London, May 23, 2024
Asylum Voices welcomes a decision by three European countries to realise Palestine as an independent state, bringing the total number of countries recognizing Palestine to 146. This means Palestinians may travel to seek Asylum in Ireland, Norway and Spain. Speaking at a news conference in Dublin shortly after, Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said he hoped the decision would “offer hope and encouragement to the people of Palestine at one of their darkest hours.”
“This recognition is not against anyone, it is not against the Israeli people,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in an address to Parliament. “It is an act in favor of peace, justice and moral consistency.”
Meanwhile Israel and the U.S. have criticized the move as Colombian President Gustavo Petro orders the opening of a Colombian Embassy in the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. This comes weeks after Petro broke diplomatic relations with Israel after he accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
Amid a spiralling humanitarian crisis in Gaza. UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, warned Monday that it had to suspend food distribution in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million people have sought refuge during the war, citing a lack of supplies and safety issues given the Israeli military’s expanding operation in the area.
The eruption of wars worldwide has escalated resulting in the generation of a massive flow of people seeking protection elsewhere. Asylum is now a global phenomenon that needs to directly address the human rights of people associated. From the crisis in Palestine and Ukraine to Congo, Myanmar, Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan, the world is experiencing a vast displacement of people. By the end of 2022, according to UNHCR, the number of refugees had increased from 27.1 to 35.3 million worldwide, surpassing UNHCR’s 100 million mark for total displacement, meaning that over 1.2% of the global population have been forced to leave their homes.
As they wander for protection, asylum seekers are met with racism, the abusive challenges of the asylum bureaucratic systems, and the manipulation of asylum which has slipped into colonial similar servitude. The abuse of human rights of asylum seekers will increase intolerably as war violence escalate worldwide to heighten displacement of people.
