REFUGEES AND IDPsIN THE MIDDLE EAST

4 June 2009

Samuel CheungAssociate Protection Officer

Refugees and Forcible Displacement

• Complex, pressing humanitarian challenge • One of the most vulnerable populations• 11.4 million refugees and 26 million IDPs at

the end of 2007• Challenges of instability, conflict and

displacement • Protracted situations without durable

solutions• Dangerous political and security situations

Overview

• Refugees and IDPs: who are they and what are their common characteristics?

• International obligations towards them: asylum and non-refoulement

• Refugees and IDPs in the Middle East• Iraqi IDPs and refugees and Palestinian refugees• Protracted situations and lack of permanent

solutions

“The worst thing was the sound of guns at night. You don’t know if your house is next. Here, I can sleep at night”.

Causes of DisplacementPolitical, Ethnic, Environmental, Economic Causes

Human Rights• Accumulation of human rights abuses producing mass exodus, e.g.Iraq,

Bosnia, Myanmar, Guatemala.

Conflict-induced Displacement• Interstate conflict is not as prevalent today as 'internal' strife and civil war,

particularly in Africa, with protracted crises and severe instability including those in Burundi, Colombia, Sri Lanka and northern Uganda.

• Dominant trend is one of short-term, short-distance, repetitive dislocation rather than large-scale displacement into camps.

• In Colombia, irregular armed groups have sought to control segments of the civilian population and prevent them from fleeing to safe areas so as to guarantee a supply of provisions and recruits. Such communities also provide cover for guerrillas, who effectively use them as human shields.

Refugee Definition

A refugee is a person who is:• Outside country of his/her nationality• Has a well founded fear of persecution • For reasons of race, nationality, religion, membership

of a particular social group, political opinion and• is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to

his/her country.

OAU Convention/Cartegena Declaration: • Refugees fleeing conflict and generalised violence

Refugee vs. Economic Migrant

• Refugees - forced to leave individually their own countries or countries of habitual residence due to persecution

• War Refugees / Victims of War - those who have been forced as a group to leave their own countries or habitual residence due to generalized violence, armed conflict

• Economic Migrants - those who have moved from one place to another voluntarily for economic, social, or cultural reasons for their own convenience

• Illegal Immigrants - those who are not citizen of the country of residence, who are unlawfully staying in the country of residence without valid immigration permit allowing the purpose of the stay in the country.

UNHCR Mandate

“The United Nations High Commissioner for

Refugees, acting under the authority of the

General Assembly, shall assume the function of

providing international protection, under the

auspices of the United Nations, to refugees who

fall within the scope of the present Statute and of

seeking permanent solutions for the problem of

refugees…..” (Annex to UN General Assembly resolution 428 (V) of 14 December 1951)

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)

No global mandate but authorised by UN General Assembly to beinvolved under certain circumstances• 1972 & 1993 UN General Assembly resolutions• UNHCR Policy Paper on IDPs, March 2000

Selection criteria for involvement:• request/authorisation from the Secretary General or competent

principal organ of the UN;• consent of state;• assurance of access to IDP’s• resources and capacity• complementarity with other agencies• adequate staff security of UNHCR and implementing partners

Collaborative approach and UNHCR is cluster lead for protection

Mandate for IDPs• Different legal framework from refugee protection• National responsibility remains for IDP’s• UNHCR’s role:

– Monitor safety and welfare– Intervene with State and non-State actors to ensure

respect for human rights and international humanitarian law

• Limited by national sovereignty, insecurity, limited

access, lack of funds

Historical Norm of Asylum

The notion of asylum is a remarkably constant feature of human history. Throughout the ages and in every part of the world, societies with very different cultures and value systems have recognized that they have an obligation to provide safety and support to strangers in distress.

In the twentieth century, this longstanding social convention was progressively incorporated into international law, culminating in the establishment of the 1951 Refugee Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.

1951 Convention

• Cornerstone of International Refugee Law– Provides a definition of a refugee– Embodied the principle of “non-refoulement”– Lays out rights and obligations of refugees– Minimum standards of treatment of Refugees

• Failure of States to protect basic needs and rights of their populations

• Main responsibility lies with States

MANDATE REFUGEES PROTECTION ACTIVITIES

Non-refoulement

“No contracting state shall expel or return (“refouler”) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.” (Article 33)

• Customary Norm of International Law

UNHCR and Asylum

• Created by UN General Assembly in January 1951• One of the world's principal humanitarian

organizations with more than 6,300 staff in 110 countries around the world helping more than 32.9 million people of concern.

