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'These refugees have all been abandoned in a seemingly permanent state of waiting, trapped between home and a land of opportunities.'Twitter @LimboFilm

Limbo: an uncertain period of awaiting a decision or resolution; an intermediate state or condition.

The 2020 film, endowed with this curious, one-word title, tells the story of a group of all-male refugees who have been sidelined in the Scottish Isles and are stuck in such a limbo-like state, waiting to hear news on their sanctuary application. It is director Ben Sharrocks second feature film and the filmmakers experience is made evident through his use of heavily stylised shots to convey his characters bare-bones lifestyle, while simultaneously delivering the resonant political commentary of the film.

Throughout the story, we mainly follow Omar, a Syrian musician who carries his grandfathers oud with him everywhere he goes his only remnant of home. He lives with Farhad, his mellow companion who endlessly picks up new trinkets from the local donation box, as well as two brothers, Wasef and Abedi. They are left with no hope but to each day wait for the mailman who stops at every house but theirs, withholding the long-anticipated letter of acceptance to release them from this modern-day purgatory.

Sharrock seems to be asking his audience: as a refugee, how do you fight?

Sharrocks direction is confident yet controlled, creating a consistent aesthetic throughout the film, which somehow manages to make ugly 80s sweaters (of which there is an abundance) seem cool. The beauty of every scene combined with its deadpan humour makes Limbo an entertaining watch at the bare minimum. What truly elevates the film, however, is its pertinence to todays refugee crisis and its huge amount of heart when dealing with this topic. The film clearly seeks to enforce the humanity of its subjects. The characters are not merely part of a statistic, portrayed as parasitic thieves, or trapped cattle being herded from one place to another. They are not defined by their status as refugees, but are portrayed as flesh-and-blood humans with hobbies, families, and endless memories of their lives before.

These refugees have all been abandoned in a seemingly permanent state of waiting, trapped between home and a land of opportunities. They are bombarded by the harsh Scottish weather, shown in all its ever-changing glory through the timeline of the film which stretches over several years, and portrayed as a character in its own right. The bitter winds and bleak skies create a backdrop which, although breathtakingly beautiful, aptly reflects the cold shoulder welcome from the Scottish residents who are themselves similarly neglected by the Government. The locals taunt them, recalling the caricatured, racist image of a Middle-Eastern terrorist that haunts Western nightmares. According to them, Omar and his friends are there to take their women, destroy their homes, wreak chaos and pain. This aimless waiting in such an unwelcoming community erodes any remaining spirit after Omars treacherous journey to the UK and rather than using violence or military action, the Government seems to be exercising a much more cost-effective tactic: stick them in the middle of nowhere and wait until they give up.

Refugees should not have to be plastered, dead, across the front of newspapers for us to care

This battle against the weather is the most tangible struggle in the film as any progress towards gaining asylum seems next to impossible. Sharrock seems to be asking his audience: as a refugee, how do you fight? By constantly rehearsing for job interviews? Watching your friends water themselves down and become more British, more palatable? Erasing every trace of your ethnic identity and culture despite still being marked as an outsider by everyone?

Limbos political commentary, therefore, is incredibly relevant and will no doubt remain so for the foreseeable future. However, with Afghanistan trumping Syria in most recent headlines with regards to urgent calls to accept as many refugees who are fleeing the Talibans take-over, it also exposes how different crises come in and out of fashion. It shows how our short attention span grasps onto them, producing a few Instagram posts and social media outrage, only to fade out just as quickly and inconsequentially as it appeared. And what happens then? These refugees become past their sell-by date as one migrant comments (Limbo, 2020). They are no longer in fashion, they get stuck in the middle of nowhere, in a constant limbo, forever.

Refugees should not have to be plastered, dead, across the front of newspapers for us to care. And Limbo avoids this sensationalism or the medias customary harsh demand for instant guilt and empathy. Its characters are not degraded in order for us to see their struggle. Instead, there is a quiet unravelling of the whys and the hows of their various complex situations and backstories which adds a warmth to the film despite the Islands overwhelmingly harsh weather.

