3.1 Members of Refugees Convention 1951

The 1951 Refugee Convention is a United Nations multilateral treaty that helped to define the status of a refugee. The convention set up the rights of refugees and the responsibilities of nations to grant asylum. According to Article 14 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right of a person to seek asylum from persecution in other countries should be classified as one of the natal rights of a human being, thus should be protected with utmost importance. As of 2013, there were a total of 146 countries that joined the protocol, which meant that about half of the world has devoted themselves to welcoming refugees in their territories. However in reality, many of the members of the protocol are refusing to accept or deporting refugees due to cultural differences and xenophobia.

In the recent years there have been a heavy flow of Syrian refugees entering Europe, especially Germany, to find a better life. However, the refugees are being deported and detained by the authorities due to cultural differences and fear of increase in crime rate. As for Germany, there has been a growing sentiment against accepting refugees and anti-Muslim movement, which has pushed the political agenda to deport Syrian refugees back to their Syria. According to Washington Post, “The attack added Meissen, a gothic castle town of 30,000 on the Elbe River, to a string of German cities caught up in an escalating rash of violence against refugees. The acts include an ugly spate of arson targeting refugee centers as well as physical attacks on refugees themselves” (Faiola).⁴ German public is not content with refugees moving into their border, and as of the result, there have been growing number of German right wingers who support deportation of Syrian refugees.

The Paris Attack on November 13, 2015, following an investigation that revealed some of the attackers have entered the border disguised as Syrian refugees, has fueled the growing sentiment against refugees in Europe. According to coverage by Aljazeera, Poland's incoming Minister of European Affairs Konrad Szymanskic stated that “in the wake of the tragic events in Paris, Poland doesn't see the political possibilities to implement a decision on the relocation of refugees… The attacks mean there's a need for an even deeper revision of the European policy regarding the migrant crisis."(Safdar) The political agenda of EU regarding refugee situation has shifted against refugees, and has opened possibilities of deporting the newcomers. ⁵

3.2 Non-Members

Non-members of the 1951 Refugees Convention include Jordan, Thailand, Malaysia and other developing countries. Many of the non-member countries are receiving refugees due to its geopolitical situation. Many of the non-member countries are surrounded by the countries where refugees originate from, and those countries usually refrain from deporting the refugees considering their geographical locations and similarity in cultures.

Non-member countries like Jordan received almost up to one million refugees altogether during Syrian civil war. Despite Jordan lack governmental budget, but it adhered to humanitarianism to help its neighbor. Since Jordan is located in the vicinity of Syria and other countries under political instability, Jordanian government has no choice but to accept refugees. One of the reason why Jordan chose to accept refugees from neighboring countries is the similarity in their culture since most of the refugees from Syria and Palestine share the same faith in Sunni Islam and speak the same language. The ties in faith and language create a sense of safety and comfort amongst Jordanian citizens to accept refugees.⁶

In the case of Rohingya, refugees who escaped from Myanmar due to the political suppression have migrated to numerous neighboring Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Malaysia. Thailand and Malaysia have agreed and accept Rohingya considering their vicinity to Myanmar.⁷ As seen in the case of Southeast Asian countries and Middle Eastern countries, geopolitical location plays a large role in the distribution of the refugees.

4. Previous Attempts at Resolving the Issue