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	They all had a name by Jan Egeland UNHCR, Norwegian Refugee Council   September 2016   A year later, the photo of Aylan Kurdi has faded in our minds: Where is sympathy and outrage today – when children continue to die in the Mediterranean, or in a war where there is no escape?   "Let this be the last," said a heartbroken Abdullah Kurdi, after losing his wife and two children in a shipwreck off the Turkish coast one year ago. The family''s perilous journey in search of protection from the brutal war in Syria ended in tragedy.   On the morning of Sept. 2, 2015, the ones Abdullah Kurdi loved the most were taken away from him. Soon, the iconic image of his son, Aylan Kurdi, lying drowned at a beach in Bodrum, Turkey, went viral. A wave of sympathy with the world''s refugees washed over Europe. It was every parents, every family''s nightmare: "What if this was our child?"   After his death, the young boy touched our hearts. Politicians became emotional. The British Prime Minister David Cameron promised that the UK would fulfil its moral responsibilities. His Italian colleague Matteo Renzi asked Europe for action in support of the refugees to accompany the sorrow so widely expressed. And the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls tweeted a photo of Aylan – with the following text in French: "He had a name: Aylan Kurdi. Urgent action needed. Urgent mobilization needed."   In Germany, the European country receiving the second largest number of refugees last year following Turkey, Chancellor Angela Merkel came with strong appeals for European solidarity: "If Europe fails on this question of refugees, its close association with the universal rights of citizens will be destroyed," she argued.   A year later, the photo of Aylan Kurdi has faded in our minds. The same waves that surround our Mediterranean holiday destinations have continued to become a graveyard for an increasing number of children. Aylan did not become the last. The haemorrhage of human lives on the doorstep to our continent has got worse. More than 4,100 people have drowned on their way to Europe since the tragic death of Aylan Kurdi.   The values, our sympathy and the humanity that we so wholeheartedly expressed last year have lost ground to a strong xenophobic wind across Europe. Walls are being built and controversial deals have been made to make it ever harder for refugees to find a safe heaven on our continent. Is this what we call "fulfilling our moral responsibilities"? Is this "European civilisation"?   Fewer refugees are able to come to Europe, in spite of a dramatic increase in people forced to flee globally. While we have been able to increase emergency relief for some places where civilians are under attack, we have failed to tackle the root causes: The brutal wars in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq have all escalated over the last year, and the catastrophic situation for refugees in neighbouring countries has not improved.   It is an ancient sign of civilization and values that the persecuted have the right to seek protection in safe heavens elsewhere. By closing our own borders to and in Europe, we are making it increasingly difficult to convince the neighbours of bad wars, like Kenya, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, to keep their borders open.   Recently, the World Food Program had to use cranes in a desperate attempt to lift food aid across the closed border between Syria and Jordan. Some 75,000 people in need are stranded on the other side, hoping for an opportunity to escape the war. Other civilians are not even trying to flee: they know they have nowhere to go.   The wave of solidarity with refugees caused by the photos of Aylan Kurdi last September was inspiring to humanitarian workers like myself. Children sold their toys for Syria or gave them to young asylum seekers at reception centres across Europe. Youth defended the rights of asylum seekers in heated social media discussions. Many made donations, others gave of their time. It was beyond anything we at the Norwegian Refugee Council have ever witnessed before.   Where is that sympathy and outrage today – when young children continue to die in the Mediterranean, or in a brutal war where there now is no escape?   "My Aylan died for nothing. Little has changed," said Aylan Kurdi''s father in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica this spring.   I hope he is wrong. There is so much we can still do to avoid more tragedies: more safe routes for refugees to seek protection in Europe, family reunification and resettlement places, strengthened rescue capacity, more support to countries hosting large number of refugees and intensified work for political solutions. We can still prove there is a European civilization that does not stand idly by watching children drown in our ocean or leave them trapped in war. Just like young Aylan Kurdi, they all have a name.   http://www.nrc.no/   6 September 2016   Konstantinos Mitragas on behalf of the Hellenic Rescue Team (HRT) and Efi Latsoudi, the human rights activist behind “PIKPA village” on the Greek island of Lesvos, are joint winners of UNHCR’s Nansen Refugee Award 2016.   The award recognizes their tireless voluntary efforts to aid refugees arriving in Greece during 2015, and reflects the spirit of volunteerism across Europe at the height of the refugee and migrant emergency.   Since 2007, Greece has been challenged by the arrival of a large number of refugees and migrants, but in 2015 sea arrivals escalated to an emergency. On the island of Lesvos alone, numbers topped 500,000 last year. In October 2015, arrivals peaked at more than 10,000 per day, as conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq continued to uproot people from their homes.   Other Greek islands, including Chios, Samos, Leros and Kos also hosted refugees as thousands more risked the freezing waters, fake lifejackets and surging storms in order to find safety.   For many refugees, the heroic humanitarian efforts of Greek volunteers in 2015 went well beyond pulling survivors from the seas, they helped them to take the first steps towards a normal life.   During 2015 the HRT conducted round-the-clock operations to save refugees and migrants in distress at sea and Latsoudi showed compassion and care for the most vulnerable refugees arriving on the island of Lesvos through her work at PIKPA village.   UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi paid tribute to the efforts of the winner of the global humanitarian award. “Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing conflict and persecution last year made the desperate bid to reach Europe in search of safety, many risking their lives in unseaworthy boats and dinghies, in a journey which all too often proved insurmountable,” he said.   “Both the Hellenic Rescue Team and Efi Latsoudi refused to stand by as they witnessed the dramatic humanitarian situation unfolding on their shores, and are fully deserving of the Nansen Refugee Award. Their efforts characterize the massive public response to the refugee and migrant emergency in Greece and across Europe, in which thousands of people stood in solidarity with those forced to flee, and the humanity and generosity of communities around the world who open their hearts and homes to refugees.”   http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/nansen-refugee-award.html http://www.unhcr.org/news.html   Sep 2016   Refugee crises are, in large part, a symptom of the failure to protect and assist IDPs in their own country, writes Alexandra Bilak.   Media attention focuses almost exclusively on refugees, yet they make up only a third of the 60 million people often cited as having been driven from their homes by conflict and violence.   The world is witnessing internal displacement on a scale not seen since World War Two. Nearly 28 million people had their lives uprooted by conflict, violence and disasters in 2015. In the first eight months of this year, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) has recorded more than 10 million new displacements across 16 countries, with China, Indonesia, Syria, Turkey and Yemen worst affected.   Media attention focuses almost exclusively on refugees, yet they make up only a third of the 60 million people often cited as having been driven from their homes by conflict and violence.   The “other” two-thirds are displaced within their own borders. Disasters, meanwhile, mostly triggered by weather-related hazards, have caused more than 203 million displacements over the past eight years, a figure comparable with the population of Brazil. The vast majority of those affected are internally displaced.   Displacement of any kind does not only mean losing one’s home. Those affected are separated from their livelihoods and incomes, and their families and friends – in essence all that is familiar to them. Many suffer deep psychological trauma.   Next week, the UN General Assembly will convene for its Summit for Refugees and Migrants, a much anticipated gathering that aims to get to the root of the global displacement crisis. As its title suggests, however, internally displaced people (IDPs) are not on the agenda.   I believe, this exclusion is a strategic mistake, and symptomatic of the ever-growing disparity between the scale of internal displacement worldwide and the lack of global focus on protecting and assisting IDPs. This stems in part from a global political and diplomatic environment that invokes sovereignty as immunity instead of responsibility.   The “end game” focus of the refugee crisis is a justifiable moral reaction to the throngs of people who have made long and dangerous journeys to seek safety on European shores, and to the sight of those who don’t quite make it being plucked – alive or dead – from the waters of the Mediterranean. If this outrage leads to new commitments to resettle more refugees, then so much the better. But as a worldview it is short-sighted.   Earlier this year, the UN secretary general’s own report, One Humanity, Shared Responsibility, proposed that governments commit to a comprehensive global plan to reduce the number of IDPs by at least 50 per cent by 2030. Echoing the Sustainable Development Agenda, his report made the commitment to “leave no one behind”.   To avoid the summit next week doing just that, the UN General Assembly should take up the secretary general’s call to protect and assist IDPs and to resolve their plight before they choose or are forced to flee across borders. The timing would be right as we look ahead to the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the UN’s Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement in 2018.   Governments should also reaffirm their commitments, recognised by numerous UN resolutions since 1998, to collect and share reliable disaggregated data in order to improve policy, programming and responses to internal displacement. At a bare minimum, the international community must ensure that financial commitments made to migrants and refugees next week do not divert funding from efforts to respond to IDPs’ needs.   Refugee crises are, in large part, a symptom of the failure to protect and assist IDPs in their own country. Many if not most refugees do not cross a border at the first sign of war. They flee first inside their country, hoping for peace or aid that never comes. Only by understanding the roots of internal displacement and addressing its impacts can we start to tackle the global refugee crisis head-on, rather than scurrying to treat its symptoms.   * Alexandra Bilak is the director of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre: http://www.internal-displacement.org/ http://bit.ly/2ddh0hX http://www.unocha.org/idps   * When world leaders gather in September for summit meetings hosted by the UN to tackle the global refugee crisis, they must redouble their efforts to resolve those conflicts driving the global exodus and to prevent new conflicts before the emergency is compounded, argues a new report from the International Crisis Group:   http://www.crisisgroup.org/global/what-s-driving-global-refugee-crisis Visit the related web page
