From the President’s Desk
November 2007

Top UNHCR Issues: Iraq, Mixed Migration Flows, Protection of Asylum
By Ralston Deffenbaugh, LIRS President

As is my custom, I participated in this autumn’s annual round of meetings sponsored by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for experts from governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The mood in Geneva this year was sobering. The plight of Iraqi refugees and displaced persons is increasingly desperate; elsewhere, the identification and care for migrants in need of protection is increasingly at risk. But within this harsh environment for our work were two bright spots: a greater awareness of the special needs of refugee children and a greater appreciation of the value of resettlement as a durable solution.

The situation for Iraqis is dire. High Commissioner Antonio Guterres noted that, “Today, Iraqis in- and outside the country make up the biggest single group of displaced. Adding complexity to their sheer numbers, they represent the largest urban refugee group UNHCR has ever dealt with.” UNHCR reckons some 2.2 million Iraqis forcibly displaced within Iraq, and a similar number displaced as refugees outside Iraq, mainly in Syria and Jordan. Syria closed its border at the beginning of October, blocking the last escape route for Iraqi refugees. Even within Iraq, most of the provinces do not allow displaced persons to settle. An effective international humanitarian response for the Iraqis is complicated by the politics surrounding the war. The major European donors are unwilling to step in with significant contributions to help clean up what they see as an American mess. And American contributions, while not insignificant, pale in comparison both with the need and with the amounts being spent to prosecute the war. The Syrian ambassador noted in Geneva that the amount the United States has contributed for Iraqi refugee response is one-one thousandth of the cost of the war for the same period. Similarly, the United States has pledged that only 12,000 Iraqis would be admitted for resettlement in fiscal 2008, a tiny fraction of the 2 million-plus refugees.

2007 Nansen Refugee Award Goes to Maltese Lawyer An inspiring event during the Geneva meetings was the presentation of the Nansen Refugee Award, named after the great Norwegian explorer and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen. This year’s award went to Dr. Katrine Camilleri, a Maltese lawyer working with the Jesuit Refugee Service. Amidst considerable xenophobia and even vigilante action (her house and her car have been fire-bombed), Dr. Camilleri continues to provide legal counseling, compassion and hope for asylum seekers whose boats land on her Mediterranean island and who are then detained. Underlining the dangerous nature of refugee humanitarian work, just a few days beforehand Jesuit Refugee Service lost one of its worker-priests in a landmine explosion in Sri Lanka. Thanks be to God for the Jesuit Refugee Service, for UNHCR, and for all those who are inspired to respond to our Lord’s call to “welcome the stranger.”

In his address to the executive committee, Guterres reflected on the mixed nature of many present-day population flows. He said that in order for UNHCR to be effective, it must understand the broader patterns of people on the move in today’s world: “Why is migration growing so dramatically? What are the current causes of forced displacement?” While underlining that UNHCR is not a migration agency, the high commissioner noted among migrant populations seeking a better life an increase of “people in need of protection: refugees and asylum seekers, women and children victims of trafficking. The ability to detect them, assure them of physical access to asylum procedures and a fair consideration of their claims, is a key element of our mission.”

The threats to asylum were highlighted by Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Erika Feller in her address. “Security is driving the operation of asylum systems in an increasing number of countries, contributing to the growth of a culture of thinking where rights are becoming peripheral,” she observed. Arbitrary detention, including of children, and the privatization of detention are particularly worrying: “By creating an economic lobby in favor of detention, this has undermined serious efforts to create alternatives to detention and has contributed even further to blurring the distinction between the refugee and nonrefugee detainees.”

Amidst this gloom, there were some bright spots. With key contributions by LIRS, UNHCR is making encouraging progress for better protection of unaccompanied and separated children, through the standard implementation of best interests determinations (BIDs). (Download LIRS’s report on BIDs.) Resettlement is being used more widely and is now firmly recognized as a key protection tool for refugees. More countries in Latin America and in Europe are building resettlement capacity. And the high commissioner went out of his way to lift up the “invigorating and essential” role of the NGOs: “We see you as strategic partners, not [just] implementing ones.”

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