Today's Editorial

Refugee rights, the gendered nature of displacement

Relevance: GS paper I & II

Why in News?

Refugee women, especially those with disabilities are guaranteed certain rights but are seldom able to realize them given the multitude of barriers they face.

Displacement and Causes: 

• Armed conflicts, violence, human rights abuses, and persecution have led to millions of people being displaced worldwide. 
• According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), by the end of 2023, 11.73 crore people were forcibly displaced, with 3.76 crore identified as refugees. 
• These people were displaced primarily due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order. 
• The ongoing Israel-Hamas and Ukraine-Russia wars, along with threats faced by the Rohingyas in Myanmar, suggest that these numbers will rise going forward.

The Gendered Nature of Refugee Demographics: 

• India, a nation that has hosted over 2,00,000 diverse refugee groups since its independence, had 46,000 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with the UNHCR as of January 2022. 
• Of this population, 46% are women and girls, a disproportionately burdened and vulnerable group. 
• These women face disproportionate burdens, such as sole accountability for children, caregiving responsibilities, and family sustenance.

Impact of Displacement on Women's Health and Well-being:

• The United Nations Population Fund has stated that “the face of displacement is female.” 
• Displacement exposes women to severe stressors, including the death of family members, hardships in camp life, altered family dynamics, and reduced safety. 
• Refugee women are at higher risk of physical and sexual violations, leading to increased susceptibility to mental health conditions like PTSD, anxiety, and depression. 

• Displaced women are twice as likely to exhibit symptoms of PTSD and over four times as likely to exhibit depression, as compared to their male counterparts. 

• A study in Darfur, Sudan showed that 72% of displaced women were affected with conditions such as PTSD and general distress due to traumatic events and living conditions in camps.

Challenges in Mental Health Care:

• Social and gender inequalities, especially in patriarchal societies, often lead to the experiences of displaced women being dismissed. 
• This results in their mental health issues going unnoticed, with stigma and isolation exacerbating the situation. 
• Refugee women with limited financial resources prioritize physical over mental health, and mental health services are often inaccessible.
• Mental health service use has been reported to be lower among refugees than local populations and among women than men. The situation is worse when the host society is also traditionally patriarchal, as is the case with India.
• In India, community participation is predominantly male-dominated, leaving refugee women isolated in a foreign land without a platform to voice their concerns. 
• Further, the pervasive stigma surrounding psychosocial disabilities restricts their access to information. 
• The mental health services then available to them are typically either in government hospitals that have extended wait times or through support services by (unregulated) non-governmental organizations. 
• In seeking these limited options as well, refugee women encounter challenges such as stigma, feelings of shame, communication barriers, and limited mental health literacy and awareness of available services. 

International Conventions and India's Role:

• The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) recognizes ‘psychosocial disability’ and guarantees a range of rights to those affected. 
• The UNCRPD also recognises that ‘women and girls with disabilities are subject to multiple discrimination’ and mandates measures to ensure ‘full and equal enjoyment by them of all human rights and fundamental freedoms’ (Article 6). These guarantees are required to be secured to all without any discrimination (Article 5). 
• India, having ratified the UNCRPD, enacted the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPWDA). 
• However, refugee women with psychosocial disabilities in India are often excluded from these guarantees.
• This is attributable to factors such as the legal and administrative framework’s oversight of non-nationals in distribution of rights and services, social stigma and discrimination, lack of awareness, language barriers and financial constraints. 

The Need for Structural Reform:

• India is neither a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention nor does it have specific domestic legislation for refugees, particularly those with disabilities. 
• Given the vast refugee population in the country, it is imperative to establish a uniform, codified framework that provides adequate language for implementing India’s international commitments. 
• This is also necessitated by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which emphasizes empowering vulnerable populations, including persons with disabilities and refugees. 
• To secure the implementation of the aforesaid guarantees, it is crucial to integrate refugees with disabilities into relevant policies and programmes in an accessible manner. 
• Effective policy-making also depends on collection of disaggregated data on their health conditions, necessitating swift and systematic identification and registration processes. 

Conclusion: 

Until these structural gaps are addressed, refugee women with psychosocial disabilities will continue to face significant challenges in accessing their rights. The pressing question remains whether they must continue to endure these hardships or lose hope and give up.

Beyond Editorial: