World Refugee Day

The United Nations' (UN) World Refugee Day is observed on June 20 each year. This day is an international reminder to honor the courage, strength and determination of women, men and children who are forced to flee their homeland under threat of persecution, conflict and violence and cannot return to their homes without facing harm.

The terms "refugees", "migrants" and “asylum-seekers” are frequently used either interchangeably or in close association but there is a difference between them. An asylum-seeker is someone who leaves their country to go to a foreign country to seek international protection. If the asylum-seeker is successfully accepted by a foreign country that person then becomes a refugee.

Refugee status is a privilege only for those who are the most vulnerable and not for those that are able to live in their countries. For example, 13,003 Iranians applied for refugee status last year in 38 European countries and of those applicants 10,200 were rejected and returned to Iran. Many of those who were rejected were considered not to be under threat of death or persecution.

Another term sometimes heard is "economic migrant", a person who leaves their country or place of residence because they want to seek a better life. Often those who travel to foreign countries and are found to be economic migrants are sent back to their home country.

It has been sixty years since 147 governments expressed their solidarity with refugees by signing the 1951 Refugee Convention. However there are still countries that have not signed the convention. These governments are: Andorra, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Comoros, Cuba, East Timor, Eritrea, Grenada, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Burma, Nauru, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Qatar, St Lucia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga and some others.

Countries that have not signed the convention are often seen to mistreat refugees and asylum-seekers. For example, in places such as Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, Pakistan, and Singapore, there have been documented cases of mistreatment of asylum-seekers in detention centres and at times detainees suffering problems from dehydration, hunger, exposure to the elements, beatings, and what some would even call torture.

Malaysia is one of the countries that has not signed the convention and is a good example. Andrew Khoo, who is Chair of the Malaysian Human Rights Committee describes conditions inside Malaysian detention as, “Nothing short of hell”. He describes the facilities as overcrowded, leaving detainees with poor sanitation and a lack of access to basic health care. Caning is another big issue in Malaysia, Amnesty International claims at least 10,000 prisoners and 6,000 refugees are caned there each year.

At the same time, foreign governments that have signed the convention are making life more difficult for asylum-seekers and refugees. This is because too many economic migrants are arriving illegally to foreign countries and lying to the authorities that they are asylum-seekers when really they just want a job and a better life. When there are too many economic migrants arriving illegally, foreign governments often make it harder for everyone to get a visa, including refugees and asylum-seekers.

Economic migrants must apply legally for a different visa and not a refugee visa if they want to be successfully accepted by a foreign country. Asylum-seekers should also not go illegally to a foreign country if they want to become a refugee. Asylum-seekers can apply legally to become a refugee in a foreign country through a UNHCR office in the region.