• During over half a century of work, UNHCR has provided assistance to more than 50 million people, earning two Nobel Peace Prizes in 1954 and 1981.

Global Population of ConcernBy the end of 2007, the total population under UNHCR’s responsibility had dropped from 32.9million in 2006 to 31.7 million, representing a decrease of 1.2 million people (-3%). While the globalrefugee population and the number of IDPs protected and/or assisted by UNHCR has increased, the numberof stateless persons has almost halved compared to 2006. The number of IDPs who were able to return during the year was the highest in more than a decade.

MANDATE REFUGEES PROTECTION ACTIVITIES

MANDATE REFUGEES PROTECTION ACTIVITIES

Major Source Countries

MANDATE REFUGEES PROTECTION ACTIVITIES

Refugees by Regions

Major Refugee Hosting Countries

MANDATE REFUGEES PROTECTION ACTIVITIES

IDPs Worldwide

The Search for Solutions

Local integration

Resettlement

Voluntary repatriation

The Middle East

• The Middle East hosts more refugees than any other region in the world

• Displacement defining feature: Palestine but also other groups

• Some 4.7 million refugees and IDPs from Iraq, 6 to 7 million Palestinian refugees and 3.1 million refugees from Afghanistan

Iraq: Refugees and IDPs

• Forced displacement of Kurds, Shi’a and other minorities during Saddam Hussein

• Post-Saddam, combination of intense and bloody sectarian violence, coalition military action and fighting among Shi’a militias and Mahdi army

• Fastest growing displacement crisis in the world

Iraq: Refugees and IDPs

• Some 15-20% of the Iraqi population remains displaced, or 4.7 million people– 1 million in Syria– 500-700,000 in Jordan– 400,000 in other countries

• With stabilisation in Iraq slow, great challenge ensuring adequate treatment in host countries

Iraqis in Syria and Jordan

• Lack of clear legal status places serious challenges to livelihoods, education and health

• Without right to work, unable to support themselves and their families, and with depleted financial reserves, some have left to return to Iraq or move elsewhere

• Education and health concerns• Jordan began to restrict entry

Iraq: Durable Solutions

• Economic resentment despite “Arab solidarity”

• Blamed for higher prices, housing, unemployment, inflation and crowded schools

• Neither Jordan nor Syria has developed a plan to integrate Iraqi refugees.

• Security situation in Iraq still uncertain and religious minorities unlikely to return

IDPs in Iraq

• 2.7 million IDPs remain in Iraq• Iraq government lacking the

will, resources or skills to deal with the needs of the displaced and provide basic security and services

• Sectarian induced violence and displacement

• Displacement reflects deep-seated political divisions within the country

IDPs in Iraq

• Urgent needs for shelter, food, medicine, clean water, employment and basic security.

• The decrease in sectarian violence has reduced displacement but has not significantly improved conditions for the displaced.

• Access to food rations, health care, property

Iraq IDPs: Durable Solutions

• Radical sectarian Sunni and Shi'a groups filling the void left b government

• National Policy to Address Displacement in 2008 needs implementation

• International community assumes domestic situation will stabilise and IDPs return

• Humanitarian agencies unable to deal with humanitarian crisis due to security threats

Palestinian Refugees

• By far the most protracted and largest of all refugee problems in the world today

• More Palestinians were displaced in the wake of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

• Some 6 to 7 million Palestinians are refugees or displaced persons.

Palestinian Refugees

• Lack of both national and international protection

• Most host states do not recognize or do not apply the full panoply of basic rights afforded to refugees

• No international agency with an explicit mandate to systematically work for the realization of the basic human rights of Palestinian refugees and to search for and implement durable solutions.

Mandate for Palestinians

• UNHCR's mandate does not extend to the majority of Palestinian refugees

• UNRWA’s mandate evolved to focus on education, health, relief and social services

• Required as long as the issues of statelessness, military occupation, economic marginalization and vulnerability are not addressed.

• Palestinian status considered “unsettled” instead of stateless

Palestinians: Durable Solutions

• Dissatisfied refugee community versus peace agreement

• Improvements in the living conditions of camp refugees coupled with resettlement plans could dilute the intensity of the demand for return

• Host countries bound by resolution to only grant temporary status

• Compromise on the refugee question will be facilitated if core needs are met elsewhere.

CONCLUSION