When People Cross Borders
October 2003
Banner photo: ©SEKAI BUNKA PHOTO
Longing for Home
Afghan returnees on their way home
[UNHCR/R. Hakozaki]
Ruud Lubbers began his appointment as UNHCR's ninth High Commissioner in 2001. His last post was as head of the World Wide Fund for Nature. From 1982 to 1994, he was the youngest and longest serving Prime Minister of The Netherlands.
SGI Quarterly: What are currently the major issues of focus and concern for UNHCR?
Ruud Lubbers: UNHCR's ultimate goal is to find lasting solutions for the world's refugees, and we have done that for tens of millions of people over the past five decades. At the beginning of 2003, we had more than 20 million people of concern to us worldwide. The good news is that the actual number of new refugees dropped by nearly 70 percent over the past year. So while 20 million people remain "of concern" to UNHCR, many of them are already well on their way toward rebuilding new lives through repatriation, integration into countries of first asylum, or resettlement to third countries. In fact, some 3.6 million refugees and others assisted by UNHCR returned home in 2002, including more than 2.75 million Afghan refugees and internally displaced. So, good progress is being made in finding lasting solutions for many of the world's refugees.
The bad news is that there are still millions of others for whom durable solutions remain elusive, or whose efforts to make a new start remain extremely precarious. They still need international help and attention. Finding durable solutions for people in protracted refugee situations, sometimes lasting for years and even decades, is one of our greatest challenges. We have developed a number of new initiatives focused specifically on working toward durable solutions in such protracted situations.
These range from promoting more international development assistance to poor communities that host many of the world's displaced, to educational programs aimed at giving refugees the skills they need to rebuild their lives and contribute to society. In addition, I have introduced the "Convention Plus" initiative aimed at building on the foundation of the 1951 Refugee Convention through development of special tools that can address some of today's new challenges through multilateral special agreements. While the 1951 Convention remains an essential framework of refugee rights, it alone does not suffice. This is especially true, for example, in the context of mass influxes and mixed migratory flows that require negotiated commitments by a number of states. Convention Plus can help.
New Initiatives
I have also focused on ensuring that UNHCR itself remains as engaged, efficient and effective as possible through a number of initiatives ranging from new financial and funding procedures to the introduction of sweeping new staffing policies. In the end, a streamlined, efficient and fully engaged UNHCR means more durable solutions for refugees.
SGIQ: Have negative attitudes toward immigrants in general affected the level of support for refugees and the work of UNHCR?
RL: As I mentioned in connection with Convention Plus, the phenomenon of "mixed migratory flows" is a major social and political concern in many parts of the world. We are concerned as well, because we want to ensure that those genuinely in need of asylum continue to have access to it. But distinguishing between those who deserve international protection and the many more who are seeking better economic opportunities has become extremely problematic--and expensive--for many countries. Increasing flows of economic migrants--coupled with an historic failure to manage those migration flows--have led to enormous strains being placed on asylum systems.
Now everyone mixes up asylum seekers, refugees and migrants--much to the detriment of those who genuinely need help. This means increasing public animosity toward asylum seekers and ever tighter asylum policies. It is tragic because refugees who have already suffered enough are once again being stigmatized and victimized.
High Commissioner Lubbers visiting Maslakh camp near Heart
[UNHCR/Y. Hassan/2001]
Another aspect of this is the lack of international support for UNHCR's work in finding durable solutions for refugees in regions of origin. If programs are underfunded and refugees see no hope for their families in their own regions of origin, is it any wonder that they decide to go further afield? Often, they fall prey to international smuggling rings, making this a security issue as well.
To help address these extremely difficult and complex issues, I have introduced--in addition to Convention Plus--a "Three-Pronged Approach" that focuses on problems along the whole continuum of the asylum/migration route. This means in regions of origin, in transit states, and in countries of destination. Rich destination countries need to understand, for example, that funding UNHCR's work in regions of origin means refugees are less likely to move further afield in search of help. We are also urging greater support for UNHCR's efforts to build functioning asylum systems in transit countries--as we are currently doing in much of eastern Europe and beyond. Such initiatives can go a long way toward easing the pressures on western Europe. And within the destination countries, in the European Union in particular, UNHCR is supporting efforts toward a harmonized, fair and efficient asylum system as well as the establishment of additional resettlement programs.
SGIQ: What have you learned in your current role about the particular problems that refugees face?
