guideline: unhcr- refugees and internally displaced ...by the 21st century the un refugee agency had...
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GUIDELINE: UNHCR- Refugees and Internally Displaced People
HISTORY:
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees rises due to the magnitude of
displacements in Europe during World War ll. Formally, the UN refugee agency was
established by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 319 (IV) on December 14,
1950 with a three-year mandate only to complete its work and then dissociate. On July 28th
of 1951, the United Nations Convention (the legal foundation of helping refugees and the
basic charter guiding UNHCR's work) relating to the Status of Refugees was adopted.
In 1956 the UNHCR was working on a very important conflict facing its first major
emergency: the high amount of refugees caused by the attack made by the Soviet forces
during the Hungarian Revolution. Subsequently, in the 1960’ the decolonization of Africa
triggered a massive refugee crisis needing an immediate UNHCR intervention. Later on, until
the end of the century, the UNHCR had to attend displacement crisis all over the world.
By the 21st century the UN refugee agency had concentrated its efforts in Africa and Asia,
specifically in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia, and on the 30-year-old
Afghan refugee issue. The UNHCR has also worked by guiding and advising many conflicts
of internal displacement inside different states; not only helping natives but also supporting
stateless people that do not have their basic rights because of the lack of citizenship. Due to
the success of its actions, the UNHCR original 1951 mandate has been strengthened by
agreement on regional legal instruments in some parts of the world, such as Africa and Latin
America.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has been recognized through different
awards thanks to its accomplishments. In 1954 and later on 1981, the organization won the
Nobel Peace Prize for its work and dedication to refugees.
IMPORTANT FACTS:
From 34 staff members in 1950, to more than 8,600 national and international
members of staff by 2012.
It is present in 126 countries.
It has 135 main locations (regional and branch offices)
It has 279 remote sub-offices and field offices.
The budget went from US$300,000 in its first year to more than US$3.59 billion in
2012.
There are more than 43 million uprooted people worldwide.
UNHCR is in charge of helping 33.9 million people from which 14.7 million are
internally displaced people, 10.5 million are refugees, 3.1 million are returnees, 3.5
million are stateless people, more than 837,000 are asylum seekers and more than 1.3
are other persons of concern (2012).
OPERATION:
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is controlled by the UN General
Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), to which it must report annually
its work. The High Commissioner is responsible for the direction and control of UNHCR,
supported by a Deputy High Commissioner and Assistant High Commissioners for
Protection and Operations.
The operations made by the UNHCR (and directed from a series of regional offices, branch
offices, sub-offices and field offices) have become more complex and dangerous throughout
time, which indicates that the organization has to ensure the security of the staff in different
challenging situations.
ASSISTANCE:
Most refugees and internally displaced people have to leave their homes in the search of
safety in the middle of complicated circumstances and as fast as it can be. That is the reason
why they usually depart with almost nothing and even those that actually take things they
soon spend them. UNHCR provides vital assistance through various methods:
Life-saving emergency assistance: clean water, sanitation and health care.
Shelter materials and other relief items: blankets, sleeping mats, jerry cans, household
goods and sometimes food.
Refugee registration: assistance and advice on asylum applications, education and
counseling.
UNHCR's assistance extends to people who return home: transportation by air, sea
and land.
Local integration or reintegration programs: income-generation projects, restoration
of infrastructure and other assistance.
HEALTH: UNHCR is in charge of planning, coordination, monitoring and
evaluation. Taking into account the high mortality and morbidity rates, health and
nutrition programs are given through a public health and community development
framework, for example primary health care and secondary hospital care.
HYGENE: Unfortunately, more than a half of the refugee camps in the world
are not able to provide the minimum daily water requirement of 20 liters per person.
Also 30 percent of camps do not have a proper waste disposal and latrine facilities.
Taking into account the inefficient provision of water and sanitation services in refugee
camps. The UNHCR has implemented the following methods:
“Significant measures to lessen the social impact of inadequate water supplies.
Rehabilitation and/or upgrading of existing water and sanitation facilities.
Enhancement of technical capacity to monitor and improve the quality of services”1.
NUTRITION:
Targets of UNHCR relating this issue:
“Freedom from hunger and malnutrition.
Access to adequate health services, food security, water and improved nutrition”2.
The UNHCR works with the World Food Program (WFP) and other governmental and non-
governmental organizations. Modern technology and security nutritional conditions are used
to promote effective and global food programs.
