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As Delivered Remarks. Introductory Statement by Mr. Filippo Grandi, UN

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As Delivered Remarks. Introductory Statement by Mr. Filippo Grandi, UN As delivered remarks. Introductory Statement by Mr. Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees to the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee), United Nations General Assembly 75th Session Item 63: Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, questions relating to refugees, returnees and displaced persons and humanitarian questions Tuesday, 3 November 2020 (Informal meeting held remotely without physical presence: New York and Geneva) Madam Chair, Distinguished Delegates, A few days ago, we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Charter. It was a moment to pause and reflect on the accomplishments of the United Nations and look at the challenges that - together - we must overcome. COVID-19 has demonstrated clearly that pandemics, like the climate emergency, poverty and inequality, conflicts, and forced displacement (which is often a consequence of the others) require a collective, concrete effort to respond, and to support those affected, especially the most vulnerable. I am proud that my organization does its part. UNHCR – itself about to mark 70 years of work – remains on the ground, working on behalf of refugees, internally displaced, their host communities, and stateless people, around the world. But despite decades of experience, the coronavirus emergency has been unlike any we have seen throughout our history. Never has every UNHCR office and operation faced a crisis of this magnitude, all at the same time. UNHCR colleagues, along with government, UN, NGO and other partners stayed and delivered, often in the most difficult places on earth, far from family, f riends and the comforts we all long for during this crisis. We acted quickly, developing innovative approaches. We stepped up our response in the areas of health, water and sanitation, education. We communicated extensively with displaced and host communities to provide information and advice, combat stigma and discrimination, help with mental health issues, fight gender-based violence. While major outbreaks have been largely avoided so far in refugee settings, refugees mostly live within communities, rather than camps, and are thus subject to the same risks as their hosts. This is why we cannot and will not relent in our preparedness. And while the health response remains the urgent priority, refugees and the displaced - like other vulnerable groups - are also being impacted by a pandemic of poverty. Lockdown measures have dramatically jeopardized the wages of informal workers and rapidly exhausted their limited savings. We have seen demand for assistance increase, even in countries that have provided sanctuary and services to refugees for decades. More than 100,000 Venezuelans, for example are estimated to have returned because livelihoods in host countries have been destroyed by lockdowns. Pandemic-induced poverty is having a particular impact on women and girls. Reports of gender- based violence, including domestic violence, forced marriage and exploitation, are increasing. And we are also deeply concerned by the lasting effect on education - as many as half of all refugee girls in secondary school may not return to class without greater socio-economic support to their 1 families, WASH in schools, and catch-up learning opportunities. It has therefore been crucial to step up cash assistance, which has an immediate and positive impact. I am most grateful to donors which responded promptly and generously to our call for COVID- specific resources. Our current COVID appeal of US$ 745 million is 62% funded and more funding will also be needed in the new year. Yet humanitarian assistance alone is not enough. It is for this reason that we have worked with development actors to promote the inclusion of refugees and IDPs in social safety net programmes designed to respond to the economic crisis. If the displaced are included in these programmes, as they were in the initial health response (and must be in future vaccination campaigns), not only shall we mitigate their plight, but we will also relieve pressure on the societies in which they live, reducing tension and instability. Much progress has already been achieved. The World Bank has made up to US$ 1 billion available to refugee hosting countries eligible for the IDA, so called “refugee window”, in the form of grants rather than loans; the InterAmerican Development Bank pledged, along with the World Bank, more than US$ 2 billion in support of refugees and host communities in Latin America; the African Development Bank has provided more than US$20 million to the coronavirus response for those displaced in the Central Sahel. The early involvement of development actors in forced displacement crises is a core element of the Global Compact on Refugees, which the General Assembly affirmed nearly two years ago. Their engagement in support of host countries and communities – and that of bilateral development institutions – is transforming the way we respond to forced displacement, influencing good policies and practices