It is today that the United Nations General Assembly must adopt a series of commitments to strengthen the protection of migrants and refugees. Once adopted, these commitments will be known as New York Declaration. This includes two annexes which should lead to the adoption of two Global Compacts in 2018, one on refugees, the other on better protection of migrants.
The project of final declaration of New York should create the ideal conditions to demand concrete commitments from the States Parties in 2018. She mentions in particular the need to combat exploitation, racism and xenophobia. It insists on the proper conduct of border procedures which must be carried out in accordance with international law. It also underlines the importance of paying close attention to the needs of vulnerable people (women, children, sick, disabled, elderly). It also sets out commitments that include greater support to countries and communities hosting the largest number of refugees and also commitments that take into account the educational needs of refugees and their entry into the working life of the host country. . Emphasis is also placed on developing resettlement opportunities or other forms of admission to third countries.
A text too watered down?
This text is not a heap of empty promises although it has been watered down compared to the texte initial submitted by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in November 2015. It is crucial at a time when xenophobic movements and national reflexes are gaining momentum. The Declaration reaffirms the importance of the application of the international protection regime – the 1951 Convention, human rights and humanitarian law – with regard to refugees. However, this project represents a missed opportunity to broaden the scope of protection to other people who are victims of generalized violence, ecological disasters, civil wars, aggravated human rights violations which force their departure.
Criticized for its monopoly reflexes, the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) obviously expects a lot from this summit. Evil tongues will say that the UNHCR hopes to receive more means of action. Sybella Wilkes, spokesperson for the UNHCR, believes for his part that by signing the Declaration, governments are aware of their new responsibilities in assisting host countries such as Turkey and Lebanon. According to her, the purely humanitarian response to the displacement of populations, which is moreover completely underfunded, must give way to a broader and supervised response.
Non-governmental organizations like Human Rights Watch, Oxfam, Amnesty International and some specialists in migration issues such as Alexandre Betts (Refugee Study Center, Oxford), Peter Sutherland (United Nations Special Rapporteur for International Migration), Francois Crepeau (United Nations Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants) converge on solutions to improve the lot of migrants. They see the Declaration as being too watered down and stress the need to:
- protect other categories of migrants, in particular those who, without being personally persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a certain social group or political opinion, are forced to leave their country for lack of security,
- absolutely prohibit the detention of refugees and minor migrants, an American practice which is gaining ground in Europe,
- significantly increase resettlement offers for refugees,
- increase financial assistance to countries of first reception,
- to set up a employment strategy, training andeducation for all refugees, including those who are not in camps,
- to find a way to establish safe passageways.
They are right and they will have to convince today and do a lot of “corridor diplomacy” with those who will also participate tomorrow in the Leaders Summit on the Global Refugee Crisis hosted by President Obama. This meeting promises to be more concrete in terms of financial participation and humanitarian generosity. Hopefully, otherwise we must expect many more conflicts and crises.
It’s about avoiding further conflicts
Indeed, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons exceeds 65 million people. More than half of the world’s refugees come from three countries : Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia. These figures do not take into account the 5.2 million Palestinians registered by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). For frontline states like Turkey, Pakistan, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the pressure caused by the massive influx of refugees is difficult to overcome. Keep in mind that 86% of refugees are in developing countries. The lack of attention and investment in assistance to displaced populations is a time bomb for our generation and future generations as 50% of the world’s refugees are children. Half of them are not educated.
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