A new year, a mixed global landscape. Around the world even as old conflicts continue, new ones emerge. These can seem far away – not something that concern us in our daily lives. But through the courageous people we are privileged to meet at Scottish Refugee Council, they come terrifyingly close.
Though historically much of the world is becoming more peaceful and humane, there’s still some way to go before the need for refuge is a thing of the past. As long as war, torture and persecution continue, so will the need for Scotland to offer safety and sanctuary to those people forced to flee their homes and all they know.
A look around the world
The fireworks had not long since dimmed on Hogmanay, before the 2013’s first bomb ripped through Karachi. It was the first of two attacks in Pakistan on 1 January, reminding us what an intractable conflict many in that region are blighted by. Eleven years on from the invasion of Afghanistan, the ‘AfPak’ situation, seems far from resolution.
Not quite so far away, on the borders of our very own European Union, the conflict in Turkey between the Turkish government and Kurdish rebel groups goes on. Since the PKK’s ceasefire ended in 2004 bombings, murders and torture have become only too common in Turkey’s turbulent South East.
It is a sad prediction that, just as the PKK’s abduction of deemed ‘informers’ and ‘collaborators’ will likely follow us into 2013, the Turkish military’s extrajudicial killings and indiscriminate fire will likely also continue unsuppressed.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo a decades-old and byzantine conflict is still taking its toll. While the Congo may seem a distant land, you are very probably sitting with a small part of it just now. The vast majority of consumer electronics, including computers and mobile phones, are manufactured using minerals mined in the Congo. Too often the profits from these minerals are used to fund and sustain a civil war which already ranks as among the most devastating of modern times.
In Syria, the desperate attempts by the Assad government to retain power and the increasingly violent moves by the Free Syria Army to unseat it mean that that peace for the Syrian people does not appear on the horizon.
All of us can help refugees in 2013
It could be easy to be demoralised by the picture of the world that we are presented with at the start of the New Year, but at Scottish Refugee Council we are undeterred – 2012 was a successful year in our books.
Most importantly, we helped many people rebuild new lives in Scotland away from the chaos and turmoil of the experiences they fled in countries like the Congo, Syria, Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan. We also worked hard to raise awareness about refugees’ experiences and why they are coming to the UK – and learned some valuable lessons along the way.
If we can repeat that performance in 2013, we’re helping to work towards a more human world and a Scotland we can be proud of that helps those most in need.
And there are so many ways you can help too. Why not campaign with us to improve the lives of refugees in Scotland. You can sign our Stop Destitution petition to change the law forcing people seeking asylum into destitution, or write to your MP and ask them to lobby the UK Government on your behalf. Or if you have a few spare pennies, please donate to our Winter Appeal to help us continue assisting refugees when they need it most.
Happy New Year!
