Are you old enough to remember "World Refugee Year"? I do, some of my school friends had actually been refugees and we took a lot of interest in the television programmes and newspaper articles which the UN initiative inspired.
"Many refugees still remained in camps almost fifteen years after the end of the Second World War. This was seen as disgraceful by those who had suffered greatly during the war and those who were concerned about their situation.
"It was at this point that the United Nations launched a program to resolve the refugee problem once and for all. 1959-1960 was announced as World Refugee Year. The aim of this project was to 'clear the camps'. It achieved some significant results, especially in Europe. By the end of 1960, for the first time since before the war, all the refugee camps in Europe were closed".
Nearly half a century later the Methodist Church has become interested in another group of refugees, those Arabs who chose to leave Israel when the it became an independent sovereign state recognised by the United Nations but attacked by the armies of five neighbouring states.
In the 1940 and 1950s Europe saw massive movements of populations. There were many groups, German speakers throughout Eastern Europe for example, who were expelled by the new communist governments. Jewish refugees had fled to Israel, America and Britain.
By the mid 1960s all these European refugees had been absorbed into the receiving communities. Areas such as Hackney, for example, where I had been bought up had many families arrive after the Hungarian uprising. In Staffordshire many Polish refugees settled and worked the coal mines. Nottingham had a vibrant Ukrainian community.
In the 1970s there was the expulsion of Asian families from Uganda. They stayed in camps for just a few weeks and are now one of the most successful migrant groups within the UK .
The main ingredient for success seems to be to give refugees full civic and economic rights as quickly as possible. Leaving people in refugee camps simply doesn't work.
So why is it that there are still "refugee camps" that were established following the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948? Sixty years seems a long time to live in temporary accommodation.
Israel itself has absorbed successive waves of refugees, not just from Europe but from many of the historic Jewish communities throughout North Africa and the Middle East which were cleared by Arab pogroms during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.
A reader in Canada has sent me two articles from the National Post. One asks why do Palestinian refugees still live in camps, whereas others have made a success in their host countries?
The other article points to the systematic denial of civil and economic rights of Palestinians living in refugee camps in host Arab countries.
These people are clearly being used as pawns in a wider game. It is time the rest of us, especially in the Methodist Church, were a little bit worldly wise before we so easily condemn our friends in Israel.![]()
"Many refugees still remained in camps almost fifteen years after the end of the Second World War. This was seen as disgraceful by those who had suffered greatly during the war and those who were concerned about their situation.
"It was at this point that the United Nations launched a program to resolve the refugee problem once and for all. 1959-1960 was announced as World Refugee Year. The aim of this project was to 'clear the camps'. It achieved some significant results, especially in Europe. By the end of 1960, for the first time since before the war, all the refugee camps in Europe were closed".
Nearly half a century later the Methodist Church has become interested in another group of refugees, those Arabs who chose to leave Israel when the it became an independent sovereign state recognised by the United Nations but attacked by the armies of five neighbouring states.
In the 1940 and 1950s Europe saw massive movements of populations. There were many groups, German speakers throughout Eastern Europe for example, who were expelled by the new communist governments. Jewish refugees had fled to Israel, America and Britain.
By the mid 1960s all these European refugees had been absorbed into the receiving communities. Areas such as Hackney, for example, where I had been bought up had many families arrive after the Hungarian uprising. In Staffordshire many Polish refugees settled and worked the coal mines. Nottingham had a vibrant Ukrainian community.
In the 1970s there was the expulsion of Asian families from Uganda. They stayed in camps for just a few weeks and are now one of the most successful migrant groups within the UK .
The main ingredient for success seems to be to give refugees full civic and economic rights as quickly as possible. Leaving people in refugee camps simply doesn't work.
So why is it that there are still "refugee camps" that were established following the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948? Sixty years seems a long time to live in temporary accommodation.
Israel itself has absorbed successive waves of refugees, not just from Europe but from many of the historic Jewish communities throughout North Africa and the Middle East which were cleared by Arab pogroms during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.
A reader in Canada has sent me two articles from the National Post. One asks why do Palestinian refugees still live in camps, whereas others have made a success in their host countries?
The other article points to the systematic denial of civil and economic rights of Palestinians living in refugee camps in host Arab countries.
These people are clearly being used as pawns in a wider game. It is time the rest of us, especially in the Methodist Church, were a little bit worldly wise before we so easily condemn our friends in Israel.
