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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http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646cfe.html

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