UNHCR Report India

The location

India

Geographical Info• Land area: 3,287,590 km² • India is the 7th largest country by area and the 2nd most populated

country with 1.2 billion people• Ocean surrounding India: Indian Ocean

Arabian sea – Southwest Laccadive sea – South Bay of Bengal – Southeast

• India has nearly every kind of landscape available: In the North (places like: Kashmir, Jammu, etc.) there are snowy mountains with large

lakes and forests. In the South: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and many more places are home to some of

the India’s best beaches and along the coast lie rainforests.

• The climate varies and India has 4 main seasons: 1. Winter (December – February) 2. Summer (March – June) 3. Monsoon (June – September, only in the South-West) 4. Post-monsoon (October – November)

Where are the refugees from? Why are there IDPs and Refugees in India?

• Most of the refugees come from countries such as: Afghanistan Pakistan Sri Lanka Bangladesh Nepal Tibet Somalia Myanmar

• There are around 250,000 IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) from Kashmir (a state between Pakistan and India) due to the internal conflict.

• In Gujarat and Orissa states around 16,087 people were displaced due to Hindu-Muslim violence and 10,000 people displaced due to Hindu-Christian violence

Why have they left their homes?Why do they go to India?

• They have left their home countries because of: War Religious persecution Poverty

• Refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka go to India because it is the closest non-Muslim country.

Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka on the map

Where are the refugee camps?

• Some examples: For Sri Lankan refugees and asylum seekers – there are

camps based in Tamil Nadu (Tiruchirappalli, Coimbatore), Bangalore and Chennai

Refugees from Bangladesh go to camps along the borders of: West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura.

Tibetan refugees go to camps set up in smaller cities in Karnataka and in Bir, Himachal Pradesh.

The problems and barriers being faced by refugees (in India)

• The problems some of the refugees face in the camps/India:

Poverty Discrimination No increase in resources as the increase in refugees

rise Lack of direct access to camps Not able to earn money Cannot return to home countries (if they want to) Eligible refugees wanting to have Indian citizenship

Some of the actions being taken to overcome the problems

What they intend to do

1. Help refugees apply for long-term visas & work permits

2. Help refugees who wish to repatriate voluntarily

3. Provide financial assistance to vulnerable refugees with specific needs.

4. Provide legal assistance for refugees who can and want to apply for citizenship

5. Organize skills-training sessions

What will it do? 1. Allows refugees to earn a living in

India & not have to live in the camps

2. To help send the refugees who wish to go home, and allow them to.

3. Allows the vulnerable refugees to have some money in order to survive and improve their situation

4. This will allow the refugees to apply for citizenship if they cannot do it themselves

5. Allows refugees to develop skills and be able to use these skills to earn money

Gender-based violence Nutrition Education Resettlement Total budget available0

1,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

6,000,000

7,000,000

135,524 91,310

443,028198,584

6,457,921

Total Funds (USD) provided by the UNHCR and split into categories

Myanmar Afghanistan Various0

10

20

30

40

50

60

39

52

28

36

42

23

Percentage of asylum seekers who are female and/or under 18

% that are female% that are under 18

Country of Origin

Amou

nt o

f Peo

ple

(%)

Sri Lanka Afghanistan Myanmar Somalia Various0

10

20

30

40

50

60

49

4648

44

3131

42 43

8

Percentage of refugees who are female and/or under 18

% that are female% that are under 18

Country of Origin

Amou

nt o

f Peo

ple

(%)