	China should step up its contributions to international humanitarian assistance by Joanna Chiu IRIN News, agencies   Sixty-two Chinese rescuers and six sniffer dogs were the first global team on the ground in Nepal the day after a massive earthquake devastated the country just over a year ago.   The quick deployment was a sign of China’s growing role in emergencies, but critics say its humanitarian contributions are still paltry compared to its economic and diplomatic clout. With the world''s second-largest economy and largest standing army, China''s contributions do not match official pronouncements about its growing international role.   “We are trying to play a bigger role in the existing international order,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said at a press conference in March.   “The world is so big and faces so many problems; the international community wishes to hear China''s voices and see China''s solutions, and China cannot be absent,” he told reporters.   But the figures belie such statements. China contributed only $54 million in humanitarian aid in 2014, according to Development Initiatives, which analysed data from sources including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the UN, and the International Monetary Fund. In contrast, the United States contributed $5.9 billion, while Britain gave $2.3 billion, and Saudi Arabia $755 million.   The UN’s Financial Tracking Service, which documents global humanitarian aid flows, shows that China’s contribution fell in 2015 to a mere $37 million.   Even China’s own statistics underscore the relatively low importance it places on foreign aid.   According to a 2014 white paper on foreign aid – including development as well as humanitarian funding – China’s average ratio of aid budget to gross national income was about 0.07 percent in the period from 2010 to 2012.   That''s much lower than the average 0.3 percent given annually by the 29 countries making up the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee, which include the Group of 7 advanced economies as well as smaller countries including Slovenia, Greece, and the Czech Republic.   In a recent commentary, the UK-based Overseas Development Institute said: “With greater power comes greater responsibility and China should step up its contributions to international humanitarian assistance to an amount at least remotely worthy of its GDP.”   The Ministry of Commerce, which administers Beijing’s humanitarian aid, has not responded to IRIN’s requests for comment and further information.   Observers have also noted that China’s aid often seems motivated at least in part by political goals.   “In terms of commitments overseas, it seems highly tactical,” said Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese studies and director of the Lau China Institute at King''s College, London.   He cited South Sudan, which gained independence in 2011 from Sudan, a long-time Chinese ally. China suddenly found itself in the awkward position of having invested heavily in oilfields that were now part of an independent South Sudan, while having provided support to the Khartoum government throughout the war, including supplying weapons.   China sent peacekeepers to join the UN mission in South Sudan, and contributed other humanitarian aid.   “We also saw this in Costa Rica in 2007 when China agreed to buy $300 million in bonds and give $130 million in aid to secure Costa Rica’s diplomatic recognition of Beijing instead of Taipei,” Brown said.   Some experts say it will take time for China to build up its humanitarian activities overseas. But as one of the most natural disaster-stricken countries in the world, China has the potential to contribute its considerable experience to disaster relief.   For example, when the worst earthquake in 30 years struck southwestern Sichuan Province in 2008, international agencies played only a small role and China’s response was widely praised. The government immediately launched a massive effort, which included deploying troops to rescue people buried in rubble, deliver aid and organise evacuations.   But critics also point out that China’s “draconian laws” stymie independent humanitarian efforts from Chinese NGOs.   “China might be a great power now, but it has to learn how to behave like one, especially in the area of humanitarian aid,” said Xu Guoqi, professor of Chinese history and international relations at the University of Hong Kong.   Xu said China has very few NGOs relative to its population, and they are still figuring out how to function within China as well as abroad.   A former Chinese NGO worker, who requested anonymity and whose organisation recently shut down after losing access to international donors, told IRIN: “Many Chinese NGOs have relied on foreign funding, as local philanthropy is still underdeveloped. Now that the government is clamping down harder on civil society, NGOs are thinking about how to survive, not how to expand overseas.”   Despite rapid economic growth, private donations have not yet taken off.   “Even with so many newly rich people, charity-giving is still not widely spread as in many Western countries,” said Xu.   On Weibo, a popular Chinese website similar to Twitter, most discussions of China’s humanitarian aid are critical of the leadership for giving money to other countries when commenters felt the funds should be used assisting its own citizens.   China''s income inequality is among the world''s worst. The country''s Gini coefficient for income was 0.49 in 2012, according to a recent Peking University report, where a number above 0.40 represents severe income inequality.   * A more substantial humanitarian funding commitment by China is needed to help the over 125 million people around the world in desperate need of support, for such international agencies as the World Food Program, UNICEF, FAO, UNHCR, the OCHA Central Emergency Response Fund and the like would be of the utmost value.   http://www.wfp.org/news/news-release/record-german-funding-wfp-delivers-lifeline-syrians-boosts-global-zero-hunger-effo http://www.unocha.org/stateofaid/ http://reliefweb.int/report/world/humanitarian-funding-update-august-2016-united-nations-coordinated-appeals http://reliefweb.int/disaster/dr-2015-000137-mwi http://reliefweb.int/report/world/el-ni-o-overview-impact-projected-humanitarian-needs-and-response-16-august-2016 http://bit.ly/28LvClX http://www.publishwhatyoufund.org/ http://ati.publishwhatyoufund.org/ http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jun/28/seven-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-chinese-philanthropy http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/green-china/8663342 Visit the related web page
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