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Portraying the refugee crisis in modern cinema - Varsity Online

PTI | | Posted by Sharangee Dutta, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

PUBLISHED ON SEP 14, 2021 10:13 PM IST

Turkey does not have the capacity to deal with a possible new refugee wave from Afghanistan, the Turkish president told German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in a telephone call on Tuesday.

During the call, Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said Germany and other European Union nations should provide assistance to Afghanistan's neighbours to help them as they bear the burden of the Afghan migration, according to a statement from the Turkish leader's office.

Turkey, which already hosts the world's largest refugee population, including 3.7 million Syrians, is concerned about a potential influx of refugees fleeing the Taliban. Anti-migrant sentiment has been running high in Turkey as it grapples with economic woes, including high unemployment, that have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

President Erdogan underlined that Turkey does not have the capacity to handle a new migration burden, said a statement from the presidential communications office.

Erdogan added that no one wants to relive an experience similar to the Syrian refugee wave of 2015, when hundreds of thousands of people reached Greek islands by boats from the nearby Turkish coast, on their way to seek asylum in more prosperous EU countries.

In 2016, Turkey and the EU signed a deal for Ankara to stem the flow of migrants heading toward Europe, in return for visa-free travel for Turkish citizens and substantial EU financial support.

Erdogan told the German president that the EU should rapidly take steps to ensure that the deal is implemented by re-starting Turkey's stalled membership talks, updating the customs union with Ankara and granting visa-free travel to Turkish citizens, according to the statement.

There was no statement on the call from the office of the German president, whose duties are largely ceremonial.

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Dont have capacity to handle new refugee influx': Turkey on Afghanistan crisis - Hindustan Times

In a country like Italy, which has been a longstanding hotbed of political contestation and polarisation, it comes as no surprise that the latest global crisis -- the fall of Afghanistan and the ensuing exodus of refugees -- should serve to ignite a heated public debate.

Over the past decade, Italy has found itself at the forefront of Europe's migrant crisis. Over the past weeks, it has evacuated more than 5,000 Afghans.

While other European governments have turned their backs, Italys prime minister, Mario Draghi -- who currently leads a big tent coalition government -- has openly welcomed refugees to Italy, criticising the EUs overall approach.

Draghis position has been echoed by others, especially on the left. But for the right, and a large percentage of the wider Italian public, it represents a bone of contention.

As a result of its position, Italy has been one of Europes main gateways for migrants and asylum seekers arriving via the Mediterranean Sea.

Many of those making the perilous journey enter the country through the small Sicilian islands of Lampedusa and Linosa, just off the coast of Tunisia.

While Italy has hosted refugees fleeing from war-torn territories and extreme poverty for decades, it received the biggest bulk of arrivals in the past 10 years. At the peak of the Mediterranean refugee crisis in 2016, 181,436 people reached Italys shores.

At the time, such an influx sparked a fierce political debate in a country that was still reeling from the shock of the Eurozone crisis.

While attitudes in Italy towards refugees have traditionally been warm, a noticeable shift occurred in the mid-2010s, as refugees came to be framed as a danger in mainstream media narratives. A survey also revealed Italians overestimated the percentage of foreigners living in the country.

The EU, in particular, came under fire, as a perceived lack of solidarity -- especially as the Dublin Regulation country of first arrival policy had put a particular onus on Italy -- prompted a surge in Eurosceptic sentiment.

The meteoric rise of Northern League (Lega Nord) leader Matteo Salvini has been linked by a variety of scholars and media outlets to the refugee crisis itself, with his transformation of the Lega from a moribund, scandal-ridden secessionist party into the nationalist, pan-Italian force. The party, standing on an anti-immigration platform, won the 2019 European Parliament elections in Italy.

As the Talibans takeover of Afghanistan has caused thousands to flee from their homes, this new refugee crisis has led to politicians coalescing along the same lines as in the mid-2010s - with the left supporting an open doors policy and the right expressing concern.

