Law interview
Interview with Ms. Pia Prytz Phiri, UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh
Resettlement is one of the durable solutions
Sultana Razia
According to the UNHCR's annual Global Trends report, there are some 12 million stateless people around the world, who are not considered as the nationals of the countries where they live. Their status denies many of them access to legal protection or other human rights. In Bangladesh we have Rohingyas, Biharies (stranded Pakistanis) and other form of stateless people. Their plights are unknown, their sufferings are concealed and their dreams to return home remain dreams.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) carries out the UN's mandate to protect the world's stateless people. Their little-known plight is heard by UNHCR's humanitarian activities.
This year June 20 has been observed as World Refugee Day with the theme of “protection”. On that occasion Ms. Pia Prytz Phiri (PPP), Representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangladesh spoke to Sultana Razia (SR) of The Daily Star. Ms. Phiri who has a 23-year career with UNHCR joined as the Representative in Bangladesh in February 2006. The excerpts are produced below:
SR: How does your office assess the situation of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh?
PPP: There are some 27,000 Rohingya refugees officially registered by the Government of Bangladesh since 1992. They are accommodated in two camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf Upazilas in Cox Bazaar District.
These refugees have been in Bangladesh for more than 17 years. That is a very long time to be a refugee. The refugees tell us they want to return to their country one day when they consider the situation is conducive for them to do so. Meanwhile it is UNHCR's role to assist the Government in providing assistance and protection in accordance with international standards.
Over the past years we have seen some improvements in the living conditions of the refugees in Bangladesh including access to better primary education, skills training, better shelter conditions, improved nutritional status and better health care. While there is still some distance to go before the refugees are enjoying services at minimum international standards the improvements in the camps are tangible.
SR: What steps does UNHCR take to reintegrate them in society?
PPP: The Governments agreement to enhance education and access to skills training for the refugees are important measures to prepare the refugees for solutions, including, most importantly voluntary repatriation.
SR: Please tell us about the present resettlement activities. Do you see this “resettlement” as a rights-based solution?
PPP: UNHCR has actively promoted resettlement in third countries for those refugees for whom no other solution is viable. We have been heartened by the humanitarian gesture of countries such as Canada, UK and New Zealand who have accepted a small but important number of refugees for resettlement in their countries. Indeed resettlement is one of the durable solutions for refugees.
SR: Some other International Organizations are also working with the Refugee issue. Are you all working under one umbrella?
PPP: Since 2006 the Government of Bangladesh agreed for international and local NGOs, as well as sister UN agencies, to get involved in the refugee programme in the camps. Since then we have seen a number of NGOs working in the camps in very important sectors such as skills training, health, reproductive health and education. Recently UNICEF and UNFPA are working in the area of education and reproductive health through local NGOs. We are grateful to all our partners and we work very closely together.
SR: UNHCR's annual Global Trends report shows continuing climb in the number of uprooted. Could you please tell more on the state of world refugee today?
PPP: For the second consecutive year we have seen an increase in the number of refugees and persons of concern. A new global survey says there were 11.4 million refugees outside their countries and 26 million others displaced internally by conflict or persecution at the end of 2007, contributing to an unprecedented number of uprooted people under UNHCR care.
The increase follows a five-year decline in the number of refugees between 2001 and 2005, and that's a concern. We are now faced with a complex mix of global challenges that could threaten even more forced displacement in the future. They range from multiple new conflict-related emergencies in world hotspots to bad governance, climate-induced environmental degradation that increases competition for scarce resources, and extreme price hikes that have hit the poor the hardest and are generating instability in many places.
The number of refugees under UNHCR's responsibility rose from 9.9 to 11.4 million by the end of 2007. The global number of people affected by conflict-induced internal displacement increased from 24.4 million to 26 million. UNHCR currently provides protection or assistance directly or indirectly to 13.7 million of them - up from 12.8 million in 2006. The number of refugees and internally displaced people under UNHCR's care rose by 2.5 million in 2007, reaching an unprecedented 25.1 million by year's end. When UNHCR began work in 1951, UNHCR's mandate was limited to finding solutions for the world's refugees. In recent decades, however, it has also been tasked to work with other UN agencies to help the growing numbers of conflict-generated internally displaced.
Despite the increases in refugees and internally displaced people, it isn't all bad news.
UNHCR's goal is to find lasting solutions for refugees, those solutions include voluntary repatriation once conditions in countries of origin allow; integration in countries of first asylum; or resettlement to a third country. We can report some progress in all these areas in 2007, but there's still a long way to go.
Some 731,000 refugees were able to go home under voluntary repatriation programs in 2007, including to Afghanistan (374,000), Southern Sudan (130,700), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (60,000), Iraq (45,400) and Liberia (44,400). In addition, an estimated 2.1 million internally displaced people went home during the year.
Refugee resettlement referrals to third countries increased substantially in 2007, with UNHCR submitting 99,000 individuals for consideration by governments - the highest number in 15 years and an 83 percent increase over the previous year. Even so, less than 1 percent of the world's refugees are resettled by third countries. By the end of the year, 75,300 refugees were admitted by 14 resettlement countries, including the United States (48,300), Canada (11,200), Australia (9,600), Sweden (1,800), Norway (1,100) and New Zealand (740). By nationality, the main beneficiaries of resettlement were refugees from Myanmar, Burundi, Somalia, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Afghanistan.
The year also saw a decline of some 3 million people who had been considered stateless, primarily as a result of new legislation in Nepal providing citizenship to approximately 2.6 million people, as well as changes in Bangladesh. It is estimated that there are some 12 million stateless people worldwide, but more data is needed.
SR: What is your opinion about the possibility of acceding to the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees by our government and what role can UNHCR play in this regard?
PPP: It is part of UNHCR's work to promote the accession, by states, to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. Accession to the 1951 Convention and incorporation of its provisions into national legislation would provide a sound legal framework to deal with refugees including in Bangladesh. So far our efforts to get Bangladesh to accede to the 1951 Convention have not been successful. However we have seen a willingness by the Government to implement many principles of international refugee protection. In particular Bangladesh has not forced any refugee back to his or her country of origin and this is an important cornerstone of international protection.
SR: Do we have any other option in order to protect the rights of the refugee under our domestic instruments? Does UNHCR work on the sensitization of legal professionals?
PPP: The Bangladesh Constitution provides for the protection of all persons in Bangladesh. UNHCR works with partners to create awareness of refugees and refugee law. In addition there are many prominent sections of civil society that have also organised seminars and workshops in which they have promoted the rights of refugees. I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute all of those who have been forcibly uprooted and to the many humanitarians who help them. Let me also quote our High Commissioner Mr. Antonio Guterres on this year World Refugee Day message: “Refugees show incredible courage and perseverance in overcoming enormous odds to rebuild their lives. Ensuring that they get the protection they deserve is a noble cause because refugee rights are human rights- and rights that belong to us all.”
The interviewer is working with Law Desk and may be reached at sultana.razia@thedailystar.net.
