[UNHCR] Crises within Crisis: The UNHCR's Fight

Written by Daily Mail

The UNHCR took questions from the press on Saturday for the first time since the collapse of the Afghanistan government, but at times the council, a total of 26 countries, was often lost in the questions and unsure of their stance.

The fall of the Afghan government and rapid take-over by the Taliban bring about a whole new refugee crisis, as many rush to find safety and new homes in neighboring countries.

Despite much criticism on the withdrawal of US troops and President Biden’s recent denial on the severity of the issue, the UNHCR insisted on supporting the US decision.

This stance, brought up in the press conference, severely contradicted what was said by the Pentagon and the defense secretary of the US.

Sadly, this recent blooming crisis was not mentioned in the conference. As seen on what was discussed in the conference, it appears that the UNHCR has been focused on regulating current refugees rather than readying for the newest crisis.

Amid the chaos at the Kabul airport, numerous European countries have pledged to support refugees, as thousands of Afghans desperately try to leave the country.

Among these countries, the United Kingdom has also pledged to help these refugees, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson launching the Afghan resettlement plan.

Boris Johnson, however, also admits that the United Kingdom is suffering the consequences of the withdrawal, as the British paratroopers fend off waves after waves of desperate Afghans.

The right-wing party has also received much criticism when President Biden mentioned that the United Kingdom was one of the countries who supported the withdrawal of US troops, when President Biden revealed his plans in the recent G7 conference.

The delegates of UNHCR have proposed intervention to civil wars, both in Afghanistan and beyond, before drawing back at realizing what they have done. 

The UNHCR focuses on the humanitarian side of the refugee crisis and has a strong refusal to political or military intervention, showing how well the delegates know their councils.

As the delegates of the UNHCR continue to fight each other and deny others, the delegates find themselves trapped in a vicious circle, where they move on to the next topic without completing the precious one.

In the two days, the UNHCR has discussed numerous topics, such as protection of refugees from physical abuse, sexual abuse, abuse from officials, tightening of laws and order, public education in refugee camps, developing infrastructure in camps, and launching housing projects for refugees.

Without a proper agenda of each conference, none of these topics had a firm, stable solution after the end of the discussions. 

With different focuses and interests, the hope for a successful conference seems dull, unless the delegates start discussing on the same page.

The delegates however, did come up with one conclusion, that funding was a major issue in all the solutions suggested.

In a recent interview with the Daily Mail, the delegate of Yemen stated that  the “UK can help Yemen by providing a bit more financial assistance and help the Yemen government to provide us with more resources in order to help create more assistance to the refugees present in Yemen”.

This sentiment was shared with the delegate of Syria, who mentioned that the UK could help by “donating money to the Syrian government to help the Syrian government to combat the rebellions and terrorists so that they can stop harming the refugees of Syria”.

The delegate of Syria also mentioned that a big worry is that major, more financially enabled countries would deny the request for funding, a selfish stand commonly seen in the conference.

Amidst the pandemic, another major issue not discussed much is the spreading of COVID-19 in the overcrowded refugee camps. At times, camps made for a few hundred people may have thousands living in them. 

If an outbreak were to occur, the hosting countries most likely would not be able to handle the situation. 

The delegates covered this issue very briefly but could only generate solutions for the long term and were unfeasible for the rapid response required. Soon enough, this issue was buried and not mentioned in the conference. 

As of now, we can only hope that the UNHCR makes good progress.

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