Victims of hurricane Katrina are internally displaced persons, not refugees

Excerpt:

In widely circulated media reports in the days following the disaster of hurricane Katrina, victims of the hurricane were labeled “refugees.”[1] Other reports had victims rejecting such classifications and insisting on their status as American citizens. As a matter of international law, it is clear that persons who were forced to flee the hurricane and the subsequent disasters on the Gulf coast are not refugees. Rather, the international community refers to such persons as internally displaced. A particular set of international standards applies to them.

Refugees are persons who flee abroad because their own government denies them human rights protection either by persecuting them actively or by not helping them against dangers emanating from third parties. International law protects such persons by means of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol[2] and regional instruments such as the 1969 Refugee Convention of the Organization of the American States (OAS) and the 1984 Cartagena Declaration.

The victims of hurricane Katrina who had to flee their homes have neither left the United States nor lost any of their human rights vis-à-vis the U.S. government. However, they have left their homes involuntarily and thus are internally displaced persons within the meaning of the 1998 Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.

cont….

As far as practicality is concerned, all people who are “forced” out of their homes are refugees. They are seeking “refuge” from whatever is threatening them, whether it is nature or a man-made act of war. Refugees can stay within their national boundaries or leave to other nations.

I was raised in a society of “refugees.” In fact, after this current Israeli bombardment, half the Lebanese population (2 million people) became refugees in their own land, many remain living in tents to this day. In the Middle East it is a political statement and an existential one as well. In fact, all people of the world agree on the definition, except in the United States and why? Because there is still the perception in this country, even among the downtrodden, deprived, and homeless that somehow they are “better” than a refugee.

Is that racism?

Another main concern was the safety of the teenage girls in the absence of proper family supervision and the outward display of sexuality, whether in scantiness of clothing or over use of makeup that many of the young girls exhibited (absence of supervision was a common problem within the families for a number of reasons). Protecting vulnerable people is difficult to do in a shelter that houses over 4,000 and thousands more volunteers (who also can be perverts) roaming around inside the place.

Many in the second group opted to stay back for the purpose of criminal activity (a common occurrence in war and disasters). Most poor and working class people are concerned about protecting their children and providing for them and the fears stem from that.

I think there are certain aspects of fear that are based in reality. The challenge is to figure out what is true and what is not and deal with it, and protect the helpless from those who will prey upon them.

There are, however, blatant racists who will use fear to justify their behavior.

MODERATOR’S NOTE: People from the area find the term “refugees” applied to them offensive.

Who do you think they are worried about when they worry about these “refugees from disasters like Katrina”? What does such a ‘refugee from disasters like Katrina’ look like? What do the residents of that town look like?

Cheers,

Sololeum

NOTE: I am not an anarchist. (-:

But in reality, the entire thing is just another example of typical northern Rocky Mountain white-supremecist, male “gun-ism”.

Randy

If it feels different, it’s only because the definition of us and them has been altered. “We’re arming ourselves against old people.” “We’re arming ourselves against infants.” Change any part of how groups are defined, present them without the benefit of years of training in “us” and “them,” and people become uncomfortable.