The two sectors espouse objectives and even philosophies that are rather fundamentally different. Yet it is essential to build bridges for better understanding between businesspeople and good works.

The High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), while intensely preoccupied by the Iraq War and the serious consequences that this had had on civilian populations, has nevertheless not forgotten the other tragedies happening elsewhere, which are often forgotten by the media.

Migrations are a phenomenon of our age. They have always happened, but this time they are different due to their make-up (many women and children), their generally illegal nature and their size. Between 150 and 175 million people currently live, voluntarily or involuntarily, outside their country of origin.

People-smugglers are paid to transport people clandestinely from one country to another. It’s an export trade in human beings, a new form of slavery. The contraband is disgusting, expensive, and dangerous. Those seeking to improve their economic conditions are confused with asylum-seekers fleeing persecution, thus creating two classes of refugees—those with enough money to bribe the smugglers and all the rest who are forced to stay put.

It is important to understand why migrations have increased so enormously in recent years. Globalization seems to have forgotten both the human aspect and the huge gap that exists between the economies of the wealthy countries and those of the poor ones.

There is also a creeping internationalization of economies through the multinationals. Not only industrialized countries are affected by this phenomenon. South Africa, Malaysia, and the Gulf states are among the countries that are attracting migrants.

Regional mafias, linked to crime syndicates, which also control the traffic in arms and drugs, have become expert in people-smuggling. Human misery is used to create a genuine trade, a sort of criminal "marketing" exercise!

More and more people want to emigrate, but there aren’t enough visas to meet the demand. As a result, migration has become a very profitable illegal business. A whole system for bribing customs officials and civil servants has been created, so it’s become hard to determine whether someone is an economic or a political refugee.

Faced with the scope of this phenomenon, there are no simple solutions. It’s an illusion to think that frontiers can be closed. The problems are created well before that stage and need to be tackled at their point of origin. To control the mass movements of populations, there is no solution other than to reduce the economic and social discrepancies between the rich and the poor countries.

The problems need to be dealt with on the spot and multilateral action taken. It is also indispensable to go beyond mere legislative and legal considerations to solve the problems of asylum.

We are facing an emergency situation and only targeted, concrete projects will make it possible to take effective action!

S.E. Kamel MORJANE  
Assistant High Commissioner of United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)