5.1 Definitions

A refugee is a person 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, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country..." (The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees)

Questions to start with:

1. How would you define a refugee? What makes people refugees? What kind of people become refugees?
2. Who is not a refugee in your opinion?
3. What is the difference between a refugee and a migrant?
4. Who decides and should decide if someone has a right to refuge or asylum?

Governments are responsible for their people's safety and for the safety of refugees. People become refugees, when they are forced to leave their countries, because governments are not able to protect their basic human rights and physical security. A refugee is someone with a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or for his or her political opinion and actions, who is outside of his or her country of nationality and unable or unwilling to return. Countries are not allowed to forcibly return refugees to a territory where they face danger. Countries may also not discriminate between groups of refugees.

Right to asylum is a human right. Enshrined in Article 14 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the right "to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution." This principle recognises that victims of human rights abuses must be able to leave their country freely and to seek refuge elsewhere. There have always been refugees throughout history, when people have escaped persecution, but their status was officially recognised only after the World War II. The right to asylum was included in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was started in 1950 and a year later the United Nations adopted the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. It is a legally binding treaty and has been ratified by 140 countries (February 2002).

Who decides? The government of the receiving country decides whether the asylum seeker is eligible for a refugee status. Governments establish status determination procedures to decide a person's legal standing and rights in accordance with their own legal systems. Persons who are rejected and seen as not in need of international protection are in a situation of illegal aliens, and may be deported. There are recommendations and guidelines from UN on how these procedures should work. Every asylum case is handled individually. People who apply for refugee status need to establish individually that their fear of persecution is well founded. Exceptions are made in certain cases, if there is no time to go through cases individually because of a mass exodus.

Who is not a refugee?

• The 1951 Geneva Convention does not specifically mention civilians fleeing conflict. Originally it speaks only of people fleeing because of persecution. However, in recent years major refugee movements have resulted from civil wars, ethnic, tribal and religious violence. Some countries argue that civilians fleeing war or who fear persecution by non-governmental groups such as militias and rebels should not be given refugee status. UNHCR's view is that the origin of the persecution should not be decisive, but rather whether a person deserves international protection because it is not available in the country of origin.
• A refugee is a civilian. Soldiers taking part of military actions can not be refugees.
• Usually escaping military service is not a reason to receive refugee status. In cases where conscientious objection is not possible or where a conflict violates international norms, draft evaders who fear persecution may be eligible for refugee status.
• Persons who have participated in war crimes, violations of humanitarian and human rights law or terrorism are excluded from the possibility of receiving refugee status.
• A criminal who has received a fair trial for a common law offence and who flees his country to escape jail is not necessarily a refugee.
• Economic migrants are not refugees. Economic migrants leave a country voluntarily to seek a better life and it is safe for them to return to their country of origin.?lt;/li>

Internally displaced persons. A person becomes a refugee only after crossing international borders and is only then eligible for international protection. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) usually flee their homes for the same reasons as refugees, but remain within their own country and are thus subject to the laws of that state. If civilian is fleeing persecution or conflict within her own country, getting help is much more difficult. UNHCR estimates there are 20-25 million IDPs in the world.

Temporary protection is at times offered by nations when they face a sudden mass influx of people, which can not be handled by regular systems. This has happened for example during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s and later in Kosovo. In such circumstances people can be speedily admitted to safe countries, but without any guarantee of permanent asylum. Temporary protection should not be prolonged and people should be given the right to claim full refugee status.

Questions

1. Is there something missing from official definitions or should something be changed? Are all possible cases of refugees covered? Are all causes of fleeing covered?
2. Do you think refugee status is sometimes granted on false cases?
3. Do you think people try to use refugee status for economic gain?
4. Are there problems in the procedures of determination in your country?

5.2 Where and how many are they?

There are refugees on every continent and almost in all countries. In 2001, the biggest refugee populations came from Afghanistan, Burundi, Iraq, Sudan, Angola, Somalia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, D.R. Congo, Viet Nam and Eritrea. Palestinians are the world's oldest and largest refugee population, and make up more than one fourth of all refugees. However, Palestinians are covered by a special mandate under UNHCR and not always included in the official refugee statistics. Asia hosts 48,3 percent of all refugees, followed by Africa (27,5 percent), Europe (18,3 percent) and North America (5 percent). Most of the refugees live in developing countries.

UNHCR statistics 2002 (www.unhcr.ch)

• At the start of the year 2002, the number of people of concern to UNHCR was 19.8 million. They included 12 million refugees (61%), 940,800 asylum seekers (5%), 462,700 returned refugees (3%), 5.3 million internally displaced persons (25%), 241,000 returned IDPs (1%) and 1 million others of concern (5%).
• The figure of 19.8 million uprooted persons was a fall of two million compared with the previous year and reflected two conflicting trends: while large groups of people continued to be uprooted, even larger numbers, especially IDPs, returned home.
• The global refugee population of 12 million remained virtually unchanged from the previous year, with half a million people fleeing their countries during 2001 and nearly as many going home.?lt;/li>
• At the end of 2001, Asia hosted the largest refugee population (48.3%), followed by Africa (27.5%), Europe (18.3%) North America (5%), Oceania (0.6%) and Latin America and the Caribbean (0.3%).
• When all persons of concern to UNHCR are included, Asia hosted 44.6%, Africa 21.1%, Europe 24.6%, North America 5.5%, Latin America and the Caribbean 3.8% and Oceania 0.4%.
• During 2001, nearly 500,000 refugees returned to their home country. Almost 100,000 refugees were resettled in 2001, including around 30,000 people assisted by UNHCR, a 25% agency decrease compared to 2000.
• Currently, an estimated 7.7 million people under UNHCR's care are children below the age of 18. The percentage of children compared with the overall refugee population ranges from 57 percent in Central Africa to 20 percent in Central and Eastern Europe.
• Refugees above 60 years of age constitute more than 15 percent of the refugee population in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, whereas in Africa they generally represent less than 5 percent of the refugee population.
• In most regions, women and girls of all ages constitute between 45-55 percent of the refugee population.
• The number of asylum applications submitted in 30, mostly industrialised countries rose from 570,100 in 2000 to 614,100 in 2001. The 7.2% increase was largely because of a higher number of applications in North America and Central Europe. The number of applications in the European Union fell 2 % from 391,460 to 384,530.
• Compared to the size of the national population, the main refugee hosting countries during 2001 were Armenia, with 70 refugees per 1,000 inhabitants, followed by Congo (40 per 1,000), Yugoslavia (38 per 1,000), Djibouti (37 per 1,000) and Zambia (27 per 1,000).

Questions:

1. Based on the facts and figures, what is the significance of the fact that:
2. 45-55% of refugees in all regions are women and children?
3. The main refugee hosting countries in 2001 are "poor countries" - Congo, Yugoslavia, Djibouti, Zambia?
4. Most refugees stay in their own regions, mainly in Asia and Africa?