Mini Topic Guide: Displaced Peoples

Mini Topic Guide: Displaced Peoples Displaced Peoples Summary

Be it because of violence, natural disasters or political instability, men, women and children alike are being pushed away from their homes and towards places without much promise of prosperity. Not all displacement occurs in the same manner, however; there can be refugees, internally displaced persons, and asylum seekers.

Important A person who flees for safety, especially to a foreign country, as in Terms • Refugee - time of war, political upheaval, etc.

• Asylum Seekers- people who have fled their homes, but their refugee status is not definitive in the country to which they fled.

Internally Displaced Persons- IDPs are people who have not crossed an • international border but have moved to a different part of their own country.

• Stateless Persons- people who do not have a recognized nationality and do not belong to any country.

Returnees- people who are former refugees who return to their own countries • after time in exile.

Fast Facts There are approximately 59.5 million displaced people in the world today • Including 19.5 million refugees • 38.2 million internally displaced people • 1.6 million asylum-seekers. • The 5 biggest sending countries are Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, and Democratic • Republic of Congo The 5 biggest host countries are Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Germany, and Kenya. • Why are there displaced peoples?

Before the global rise in civil wars, the majority of displacements were a result of interstate conflicts—like was the case with the 1956 Hungarian uprising against Soviet occupation, which resulted in more than 200 hundred thousand people fleeing Hungary. However, civil wars gave way to IDPs, or displacement that occurs within a state’s borders. Syria, for instance, is a country hit by a civil war that has left more than 7.6 million IDPs. In spite of accounting for the majority of the displacement crises, violence and conflicts are not the only reasons why these occur— natural disasters, like the recent Nepal earthquake, have also resulted in refugee crises.

Are there any populations that are particularly vulnerable?

Unfortunately, children are the hardest-hit by these crises. According to UNHCR, half of the world’s displaced population are children, and they spend the majority of their childhood away from home. Some are even born at refugee camps, which result in the problem of statelessness--currently, there are over 10 million people without a nationality. Moreover, children are at a higher risk of “abuse, neglect, violence, exploitation, trafficking or forced military recruitment,” which is why special attention and care needs to be given and provided to them. The UNHCR has specific policies and guidelines to deal with children displacement – like the Guidelines on International Protection: Child Asylum Claims under Articles 1(A)2 and 1(F) of the 1952 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees – that aim to safeguard the integrity of displaced children. What UN organizations work together, with other NGOs, and local governments to address the issue of displacement?

History of the development of UN Agencies

• 1947, the International Refugee Organizations was founded by the UN. It was specifically set up for people waiting to return home at the end of World War ll. The IRO was the first international agency with the goal of helping refugees. It was replaced by the UNHRC.

• 1950, the UNHCR was founded with the mandate “to provide, on a non-political and humanitarian basis, international protection to refugees and to seek permanent solutions for them.” Since then, the UNHCR has helped tens of millions of refugees across the world.

• 1953, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) became a permanent part of he UN, and the UN approves its mandate indefinitely.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was created in 1950 to protect and support refugees all over the world. Nowadays, the UNHCR offers protection to 34 million of the 51.2 million people displaced, and has camps in over 125 countries. At these camps, the agency provides refugees with food, safe drinking water, tents, bedding, and medical care; while at the same time implementing action plans for States to address and solve displacement. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), on the other hand, has an active role in Syria and works alongside UNHCR in helping displaced children. UNICEF’s focus is to avoid the existence of a lost generation; as stated in their missions, “Critical efforts are being made to minimize the impact of the crisis on children – including in the life-saving areas of health, nutrition, immunization, water and sanitation, as well as in the future of children, through education and child protection.” Considerations for Addressing the Issue:

International Actions

• Should all countries be required to take in refugees, relative to the host country's population and size?

• How can we create an incentive for countries to take in refugees?

Regulation/transparency

• What are the regulations on monitoring countries with IDP, refugees, etc?

• Who should monitor these countries and how?

Safety and Security

• How should host countries deal with an influx of refugees?

• What measures can be put in place to assure that refugees will be provided basic services in the host country?

Safety and Security

• The 1951 UN Refugee Convention is for contexts of conflict and persecution only, and does not cover climate change. Currently, there is no agreed upon international framework for such people. Why is that there is no legal framework?

How can international law and policy protect climate change refugees? •

Additional Resources

Risks and Challenges of Refugees: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/refugees- • risks-and-challenges-worldwide

Facts and Figures on Refugee: http://www.unhcr.org.uk/about-us/key-facts-and- • figures.html

History of the UNHCR: http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646cbc.html •