{"id":94359,"date":"2017-06-26T12:00:04","date_gmt":"2017-06-26T11:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=94359"},"modified":"2017-07-03T10:53:47","modified_gmt":"2017-07-03T09:53:47","slug":"refugee-or-migrant-sometimes-the-line-is-blurred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/06\/refugee-or-migrant-sometimes-the-line-is-blurred\/","title":{"rendered":"Refugee or Migrant? Sometimes the Line Is Blurred"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Refugees or migrants? When it comes to children who cross international borders without papers, there\u2019s no easy answer. Stoyan Nenov\/Reuters<\/p><\/div>\n

20 Jun 2017 – <\/em>A dozen years before the influx of refugees and migrants to Europe\u2019s shores<\/a> would force policymakers to take heed, Michael Winterbottom\u2019s 2002 docudrama In this World<\/a> brought the inside story of international migration to the big screen.<\/p>\n

In charting the risky, clandestine journey to Europe of two Afghans \u2013 the teenage Jamal and 30-something Ineyatullah from the Shamshatoo Refugee Camp in Pakistan\u2019s northwest \u2013 the film demonstrates the simple but not uncontroversial truth: Jamal and Ineyatullah are at once refugees and migrants.<\/p>\n

Like so many immigrants, they simply seek a better life, one of freedom, opportunity and dignity. At the same time, these Afghans are also refugees \u2013 people displaced by conflict and poverty \u2013 seeking a better life.<\/p>\n

Michael Winterbottom\u2019s 2002 film \u2018In This World\u2019 follows the journey of two Afghans trying to make it to Europe:<\/strong><\/p>\n

httpv:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VhR-w5b-LYg<\/p>\n

From languishing in Peshawar and nearly suffocatig in the back of a truck during the crossing into Europe, to working without papers in London, theirs is a story of displacement, struggle and marginalisation.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a story of the economic and political borders that fence people in. Transcending these invisible frontiers requires taking inordinate risks. For Ineyatullah, doing so cost his life.<\/p>\n

Jamal\u2019s tale has a happier ending: after applying for asylum in England<\/a>, he was adopted by a British family who\u2019d seen Winterbottom\u2019s film, finally giving the boy a place to call home.<\/p>\n

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Refugee camps in Pakistan include displaced Afghans who\u2019ve fled Taliban violence and US military action.
M. Abdullah\/Reuters<\/p><\/div>\n

World Refugee Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

June 20 is World Refugee Day, a time to reflect on not just refugees but on those people who, like Jamal and Ineyatullah, are both refugees and migrants.<\/p>\n

The day of commemoration comes at a historic moment: for the first time ever, all United Nations member states are working together to develop two new global compacts<\/a>. The first is on shared responsibility for refugees and the second on more humane, coordinated and dignified approaches to governing global migration.<\/p>\n

The project began in September 2016, when the UN adopted the landmark New York Declaration<\/a> to forge a coordinated architecture for global governance of both refugees and migrants within two years.<\/p>\n

Both compacts are scheduled for completion by 2018. For them to work, policymakers must consider the many millions of people currently in transit whose situations confound the conventional demarcation between refugee and migrant.<\/p>\n

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New York Declaration for refugees, migrants to help achieve #GlobalGoals<\/a>. https:\/\/t.co\/3R7NcLvgCV<\/a> #UN4RefugeesMigrants<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/wwPYDmJUFD<\/a><\/p>\n

— United Nations Geneva (@UNGeneva) October 7, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n