Issue 27: September 12, 2022
In this issue...
We're covering DACA's history and where it stands presently, Poland's role as a refugee host country in Europe, and a dangerous ongoing drought in Somalia. We're also covering the dangers of refugees' stark lack of access to menstrual products around the world.
A History of DACA and Overview of its Current State
By Harrison Huang
It has been about 10 years since former US president Barack Obama announced DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, on June 15, 2012. DACA acts as a lenient immigration policy that offers temporary relief to certain undocumented immigrants by conditionally ensuring they will not be deported and allowing them to seek employment. It is the sought-after middle ground for young immigrants whose lives depend on the chances to work and attend schools without the constant threat of deportation to a different country.
According to a report on DACA by the American Immigration Council, until September 2021, DACA has assisted roughly 832,881 eligible young adults in achieving upward social mobility and better living conditions. A great majority of the estimated 1.2 million eligible recipients of DACA are from Mexico (0.7 million), followed by El Salvador (0.06 million), Guatemala (0.04 million), and Honduras (0.03 million), according to Migration Policy Institute. During 2012 and 2016, the number of DACA recipients with a Bachelor’s degree tripled, professional job attainment for DACA recipients grew by 34 percent, and the incomes of DACA recipients more than doubled, according to a White House briefing.
After former US president Donald Trump took office in 2017, DACA began to face significant headwinds. In 2017, Republican Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke proposed rescinding the protections DACA offers, so the Department of Homeland Security initiated “an orderly and efficient wind-down process.” Given such circumstances, the status of all eligible individuals would expire as of March 6, 2018, and they would no longer have deferred action or employment authorization guaranteed by the policy. Only three states—California, New York, Maryland––as well as Washington D.C. challenged Secretary Duke’s repeal. The Supreme Court voted 5-4 in favor of the legal challenges and declared the repeal to be ignorant of the “enormous interests at stake,” namely those of DACA recipients’ families, including their 200,000 US-citizen children, of the schools where DACA recipients study and teach, and of the employers who have invested time and money in training DACA recipients.
DACA was thus back on track in its operations. However, the timeline for renewal of protected status changed from once every two years to once every year. In addition, US Customs and Immigration Services will reject all requests for DACA participation from people who are eligible but had not previously participated in DACA. Torn back and forth in the political struggles of the US government, DACA faces great tension.
At its 10th anniversary, DACA meets a favorable government that commits to strengthening the initiatives and taking actions to safeguard the interests of DACA recipients. But even today, under a Democrat-led government, DACA encounters challenges in various parts of the country. Texas U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen found the policy to be unlawful and blocked new eligible applicants from receiving work permits and protection.
A future of many uncertainties lies ahead, and DACA may need more resilience to overcome legal challenges that it will continue to face.
Spotlight on Poland: A Closer Look at an Important European Host Country
By Jack Elworth
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Poland has assumed the role of a model host country.
How did one of the European Union’s most ethnically homogenous and anti-immigrant nations become host to the second largest refugee population in the world in a matter of days?
The answer lies in a massive and spontaneous outpouring of support from ordinary Polish citizens, many of whom have taken in Ukrainian strangers as family. Yet, given Poland’s poor treatment of non-European refugees, critics wonder whether a darker, discriminatory force is at play in Poland’s newfound generosity.
In the week following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Polish Parliament passed an expansive law regarding the rights of Ukrainian nationals. The law gave Ukrainian citizens legal refugee status, guaranteed 18 months and up to three years in Poland, and the right to work without obtaining a work permit.
Ukrainian citizens in Poland were subject to the same labor laws and economic rights as Polish citizens. Ukrainian citizens were to receive access to healthcare, government aid, and social benefits, including transportation, housing, meals, and personal hygiene products.
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In combination with the law, many Polish citizens fervently supported Ukrainian refugees, from cheering reception crowds to taking in Ukrainians as their own. Many Ukrainian citizens integrated into welcoming Polish families, providing a home and hot meals for strangers out of the kindness of their hearts.
