Everyone has the right to seek safety: whoever they are, wherever they come from, and whenever they are forced to flee. So says the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
That is our calling on World Refugee Day (20 June), a day to honor the courage, strength, and contributions of the millions of people around the world who have been forced to flee their homes due to violence, war, or persecution, as well as the generosity of hosting communities. Also in Yemen, it’s a day to remember that hand in hand with the authorities, local hosting communities and the international community, we can help those displaced in Yemen to rebuild their lives and to have a better future.
Recently, we marked a grim milestone: the number of people forced to flee conflict, war, persecution, and human rights abuses crossed the 100 million mark globally for the first time on record. This means one in every 78 people on earth has been forced to flee. As new refugee situations intensify and existing ones reignite or remain unresolved, the world is facing an acute and growing need to find solutions for displacement, while donor resources are stretched more than ever before.
In the midst of competing crises and priorities, it is critical that – now more than ever – the international community must not forget Yemen. After seven years of conflict, Yemen’s share of displacement is more than 4.3 million people who had to flee their homes to find safety elsewhere within the country. And we should not also forget the Yemenis who have fled abroad.
The numbers are staggering, and unacceptable. And behind every statistic are human beings, families who are suffering. I wonder what direction the world – and Yemen – is going to take? What will the future hold for the displaced? What opportunities will they have to achieve their potential? And the prospects for solutions, including safe, voluntary and dignified return to their homes to re-establish their lives?
My first encounter with Yemeni displaced families was in March this year when, as the newly arrived Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), I accompanied UNHCR Special Envoy, Angelina Jolie on a visit to help draw the attention and support of the international community to the catastrophic consequences of the seven-year conflict on civilians and the country. I was determined for her visit to shed light on the increasing humanitarian needs in Yemen and help mobilize urgent support for humanitarian intervention and call for regional and international actors to commit to an end to the conflict.
We spoke with displaced families and refugees in Sana’a, Aden and Lahj. We visited some sites where displaced families live in flimsy shelters, with no income and no food at all. Miles away from any water or sanitation with no toilets, no showers. Most areas were deprived of schools, with the majority of children being illiterate, lacking access to education. People were suffering, living on the brink of survival, with humanitarian assistance of UNHCR and our partners.
I met Fairouz a displaced and widowed Yemeni mother, who was forced to leave her home in Hudaydah to live in Al Salam hosting site in Sana’a outskirt. When asking her about the situation, she told us that she had no income at all. “I live with my neighbors’ help; I get my bread from a house and tea from another one. All I want is a source of income to spend on my five children, as I cannot go and beg in the streets,” she said.
The dire suffering that thousands of Yemenis go through on a daily basis makes the current truce more critical than ever. It is a window of opportunity to break the devastating cycle of violence that has wrecked countless lives in Yemen and move towards a peaceful future. The extension of the truce into more durable peace and stability will allow families divided by frontlines to be reunited and find solutions to their plight of displacement, children to go back to school, civilians to return to work and reach hospitals, and essential trade to resume.
One of my goals as the Representative of UNHCR in Yemen is to continue to assist displaced Yemeni families and refugees rebuild their lives in dignity. Our support includes cash aid, shelter services, camp management, and a large range of protection services such as legal assistance and psychosocial first aid in our community centers across Yemen.
Despite their own suffering, Yemeni communities generously shelter tens of thousands of refugees from other war-affected countries. Yemen has assumed international legal responsibilities by becoming a party to the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, with support of UNHCR and the international community. Yet long before the Refugee Convention, the principles of refugee protection could be found in Islam.
In Yemen, I have learned that Muslims embrace people of different races, nationalities and ethnicities, as Islamic ideas of asylum and refugee protection reflect the inclusiveness of this religion. The Holy Qur’an speaks about the issue of asylum-seekers and refugees: “And if anyone of the disbelievers seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the word of Allah, and then escort him to where he will be secure” (Surah At-Tawbah9:6). Additionally, the important Islamic principle of “Aman” (safety) guarantees the well-being of asylum seekers, and it requires that host populations facilitate the voluntary return of refugees to their places of origin when considered safe.
The responsibility of helping refugees and displaced people falls on all of us - Yemeni communities, authorities and the international community.
Today, World Refugee Day, should serve as a stark reminder to decision makers and the international community of the need to do more to prevent and resolve conflict and crises, and support the victims of war and displacement to have a better future, not only in Yemen but also around the world.
It is time for peace. And for a better future.
