UN Refugee Summary
UN Refugee Summary
UN Refugee Summary
07
•
08
PROTECTING
REF
EFUGEES
UGEES
& THE ROLE OF UNHCR
Education is a key issue for refugee children.
20
PROTECTING
07
•
08
REFUGEES
& THE ROLE OF UNHCR
15 T H E 1951 R E F U G E E C O N V E N T I O N
17 WHAT IS UNHCR?
22 DURABLE SOLUTIONS
30 NUMBERS AT A GLANCE
U N H C R /C . S AT T L B E RG E R /AG O • 1 9 9 4
Tables
ECONOMIC MIGRANT-
ASYLUM SEEKER- Someone who leaves their country of origin for
Someone who has made a claim that he or she is a refugee, financial reasons, rather than for refugee ones.
and is waiting for that claim to be accepted or rejected. The
term contains no presumption either way - it simply describes
the fact that someone has lodged the claim. Some asylum
seekers will be judged to be refugees and others will not.
UNHCR /S . SCHULMAN/CO D • 2 0 0 6
STATELESS PERSON-
Someone who is not considered as a national by ANY
state (de jure stateless); or possibly someone who does
not enjoy fundamental rights enjoyed by other nationals
in their home state (de facto stateless). Statelessness
can be a personal disaster: some stateless people live in A displaced child in the
a Kafkaesque netherworld where they do not officially Democratic Republic of the
exist and therefore have virtually no rights at all. Congo.
Unlike the other groups outlined here, they may have
never moved away from the place where they were
born. But some stateless people are also refugees.
EU RO PE
3,427,000
N O RT H A M ER I C A
1,143,000
L ATI N A M ER I C A*
3,543,000
* Includes Caribbean
† Includes both returned refugees and IDPs
Numbers may not add up due to rounding
A SIA
14,911,000
AFR I C A
9,753,000
OCE AN IA
86,000
UNHCR staff registering Colombians who have fled into neighbouring Ecuador.
T H E I M P O RTA N C E O F
THE 1951 REFUGEE CONVENTION
TO P 10 COU NTRI E S
OF ORIGIN
[ AS OF 1 JANUARY 2007 ]
T he 1951 Refugee Convention and its
1967 Protocol are the cornerstones of mod-
ern refugee protection, and the legal principles
COUNTRY REFUGEES they enshrine have permeated into countless
Afghanistan 2,108,000
other international, regional and national laws
Iraq* 1,451,000
and practices governing the way refugees are
Sudan 686,000 treated.
Somalia 464,000
DR Congo 402,000 One of the most crucial principles laid down
Burundi 397,000 in the 1951 Convention is that refugees should
Viet Nam 374,000 not be expelled or returned “to the frontiers of
Turkey 227,000 territories where [their] life or freedom would
Angola 207,000 be threatened.” The Convention also outlines the
Myanmar 203,000 basic rights which states should afford to refu-
* Estimated at over 2 million by September 2007.
gees, and it defines who is a refugee – and who
Note: Some 334,000 Palestinian refugees also is not (for example it clearly excludes fighters,
come under UNHCR’s mandate, while a further terrorists or people guilty of serious crimes).
4.4 million Palestinian refugees are cared for
by UNRWA.
PROTECTING REFUGEES • 2007-08 15
The 1951 Convention was never
intended to sort out all migration
issues. Its sole aim was – and still
is – to protect refugees. The chal-
lenge is to find other efficient
mechanisms to manage economic
migration and maintain border se-
curity – legitimate state concerns
that need to be carefully balanced
with their responsibility to protect
refugees.
TO P 1 0 A SY L U M COU NT R I E S
[ AS OF 1 JANUARY 2007 ]
COUNTRY REFUGEES
Pakistan* 1,044,000
Iran 968,000
United States 844,000
Syria 702,000
Germany 605,000
Jordan 500,000
Tanzania 485,000
United Kingdom 301,000
China 301,000 This Eritrean refugee
Chad 287,000 has spent two
decades in a camp in
* UNHCR Estimate. eastern Sudan.