It is important to identify that nutrition and public health are directly related. A huge variety
of diseases are spread in part by malnutrition, which unfortunately causes millions of deaths
each year. Furthermore, in some cases, food becomes an object that can lead to sexual abuse
and exploitation due to the slight amount found in certain conflict places.
EDUCATION:
The UNHCR is conscious that education, specifically knowledge and transferable skills, is a
fundamental tool to achieve future security and social development. In addition, the
organization has identified that the refugees that study inside the camps often become the
important leaders inside their communities.
1 (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) 2 (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)
UNHCR not only aims to provide education but to do so with quality. The purpose is teaching
people how to self-sustain and to live healthy and productive lives without needing the camps
anymore. Relating this issue the organization promotes three main goals:
“The first goal: improve education access and learning achievement among refugee
children.
The second goal: increase access to post-primary education and training.
The third goal: expand tertiary education opportunities for refugees, both through
scholarships to colleges in host countries and through distance learning”3.
EMERGENCIES:
UNHCR has to face different kind of emergencies that in some cases leave tragic
consequences requiring immediate response. The emergency might be due to a natural cause
or due to any human action (war, invasion, crisis etc.).
The Refugee Committee is always prepared to act if any emergency is presented. Some
methods that the UNHCR uses according to its official page are:
High skill trained personnel prepared for any kind of disturbance.
Emergency stockpiles of non-food aid items in Copenhagen and Dubai to attend
needs in the area and its surroundings.
“Long-standing agreements with freight forwarders and logistics companies, and
developed a global network of suppliers, specialist agencies and partners.4”
Capacity to respond to an emergency attending up to 500,000 people. Mobilizing
more than 300 trained personnel within 72 hours.
UNHCR has a specialized group called Emergency Response Team (ERT) which is
in charge of identification and attention to any sudden crisis.
UNHCR also has the ability to mobilize financial resources to response to an
emergency.
UNHCR has developed training programmes to prepare volunteers to different kind
of unexpected conflicts under certain conditions. Including some topics such as
“team-building, operations planning, financial and administrative systems,
operational partnerships, communication and negotiation skills, security,
coordination and information-sharing, telecommunications, and humanitarian
protection.”
3 (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) 4 (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)
The UNHCR's Centre in Tokyo works on the improvement of emergency
preparedness and response capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region through targeted
training and other capacity-building measures.
UNHCR PERMANENT SOLUTIONS
VOLUNTARY REPATRIATION: UNHCR applies different types of aid that heal
the hard situations of the victims for short periods of time. However, these are only temporary
and they cannot be the only methods used since the whole objective is to find a durable and
stable solution. The latter explains the reason why the committee uses the figure of voluntary
repatriation; the possibility for the victims to come back to their country after the main
problem responsible for their migration has ended. However, this process is more
complicated than it seems. In first place, the help and commitment of the country of origin is
needed so the reintegration can be possible. In second place, it is also very important the
constant support of the international community through the post-conflict phase to be sure
that the process of rebuilding the lives of the victims is going as planned. Some actions taken
by the UNHCR to succeed with voluntary repatriation are:
“Promote enabling conditions for voluntary repatriation.
Ensure the exercise of a free and informed choice
Mobilize support for returnees.
Organizing "go-and-see" visits for refugees
Compiling updated information on their country and region of origin
Engage in peace and reconciliation activities.
Promote housing and property restitution; and
Provide return assistance and legal aid to returnees”5.
RESETTLEMENT: In most cases, voluntary repatriation cannot be applied as a
durable solution for the refugee’s problem due to many situations like continued persecution
or the impossibility for some people to satisfy their basic needs in their country of origin. For
this reason other durable method has to be used as the solution, this other alternative is called
5 (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)
resettlement and it consists in locating refugees in other countries. Unfortunately, only one
percent from the 10.5 million refugees helped by UNHCR can be submitted for resettlement.
Not many countries contribute by receiving refugees through the resettlement programs made
by UNHCR. However, there has been an increase in this matter by promoting resettlements
in different parts of Europe and Latin America. The United States of America, Australia,
Canada and the Nordic countries are the most supporting states regarding this kind of
situations.
Some benefits that resettled refugees obtain are legal and physical protection, including
access to civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. In some cases, there is the
possibility for refugees to become naturalized citizens.
These kinds of resettlements have to be accompanied with cultural orientation, language and
vocational training as well as with programs to promote access to education and employment.
Governments and non-governmental organizations make this guidance.
