Ride for Refugees - Refugees: The Urgent Need

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Ajax meeting tomorrow morning with pastors and friends from Carruthers Creek - thanks Dave Adams for those introductions and Mika and Angela
2010/03/10 4:58 pm [More...]

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One in every 200 people in the world has been uprooted by war. 68 Million Refugees...and each one has a name.

Refugees and Internally Displaced People (IDP)

The plight of refugees is not new. As long as man has inhabited the earth there have been people forced to flee their homelands and travel great distances to find safety and refuge. These are refugees.

A convention refugee is a person with a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Because of conditions in their home country and their fear of persecution, they are unwilling or unable to return.

An internally displaced person (IDP), is a person who currently lives in situation of internal displacement as a result of conflicts or human rights violations. They have been forced to flee their homes because their lives were at danger, but unlike refugees they did not cross international borders.

Both of these definitions refer to people assisted through the Ride for Refugees.

What is the "Refugee Highway"?

The "refugee highway" is a term coined to describe the series of migration routes refugees travel as they flee to safety or a new life. The routes and length are different depending on where you start and each year the starting points and destination points adjust much like "jet stream" affected weather patterns.

There are no signs or directions along the refugee highway. No mileage markers to tell you how far you have to go. No rest stops with showers along this route. No Holiday Inn or Cracker Barrels. No "welcome to our country" reception centers.

However, there are smugglers, as well as soldiers, bandits and bureaucrats. And in most countries where refugees flee to they are unwelcome, mistrusted and mistreated.

How Big is the Need?

At present there are an estimated 68 million displaced people in the world. This is roughly double the population of Canada. One in every 200 people in the world has been uprooted by war. This is the largest category of vulnerable people in the world. About one third of them are officially recognized refugees because they have crossed an international border. The other two thirds are so-called internally displaced persons, or IDPs, because they are still within their own country.

Of the world's 12 million or so refugees, about 2.3 million - a little over 20% - are in Africa. In addition, Africa has about half of the world's 56 million IDPs. 80 percent of the world's refugees are women and children who are more vulnerable to their unstable conditions.

• Worldwide refugees estimated at 12,000,000
• Worldwide IDPs estimated at 56,000,000