Documents
2. Statement by NGOs Presented to the 55th Session of the UNHCR
Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Program, Geneva, 4-8
October 2004.
Agenda Item 6 (i)
International Protection
NGO Submission
Mr. Chairman,
This statement has been drafted, and is delivered, on behalf of a wide range of NGOs.
During the June Standing Committee, NGOs expressed the view that the Note on International Protection provides a “health check” on the state of protection of refugees and others of concern to UNHCR. The Note this year gave attention to the broad scope of protection and also focused on the protection partnerships between NGOs and UNHCR that can greatly enhance refugee protection. We are pleased to see the commitments to protection partnerships moving forward.
Instead of commenting on this year’s draft Conclusions, NGOs would like to express our appreciation for the Draft Decision on Working Methods of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme and its Standing Committee, including on NGO Observer participation in the work of the Committees and the role that NGOs should be able to play in the EXCOM Conclusions process next year. We look forward to being able to bring our direct experience of working with refugees to the table in order to contribute to the Conclusions that can help to improve refugee protection.
Responsibility-Sharing and Ensuring the Fulfilment of Refugee Rights
We are very much aware of the disproportionate burdens borne by developing countries hosting large populations of refugees and asylum-seekers. Wealthier states should play a greater role in responsibility-sharing by more generously supporting developing countries in ensuring that refugees enjoy the rights granted by the 1951 Convention and other international human rights instruments. We are particularly concerned by the current lack of basic rights seen in many refugee situations, resulting in, inter alia, the inadequate provision of food rations, education, health care, shelter, as well as the denial of the right to earn a livelihood. We note, in this respect, that in South Africa, despite considerable socio-economic challenges for South Africans, asylum-seekers are able to work and attend school while their applications are being considered.
Palestinians
NGOs reaffirm that protection is the primary responsibility of states. NGOs wish to draw the Executive Committee’s attention to the ongoing plight of millions of forcibly displaced Palestinians. Their situation is unique amongst forcibly displaced persons, as millions of them fall into a protection gap with no access to any form of international protection. In this regard, we call upon UNHCR and governments to ensure protection under the 1951 Convention to Palestinian asylum-seekers, in light of Article 1D.1 We also support efforts of the Council of Europe2 and a growing number of states to give effect to this recommendation.
Resettlement
NGOs concur with UNHCR’s recognition that there are multiple dimensions in finding a durable solution and we welcome some states’ efforts to grant permanent residence to refugees. NGOs also support UNHCR’s recommendation that resettlement be more strategically addressed and we call for the initiation of consultations on the determination of caseloads so that the Multilateral Framework of Understandings on Resettlement can be implemented. The work done by this strand of the Convention Plus process must be seized upon as a means of seeking durable solutions for some groups of refugees.
Detention
Of grave concern to us is the increased use of detention in order to deny entry and asylum, including by countries such as Canada, the US, and Australia. This year’s Note on International Protection delineates UNHCR’s concern at state policies of arbitrary and/or widespread detention of asylum-seekers. The practice of detaining refugees and asylum-seekers, including as a deterrence measure, is another worrying indication that effective protection remains out of the reach of many persons entitled to international protection. While UNHCR guidelines state explicitly that in the view of UNHCR, the detention of asylum-seekers is “inherently undesirable” and that “[a]s a general principle asylum-seekers should not be detained,” state practice is considerably different in many places in the world. The rights to liberty and freedom from arbitrary detention have been a core element of formal human rights standards since they were enshrined in Articles 3 and 9 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Subsequent international standards, notably the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, recognise that the right to liberty is linked to freedom from arbitrary detention. Detention as a policy tool undermines the 1951 Convention, particularly its Article 31, and EXCOM Conclusion 44.
Refugee Status Determination
Further, while recognising the important role played by UNHCR in asylum determination procedures in many countries worldwide, NGOs have concerns that some of UNHCR’s refugee status determination (RSD) practices in some countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia do not always meet the standards of fairness to which UNHCR urges states to adhere. This includes the use of secret evidence; failure to provide reasons for rejection to unsuccessful applicants; the lack of independent appeals processes; denial of the right to legal counsel; and the use of untrained interpreters. NGOs feel UNHCR’s role in RSD can potentially compromise the organisation’s mandate to protect refugees and reiterate that refugee status determination is the responsibility of states. UNHCR should not see its role in RSD as a substitute for government-run procedures. UNHCR should make it a priority that governments take over these activities and build their capacity to do so. We call on UNHCR to initiate public consultations on the new draft refugee status determination procedures.
Statelessness
Statelessness remains a problem that is so invisible that even the approximate number of stateless persons is not known. What is known is that many stateless persons face daily obstacles to the enjoyment of their human rights because they do not come within the state protection system. We call on EXCOM to encourage those states that are not yet parties to ratify either or both the relevant Conventions on statelessness (the 1954 Convention on the Reduction of Stateless and the 1961 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons). All states should ensure that they have mechanisms in place to enable them to apply these Conventions, including to identify stateless persons on their territory and to seek assistance from UNHCR where they need help in doing so. UNHCR should also take a more active role in assisting states to establish appropriate arrangements to identify and address statelessness, as well as to resolve individual cases, with particular attention to the problems faced by stateless women and girls.
Protection Partnerships
NGOs highlight the importance of protection partnerships, which enhance the protection of refugees and asylum-seekers when UNHCR and NGOs work together. This partnership is as important in the sphere of advocacy, as it is in the operational arena. UNHCR’s recent directive to all Representatives to hold regular protection consultations with all relevant NGOs is a particularly welcome step. We look forward to seeing this directive implemented on the ground and hope that UNHCR will be sensitive to the challenges facing many NGOs and refugee advocates in countries with a problematic record of upholding the basic rights of its citizens and others on its territory, such as the right to freedom of association and expression. We also call on UNHCR to closely monitor, together with NGOs in the context of protection partnerships, that all states hosting refugees comply with the provisions of the 1951 Refugee Convention.
The Importance of Information
Finally, we would like to reiterate the importance the NGO community attaches to receiving information on countries of origin, as well as relevant guidelines from UNHCR. This information is a crucial part of delivering protection and we rely on regular public domain updates that are made accessible both through UNHCR’s website and RefWorld CDROMs.
Thank you.
Notes:
1 Note on the Applicability of Article 1D of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees to Palestinian refugees, UNHCR, October 2001.
2 Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, Situation of Palestinian Refugees, Recommendations 1612 (2003).