Refugees Flashcards
IDP
Internal Displaced Person
person who has been forced from their home but reamins within the country
refugee
a person outside their country of citizenship, who wishes to return but can’t due to fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or geopolitical opinion
asylum
refugees’ application to be allowed to continue to live in a country
conflicting rights asylum
the right of a person to request/gain asylum
vs.
the right of sovereignty of states
'’securitization’’ of migration and borders
many countries have moved authority over migration policies to the Ministry of Defense or similar branches
migrant camps
liminal space neither inside or outside of the country
esentially without formal governance from any state and without social systems for employment, education or public services
aims of the international regime around (forced) human migration
- give arriving migrants a legal process by which they can cliam the right to enter a new country
- to support governmetns dealing with big waves of immigrants
- to provide physical care and support to people living in the liminal zones around the borders
Institutions of the international regime around (forced) migration
1951 Convention on Refugees (treaty)
International Organization for Migration (stand-alone IO)
UN High Commission for Refugees (branch of the UN)
International Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
- 1951
- definition of ‘‘refugee’’ only focused on WW2 European Refugees
- Rights of Refugees (on par with citizens (access to school, ourts, public services) and on par with resident non-citizens (health insurance))
- obligations of states (non-refoulement, non-discrimination, acces, cooperate with the office of the UNHCR)
global applicability of the refugee status
1967 Protocol
147 signatories
Global Compact on Refugees
Organized by the UNGA in 2018
goals:
- resettlement in third party states
- lighten burden on host stats
- acknowledging that it isn’t easy to disentangle reasons of forced migration
- attention to global warming and climate refugees
!to agree on a set of standards and aspirations for the treatment of refugees and migrants
UNHCR
1951 permanent program established by the UNGA to operationalize the conceptual goals set out in the 1951 Convention
only acts when invited by a government
received 2 Nobel Prizes
UNHCR predecessors
1947 International Refugee Organization
1944
UN Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
Structure UNHCR
main office in Geneva
Reports to the UNGA
executive committee of 79 member states (elected by the ECOSOC) meets once a year
leadership UNHCR
High Commissioner for Refugees
UNHCR financing
voluntary contributions
- makes the UNHCR dependent
- some countries pay twice (EU and by themselves)
- almost no unearmarked contributions
- raises questions about non-political character
UNHCR activities
Refugee assistance: physical and legal support/protection
not to get involved in conflict that leads to refugees
non-political character of the UNHCR
not non-political in any meaningful way: the rules it follows have encoded the vlaues and objectives of their authors (member states) + UNHCR is dependent on the cooperation of member states to realize its mandate
IOM vs. UNHCR
IOM is an independent IO
UNHCR is a permanent program of the UNGA
The IOM is mostly to support states
The UNHCR is mostly to support refugees
The IOM is also for migrants
The UNHCR is only for refugees
IOM members + headquarters
173 members
Geneva
IOM UN-related
2016
cooperation with UN organizations and activities
IOM funding
assessed and project based (voluntary/earmarked)
mandate IOM
to assist the government in managing the various issues associated with mass migration
IOM structure
council and committees with regular meetings (forum function)
Director-General responsible for supervising staff, setting the budget and overseeing operations
- elected by memberstates, always American, except now (2018 Portuguese): Trumps candidate was seen as racist and unqualified)
IOM activities
migration management invited/hired by governments (bilateral)
- instrumental/tool function
Expertise/training of governmental staff
Operational to manage checkpoints, visa organization, repatriation, voluntary return
can address climate change, because it’s mandate is on all migrants
Case: environmental refugees
aren’t legally seen as refugees
IOm is in the best position to respond to climate refugees
- led several projects (Environmental Migration Portal (website with figures) funded by the EU)
UNHCR made an informal amendment to the 1951 that asks states to include environmental issues in the legal definition of refugees
- not legally binding
UNHCR partners with non-refugee organizations to respond to disaster displacement more broadly
- ‘‘soft policy’’ to avoid claims that it is acting beyond its mandate
Refugee regime or refugee governance?
Hurd speaks of a refugee regime
more and more people talk about refugee governance, as there are many different actors and rules.
governance allows non-state actors to be considered as to playing a role
