Thesis 100dpi

Unlike the natural barriers
which are inevitable and
have existed for thousands
of years in the same place,
the obstacles that human
civilization has created are
flexible and can change
over time.
Borders are relative.
Big empires have fallen apart and the new have risen; the borders
created by men have been changing constantly throughout history.
Where the borders existed before, now there are none, or where there
never have been, now are sprouting.
The European Union is just one of the examples when it comes to
open borders. Despite the diversity of 28 sovereign states, 29 different
languages (24 official and 5 semi-official), and even 6 different religions,
movement within the Union is free.
However, hit by an influx of refugees, certain countries of the Union
decided to close their borders based on national security and economic
reasons, xenophobia and so called identity protection, leaving
hundreds of refugees stuck and without the possibility to continue
their journey. Meanwhile, in Asia, Thailand and Malaysia also closed
their borders - those along the coast preventing boats of refugees from
disembarking on their shores, leaving them at sea for weeks.
These problems are deeply rooted in the mix of national sovereignty
and human rights reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights of 1948. It affirms that everyone has a right to leave a country,
yet no one has a right to enter a country without its sovereign permission.
They cannot be expelled, but there is no provision for them
to enter a country legally, and the decision as to whether they are a
refugee can only be made once they reach the country of asylum. Here
we see an enormous invitation to - and an indirect funding scheme for
- illegal border crossing and smuggling, leaving refugees in vulnerable
and manipulative situations.
Administration failed to provide proper response to the refugee problem
and asylum seekers. In fact, after WWI International community
approached a task of establishing an internationally recognized status
for refugees and one of the first steps was providing them with papers
that would enable them to travel. That led to creation of document
called “Convention Travel Document” and was supposed to be issued
by the state of arrival. However, the experience of United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has shown that the Governments
do not always issue these documents, making this system ineffective
and problem-causing for already exhausted people.
69 DANGEROUS JOURNEY
permanent resident
-a person who has been granted permanent
resident status.
person without status
-a person who has not been granted permission to
stay in the country, or has overstayed their visa.
Being left at a‘‘dead end’ without any protection, refugees and
migrants have no other option, but to go through illegal channels of
entering the country. That leads to serious violations of human rights,
since most often smugglers do not spare their customers. Numerous
reports show presence of human and organ trafficking, and according
to the Independent magazine ‘‘human smugglers made a record profit
last year [2015] of between $3bn and $6bn by exploiting the misery of
refugees.’’ The exploitation of women and children along with their
subsequent abuse, is reported widely, all as a result of human cruelty
and ruthless smuggling industry.