Polls would also suggest that the division inside Romes parliament is reflected within the wider Italian public. A survey conducted by Affaritaliani.it found that almost half of Italians (47.1%) were opposed to welcoming Afghan refugees into the country and Europe at large.

On the far-right end of the political spectrum, figures like the Leagues Matteo Salvini and Giorgia Meloni from Brothers of Italy (Fratelli dItalia) have shown hesitancy towards the prospect of thousands of Afghan refugees entering and settling in Italy, fearing a mass wave of migrants that could "burden" the country.

Speaking last month, Salvini stated that he supported the idea of humanitarian corridors for women and children but wanted there to be checks on those wishing to come to Italy.

Open doors for thousands of men, including potential terrorists? he quipped. Absolutely not.

Salvinis coalition colleague, Giorgia Meloni has taken a more hardline stance by arguing that neighbouring countries should be the ones to welcome Afghan refugees, believing that humanitarian corridors are not the solution.

As the German Chancellor [Angela] Merkel has already stated we believe that the first thing to do is to support the states right next to Afghanistan to help them welcome refugees, Meloni said.

Even Berlusconis party -- the more moderate, centre-right Forza Italia -- was concerned by the possible security threat posed by welcoming refugees into the country.

[This] humanitarian crisis risks turning into a mass immigration that would be very dangerous for our already-compromised social system, stated Antonio Tajani, the Coordinator of Forza Italia and the former President of the European Parliament (2017-2019).

Umberto La Morgia, a former Northern League councillor in the Emilia-Romagna region, and now a member of the Brothers of Italy, told Euronews: Its understandable that people should be leaving [Afghanistan], and that, in this case, were dealing with actual refugees who need to be helped and welcomed."

At the same time, however, he reiterated that it should be neighbouring countries and the US -- as opposed to Italy -- who ought to provide the greatest degree of assistance, while supporting a humanitarian corridor between Afghanistan and Italy for women and children in particular.

Opposing the trepidation felt among many on the right, both the centre-left coalition (headed by the Democratic Party - Partito Democratico) and -- albeit less forcefully -- the populist Five Star Movement (Movimento 5 Stelle) have supported humanitarian corridors and urgently called for refugees to be accepted into Italy.

Lets mobilise the nation to help those who are staying [in Afghanistan] and welcome those who are fleeing, tweeted Democratic Party leader and former Italian Prime Minister (2013-2014), Enrico Letta. Lets support Afghan society, its evolution, and the women and men who dont want to go back to the Middle Ages. We are here.

Various mayors across Italy, including Romes Virginia Raggi, from the Five Star Movement, have openly welcomed the arrival of refugees. Also, several politicians, figures and leaders have condemned the rhetoric of many on the far-right, deeming it divisive and against the spirit of international cooperation.

Stirring up arguments about [welcoming refugees] doesnt make sense, asserted Laura Boldrini, a Democratic Party MP and former President of the Chamber of Deputies (2013-2018) and United Nations spokesperson. All thats needed is for the laws that already exist on requests for humanitarian protection to be respected - laws that, first and foremost, foresee an access to the [destinations] territory.

Moreover, Andrea Mammone, a professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, and one of the leading experts specialising in the history of the far-right, strongly criticised the way in which the Afghan refugee crisis had been politicised as part of a nationalist agenda.

As with many other European far-right politicians, Salvini and Meloni initially criticised the West because of its military policy - which was abandoning Afghanistan in the hands of radical Islam, he told Euronews. But they immediately made it clear how Italy cannot take refugees. In doing so, they show their anti-immigrant politics, considering Islam to be against traditional European values.

For the thousands of Afghan refugees currently residing in Italy, the crisis has caused deep concern. Many are worried about their relatives still in Afghanistan or struggling to leave.

