Voices of Hope Concert for Darfur - Refugees from Darfur refused entry

During the last few days, we have witnessed a few disturbing items relating to the crisis in Darfur. A number of countries have refused entry to refugees from Darfur. The reason for refusing entry primarily relates to the inabilityof already admitted refugees to “integrate” into the host country. A number ofcountries have also found it hard to verify that those seeking asylum or refugee status are actually refugees from Darfur.

On October 3rd, the Australian government announced that they are placing afreeze on the settlement of all African refugees, primarily those from Darfur, because of the trouble most had in integrating into Australian society. A lotof city and town leaders have branded the refugees from Darfur as criminals and have used such language to play into the fears of local communities to win support for their stance.

There is a national election looming in Australia and this announcement by theImmigration Minister, Kevin Andrews, has drawn widespread criticism from majoropposition parties. The current government has been criticized for playing into the minds of those xenophobic voters, which some opponents of the current administration have claimed carried the Howard administration into government during the last election.

It was reported on October 2nd, that the British Immigration Service was sending a great number of refuges from Darfur back to Sudan due to those seeking refugee status could not prove that they were refugees from Darfur, or that they warranted refugee status. The most disturbing aspect of this uncompassionate act is the fact that those refugees that were deported from the UK were put on planes and flown back to Khartoum. Upon their arrival back in Sudan all were arrested. Most were beaten to near death and some were murdered.

These are just two of the examples that highlight how much the international community does not want to bring the crisis in Darfur to their own door steps. It seems to be a continuous trend that when people need help, we tend to only want to help from an arms length.

When the Irish landed on the shores of England and America during the mass exodus from the Irish famine, they were unwelcome in both countries. When the Jews where streaming out of mainland Europe, both prior to and after the commencement of WWII, a number of allied countries refused to take Jewish refugees primarily because of their own deep rooted anti-Semitism. Due to their inability to gain refugee status, a great many Jewish men, women and children were forced to return to the port of their departure, which resulted in a great number of them being sent to the death camps.

Today we are witnessing the same deep rooted distain for those who seek refugee from death. It is not enough that we give a few dollars to buy food and medicine for those caught up in the crisis in Darfur, we need to stand up for the innocent victims that are living this nightmare of death, rape and mass human rights abuses. We need to give them refuge, we need to let them know that there is life outside Darfur and Sudan but most importantly we need to show those who are perpetrating and supporting the Sudanese government that the international family of concerned people will not remain silent, that one day they will answer for the crimes that they have committed and sponsored in Darfur. By taking this stand, we will not only show the parties responsible for the creation of the crisis in Darfur that they will be held accountable for their actions, but most importantly, we will be informing the innocent victims of Darfur that the world has heard their cries for help.

The International Alliance For Human Rights, a New York-based not for profit organization, together with Hope for Humanity ask you support the upcoming Voices of Hope Concert for Darfur, to be staged in New York. For more information please call David Nolan at 212.695.7022, ext. 315 or send an emailto dnolan@iafhr.org.