Reducing the Vulnerability of Nationals Abroad in Crises
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REDUCING THE VULNERABILITY OF NATIONALS ABROAD IN CRISES Reference handbook for the MICIC e-learning course for consular staff This publication is part of the Migrants in Countries in Crisis (MICIC) Initiative. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. This publication has been made possible by the support of the American people through the US Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM). The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any agency of the Government of the United States of America. CONTENTS Introduction and overview 1 Migrants’ vulnerability in crises 5 Crises 18 International frameworks 25 Relevant actors 30 Profiling and tracking migrants 45 Improving migrants’ awareness 51 Contingency planning 57 Communicating with migrants 69 Supporting evacuations 77 Providing relief assistance 87 Providing recovery assistance 95 Glossary 103 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW WHAT IS THIS TOOL? WHO IS IT FOR? • Providing direct assistance to those who find themselves in situation of distress. This manual accompanies the e-learning course Many countries of origin also have in place on “Improving Assistance to Nationals Affected by mechanisms that specifically aim to reduce Crises Abroad — A Course for Institutions of the migrants’ vulnerability, including, for instance, Country of Origin”, developed by the International emergency cells, delivery of emergency care packs, Organization for Migration (IOM) with the aim pre-departure trainings, and/or travel insurance. to strengthen the ability of the personnel of institutions tasked with supporting and assisting Given the trend towards higher international a country’s citizens living, working and travelling mobility, it is likely that such assistance and support abroad to address the specific challenges their systems might grow increasingly overstretched in nationals face when confronted with crises abroad. the future, as home countries’ staff and resources will be confronted with more requests for The training targets mainly: assistance, coming from nationals in a broader set of locations. This may particularly affect countries • Consular officials and other government that see large shares of their population travel representatives of home countries deployed in abroad – and crises situations are particularly likely posts abroad; to trigger heightened assistance needs. The need • Staff members of home country institutions to promote self-reliance and self-empowerment specifically mandated to provide assistance among their nationals, in anticipation of crises, is to individuals caught in crisis situations while essential to decreasing their vulnerability. abroad, whether through their work on the ground or at capital level; and This calls for specific capacity development on a • Volunteers who might support the work of number of areas, including: personnel from the two above categories before, during and after crises. • Gathering information on nationals abroad in crisis-prone or crisis-affected areas or countries These materials will most often refer to these (e.g. number of individuals, their family audiences collectively as “consular staff” – except composition, legal status, living and health in cases in which additional precisions are needed. conditions, any specific needs); • Understanding the context in which their The groups of actors listed above accrue key nationals live, work and travel (i.e. their exact responsibilities for the day-to-day life of their location, the hazards they face, the resources nationals in their host locations (e.g. information they can count on or lack – including operating gathering and dissemination, service provision, roads and transportation networks, availability direct assistance) and are often among those of services and assistance, transportation who operate on the front-line in crisis situations options); that affect their nationals, and play a key role in • Increasing their nationals’ awareness of local reducing their vulnerability in emergencies. Their hazards, risks, resources, as well as their rights crisis-related duties include, among others: and entitlements in normal times and in crisis • Providing information and advice on potential situations; risks faced by migrants, as well as on a crisis’ • Communicating with their nationals, potential developments; relevant local actors, and institutions and the • Issuing documentation such as passports, visas, general public back home before and during laissez-passer’s and letters of facilitation; and emergencies; 1 CONSULAR ASSISTANCE Consular assistance comprises all help and advice provided by the diplomatic consular corps of a country to their citizens living or travelling overseas. Such assistance may take a variety of forms, including provision of travel documents, assistance for departure and evacuation, support in the case of an accident, incarceration, serious illness or death. Consular assistance does not supersede the individual’s responsibility to seek solutions to one’s problems. Should a situation become urgent and/or critical, ideally in anticipation of a potential crisis, a person living, working or studying in the area at risk has the sole responsibility to ensure one’s own safety and security – and this could include leaving the area autonomously, as soon as possible, and without waiting for outside assistance. Generally speaking, in crisis situations, consular officials will take all possible measures to support affected nationals; however, they may not have the capacity in the country (staffing, financial resources, equipment) for a comprehensive, effective intervention. It may take days to reach affected nationals, in particular when they are living and working in, or visiting, isolated areas, when the affected zone is too dangerous or when local infrastructures have been damaged. When no consular representation is available locally, the migrant would need to depend on one’s own resources and/or seek assistance from a third party. These issues are likely to be compounded in countries with limited resources or infrastructure to deal with the increase in demands for services resulting from a crisis. These materials may also be of interest to other actors who may work in crisis situations affecting migrants, and in particular international organizations and humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the country of destination. • Developing preparedness plans at the foreign IOM encourages the use and adaptation of these post level in order to ensure continuity of materials to meet each country’s specificities and services in crises; priorities, and in particular their integration, as • Supporting assisted departures, evacuations applicable, in trainings relevant personnel may and emergency repatriations to the home receive before their deployment abroad. country or third countries in the case of a crisis; • Coordinating with other emergency Each chapter in the handbook accompanies one of preparedness, response and recovery actors the e-learning modules, mostly providing additional operating in the affected location, and the details, examples and tools that were not included national authorities of the host State; and in the e-learning course due to timing constraints. • Issuing emergency identify and/or travel documentation, based on procedure established by each country. THE MICIC INITIATIVE BACKGROUND According to UN data, today, there are almost METHODOLOGY 250 million international migrants in the world and tens of millions of people displaced by These tools have been developed as part of IOM’s conflicts, violence and disasters. Many more efforts to operationalize the recommendations of people move across borders for shorter periods the Migrants in Countries in Crisis (MICIC) Initiative. of time, many undocumented, for reasons related They have been developed using a variety of to their profession, education, family, security experiences and knowledge gathered by consular or recreation; these go largely unrecorded by corps and foreign services from all over the world – statistical and tracking systems on migration. in particular in the context of major crises affecting Increasing population movements at all scales and large numbers of migrants abroad, such as the 2004 between all geographic areas are made possible Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2011 floods in Thailand, by the increasingly interconnected character the uprising in Libya and the Yemen civil strife. of our modern societies, making the world a “smaller” place. The presence of labour migrants, The manual and course present measures, actions international students, tourists, refugees and and tools that home country institutions can adopt expats has become such an integral part of many and use in order to improve the assistance provided societies that States and other public and private to nationals abroad before, during and after crises. actors may need to rethink the way they provide 2 services, opportunities and resources to their issue. This encompassed a variety of measures, nationals and visitors. This is particularly true for including improved protection of and assistance institutions of countries from which a high number to migrants in crisis-affected areas, enhanced of international migrants