Gulbadin Ahmedzai is one such person. Fleeing in 2016, he was hosted by family near Padua, in the Northern Italian region of Veneto, where he now speaks fluent Italian and runs a pizzeria.

My family wanted to stay in Afghanistan, but now I want them to be safe, here with me, he said, troubled by ongoing developments in his home country. These days I keep reiterating my promise to them: I will bring you all here, to safety.

Another refugee from the Panjshir region, who escaped to Italy last month, told Euronews last month that he would have been killed by the Taliban had he stayed, and that he fears for members of his family who have stayed behind.

We are all very worried, stated Qurban Ali Esmaely, the president of the Cultural Association of Afghans in Italy, while speaking to ANSA. We dont know how to help, everyone just thinks about how and to where theyll escape. Theres an indescribable terror among people.

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In Italy, the Afghan exodus has sparked a heated and divisive debate - Euronews

The European Qualifications Passport for Refugees is a specially developed assessment scheme for refugees, even for those who cannot fully document their qualifications, providing an assessment of the higher education qualifications based on available documentation and a structured interview.

The importance of such a scheme was discussed in Belgrade today, with participation of Drahoslav tefnek, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees, Council of Europe.

I am happy to host this evet at our premises, as it turns spotlight on a very important aspect of refugees life, said Ambassador of the Slovak Republik to Serbia, Fedor Rosocha in his opening statement. I welcome all efforts of the Council of Europe and UNHCR/UN agencies to improve the chances of this vulnerable group of people for their integration and progression towards employment or further studies.

The European Qualifications Passport for Refugees is a unique instrument providing refugees with an assessment of qualifications that cannot be fully documented. The passport methodology is based on the Lisbon Recognition Convention concerning Higher Education in Europe of the Council of Europe which Serbia joined 2004. We are looking forward to refugees being able to fully enjoy their rights and freedoms, including to continue their studies or find a job related to their education in Serbia or elsewhere in Europe, said Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade.

We are very pleased that Council of Europe, Ministry of Education, Agency for Qualifications and National Employment Service and UNHCR will bring new opportunities to the refugee population in Serbia through the European Qualifications Passport for Refugees. This is an important document for refugee students, if they decide to continue studies here or work with their previously acquired qualifications which are now going to be recognised, Francesca Bonelli, UNHCR Representative said.

Drahoslav tefnek, Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees, Council of Europe highlighted that the European Qualifications Passport for Refugees (EQPR) is a tool that helps Member States of the Council of Europe not only to deal with the current refugee crisis, but can help in preparation of the future crisis. For instance, the EQPR project delivered just last week, on 10 September, a specific training module for credentials evaluators dealing with qualifications from Afghanistan. No other such international instrument exists in Europe, added Mr tefnek.

Sneana Vukovi, Head of Sector for Human and Minority Rights in Education, Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia said that the Republic of Serbia has become an example in the European educational space in the field of education of migrants and asylum seekers through inclusive educational practice.

As she explained, since 2017, educational and psycho-social support in the process of education and upbringing has been provided for migrant students in schools. Since education is a basic human right, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development has regulated this area by adopting expert guidance for the inclusion of refugee students / asylum seekers in the education system, but also improving the legal framework. So far, over 4,500 migrant students have successively passed through the education system. Applying the Professional Instruction, over 3,000 individual support plans for migrant students were developed, 115 support plans at the school level, over 10,000 additional hours of learning the Serbian language were held, peer support in learning was provided.

At all levels of education, refugee enrolment is lower than that of non-refugees. The picture rapidly worsens as refugee children get older. UNHCR and partners have set an ambitious target globally, of 15 per cent for refugee enrolment at the tertiary level by 2030. The good news is that the most recent enrolment level for higher education is at 5 per cent, up from 3 per cent year-on-year and 1 per cent only a few years ago.

Serbia has also contributed to this trend. Following months of preparation for entrance exams supported by UNHCR partners, advocacy and communications with academic institutions, four young refugees, including two former unaccompanied and separated children from Afghanistan, a young man from Libya and a young woman from Burundi succeeded in enrolling into Belgrade Universities.

