Forced migration and social work. Difficulties and dilemmas

Essay , 2016 , 8 Pages , Grade: 2

Social Work

In this paper I want to discuss forced Migration, using the example of syrian refugees und the crisis there. After that I'd like to figure out the challenges and difficulties of social workers and how we can learn to deal with it.

We can state, that there are horrible problems in Syria, which policies and the government need to tackle, because human rights get massively hurt. But social work is not just important in Syria, but especially in country’s like Germany, where a lot of refugees find a new home. Social worker try to help them especially with their first needs. That means for example that they reuniting family members and getting volunteers to teach German.

Asylum seekers and refugees are entitled to all rights and freedom, which are wrote down in the human rights. To protect refugees means therefore that you respect the human rights and protect them and it is a sign for professionality in your work.

1. INTRODUCTION...1

2. FORCEDMIGRATION...1

3. SOCIALWORKWITHREFUGEES...2

3.1

R

ELEVANCEOFSOCIALWORKREGARDINGREFUGEEAID

...2

3.2

D

ILEMMASANDDIFFICULTIES

...3

4. CONCLUSION...5

5. BIBLIOGRAPHY...6

---

1. I

NTRODUCTION

InthispaperIliketodiscussforcedMigration,usingtheexampleofsyrianrefugeesundthe

crisisthere.AfterthatIliketofigureoutthechallengesanddifficultiesofsocialworkerand

howwecanlearntodealwithit.

2. F

ORCED

M

IGRATION

Firstofall,it'simportanttoknowwhatforcedmigrationisexactlyabout.ForcedMigrationis

ageneralterm,thatreferstothemovementofrefugeesandinternallydisplacedpeople.They

can be displaced because of a conflict or because of natural and environmental disaster,

chemical of nuclear disasters, development projects or famine. We can say that forced

migration is a complex, wide-ranging and pervasive set of phenomena. (forced migration

online,2012)

Therearedifferenttypesofforcedmigrants.Firstofall,therearetherefugees:Arefugeeis

someone,whoisoutsideofhis/hercountryofnationalityandwhoisunabletoreturn,because

offearofpersecutiononaccountofrace,religion,nationality,membershipinapoliticalsocial

grouporpoliticalopinion.Indifferencetotherefugeesanasylumseekerissomeone,who

alreadymovedacrossaninternationalborderandnowlookingforprotectionunderthe1951

RefugeeConvention.

Internallydisplacedpersons:Theyhavebeenforcedtofleetheirhomesbecauseofarmed

conflictsorsystematicviolationsofhumanrightswithinthecountry,likeitisforexamplein

Syriarightnow.

Developmentdisplacespeople:havemovedbecauseofaresultofpoliciesanddevelopment

projectsforexampleroadsorairports.

Environmentalanddisasterdisplaces:Peoplewhodisplacedasresultofnaturaldisasterslike

earthquakes, environmental change like global warming or human made disasters like

radioactivity

Smuggled people: They have moved illegally for profit reasons and are partners in a

1

---

commercialtransaction.Thatmeansnot,thattheyareoutofdanger.Thehaveariskofbeing

trafficked.

TraffickedPeople:Thehavemovedbydeceptionforpurposeofexploitationanditcomesfrom

saleoftheirsexualservicesorlabourincountryofdestination.(Forcedmigrationonline,n.y.)

3. S

OCIALWORKWITHREFUGEES

3.1Relevanceofsocialworkregardingrefugeeaid

Firstofallitisimportanttotakealookatthedefinitionofsocialwork.Itisa"practice-based

professionandanacademicdisciplinethatpromotessocialchangeanddevelopment,social

cohesion,andtheempowermentandliberationofpeople.Principlesofsocialjustice,human

rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to social work.

Underpinned by theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous

knowledge,socialworkengagespeopleandstructurestoaddresslifechallengesandenhance

wellbeing"(IFSW,2014)

When people decide to study social work, they have later a lot of working options. One

opportunity is working with migrants and refugees. Ruth Stark, the President of the

International federation of social worker said, that "profession exists to help people work

throughchangesintheirlives­andrefugeesareexperiencingsomeofthemosttraumatic

changesimaginable"(Stark&Stark-Angermeier,2016)That'swhytheexistenceofsocialwork

inthisfieldcannotarguedaway.Iwouldliketoillustrateforcedmigrationbecauseofaconflict

withthefollowingexample.

SyriaorSyrianArabRepublicisacountryinWesternAsiaandisborderingLebanon,Turkey,

Iraq,JordanandIsrael.ThelargestcityandcapitalofSyriaisDamascus.Itisacountryofhigh

mountains,fertileplainsanddeserts.Inthisareaarelivingdiverseethnicandreligiousgroups

(SyrianArabs,Greeks,Armenians,Assyrians,Kurds,Circassians,MandeansandTurks)butalso

you find there religious groups like Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites,

Salafis,andYazidis.SunniArab'sarethebiggestgroupthere.(Wikipedia,n.y.)

InMarch2011thecivilwarinSyriacameout,becauseofthedemonstrationsofthecitizens

againstthegovernment.Morethan11millionpeoplehavebeenkilledorforcedtofleetheir

2

---

country. Families don't know if they should try to survive there or better flee to other

country's. About 6,6 million decided to stay there. (Mercy Corps 2016) Bombings were

destroying whole city's and horrible human rights got violated. The people there have no

dignifiedlifeanymore.

· violence

· noinfrastructureandeconomicmarkets

· 2,7millionchildrencannotgotoschoolanymore

· attacksathome,schoolandhospitalsrise(Rescue,n.y)

Socialworkisreallyimportantthere.Differentprogramsarecoordinatedfromturkey,iraq

andjordanprovidinglongterm-andemergencyservicestodisplacefamiliesandSyrianswho

livestillthere.Theproblemrightnowis,thatalotofthemliveinareas,thataredifficultor

evenimpossibletoreachforaidworkers.(Rescue,n.y.)

AboutonemillionofpeoplefromSyriahaverequestedanasylumtoEurope.In2016wehad

inGermanyabout266.000Refugeesonlyfromthiscountry-theymakethebiggestgroupsof

themigrantsinGermany.(MercyCorps,2016)

3.2Dilemmasanddifficulties

Wecanstate,thattherearehorribleproblemsinSyria,whichpoliciesandthegovernment

needtotackle,becausehumanrightsgetmassivelyhurt.ButsocialworkisnotjustinSyria

important,butespeciallyincountry'slikeGermany,wherealotofrefugeesfindanewhome.

Socialworkertrytohelpthemespeciallywiththeirfirstneeds.Thatmeansforexamplethat

they reuniting family members and getting volunteers to teach German. (Stark &Stark-

Angermeier2016)Asylumseekersandrefugeesareentitledtoallrightsandfreedom,which

arewrotedowninthehumanrights.Toprotectrefugeesmeansthereforethatyourespect

thehumanrightsandprotectthemanditisasignforprofessionalityinyourwork.Thevalues

andprinciplesofhumanrightsare:

· Life

· FreedomandLibertyrights

· Equalityandnondiscrimination

3

• College: Management Center Innsbruck (Soziale Arbeit)
• Course: Social Development and Capacity Building
• Grade: 2
• Author: Anna Henning (Author)
• Publication Year: 2016
• Pages: 8
• Catalog Number: V388029
• ISBN (eBook): 9783668620964
• ISBN (Book): 9783668620971
• Language: English
• Tags: forcedmigration, migration, internationalsocialwork, socialwork