Christian Acosta

Business English, 4th Period

Mrs. Laura Shepard

8 October, 2018

The Reasons for the 21st Century Humanitarian Crisis

The refugee crisis has become an ever-growing problem in this decade. A prominent

example is the Syrian Refugee Crisis in 2016, where, as explained by AlJazeera writer Diana Al

Rifai on May 25, 2017, is “one of the largest humanitarian crises since the end of World War

Two.” Another prominent example is the refugee crisis in Iran, where Iranian citizens had to

escape the tyranny of the Taliban, a group, as described by BBC on May 26th, 2016, looking to

“restore peace and security and enforce their own austere version of Sharia, or Islamic law, once

in power.” Refugee crises are nothing new, as they have been prominent much throughout

history; however, what we sometimes fail to analyze is what causes these humanitarian crises.

The three main causes of refugee crises around the world is war, poverty, and persecution, as

many people fall victim to these three problems in source countries.

The first main reason, and the most common reason in the more recent years, is war. As

mentioned above, the Syrian Refugee Crisis was a growing issue back in 2016, as many people

had to flee during the Syrian Civil War. What most people don’t realize is a lot of people are

internally displaced, which, as defined by the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement in

1998, is people “who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border.” Now, the

reason this is so prominent is because wars have some terrible effects, namely the erosion of

homes. Another example is the Sudanese Civil War, where a civil war broke up Sudan into two

parts (Sudan and South Sudan) and caused for the displacement of many individuals. People

have to escape because death is imminent in warfare and people must protect their kids. This
Christian Acosta

Business English, 4th Period

Mrs. Laura Shepard

8 October, 2018

reason is the most important reason because it’s often the reason most people get killed in their

home countries, as proven by Brianna Acuesta in 2017.

The second and third reasons why most people flee their home countries is poverty and

persecution. Most nations that are deteriorating are usually victims of poverty and persecution of

its people. As we notice throughout history, money equates to stability and power, and the lack

thereof equates to powerless and chaotic. As proven by Greece, one of the world’s failing

economies, the nation has no power because it has no money. It is often left to the power of the

EU, which assumed the nation’s national debt. An article by the CIA World Factbook in 2014

clearly shows, at the time, Syria had 82.5% of their citizens below the poverty line, which ended

up leading to war. Why? Because war creates revenue. If we have war, we have the circulation of

money for goods and services. Persecution is another problem in source countries. As proven by

the example in my introduction, many of the people persecuted in Iran are because of beliefs. As

said by Malala Yousafzai in 2014, she was persecuted by the Taliban because of her belief in

education. People must escape because often both of these reasons end up leading to war, which,

as stated above, is dangerous for quality of life.

To conclude, the three reasons I present are most prominent because they are commonly

seen in the recent years. Many refugees have fallen victim to war, poverty, and persecution

because source nations, such as Syria and Sudan, have these problems that lead to the problem

that pushes people out of their homes, war. When organizations like the UN and member nations
Christian Acosta

Business English, 4th Period

Mrs. Laura Shepard

8 October, 2018

work to help these people, it is important to consider the problems above, as solving these

problems can be essential to solving the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis

Christian Acosta

Business English, 4th Period

Mrs. Laura Shepard

8 October, 2018

Works Cited

Acuesta, Brianna. “Internal Displacement.” Syria | IDMC, www.internal-

displacement.org/internal-displacement.

“Populations Below the Poverty Line.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence

Agency, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2046.html.

“Who Are the Taliban?” BBC News, BBC, 26 May 2016, www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-

11451718.

“Syrian Refugee Crisis: All Your Questions Answered.” GCC News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera,

www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2015/07/syria-refugee-crisis-150709120935092.html.