“Refugees are a symptom of our collective failure”

Eight years have passed since the image of little Alan Kurdi, found dead on the beach in Bodrum, Turkey, together with 12 other people fleeing the war in Syria, went around the world.

We wondered on whether or not to publish the photo of the 3 year old child's body.Those who had done so said they were convinced that that image would represent the point of no return: “If these images don't change Europe, what will?”, had headlined several newspapers.To hold those who govern to their responsibilities.That photo, it was written at the time, was the iconic representation, the "consequence", of political choices.

This year the tenth anniversary was remembered of the Lampedusa shipwreck.It was October 3, 2013, when at least 368 people died in front of the island of Lampedusa, mostly Eritreans, fleeing from Libya.Even then, the images of the coffins lined up, white and small, shocked public opinion.Then, eight days later, there was “the shipwreck of the children”:a boat capsized between Libya and Lampedusa and caused the death of 268 people, mostly Syrians, 60 of whom were children.

Never again, he told himself.The "Mare nostrum" operation was launched to save people fleeing wars, conflicts and miseries, and avoid deaths at sea. It only lasted a year, then began the security policies of border control, of media-fabricated "defense from invasions", of the criminalization of rescues at sea, of the management of migrant people like sacks of hot potatoes to be moved as soon as possible, of dismantling of reception systems and the bureaucratic complication of the procedures for recognizing the right to asylum.

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We were shocked, we cried a little, we talked about points of no return and then we got used to it.And, in the meantime, every year we renew the atlases of wars and walls in the world to update the number of conflicts, of those who start and lead wars, who represses dissent, who crushes, and who must guarantee a safe haven, suitable reception systems and practices of recognition of status and rights in accordance with signed international conventions, and does not.

“Every refugee is a symptom of our collective failure to ensure peace and security,” he wrote the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, in an editorial on Guardian on the eve of second global refugee forum, which will take place from 13 to 15 December in Geneva.

The failure is shared by those who, "in a period of multiple conflicts, deep geopolitical divisions and a growing number of people forced to flee their countries", do not guarantee respect for rights, reducing the spaces of democracy or raising walls in compared to those who arrive.

According to the latest UNHCR estimates, there are 36.4 million refugees worldwide, out of a total population of 114 million displaced people (including internally displaced people).Over the past seven years, the number of refugees has doubled following violence and human rights violations in more and more countries.“At the same time – writes Grandi – many states are cutting humanitarian aid and funds for cooperation and, instead of discussing the efforts necessary to address the root causes of migration, we hear harsh speeches, especially from rich states with resources, on the removal of foreigners, on making it more difficult to obtain the right to asylum and shifting the responsibility onto other countries".

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The world is silent – ​​continues the UN High Commissioner for Refugees – on the conflict Sudan, as he has already done in Ethiopia, Syria, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and many other areas of the world.As how it is disappearing from the news there war in Ukraine, “which forced millions of people to abandon their homes, is disappearing from the news.”Is in the conflict between Israel and Hamas we are seeing the application of a consolidated “strategy” in other conflicts:peaks of violence followed by temporary pauses.“How serious this mistake was and how much I would like it not to be repeated elsewhere”, explains Grandi who adds:“The reignition of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has given us terrifying proof of what happens when the essential elements of a just and lasting peace are neglected.”

And then there are the climate migrants – a category that still struggles to find legal recognition – fleeing droughts, famines, floods, fires  and other extreme weather events “that afflict regions hosting thousands, perhaps millions of refugees along with local populations”.

To face these myriad challenges, a change of mentality is necessary, in which the borders, territory and assets of a single State are not the only thing that matters, but "the mutual benefits and public good of collective action and sharing of responsibilities.Cooperation does not mean capitulation and compassion does not mean weakness."

This support can take different forms:financial, material or technical assistance;places for resettlement and other admission pathways in third countries, which allow states with greater resources to share responsibility for refugees;measures to prevent conflicts and build peace;policies and practices to promote refugee inclusion and protection, or better monitoring and research.

“If we work together to address and manage their situations, refugees will not turn into a crisis.Everyone can do their part and I invite everyone to do so”, concludes Grandi.