Refugee Aid Project
Mission
Our mission is to listen to thousands of silent refugees, who have been forced to leave everything behind and flee their lands in search of a safe life. We want to ensure that no one - individual, no group, no government, can take away the basic human right to live with dignity, freedom, equality, justice, and peace.
Why do we care
The Refugee Crisis in today’s world is an urgent humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions and impact. Despite the increasing focus of the global media in highlighting the extent of refugee problems, there are several groups of refugees who have had very less attention and need urgent help. These ‘Silent refugees’ are victims of forced poverty, homelessness and lack of legal status, who fled their homes in search of a safe life and a home to live, learn and prosper. The Refugee Aid Project (RAP)’s mission is a humanitarian effort to bring dignity, safety, justice and uphold the universal human rights of these individuals who has been displaced due to war, conflict or religious persecution in neighboring countries and are seeking refuge in the Indian subcontinent.
What is happening in the Indian Subcontinent?
The saga of the Indian refugee crisis began with the India & Pakistan's Independence in 1947 and is still on-going. In more than 7 decades, India has seen a continuous influx of refugees fleeing conflict from her neighboring nations and seeking refuge in India.  Major refugee crisis related to the 1947 partition, Dalai Lama’s political asylum, Bangladesh war, Sri Lankan Tamil migration, Afghan refugee following the Soviet war and Rohingyas from Myanmar have been in the news and received some attention. Little is however known on the continuous migration of thousands of refugees every year until today, owing to religious and ethnic persecutions in neighboring countries- majorly Pakistan & Bangladesh. Under such circumstances, religious minorities, especially women and children face a disproportionate share of this violence, live a life of fear and humiliation, and hence need special attention in the neighboring countries of India. Today, lakhs of such “Silent’ refugees who have had to flee Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, most of them due to religious & ethnic persecution, are living in scattered camp and non-camp settings all over India.
What do we do?
With a continuous rise in the migrant and refugee population in cities, towns & villages across India, there is an immediate need to deal with the reception of these refugees and their integration into the society. RAP focuses on identifying and bringing attention of all stake holders to such ‘Silent’ refugee crisis, expose this kind of violence and bring attention of policy makers Internationally on these key areas that have been neglected, but need attention. Another objective of RAP is to take up social-economic programs that help the refugees to restart a life of dignity in India. In summary, our primary goal is to ensure that no one , no group, no government, can take away the basic human right of an individual to live with dignity, freedom, equality, justice, and peace. Here is what we do.
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Research
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Socio-economic program
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Policy Suggestions