They represent a very important progress in Serbia of access to higher education for refugees .

Government of Serbia has highlighted the inclusion of children and youth from the refugee population in higher education as one of its pledges at the 2019 Global Refugee Forum.

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European Qualifications Passport for Refugees to bring new opportunities to the refugee population in Serbia - Council of Europe

ELEVEN FAMILIES FROM the fire-destroyed Greek refugee camp Moria have arrived in Ireland, eleven months since the government first made the commitment to resettle 50 people.

Welcoming the families this evening, Minister for Children Roderic OGorman acknowledged that their arrival was delayed due to Covid-19.

While all efforts were made to accelerate the arrival of these families, their arrival has taken longer than we would have hoped, as a result of Covid-19, the Minister tweeted this evening.

Seven of the families have been transferred to accommodation centres, while four families were transferred to community sponsorship groups.

More than 12,000 people were left in emergency need of shelter after fires swept through the Moria camp on 9 September 2020.

Ireland made the commitment to resettle 50 people in family groups under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP) on 1 October last year.

Officials from the IRPP and An Garda Sochna were due to travel to Greece in the weeks following McEntees announcement on a selection and security screening mission. However, it did not commence until 31 May of this year.

During the selection process, members of An Garda Sochna carried out security checks, including fingerprinting and interviews, according to the Department of Children.

Meanwhile, members of the IRPP carried out interviews focused on cultural integration, ensuring that proposed refugees understand the culture of Ireland which refugees will be expected to embrace along with ensuring that refugees understand that their culture and religion will be respected in Ireland.

Separately, the government agreed to resettle 36 unaccompanied minors from Lesbos. Four children arrived last summer, and the remaining 28 are expected in Ireland by the end of this month.

Harmful policies

The 2015 migration crisis saw Moria built just two years earlier to hold 3,000 people inundated as a huge wave of migrants began arriving on small boats from nearby Turkey. As other European states responded by shutting their borders, the bottlenecks grew.

As numbers at Moria ballooned to 20,000, the camp became a byword for squalor and violence, where prostitution, sexual assault, disappearances of minors, drug trafficking and fights were rife. Then late on 8 September, the first of two fires broke out.

No one died in the blaze, but it sparked a chaotic exodus of 12,000 people.

Lesbos locals, who had seen more than 450,000 migrants pass through in a year, were enraged as towns, villages and fields were again flooded including by children, pregnant women and disabled people forced to sleep rough for days. Against strong local opposition, authorities set up a camp on a former army range.

One year later, dozens of NGOs, including Amnesty International, are accusing Greece of pursuing harmful policies focused on deterring and containing asylum seekers and refugees.

In a joint report, 45 NGOs and civil society groups said the Greek government is pursuing harmful policies focused on deterring and containing asylum seekers and refugees.

Greek authorities stress that Lesbos is significantly less crowded, and that migration flows are also lower. Greek Migration Minister Mitarachi said the country is no longer and will never again become the gateway to Europe.

The right-leaning government elected in 2019 also denies imploring a policy of forcibly pushing back would-be refugees before they can claim asylum on Greek soil.

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Human rights groups say the reduced migrant flow reflects the current governments more hardline approach to even legitimate refugees, and attribute the reduction in numbers to a policy of forcibly pushing arrivals back to Turkey.

The European Commission last March announced 276 million of EU funding to build migrant centres on five Aegean islands facing Turkey, including Lesbos.

A new camp was due to open on Lesbos before winter, but work has yet to begin. On Samos Island, a new camp is due to open at the end of the month.

- With reporting from AFP.

This work is co-funded by Journal Media and a grant programme from the European Parliament. Any opinions or conclusions expressed in this work is the authors own. The European Parliament has no involvement in nor responsibility for the editorial content published by the project. For more information,see here.

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Eleven families arrive in Ireland from Moria refugee camp in Lesbos - TheJournal.ie