and mobilizing substantive resources. The Compact has also enabled extraordinary responses from other parts of society. More than 1,400 pledges were made at the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva last December; many by new partners. The private sector and civil society stepped up with innovative pledges to support refugees and their hosts. Yet, Madam Chair, the underlying causes of displacement have not been resolved and not even the coronavirus has stopped conflict. As we speak, several crises - some new, some resurfacing after years - are forcing people to flee. Some 650,000 people have been displaced in the Central Sahel region this year alone, in what is perhaps the most complex regional crisis worldwide. Hundreds of thousands have escaped violence in northern Mozambique. Thousands of Ivorians have crossed into Ghana and Liberia in the past few days, fleeing tensions at home in the first reverse movement after years of repatriations. More than 100,000 Nicaraguans have left their country because of violence and human rights abuses, most of them to Costa Rica. The most catastrophic consequences on civilians of any war continue to be seen in Yemen, including many forcibly displaced. And we are deeply concerned by the escalation of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan - a conflict whose devastating impact on civilians in both countries is rising again and which - if it does not stop immediately - could displace thousands more in a fragile region. Almost 80 million - one percent of the world’s population - have been forced today to leave their homes. International protection and access to asylum, therefore, continue to be life saving for many - every day, and in many places. Madam Chair, 2 I understand that the pandemic has required difficult decisions. This includes curtailing freedom of movement and placing limits on crossing borders. Clearly restrictions are needed to limit the spread of the virus. But I call again on States to uphold international human rights obligations and to ensure that those restrictions are temporary and non-discriminatory in respect of people seeking asylum. The principle of non-refoulement must not be violated. Many states have found ways to preserve some form of access to territory for people seeking international protection despite the pandemic. Uganda, for example, has accepted thousands of refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo while ensuring that necessary health measures, including quarantine, were also taken. Unfortunately, some 67 States have not. I therefore reiterate to all governments that UNHCR’s expertise is at their disposal to help find practical solutions so that they can protect people at the same time against war and violence, and the pandemic. We are also at your disposal to find pragmatic solutions to help address other protection challenges, including those presented by mixed movements of refugees and migrants. Risks are huge especially for those involved in those dangerous journeys, as we witnessed in Libya for example, but such movements pose complex challenges also to States. Yet building walls to prevent flows, reducing rescue at sea capacity, or externalizing asylum beyon d a country’s territory are not appropriate solutions. Such approaches – often suggested or implemented in opportunistic reaction to xenophobic rhetoric – can violate international law, put people in unnecessary danger, and have the potential to threaten - globally - the institution and practice of asylum, so dramatically needed today. Madam Chair, The Statute of my organization, adopted 70 years ago, calls upon governments to work with UNHCR also to find solutions to the plight of refugees. We continue to do so, and the Support Platforms envisaged in the Compact have been key enablers in Central America, the Horn of Africa and for the Afghan refugee situation. I welcome those States that are pursuing voluntary repatriation arrangements through tripartite agreements and encourage all to work with UNHCR. Please consider us a partner keen to work with you to find solutions in just, sustainable, and effective manners - ensuring, whenever possible, safe, voluntary and dignified returns. Return is indeed the preferred option for most refugees. But so long as peace remains elusive, return must also be complemented by other solutions, such as integration in countries of asylum - wherever that is possible - and resettlement to third countries. I cannot hide my disappointment with the low levels of resettlement in past years and hope that declining numbers will be quickly reversed. In that respect, last week’s decision by Canada to increase by over 4,000 places its annual resettlement programme must be hailed as a very positive example, which I hope others will follow. We must never give up our quest for solutions for refugees and the displaced, even in difficult contexts such as the Rohingya refugee situation in Bangladesh and beyond, the protracted exile of millions of Afghans and Somalis, the Syrian refugee crisis and the multi-faceted forced displacement prevailing in the Lake Chad region - to give a few examples. And when leaders take steps to end conflict, they must be supported.
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