UNHCR staff
discussing
ASSISTING REFUGEES
UNHCR /S . SCHULMAN/A F G • 2 0 0 6
circumstances permit (generally when a conflict has ended), and a degree
of stability has been restored. UNHCR encourages voluntary repatria-
tion as the best solution for displaced people, providing it is safe and
their reintegration is viable. The agency often
provides transportation and a start-up package
TO P 5 R E PATR IATIO N S which may include cash grants, income-genera-
I N 2006 tion projects and practical assistance such as farm
COUNTRY RETURNEES tools and seeds.
Afghanistan 388,000
Liberia 108,000 Sometimes, along with its many NGO part-
Burundi 48,000 ners, it extends this help to include the rebuild-
Angola 47,000 ing of individual homes, as well as communal
Sudan 42,000 infrastructure such as schools and clinics, roads,
A young
Congolese
Only a small number of nations take part in refugee in
UNHCR resettlement programmes and accept quotas of Malawi prepares
for the scheduled
refugees on an annual basis. In 2006, for example, some resettlement
71,700 people were resettled in 15 countries – 27,700 of of his family to
them with UNHCR assistance, the rest directly by the Denmark.
resettlement countries.
&
QUESTIONS
ANSWERS
include the right to a review before they
are deported, since the consequences of
a faulty decision may be disastrous for n Do all refugees have to go
the individuals concerned. through an asylum
determination process?
In many countries, people who apply
n Can a war criminal or for refugee status have to establish
terrorist be a refugee? individually that their fear of persecution
No. People who have participated is well-founded. However, during
in war crimes and violations of major exoduses involving tens or even
international humanitarian and human hundreds of thousands of people,
rights law – including acts of terrorism individual screening may be impossible.
– are specifically excluded from the In such circumstances, the entire group
protection accorded to refugees. may be granted ‘prima facie’ refugee
status.
?
n What is ‘temporary protection?’
Nations sometimes offer ‘temporary
protection’ when their regular asylum
asylum seekers in specific circumstances.
But it only complements – and does not
&
QUESTIONS
ANSWERS
any guarantee of permanent asylum. protection who are still unable to return
Temporary protection can work to the home should be given the right to claim
advantage of both governments and full refugee status.
A US Air Force
C-130 disgorges its
cargo of UNHCR
supplies after
massive floods hit
Dadaab refugee
camp in Kenya.
STRUCTURE, FINANCE
How big is UNHCR, and how does it function?
UNHCR /S . SCHULMAN/CO D • 2 0 0 6
similar levels ever since. UNHCR’s Annual Pro-
gramme Budget includes general programmes
– supporting ongoing, regular operations – and
special programmes used to cover emergencies or
large-scale repatriation operations (for example the
remorselessly expanding Iraqi displacement, and the
Many UNHCR operations and
return and reintegration of Congolese and Sudanese projects are carried out jointly with
refugees and IDPs). other agencies, including the
Red Cross movement and NGOs.
Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies (IFRC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and
some 650 non-governmental organizations.
* Figures do not include some 4.4 million Palestinian refugees cared for under a separate mandate by UNRWA in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
UNHCR
BY :
Media Relations
• At the beginning of 2007, the and Public
total number of conflict-related Information Service
IDPs worldwide was estimated at P.O. Box 2500
24.5 million, out of which 12.8 1211 Geneva 2
million received some protection Switzerland
or assistance from UNHCR
www.unhcr.org
during 2006 (compared to 6.6
million the previous year). For information
and inquiries,
please contact:
Stateless Media Relations
and Public
Information Service
• As a result of a 2003 survey, [email protected]
a more comprehensive view
of the scale and complexity of
statelessness around the world
has been emerging. By 2006,
the number of stateless people
identified had more than doubled
to 5.8 million. However, the real
total is believed to be nearer A young
15 million. Palestinian refugee
marooned for
months in no-man’s
land between Iraq
and Syria.
Back cover:
Colombian refugees
in a remote part of
Panama.
UNHCR /B. HEGER/ PA N • 2 0 0 6
UNHCR /J. WREFORD/IRQ-SYR•2007