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Note on international protection (A/AC.96/1178)

Attachments

Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme
Sixty-ninth session Geneva, 1 to 5 October 2018
Item 4 (a) of the provisional agenda
Consideration of reports on the work of the Standing Committee International Protection

Note on international protection

Report of the High Commissioner

This note reviews developments in international protection from June 2017 through June 2018. It reflects a pivotal period for persons of concern to UNHCR, and for host countries and communities, as the international community has worked towards adoption of a global compact on refugees.

The note is broadly organized around the comprehensive refugee response framework and key elements of the proposed global compact on refugees, recalling the centrality of protection and reflecting relevant developments from a protection and solutions perspective.

Furthermore, it examines the state of internal displacement worldwide, in the twentieth anniversary year of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, as well as the situation of stateless persons.
Unless otherwise specified, documents cited in this note are available from www.refworld.org.

I. Introduction

  1. In 2017, the number of people forced to flee their countries due to persecution, human rights violations, armed conflict, violence and public disorder, falling within UNHCR’s mandate, rose to 19.9 million – up from 17.9 million at the end of 2016. In addition, 5.4 million Palestinian refugees fell under the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, while a further 40 million people were displaced within their own countries.

  2. An upsurge in violence in the Central African Republic, ongoing fighting in the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen, and a combination of conflict and food insecurity in Somalia and South Sudan, continued to provoke displacement. Meanwhile, new internal and cross-border movements were fuelled by insecurity, including in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar, and the northern and central parts of Mali. The deteriorating situation in Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) also triggered the movement of Venezuelans across borders, bringing the number who arrived in neighbouring countries since 2014 to over 1.5 million. While the peace agreement in Colombia was a critical step forward, several regions were affected by drug trafficking, illegal mining and the presence of armed groups. Violence and serious human rights abuses in northern Rakhine State in Myanmar compelled some 687,000 stateless Rohingya to flee the country between August 2017 and April 2018 in one of the fastest-developing refugee situations in two decades. In Afghanistan, violence and insecurity continued to trigger displacement, undermining the sustainability of returns.

  3. Against this background, the international refugee protection regime remains more relevant than ever. In follow-up to the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants (New York Declaration), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2016, 2017 saw stakeholders come together in a series of thematic discussions to advance ideas for the global compact on refugees. Building on over 65 years of law and practice, the early lessons learned from the application of the comprehensive refugee response framework (CRRF), and the outcomes of formal consultations with States in 2018, the global compact will seek to fill recurrent gaps in the international refugee response, including more equitable and predictable burden- and responsibility-sharing among States, through a multi-stakeholder approach. The year 2018 is, therefore, critical for refugees and for host countries and communities. Moreover, it marks the twentieth anniversary of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.

  4. This year’s note on international protection focuses on the centrality of protection, which has underpinned the preparations for the global compact on refugees. Organized broadly around the key areas of the proposed global compact, it reflects global developments from June 2017 to June 2018.

II. Centrality of protection

  1. Protection is central to any humanitarian response and, in practice, entails activities aimed at obtaining full respect for the rights of individuals, in accordance with international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law. In other words, the humanitarian response enhances access to these rights, whether at the outset of an emergency, in protracted situations or in the search for solutions. Protection considerations permeate humanitarian actions on behalf of refugees and others in need of international protection, stateless persons and the internally displaced. This begins with, but is not limited to, strengthening the legal frameworks through which their rights are secured.

  2. The legal framework for the protection of refugees includes, at its core, the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention) and its 1967 Protocol, as well as specific regional instruments. It draws from relevant international human rights instruments, international humanitarian law and other international legal standards. Consistent with its mandate, UNHCR works with States to support accession to the 1951 Convention and other relevant instruments, and to guide their interpretation and application, including through engagement in national and regional legislative and judicial processes. The Office supported the development of the Arab Refugee Convention by the League of Arab States, as well as the reform of the Common European Asylum System.
    Promising legislative developments took place through the application of the CRRF, including in Djibouti and Ethiopia.

  3. UNHCR supported the development of national legislation in almost 80 countries. In guiding the interpretation and application of legal protection standards, UNHCR issued “Guidelines on international protection on the applicability of Article 1D of the 1951 Convention to Palestinian refugees” (Guidelines on International Protection No. 13). The Office also issued numerous legal guidance documents and country-specific eligibility guidance. In November 2017, UNHCR signed a memorandum of understanding with the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) to promote international refugee law and adherence to international protection instruments, as well as joint activities for the protection of displaced and stateless persons. Following national consultations with governments and civil society in the context of the Brazil Plan of Action’s triennial evaluation, three sub-regional thematic consultations were held, focussing on the quality of asylum, the eradication of statelessness, and comprehensive, complementary and sustainable solutions. As a contribution to the development of the global compact on refugees, States in Latin America and the Caribbean issued the “100 points of Brasilia”1, containing numerous good practices.

  4. UNHCR worked with States and partners on identifying stateless populations and on combatting statelessness, consistent with relevant international instruments, as well as to promote actions to end statelessness through its #IBelong campaign. Efforts focused on supporting accession to the statelessness conventions and the reform of nationality laws. The latter included measures to promote equality between men and women on conferring nationality to children, for example in Madagascar and Sierra Leone, as well as to simplify administrative procedures, including for civil registration. During the reporting period, Chile acceded to the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, and Burkina Faso and Luxembourg acceded to the latter. Cuba eliminated a residence requirement for the acquisition of Cuban nationality for children born abroad to a Cuban parent, and Colombia established a mechanism to apply safeguards that prevent children from being born stateless, consistent with regional and international instruments. Brazil, Costa Rica and Ecuador issued regulations advancing efforts to identify and protect stateless persons, and reduce statelessness, including on naturalization. During 2017, a significant number of persons who were stateless or whose nationality was undetermined had their nationality conferred or confirmed, including in Indonesia, Iraq, the Philippines and Thailand, as well as in various countries in Central Asia.

