The global refugee problem

I want to start my text of explaining what exactly a refugee is.

''A refugee is a person who is outside their home country because they have suffered (or feared) persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, or political opinion; because they are a member of a persecuted social category of persons; or because they are fleeing a war. Such a person may be called an "asylum seeker" until recognized by the state where they make a claim.''

Extract from wikipedia (source at the bottom)

But where do these refugees come from? Every year about 43 million people are leaving their homses because of war, natural disasters etc. In 2014, Syria, Palestine, and Afghanistan were the largest source country of refugees. The country hosting the largest number of refugees at the moment is Syria, with 2.47 million refugees. Pakistan is second, hosting 1.6 million refugees. The current amount of refugees is largest since the 1990's. These refugees face a lot of problems. They have to leave their home, leave their past behind and start from scratch. For someone this may be a good thing, but leaving everything behind is never easy. If they have to move from their home land forever, they will also have to adapt to a new society and adapt to its norms and values.

Refugees will often end up in refugee camps. Approximately 700 refugee camps locations around the world. A refugee camp is a place built by governments or NGOs such as the International Committee of the Red Cross. The refugees in these camps may stay for food and medical help until its safe to return to their homes. Some times, the refugees never get to return to their homes for safety reasons. As a result they are resettled in "third countries", away from the border they crossed. However, more often than not, refugees are not resettled. In the meantime, child soldier recruitment, they are at risk for disease, terrorist recruitment, and physical and sexual violence.

When war or civil unrest ravages a community, masses or people are forcibly displaced. At the extreme, they are left with only two options: death by privation, assault or genocide, or life in exile. By 2010, UNHCR had identified 6.6 million stateless persons in 60 countries. Yet it estimated that the overall number was the double of this. Unfortunately, natural disasters and conflict continue to take their toll on people like this. But it is much, much better than it might have been, thanks to the commitment of the UN to help them return to their homes.

I will leave you with an extract from the New York times showing problems with illegal immigration by boat in Australia.

''Last fall, Prime Minister Tony Abbott launched Operation Sovereign Borders, a campaign involving the military to divert boats full of asylum seekers to Indonesia before they can reach Australian shores. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison now says that no boat has arrived in Australia in the last six months, and vows to

take “every step necessary to ensure that people who arrive illegally by boat are not rewarded with permanent visas.''

My sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugee

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/05/opinion/australias-refugee-problem.html

http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/refugees/

The voices of immigration in America

These videos show the importance of immigrants influence on America. America is a country of immigrants, and has always been this way. President Obama said the following in his speech about the American immigration system: ''We were strangers once to''. Immigrants have contribued to a lot of good causes in America. A lot of help on scientific research and business has come from abroad. You could say that immigrants are the backbone of America. After all, the founders of this country were immigrants. 

“More than any other nation on Earth, America has constantly drawn strength and spirit from wave after wave of immigrants… Bearing different memories, honoring different heritages, they have strengthened our economy, enriched our culture, renewed our promise of freedom and opportunity for all.”

  BILL CLINTON     June 13, 1998

I like this quote by Bill Clinton because it shows how USA has become better, and better by the ever increasing amount of immigrants comign to contribute one way or antoher. The way i see it, is that it doesn't matter where you are from, who you are, your past, We are all in this together improving America, and continue making it a desirable country to live in with freedom for all.

    Obama's speech

a)
1. He wants to enforce the border patrol in the south by giving the personnel additional resources

2. He wants to make it easier for high skilled immigrants, graduates and entrepreneurs to stay and contribute to the economic

3. He also wants to make it an option for illegal immigrants who meet the criteria, to stay and work or study in USA.

b)
There is still actions president Obama can take as president. Although he can’t pass the bill himself he can still make some change in the immigration system himself

c)
He says that what makes Americans is their shared commitment to an idea. He also says that the USA is a nation of immigrants, and all are equal

d)
Obama wants the House of Representatives to pass immigration reform that combines border enforcement with a realistic path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

e)
I think it seems like a great idea, and really cannot see why anyone would oppose this. It seems fair for both American citizens and illegal immigrants. Sadly I cannot imagine this bill being passed anytime soon. If the congress has refused to pass the bill for 1,5 years now, the chances are that the bill is not going to be passed

Do you think the bill, will be passed?

Feel free to leave a comment.

This text is about 3 different countries and their relation to English. English is a language you will find in every corner of the world. There are many people in the world with English as their mother tongue, but there is also a massive amount of people around the world that speak English as a second language.

Russia

 Russia has kind of a complicated relationship to English. Mainly after World war 2. Usa’s and Russia’s political views and ideals aren’t exactly the same.

Russian is part of the Slavonic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is closely related to other Slav languages such as Czech and polish. Russian is spoken as a mother tongue by about 150 million people in Russia and the former republics of the USSR. Russian is written using the Cyrillic alphabet, some of whose letters are similar to letters in the Latin alphabet used by English. Russian learners of English may experience initial problems writing in English. Russian has a similar number of consonants to English, but their sounds do not fully overlap. As with many other learners of English, the ‘’w’’ and ‘’v’’ sounds are troublesome. The ng sound at the end of words like sing or thinking is difficult for Russian learners to produce accurately. Due to differences in the phonological systems, it is relatively difficult for Russians to acquire native-speaker-like standards of pronunciation.

Germany

German is spoken by approximately 95 million people around the world and is the official language of Germany, Austria and parts of Switzerland. Both English and German belongs to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. Because they are so closely related, they share many features. The use of English especially in business in Germany, is widespread enough that it is mandatory in school often from grade 5. So most Germans under about 50 will have had English in school at one point or another. The differences will come in how much they practice it how often they encounter English speakers. Germans as a culture are into travelling, and studying abroad is very common. They are in the middle of Europe with different languages on nearly every side. The more a German has travelled the more likely that their English will be passable.

South Africa

English in South Africa dates back to the arrival of the British at the Cape of Good Hope in 1795. As was the case in most colonies. English was primarily introduced by soldiers and administrators, then by missionaries and settlers.

As a result, English is generally understood across the country, being the language of business, politics and the media, and is regarded as the country's lingua franca. However, it only ranks a joint fifth as a home language.

Because of South Africa’s linguistic diversity. All 11 languages have had a profound effect on each other. South African English, for example, is filled with words and phrases from Afrikaans, isiZulu, Nama, and other African languages. South African English is an established and unique dialect, with strong influences from Afrikaans and the country's many African languages. As a home language, English is most common in Gauteng, where more than a third of all English-speaking South Africans are found.

Here are my sources:

South Africa
Russia
Germany

Here is the link to the video i used in my presentation.