But to many, the heartwarming reception of European refugees is in stark contrast with the heartless treatment of other refugees at Poland’s borders. Poland has historically had a particularly low refugee quota among its EU peers, and has often openly flouted the quota of largely Middle Eastern and African refugees.
Additionally, Poland had hardened its border with Belarus to prevent the entry of the relatively small number of Iraqi Kurds attempting to flee to Poland. While many Western countries accuse Belarus of sending refugees to the border to pressure Poland, many refugees died in the frigid winter weather, a tragedy for which the Human Rights Watch blamed both nations.
Poland, when compared to its western neighbors, remains a more conservative nation, with a near-total ban on abortion, a lack of LGBTQ rights, according to LGBTQ group ILGA-Europe, and other policies deemed conservative and illiberal by much of the West.
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The party currently holding the presidency and parliament, Law and Justice (PiS), has been accused by critics of making anti-immigrant, xenophobic, and specifically islamophobic comments in recent years. The party has vocally opposed an EU quota system and linked immigrants to national security concerns before elections.
The accusation leveled by Poland’s critics is that the government maintains a racist double standard, welcoming white, European Ukrainians while barricading their borders from African and Middle Eastern immigrants.
But outsiders should make sure not to caricature all Poles monolithically: some distinguish between their character and attitude and that of their government, or at the Western perception of it.
One Polish woman who had taken in a Ukrainian family to her own, Ms. Potorek, told the New York Times that she would have also welcomed Middle Eastern or African refugees in the same way, but was never presented with the same opportunity as she was with Ukrainians. This statement has grown far more believable in recent years: a 2019 Gallup poll showed that 48% of Poles thought that migrants living in Poland was a good thing, drastically up from the same poll in 2016 which had a meager 28% of Poles agree with the same statement. Ms. Potorek also defended the notion that it was right, or at least easier, for Poland to accommodate more refugees of a similar or shared culture like that of Ukraine, wondering what she might cook for African or Middle Eastern immigrants.
Herein lies the heart of the dispute about Poland’s behavior as a host nation: should nations give preference to those refugees with a shared culture and identity, or should all refugees be considered irrespective of identity?
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Drought Displaces and Endangers Millions in Somalia; Country in Desperate Need of Aid
By Nick Costantino
Despite a worsening drought, Somalia has not received adequate aid from the international community.
Since 2011, Somalia’s climate crisis has only worsened, putting the country in a horrible predicament and in need of aid.
Somalia, located in the Horn of Africa, was hit by a devastating drought in 2011 that left 250,000 people dead, most of whom were children. The disaster left the country in need of a plan to deal with similar events in the future. Somalia is particularly susceptible to the effects of the worsening climate crisis due to its location. Despite this, government officials have been slow to act.
The country had been expected to have a fifth consecutive poor rainy season at least since mid-2020. But, the Somali government only began to address the situation at the start of 2022, according to VOA news. Now, Somalia is in the midst of a two-year long drought.
According to a report by the UN, 7.7 million Somali people have been affected by this drought, including over one million people who have been internally displaced. The rippling effects that the drought continues to have on the population and the economy have posed significant challenges for the government, according to a report by the New Humanitarian.
Those internally displaced have been forced to travel as long as 200 kilometers to the next safest place, according to Euronews. Those traveling are forced to leave behind their livelihoods and family members who cannot make the journey.
The drought has also affected more than 15 million livestock, 28 percent of Somalia’s total livestock population, killing more than two million animals, according to the Somali's prime minister's office. Tragically, widespread malnutrition and drought-related illnesses have already killed more than 500 children, with the number expected to rise.
On July 29, the Somali President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, announced a state of famine due to the widespread drought and called on the public and the international community to help the many in need in Somalia. In May of this year, Mohaumud appointed a special envoy for drought response to facilitate the humanitarian activities in the country and to coordinate with state governments and other aid agencies on how to best respond to this evolving crisis.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in collaboration with other humanitarian organizations, have already reached some 4 million people with life-saving assistance since January. The United Arab Emirates has also donated 40 containers of food aid to Somalia to help with the worsening famine.
