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	Leaders Walk in the Shoes of a Refugee (OneWorld.net)
	WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (OneWorld.net) - Some of the world's influential leaders had the chance to experience life as a refugee during an annual economic summit last week -- for one hour they shared the suffering of 42 million people who have been forced to leave their homes by conflict or natural disaster. What's the Story? UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales may have fled from a rebel attack, while Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook tried to navigate a minefield. Nike CEO Mike Parker could have tried to strike a deal with corrupt border guards as Antonio Guterres, the head of the UN Refugee agency, was sent to live in a refugee camp. These are some of the scenarios participants faced in the Refugee Run exhibit at this year's World Economic Forum. The simulation was put together by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) and the Crossroads Foundation, an organization working to join private business and humanitarian aid. "The things you see in this simulation are the same as those in the camps," affirmed Raphael Mwandu, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, adding that it would help people "know what is going on in our world so that they can meet together and find solutions." Every year, top political and business figures from around the world gather in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum. The UNHCR capitalized on having all those leaders in one place to shine this spotlight on the plight of refugees and internally displaced people worldwide. [» Get the full story from UNHCR.] [» See photos of Refugee Run.] The World Refugee Situation At the beginning of 2009, UNHCR's annual Global Trends report showed 16 million refugees -- those who flee across national borders -- and 26 million internally displaced people, uprooted within their own countries. These numbers are expected to grow as conflict and climate change drive more people from their homes each year. As the Refugee Run exhibit demonstrated, refugees tend to move on short notice with few possessions and are generally in distress. In such emergencies, the protection and accommodation offered by a host country is often a refugee camp. But camps can become overcrowded and are prone to disease and violence. As the displaced population grows, refugee camps -- meant as a temporary solution -- are becoming a permanent fixture in many countries, a cause of concern for aid groups struggling to keep up with the demand for food and medical supplies in these camps. The UNHCR outlines three alternative, permanent solutions for refugees. Voluntary repatriation to their home country is the approach favored by the UN and much of the international community. But refugees do not always wish to return, fearing continued persecution or ongoing instability. Other permanent solutions include local integration into the host nation or resettlement in a third country, but these ideas are often met with opposition from foreign governments who see refugees as a burden. "The overall pattern is one of failure of the richer countries to honor the principle of sharing the burden of the global refugee population with developing countries," states OneWorld UK's Refugees topic guide, citing the United States as an example. Since the war in Iraq began, the U.S. government has agreed to admit only about 38,000 Iraqi refugees, while more than 53,000 vulnerable Iraqis remain in need of resettlement, notes a Human Rights First call for action on the issue. The responsibility of caring for displaced persons is therefore falling disproportionately on the developing world, where about 80 percent of the refugee population is currently found. The largest host country is Pakistan with 1.8 million refugees, mostly from Afghanistan. The developing world is expected to be hit even harder as the effects of climate change force more people from their homes in the coming years. Global warming projections indicate that as sea levels rise and extreme weather events devastate communities, climate migration will occur primarily in those countries least able to prepare for the consequences -- the world's poorest countries. Guterres, head of the UN refgee agency, said at the 2009 Copenhagen conference that "climate change will become the biggest driver of population displacements, both inside and across national borders, within the not too distant future." One of the main aims of the Refugee Run exhibit at the World Economic Forum (WEF) was to raise awareness of the plight of refugees among the business community and raise funds to support UNHCR efforts worldwide. However, critics of the WEF doubt that the business-focused summit can truly be tied to humanitarian aid. Backlash Against the World Economic Forum In protest of the economic summit, a group of anti-poverty filmmakers created a fake Web site for the WEF and forged videos showing eight world leaders outlining ambitious strategies to end poverty. In these fake videos, Queen Elizabeth II attributes her wealth to a "violent plundering of the southern hemisphere" while former U.S. president Bill Clinton talks about the exploitation of Haiti. "We did this out of frustration with the fact that each year in Davos, the wealthy and powerful figure out ways the global economy can continue to benefit them," said film director Philippe Diaz, who collaborated on the website with the Yes Men film team. "What you won't hear in Davos is anything about the structural factors at the root of global poverty," said film producer Beth Portello. "Poverty isn't an accident, and it won't end by accident, either." A counter-summit to the WEF has emerged over the past 10 years. About 30,000 people attended this year's World Social Forum (WSF) events in Porto Alegre, Brazil -- one of many cities around the world hosting WSF workshops, rallies, and discussions to coincide with the economic summit in Davos. The WSF started in January 2001 with the motto "Another World Is Possible." This annual social forum insists that another kind of globalization is possible; one that focuses on environmental and social justice rather than business. And the forum is gaining influence: pressure from the WSF helped force the World Bank to agree on debt relief for impoverished countries, reported Inter Press Service (IPS). The social forum "projects another vision of the world, not the Washington consensus or the Davos view that free markets are the solution," Leonardo Dahmer, a member of Brazil's governing Workers Party, told the Associated Press.  Despite being chosen to receive the "Global Statesmanship" award by the WEF this year, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva remarked at a WSF event that the WEF had "lost its glamor" since 2003, the year he took office, reported IPS. Foreign Minister Celso Amorim traveled to Davos on Lula's behalf to accept the WEF award, bringing with him a reprimand from the Brazilian head of state -- his acceptance speech criticized wealthy nations for not doing enough to help the world's poor and for causing the global economic crisis. The theme of this year's WEF was "Improve the State of the World: Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild." With initiatives like UNHCR's Refugee Run, political and business leaders at the annual economic summit may be persuaded to use their influence to help refugees and fight global poverty. The visions of the competing economic and social forums may someday come together to effect meaningful change. In a Facebook post detailing his experience as a Refugee Run participant, UNHCR's social media manager Richard Millington Discuss this article on OneWorld.net » OneWorld TV: 2009 World Refugee Day Message » OneWorld.net Topic Guide on Refugees and the Issues They Face » Subscribe to OneWorld's News Updates and Digests More from OneWorld: » People of 2009: Neipamei Ngodia and Kakenya Ntaiya » People of 2009: Thembi Ngubane » Haiti's Planting Season in Peril  » Sri Lanka IDPs Divided over Election Outcome Taken from here