuring that they exercise their principle rights and freedoms.
The preamble (contains strong human rights language) provides the European Union and the world the basis of interpreting the provisions of the 1951 Convention (Robinson, 1953; Hathway, 1991). The international community owes refugees international protection, as directed by 1951 Vienna Convention relating to the status of refugees, because their fundamental human rights and freedoms are under immense threat. Article 33 of the Convention guarantees non-refoulement; inter alia (Robinson, 1953; Hathway, 1991). Therefore, the United Nations, European Union, and the G20 should unite the world to protect refugees against refoulement to a territory where their freedom and life would be only threatened on a Conventional ground (political opinion, race, and religion). The exercise of refugee status identification should be guided by an objective of protecting refugees and guaranteeing them rights provisioned in the 1951 convention.
The impact of ISIS on the refugee crisis
The long-term, protracted civil war in Syria prompted many war victims to flee for their lives into Turkey and Europe. The al-Assad regime received support from Russia, Lebanese Hezbollah, and Iran to retain control of Syria’s major cities in western Syria but it lost the rest to the divided opposition- keeps fighting against each other than fighting the al-Assad regime (Juneau, 2015). The conflicts within the opposition led to the emergence and transformation of the Islamic State (IS) that broke away from Al-Qaeda in 2013 (Juneau, 2015). IS managed to control larger swarths of territory in western Iraq and eastern Syria and recruited over thirty thousand fighters (Juneau, 2015).
The emergency and dominance of IS in the western Iraq and eastern Syria territories intensified the civil war in Syria and Iraq. Crowcroft (2015) claimed that in the fall of 2015, IS had displaced over three millions Iraqis with other millions of people fleeing Syria for Turkey, the Gulf, and Lebanon. Others risked perilous journeys to enter Europe through the Mediterranean, Egypt, and Libya. Consequently, asylum applications to wealthy countries hit their highest levels, with 866,000 applications put forth, representing 45% increase on 2013 (Crowcroft, 2015). Although some of the refugees put their fate in the hands of people smugglers, millions flocked in the Kurdish region of Iraq, adding to one fifth of Iraqi Kurdistan’s population (Crowcroft, 2015).
Impact of refugees in European Nations
The influx of refugees into Europe has forced some European nations to welcome some of them despite the alleged state security problems associated with refugees from ISIS-dominated countries like Syria and Iraq. According to President Obama, each nation should be willing to share the burden of resettling refugees after subjecting them to serious security checks (The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, 2015). He argued that, “countries like Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan cannot be expected to do so alone.” He claimed that although countries need to prioritize the security of their people, they should not close their borders to refugees because a vast majority of refugees seeking asylum are victims of terrorism. He asserted that nations can welcome refugees that are desperately seeking protection and still ensure the safety of their people.
Welcoming refugees pouring into European borders has affected the European nations because some countries are spending a lot of money in helping refugees in and out of the EU. Boulden (2015) stated that the EU has already committed nine-and-half billion Euros (approximately ten billion U. S. dollars) to helping member states that welcome refugees. In addition, it has offered 3 billion Euros (3.3 billion U.S. dollars) to the Turkish government to prevent refugees from leaving Turkey for Europe. Canada has been in the fore-front providing aid to the United Nations refugee agency (Boulden, 2015). It also vowed to take 25,000 refugees by the end of last year.
In the spirit of solidarity with the desperate people seeking aid, German pledged to accept eight hundred thousand refugees within twelve months (Totaro, 2015). Later, the German vice-chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, acknowledged that German was going accept over one million refugees because more were coming in. Like most of the EU states that accepted refugees, Angela Merkel- the German chancellor- stated that the capacity of her nation to absorb more refugees was limited (Totaro, 2015). Accepting refugees is associated with spending tax payers’ money in giving them housing, medical, and living resources, while they settle and find work (Totaro, 2015). In addition, accepting large numbers of refugees can be perceived as a major addition of healthy, young migrant workers who will adversely affect the German labor force. As a result, there is likely to be a massive mandatory cut of philanthropic pensions and welfare benefits, and potential rise in the retirement age (Totaro, 2015).
The refugee crisis across Europe’s border strains the already problem-stricken North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that is only in its preliminary stages of grappling with security risks from the south (Lesser, 2015). NATO and the U.S. are barely managing the vast human security problem left by the collapse of regimes and evolution of chaotic conditions that are a conduit to the transformation of the Islamic State group (ISIS). Therefore, this instability could exhibit the strategic environment on Europe’s periphery for quit some time. In this case, the United States’ engagements and interest in the Middle East, South Asia, and North America may be seen increasing via Europe’s stability lens.
Impact on diplomatic practice
The soaring numbers of refugees fleeing Syria marks the culmination of over four years of conflicts, characterized by President Bashar Assad’s brutal rule and fight against the Syrian people. Ensuring Syria is safe and diplomatic will potentially reduce the number of Syrians fleeing their homes. President Obama asserted that striving for a political solution is the best way to resolve the conflicts in Syria and unite Syrians and the world against ISIL (The White House, 2015). However, putting an end to Assad’s brutal rule against the Syrians seems to be the prerequisite to this strategy. The brutal rule can h...