RL: I have now met refugees all over the world, and they all have one thing in common--a deep longing for a place to call home, a place of their own. For most, repatriation is the desired solution, and home is the very same place they left. For others, "home" may have to be somewhere else, in a strange country full of strange, new people. But refugees are true survivors, and they overcome enormous obstacles to rebuild their lives. They deserve a lot of respect for their courage and perseverance. I also have a much greater appreciation for the contributions that refugees can and do make to their societies and communities.
Dagahaley camp, Kenya. Processing begins for resettlement to the U.S.A. of Somali refugees
[UNHCR/B. Press/2002]
On the UNHCR website (www.unhcr.ch), you will find a "Gallery of Prominent Refugees" that clearly illustrates the fact that refugees should not simply be seen as a "burden." They have enormous potential and in ways big and small have helped make this a better world for all of us. I like to tell people that while not every refugee is an Einstein, it's worth noting that Einstein was a refugee.
Prevention
SGIQ: The primary purpose of UNHCR is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. Is UNHCR able to play a preventive role in terms of the creation of new refugees?
RL: You're right, UNHCR's main job is to ensure international protection for refugees who no longer have a government to protect them and who have been forced to flee across international borders. But prevention is certainly part of our work as well, and something that has received an enormous amount of interest from the international community in recent years. For our part, UNHCR works in certain situations with internally displaced people who have been forced from their homes but who remain within the boundaries of their own country. Many internally displaced populations want to stay as close to home as possible, and we help them do just that. As a result, they do not have to join the ranks of refugees forced to flee to neighboring states, which can sometimes destabilize entire regions.
Sudanees refugees lucky enough to have a few belongings from home settle into life at Kiryondongo camp, Uganda
[UNHCR/S. Mann]
In return situations, we also contribute to the prevention of possible further instability through various reintegration programs that benefit both returnees and remaining local populations. In the war-damaged, ethnically mixed villages in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, for example, UNHCR provided rebuilding assistance to ethnic Albanian returnees as well as to their displaced or affected Macedonian neighbors. When possible, we also promote small-scale "quick impact projects" that provide economic opportunities for fragile communities. If a young man has a chance to make money through honest work, it's much less likely he'll want to pick up a gun again.
SGIQ: In the face of such immense problems, where do you find motivation to continue to do your work?
RL: All of us at UNHCR draw our motivation and our inspiration from the refugees themselves. After all, if people who have lost everything still don't give up hope, how can we?
SGIQ: What can you suggest to our readers who want to know what they can do to help?
RL: Becoming a monthly donor to UNHCR is perhaps the most effective way for you to help refugees. You can learn how to do this by visiting our website. Here you will also learn more about our work in some 120 countries around the world. You'll see that our 5,500 staff are some of the most dedicated people you will ever meet. About 85 percent of them are in the field, and 60 percent are based in difficult and sometimes dangerous non-family duty stations.
The 1951 Refugee Convention
The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees is the key legal document in defining who is a refugee, their rights and the legal obligations of states. It was adopted to deal with the unresolved issue of hundreds of thousands of refugees in Europe after WW II. The Convention spelled out a set of basic human rights which should be at least equivalent to freedoms enjoyed by foreign nationals living legally in a given country. It included the principle of non-forcible return of people to territories where they could face persecution, which has since become fundamental international law.
The newly created United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was given a three-year mandate, which was thought to be sufficient to solve the problem. More than 50 years later, the Convention remains the cornerstone of refugee protection. With its help, UNHCR has assisted some 50 million people to restart their lives.
The increasing complexity of refugee issues and the global movement of people, however, have led some to charge that the Convention has become outdated.
Convention Plus
In 2003, High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers introduced the Convention Plus initiative, which builds on the 1951 Convention. It will do this by putting in place new arrangements, or "special agreements," to complement the Convention and strengthen its implementation. In the High Commissioner's words, Convention Plus is "a stronger multilateral commitment to finding durable, sustainable solutions to refugee problems in a burden-sharing framework." These agreements, worked out between states, will create better cooperation and apportioning of responsibilities and will be both generic and situation-specific.
Policy and activity areas that have been identified as lending themselves to Convention Plus agreements are:
- Comprehensive plans of action to ensure more effective and predictable responses to mass influx situations;
- Better targeting of development assistance to enhance self-reliance of refugees and returnees;
- Multilateral commitments for resettlement; and
- Developing frameworks to define the roles and responsibilities of countries of origin, transit and destination in "irregular" or "secondary movement" situations