  5. At the regional level, the Banjul Plan of Action on the Eradication of Statelessness 2017-2024, adopted by the Economic Community of West African States and which came into force in June 2017, sets out concrete actions and timeframes. Since coming into force, Burkina Faso and Mali have adopted national action plans to eradicate statelessness. In October 2017, the Member States of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region signed a Declaration on the Eradication of Statelessness, committing to reform nationality laws and policies. A ministerial meeting on belonging and legal identity was held in Tunisia in February 2018, under patronage of the President. Convened by the League of Arab States, in partnership with UNHCR, the meeting resulted in the adoption of a declaration calling for children to have the right to a legal identity, as well as for equal nationality rights for women and men. Countries hosting Syrian refugees, working closely with UNHCR and partners, succeeded in reducing the percentage of Syrian children who were undocumented from birth, from 35 to 2.5 per cent, over the past five years.

  6. Those who have been forced into displacement, but who have not sought or have not yet succeeded in reaching safety in another country, also face protection concerns. The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, established in 1998, continue to provide an important international framework for the protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs). UNHCR’s engagement in internal displacement dates back more than 45 years and has been recognized by successive General Assembly resolutions. At the global level, UNHCR leads or co-leads the protection, shelter, and camp coordination and camp management clusters. It also steers 25 of the 35 country-level protection clusters and other inter-agency protection coordination mechanisms, including in the Central African Republic, Iraq, Nigeria, South Sudan and the Syrian Arab Republic. In September 2017, UNHCR finalized a review of its engagement in situations of internal displacement, with a view to working more predictably across the spectrum of displacement.

  7. In Afghanistan, UNHCR strengthened protection for IDPs through in-kind assistance, cash-based interventions to cover medical expenses and the provision of legal aid. In the Americas, UNHCR helped develop local capacities in Honduras to strengthen land and property rights and help facilitate solutions, and supported the authorities in El Salvador with profiling of IDPs to improve the evidence base and facilitate an effective response. In Africa, UNHCR worked with partners in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to collect data on IDPs and their vulnerabilities through area-based monitoring, and in the Middle East, the Office supported information campaigns to advise IDPs about their right to vote and facilitated voting inside a number of camps and settlements. Ukraine’s efforts to address internal displacement were advanced by the adoption of an integration and solutions strategy, with support from UNHCR.

  8. In some regions, environmental degradation, natural hazards and the adverse effects of climate change, including drought, exacerbated and altered the character and complexity of displacement, as seen in the Lake Chad basin and the Horn of Africa. Drawing on its normative expertise and operational experience, UNHCR worked with States and partners to protect and assist those affected by these phenomena. UNHCR also provided technical support to the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change on human mobility-related aspects of climate change, including through participation in the Task Force on Displacement of the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage. UNHCR, Georgetown University and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) developed a toolbox2 to support governments with planned relocation processes, for people who are at risk or have been displaced, which are participatory and undertaken from a rights-based approach. In light of the increasing attention to displacement related to climate change, disasters and natural hazards, UNHCR commissioned a report on challenges and opportunities in this area.3 13. The delivery of protection goes beyond promoting the adoption of legal standards and includes activities aimed at ensuring their respect in practice. Humanitarian action should not, however, substitute community-based protection mechanisms, but rather support them, in line with the principles of partnership and accountability. Consultations with persons of concern are essential to ensure their involvement in identifying and addressing needs and finding solutions. Such consultations were conducted in operations worldwide to inform planning and responses to displacement by States, UNHCR and partners.

  9. UNHCR updated its policy on age, gender and diversity (AGD) in March 2018, to ensure that persons of concern can participate meaningfully in decisions affecting their lives. The policy reflects the fact that displacement and statelessness impact people in different ways, and that understanding and analysing personal considerations are necessary for effective responses. The policy proposes concrete actions for implementation and measuring results in AGD-inclusive programming, including disaggregated data collection; participation and inclusion; communication and transparency; feedback and response; and gender equality in decision-making, community management and leadership. It also covers access to documentation, assistance, economic opportunities, and comprehensive services aimed at preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).

  10. Facilitating the participation of refugee youth remained key for UNHCR. The UNHCR Global Youth Advisory Council contributed recommendations for the global compact on refugees, including through the thematic discussions in 2017. In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), UNHCR and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) convened national youth consultations involving government officials, civil society and displaced youth representatives, aimed at identifying opportunities to strengthen youth programming. In Pakistan, the Refugee Affected and Hosting Areas initiative focused on youth empowerment through education, skills training and livelihood support. UNHCR’s Youth Initiative Fund supported over 40 youth-led protection projects, focusing on youth engagement and social cohesion. Sports initiatives are also helping promote social inclusion and safe spaces for children and youth. This includes the launching of an Olympic Refugee Foundation by the International Olympic Committee and the #SignAndPass campaign by UNHCR and the Football Club Barcelona Foundation.

  11. Combatting discrimination and challenging negative gender stereotypes is also inextricably linked to protection. UNHCR has carried out initiatives aimed at bringing about social cohesion and bridging cultural divides. This includes supporting refugee food festivals in 13 cities in Europe and continuing its No Stranger Place series, which profiles refugees and their host families through powerful media stories.4