|
Report
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: Mr.
Chairman, May
I begin by thanking Mrs. Ogata, the High Commissioner for Refugees, for
her insightful opening address. Thanks to her inspiring leadership and the
dedication of its officials, the UNHCR has acquitted itself well in
dealing with the challenges it has faced during the course of the last
year. The
mandate of refugee protection is unique to UNHCR, which represents our
collective endeavour to address global refugee concerns. Given its
mandate, it goes without saying that UNHCR must remain a non-partisan and
impartial humanitarian actor; we commend it for being so. The
enormity and the complexity of humanitarian and refugee protection tasks
are well recognised. We are happy that this has been emphasized by the
High Commissioner in her address. Even as the High Commissioner was making
her address last Friday, statements made by the President of the Security
Council on the situation in Burundi and Georgia drew attention to the
complex nature of the tasks. These tasks require a careful and balanced
approach, an approach where the focus remains firmly on achieving
humanitarian objectives, rather than on a hasty and ill-thought out search
for solutions. Inevitably, as we have seen in the recent past, precipitate
actions, taken without fully realizing the complexity of the situation,
create larger problems in their wake. We agree with the High Commissioner
that high profile emergency crises, which attract global attention and
make heavy claims on available resources, make the response of the
international community slower, timid and piecemeal elsewhere. This is
unfortunate. The continuing precarious situation of refugees in Africa
illustrates the need for international assistance to go to areas where it
is most required, not just to areas that attract political or media
attention. Mr.
Chairman, the refugee problem is quintessentially a humanitarian issue.
The UN Charter mandates cooperation and partnership for addressing
international problems of a humanitarian nature. It is, therefore, both
the legal and moral responsibility of States and other concerned actors to
address it collectively. Mr. Chairman, this problem has to be everyone’s
problem; otherwise, it runs the risk of becoming no one’s problem. We
share the concern expressed in the Report of the UNHCR about States
showing a growing reluctance to abide by some of the basic tenets of
refugee protection, including through violations of the fundamental
principle of non-refoulement. Asylum seekers and refugees are often not
accorded humane treatment according to international standards.
Signatories to the refugee conventions are increasingly derogating from
its provisions. This is, indeed, a worrying and a most disquieting trend.
The wave of restrictive practices in the most prosperous parts of the
world - border closures, interdictions at sea, expulsions and premature
returns - are negatively impacting on the issue of refugee protection
globally. Attempts by some countries to seek recourse to concepts like
"safe country of origin", "internal flight
alternative" and "safe third country" are fraught with
wholly undesirable implications. Mr.
Chairman, a large number of developing countries with limited resources
continue to honour their humanitarian obligations. As is well known, it is
predominantly developing countries that constitute countries of origin as
well as asylum. Host developing countries often put at risk their fragile
economies and social fabric to provide refuge to millions. Addressing the
needs of these countries must move to the forefront of the refugee agenda
and effective means found to enhance global cooperation and burden
sharing. This is essential if we are not to see a decline in the
traditional willingness and openness of developing countries to host vast
refugee populations. There
has to be a focus on root causes of such flows, including endemic poverty
in some parts of the world, though this is not within the mandate of the
UNHCR, and must be addressed in other forums. Equally, there has to be a
method of ensuring the transition from humanitarian assistance to
rehabilitation. Prevention of humanitarian crises through investments in
long-term economic growth in countries of origin is, in our view, perhaps
the most cost-effective approach available to the international community.
While it is true that gross violations of human rights have the potential
to generate massive refugee flows, putting in place ‘early warning
systems’ or intrusive international surveillance is not the way to
address it. Mr. Chairman, we favour dialogue, cooperation and national
capacity building to prevent such situations from developing. Similarly,
Mr. Chairman, while situations of conflict are often responsible for large
scale displacements, we believe that all actions aimed at peace-making and
peace-keeping should be strictly in accordance with the provisions of the
UN Charter. Mr.
Chairman, we are aware of a body of opinion which places an overwhelming
importance on States acceding to Conventions and Protocols as a measure of
their commitment to the refugees issue. This is a narrow and restrictive
way of looking at things. In our view, the essence of partnership on this
issue is in having a shared objective, in accepting the humanitarian
dimension of the issue and the need for a global response to it. India is
not a signatory to the 1951 Convention on Refugees. This is because we
believe that this Convention does not address the problem of massive
refugee flows or factors like mixed migration which accompany such flows.
But our commitment to humanitarian issues is second to none. We host a
large number of refugees and our programmes relating to them are managed
entirely from our resources. At all times, India has demonstrated its
abiding commitment to the principles of protection and non-refoulement. As
quite rightly pointed out by the High Commissioner in her address, the
safety of humanitarian personnel is a matter of some concern. We fully
share this concern. It is our view that this should remain the
responsibility of States. Assistance should be given wherever requested by
the States concerned, to enhance their national capacity to provide the
requisite security. International intervention on this count, where
absolutely essential, should be in accordance with the provisions of the
UN Charter. |