As of May 20, though, the UN’s Humanitarian Response Plan for Somalia which “seeks about $1.5 billion to assist 5.5 million of the most vulnerable Somalis, remains low at 15.7 percent,” according to a UN report.
Thus, despite the aid that NGOs and other countries have provided, Somalia is still in dire need of help from the international community. This is likely to be the worst drought in 40 years for the people of Somalia.
Somalia is not the only country bearing the brunt of this drought – Kenya and Ethiopia are also struggling due to the total lack of rain that is destroying people’s ability to access food. In total, 20 million people are being affected by this crisis.
Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia are all in desperate need of aid, but this drought has not received adequate attention, hindering many from donating to the relief effort. You can help by donating directly to UNICEF here.
Lack of Menstrual Products and Resources Endanger Millions of Refugees
By Jade Xiao
According to a report by the United Nation refugee Agency (UNHCR), as of 2021, there are 27.1 million refugees around the world, and approximately 50% are women and girls. Yet, a study from the Financial Service Guide - Reimagining Social Change states that over 60% of women around the world do not have the means necessary to menstruate with dignity, and WaterAid reports over 1.25 billion women have no access to toilets.
In refugee camps, most women do not have the supplies nor education to maintain menstrual hygiene. According to a study from the Thomson Reuters Foundation, 60% of female refugees in Syria and Lebanon do not even have underwear, much less menstrual products.
Women and girls must use other items in lieu of menstrual products. In an interview with the Thomson Reuter Foundation, Terri Harris from Global One reports frequent cases of women using “old rags, pieces of moss, [and] pieces of mattress” to substitute for menstrual products.
Unsafe menstrual hygiene has severe health consequences. It can cause the spread of reproductive and urinary tract infections (UTI) and toxic shock, and can lead to grave, long-term complications such as infertility and sexually transmitted diseases. The Reuter’s study found that over 50% of the women at the refugee camp had an UTI, with most untreated.
Beyond health consequences, the lack of resources detrimentally affects women and girls in numerous other ways, too. Women and girls often cannot move around the camps to obtain food, water, information, services, and social interactions due to the inconveniences and stigma around menstruation. The loss of autonomy and necessities significantly negatively impacts one’s physical and mental health. Furthermore, young girls often miss a large amount of schooling because they cannot manage their period with adequate products and facilities at school in the camps. According to a study by Plan International, Venezuelan girls in Colombia miss as many as 45 days in a school year.
One of the causes of the lack of menstrual hygiene is the high prices of period products, making them inaccessible to refugees. An article from Plan International reports in Colombia, up to 2 million Venezuelan women and girls cannot afford products because one package of sanitary towels can cost up to 25% of a month’s minimum wage, and a box of 40 tampons can cost as much as 3 months of minimum wage.
The lack of sexual and reproductive health education exacerbates the problem. Many cultures around the world consider menstruation with a degrading stigma, believing it is related to sexality and reproduction, and thus should not be spoken about openly. Many girls experience their first periods without any knowledge of puberty and menstruation, and many only learn informal information at marriage. This intimidating, widespread stigma hinders women from seeking help when suffering from reproductive health issues and only reaching out during pregnancy. In more extreme cases, such as in Egypt, according to a report from Reuters, many view period products as a “shameful or excessive expense.”
As of 2022, there are no policies on menstrual health and hygiene for refugees. However, many NGOs, such as Plan International, the United Nations, and Anera, are providing products and education for women and girls in refugee camps around the world. According to an article, Anera recently distributed over 2,200 kits of medical supplies and reusable menstrual pads to camps to Palestinian, Syrian, and Lebanese refugees. Plan International also hosts training for women and girls to combat the persistent stigma around menstruation and educate them on proper care.
More needs to be done to support women and girls in refugee camps. Despite 50% of the refugee population being women and girls, only 4% of United Nations projects and 0.4% of funding target womens’ unique needs. In an interview with Reuters, humanitarian chief of the UNFPA Ugochi Daniels explains that part of the reason for the low priority placed on women’s menstrual health is that “oftentimes the decision makers are men.” It is critical for decision makers in governments and NGOs to prioritize menstrual hygiene, for it affects the health and wellbeing of millions of women around the world.