TOPIC 1: REFUGEES
According to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is “someone
who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion,
nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the
country of his nationality or habitual residence, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is
unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.6” People fleeing conflicts or
generalized violence are also generally considered as refugees, although sometimes under
legal mechanisms other than the 1951 Convention.
Important facts about refugees:
10.4 million of refugees concern to UNHCR (2013), little less from a year earlier.
4.8 million registered refugees in some 60 camps in the Middle East by United
Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
(UNRWA).
The refugees of concern to UNHCR are spread around the world, with half in Asia
and about 28 per cent in Africa.
Refugees live in absolutely different and un-even conditions, depending on the place
and situation.
More than half of all refugees helped by UNHCR live in urban areas.
UNHCR offers three possible solutions: repatriation; local integration or resettlement.
Understanding global migration patterns for the UNHCR becomes a very difficult task due
to the fact that many other types of phenomena appear aside from refugees, for example
economic migrants. However, the committee has supported and protected tens of millions of
6 (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 1951)
refugees, through momentary and durable solutions. It is important to differentiate between
refugees and economic migrants, although in both cases travelling is involve, their motives
are completely different and that is why they are treated in distinct ways by international law.
Migrants travel to other places, in most cases, to look for better opportunities and to ensure
a more promising future. However, refugees have to travel to other places to save their lives
or to keep their freedom. Usually they have no legal protection and have to face the conflict
by themselves. In the worst situations, it is the same state that persecutes these people.
TOPIC 2: INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE
Internally displaced people, unlike refugees, do not have a specific definition. However, a
United Nations report, Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, gives a concept relating
the term in question:
“Internally displaced people (also known as DPRE in many civil and military organizations
which assist) are people or groups of people who have been forced or obliged to flee or to
leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to
avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human
rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally
recognized State border.7”
According to the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) there were
28.8 million IDPs around the world in 2012, which means that throughout history the
situation has gotten worse due to the fact that in 1997 there was a total of 17 million, 11,8
million IDPs less. However, from the 28,8 million IDPs the UNHCR only attended and
covered 15,5 million in 2012.
MIDDLE EAST:
The Middle East and the North Africa region has always been one of the places in the world
with more armed conflicts in modern times. As a consequence, it is the region where most
people have to flee their homes to look for safety, especially in the last five years. The
territory faces a highly complex situation because of its origin, destination and transit of
millions of refugees and IDPs, which means it has become a considerable challenge for future
years. Other complication is that since it became popular regarding migration routes, many
migrants get caught in illegal activities like smuggling and trafficking.
7 (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees , 1998)
Taken from: (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2015)
Current Situation:
This area involves a variety of complications that affect the support given by the UN refugee
agency. First of all, there are many armed conflicts inside different countries promoted not
only by powerful terrorist groups but also, in some cases, by the same governments. In
addition to this, the states located in this region face an unpredictable and unstable political
crisis. Secondly, due to the considerable firepower that terrorists have in the area, reaching
to all victims with protection and resources becomes a risky and difficult job to achieve.
Unfortunately, migrants have to use dangerous ways to travel putting their lives at risk, for
example the boat trips crossing the Mediterranean.
Financial Information:
Taking into account the previous situation exposed, the UN refugee agency had to
dramatically increase the financial requirements for the Middle East and North Africa: from
USD 651 million in 2011 to USD 1.76 billion in 2014, as a response to the Syrian and Iraqi
crisis. For 2015, the UNHCR increased the financial requirements for the region up to USD
1.89 billion.
Taken from: (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2015)
CENTRAL ASIA:
The UNHCR helps about 7,7 million people in the region of Central Asia, 3.5 million
refugees, 1.9 million IDPs and 1.4 million stateless people. About two thirds of these people
live outside camps, the rest live mainly in urban areas where they are not completely
protected.
Taken from: (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2015)
Current Situation:
UNHCR recognizes that Central Asia is a region where a huge development, regarding its
concern, is needed. The UN refugee agency is working with countries to reach an agreement
to promote an environment of cooperation, especially in the reception of refugees. Not only
receiving them, but providing appropriate measures that ensure the basic needs of victims,
according to the objectives of the organization.
Financial Information:
By the half of 2014, the budget for Asia and the Pacific stood at USD 587.1 million. However,
new requirements forced the UN refugee agency to increase the budget to over USD 611
million.
To conclude, both refugees and internally displaced people have a huge impact in the world
today, so it is of great importance that all nations are well informed and support this issue in
any possible way, since that affects all countries around the world in various aspects and by
contributing they are helping the world of today and the world of tomorrow.
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http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646cec.html
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