Portal:Refugee and asylum policies

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Welcome to the Refugee and asylum policies portal

Welcome to read our portal.According to the United Nations Convention a refugee is any individual who, according to a well founded fear of persecution on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, social or political group membership, is outside of their country of origin, and is unable or as a result of such fear, unwilling to return to their home country. This concept was expanded in 1967 to include those who have fled war and violent conditions in their native lands.

Prior to a request for refuge being accepted by the host country, an individual is referred to as an asylum seeker. It is only after their needs for protection have been recognised that he or she is referred to under the term "refugee". The determination of whether a person fulfils the requirements and is considered a refugee generally depends on the specifications of governments and their agencies within the host country. In certain cases this can lead to situations in which a country neither recognizes the refugee status of the applicant or asylum seekers, nor views them as legitimate migrants. In such cases these individuals are treated as illegal immigrants.

Introducing Refugee and asylum policies to IPM students (teacher text)

The Hague University student editors 2009-2010 of this IPM portal:

09061436 - A.Jia - A.M.Maina - B.B.Tsankovski - F.I.Okocha - K.F.E.Janssen - M.Aioanei - N.Khan - R.Z.A.Patrick - S.A.F.Mahtab - S.Reid - S.alHindawey - T.Zhao - V.M.Hage

This week's featured IPM wiki article

Targeted violence against women in Colombia

Targeted violence against women is also causing displacement and in Colombia it is the second largest current conflict after Sudan. Because of the conflicts and the violence at the moment the number of displaced persons in Colombia grows to more than a quarter of a million every year. Different paramilitary groups are fighting against eachother and are recruiting both little boys and girls. They are also using sexual abuse and again forced recruition among the women. 18% of the displaced women claimed sexual violence as one of the main reasons for their displacement.

In the news

Refugee crisis intensifies as fighting in Somalia continues

20.15 GMT, 12 february 2010

The Al Shabab Islamist militants today declared an “all-out war” against the embattled Somali government. Although the sentiment is nothing new, this rallying call comes as an indication that the violence that has wracked the capital Mogadishu will not subside any time soon.

Historical perspective

If we assume that war and conflict have occurred since the earliest times of human civilisation, we can also assume that refugees have also. We should note however that perhaps the earliest recorded refugees date back to the 17th century with the peace of Westphalia and the edict of Fontainebleau. Following this there are several ‘waves’ in which significant numbers of refugees occurred that are worth noting;

The peace of Westphalia and the Edict of Fontainebleau

With the peace of Westphalia in 1648 the notion of the state was born and people were assigned to new territories. Some time later, in 1685 the Edict of Fontainebleau outlawed Protestantism, thousands of Protestants Huguenots fled France under fear of prosecution making these people some of the first officially recorded refugees.

First wave after the First World War.

During the First World War many people were forced to flee their homes. After the war ended large empires were replaced by nation states. The first international convention for the refugees was held by the League of Nations high commission for refugees in 1920, with the view of finding a solution for more than a million refugees after the Russian revolution and the Civil wars.

Second wave after the Second World War.

During and after the Second World War there were more than 50 million refugees, the largest population displacement to ever occur in history. The UNHCR was established on 14 december 1950 to support the refugees and deal with refugee issues. Before the UNHCR was established there wasn’t also a clear policy for asylum seekers and refugees, the UNHCR was a pivotal turning point in policy development.

Third wave during and after the cold war.

During the Cold war there were many refugees worldwide. In 1956 during the Hungarian revolution around 180.000 Hungarians fled to Austria. During The Korean and Vietnamese Wars millions of Koreans and Vietnamese people ended up living in refugee camps. Additionally many thousands of Cubans fled to America when Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba. Millions of East Germans fled to West Germany between 1945 and 1960s. When the cold war ended and the Soviet Union fragmented, the Balkan conflicts ensued and again thousands of people were forced to flee.

Policy practices compared

Comparison of Policy practices between United Nations and China.

This section compares the policy practices of liberal democracy with policy practices of Communist state because then you can find clear differences within any refugee/asylum seeker policy. United Nations is the most influential liberal democratic institute and China is the most powerful communist state, that is why we choose to compare United Nations and China. The policy areas for the comparison are the advocacy, protection and assistance policies because these are the most essential policies for refugees and asylum seekers.

Advocacy

The UNHCR is the leading UN agency to protect the refugees and to resolve the refugees’ problem. The UNHCR sees it as their responsibility to help displaced persons, refugees and asylum seekers. UNHCR advocacy policy involves protection strategies in combination with monitoring information, dissemination and negotiation. China does not see themselves responsible for the refugees, they don’t have other advocacy policies except that they are willing to find peaceful solutions through negotiations.

Protection

The UNHCR ensures the basic Human rights, they end that refugees could be returned to their country were they could be prosecuted; they provide physical protection, and minimize the threat of violence like sexual assault. Unlike the UNHCR, China returns the North-Koreans refugees back to North- Korea were they could be tortured or killed. China Just as UNHCR are allowed to give asylum to those who are political refugees but china doesn’t have a procedure to do that . Refugees under UNHCR in China are not recognized by the Chinese law so they cannot use the court to pursue their rights. Vietnamese refugees do have all the rights like freedom of traveling and ability to work but North Koreans refugees do not.

Assistance

UNHCR provides life saving emergency assistance like food, water, sanitation and health care. The UNHCR provides also other form of assistance like counseling, education, assistance and advice on asylum applications, local integration programs and restoration of infrastructure. China gives Vietnamese refugees assistance and education but does not provide this for other refugees. In Hong Kong children of refugees and asylum seekers cannot attend school.

Did you know...?

In September 2009, the European Commission unveiled plans for new Joint EU Resettlement Programme. The scheme would involve European Union member states deciding together each year which refugees should be given priority. Member states would receive €4,000 from the European Refugee Fund per refugee resettled.

The term " internally displaced persons", refer to peolpe forced to flee their homes, but unlike refugees, they remain within their country's border. Africa has the world's largest population of IDP with 11.8 million in 21 countries.

International Organization for Migration, estimates that climate refugees could number 1 billion by 2050.

World Refugee Day is celebrated on June 20th around the world.

In the past 60 years there are about 750 million refugees in the world.

That the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR was created by the United Nations General Assembly in 1951, originally with the scope of helping more than one million European refugees after the World Warr II.

That from 42 million displaced persons worldwide UNHCR, can provide assistance to 25 million, most of whom are women and children, and that UNHCR is dealing not only with refugee, but also with other groups as asylum seeker, refugees returning home and stateless people.

That the 1951 Geneva Convention is the fundamental instrument of the refugee law, showing who a refugee is, the procedure of legal protection, other assistance and social justice that he or she should receive from the countries who have signed the document.

That corresponding to UNHCR, at the end of 2001, Asia hosted the largest refugee population 44,6%, Africa 21,1%, Europe 24,6%, North America 5,5%, Latin America and the Caribbean 3,8% and Oceania 0,4%?