INNOVATIVE, COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO REFUGEE PROBLEM NECESSARY TO MEET THREAT OF NEW CONFLICTS, THIRD COMMITTEE TOLD

1 November 1996

Press Release
GA/SHC/3373

INNOVATIVE, COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO REFUGEE PROBLEM NECESSARY TO MEET THREAT OF NEW CONFLICTS, THIRD COMMITTEE TOLD

19961101 The possibility of new conflicts with tragic humanitarian consequences was a clear warning to the international community that a more innovative and comprehensive approach to the refugee problem was needed, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told this morning, as it continued its general debate on refugees, displaced persons and humanitarian questions. The representative of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia stressed the importance of an early warning system, preventive diplomacy and the unconditionality of repatriation. Any discrimination in dealing with the parties involved must be eliminated, he added. Speakers deplored the massive displacement of refugees and attacks on camps in eastern Zaire. The Observer for the Holy See said the refugee situation in the Great Lakes region called for urgent international intervention. When humanitarian agencies and programmes could no longer protect civilians in internal armed conflicts, the international community must find ways to protect life and relieve human suffering. Such interventions would prevent massive refugee flows and a lessening of the heavy financial burden on the international community. Human rights violations were a major factor in causing the flight of refugees, as well as obstacles to their safe and voluntary return home, according to the representative of Sierra Leone. Respect for human rights, including minority rights in the country of origin, was crucial to solve and prevent refugee problems. Several speakers stressed the importance of regional approaches to problems of refugees and displaced persons. The Republic of Korea said the successful conclusion on 30 June of the plan of action for Indo-Chinese refugees with the participation of South and East Asian countries was a model for integrated approaches to traditional solutions. Ukraine and the Russian Federation outlined the positive results of the regional Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) conference held in May in Geneva. It had shown the complexity and acuteness of migration problems in CIS countries, and the far-reaching implications for international security and stability. The conference's mechanism for implementing its platform for action would promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation on migration issues, the receiving and settling of refugees and the protection of minorities. Statements were also made by Czech Republic, Brazil, Honduras, Slovenia, New Zealand and Norway. The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. this afternoon to continue its consideration of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report, refugees, returnees and displaced persons and humanitarian questions.

Committee Work Programme The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) met this morning to continue its discussions on the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), questions relating to refugees, returnees and displaced persons and humanitarian issues. (For background, see Press Release GA/SHC/3371 of 31 October.)

Statements OLIVER KRLIU (The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), said his country had been confronted with a refugee problem with the outbreak of military actions first in Slovenia and Croatia, and then the Bosnian crisis. Since 1992, more than 36,000 registered refugees from those places had found a home in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, although the actual number was closer to 60,000. His Government fully respected their human rights. Each refugee had been given shelter, food, health care, education, complete freedom of movement and religious expression. Nobody had been expelled to their country of origin or to a third country. The refugees presented a tremendous challenge for his country, he continued. But with the constructive cooperation of UNHCR, a large number of European countries and other involved international organizations, as well as the refugees themselves, a temporary home had been secured for them. A long and continuous repatriation process had started after the signing of the Dayton agreement. Events in the former Yugoslavia, Iraq and Chechnya were being repeated in the Great Lakes region of Africa. The possibility of new conflicts with tragic humanitarian consequences was a clear warning to the international community that a more innovative and comprehensive approach to the refugee problem was needed. He welcomed the idea of an early warning system and preventive diplomacy. He also stressed the importance of eliminating discrimination on any basis in dealing with the parties involved, and especially the unconditionality of repatriation. Ms. SUARANOVA (Czech Republic) said a solution to the refugee problem will only be reached if the international community took concerted and coherent regional action in coordination with international agencies, including those outside the United Nations system. Her Government stressed the voluntary repatriation and integration of refugees to the country of origin, with an emphasis on family reunion. In June 1996, with the cooperation of Bosnian authorities and UNHCR, the Government initiated a voluntary repatriation programme for refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina residing in the Czech Republic. Of the 400 refugees, three groups totalling 205 people had been transported home by air. Those who were unable to successfully repatriate could return to the Czech Republic after three months. In concert with this programme, the Czech Republic was also contributing funds for shelter and clothing in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it was fully aware of the importance of material aid and financial contributions to relevant organizations.

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This year, the Czech Republic parliament had amended refugee legislation, so refugees were now treated as permanent residents for the purpose of being eligible for health and social services. Refugee status was now accorded for an unlimited period, and the five-year period of permanent status now began at the moment when refugee status was granted. The Government had also extended, for a second time, the temporary protection order, primarily for the benefit of Bosnian refugees. The Czech Republic appreciated the crucial work of UNHCR in the protection of refugees and displaced persons and its search for lasting solutions to their problems.

MYUNG CHUL HAHM (Republic of Korea), said post-conflict rehabilitation and development were essential to ensure lasting solutions to the root causes of the refugee problem. To that end, UNHCR should expand its cooperation with such organizations as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank. His Government supported UNHCR's efforts to reinforce its working relationships with non-governmental organizations and to transform itself into a more effective, transparent and leaner organization. The refugee problem was inextricably linked to human rights concerns. It was important to ensure the agency's ability to promote and secure the human rights of refugees, especially those of women and children. There were persistent human rights violations against them, including the militarization of children in armed conflict. He welcomed the memorandum of understanding between UNHCR and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to strengthen collaboration for the protection and family reunion of refugee children.

He said solutions to the refugee problem ultimately depended on political, military and economic factors beyond the control of humanitarian organizations. That required an integrated approach by the international community through enhanced coordination between UNHCR and its partners, sustained by international solidarity and burden sharing. At the same time, there must be efforts to lessen the burden on many developing countries affected by influxes of refugees. The successful conclusion on 30 June of the plan of action for Indo-Chinese refugees with the participation of South and East Asian countries, including his Government, was a model for integrated approaches to traditional solutions.

CARLOS MOREIRA GARCIA (Brazil) said his Government believed that to seek and be granted refugees status from persecution was a fundamental human right. That was why it had expanded its interpretation of the main international legal instruments for the protection and assistance of refugees to include the protection of all individuals fleeing from situations of open violence within States. As a consequence of this action, 70 per cent of the 2,150 refugees residing in Brazil were victims of civil war situations. Through the Foreign Citizen Act, the Government had granted refugees the exercise of their civil rights and had taken steps to facilitate refugees' access to the labour market by providing entry visas, identity papers and working permits, in addition to extending social security benefits. Brazil urged the international community

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to uphold and strengthen the institution of refugee status and the principle of non-refoulement, which were the two pillars of international protection.

The UNHCR's institutional and financial capacity to provide the needed humanitarian assistance was constantly being tested, he said. Therefore, the international community should provide adequate resources to allow UNHCR to meet its growing challenges. It was also necessary that UNHCR be given the capacity to intervene in refugee crisis situations. However, the question of extending the UNHCR mandate to encompass assistance to internally displaced persons should be studied with caution, considering the lack of resources that had been hampering UNHCR's ability to adequately fulfil its mandate to assist refugees. It might be preferable to strengthen the role of other existing agencies with more experience in this field -- and better access to funding -- such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Government suggests that UNHCR should intervene only to help internally displaced persons in exceptional situations, which should be examined on a case-by-case basis, so as not to harm UNHCR's current assistant activities.

FODE S. KAMARA (Sierra Leone), said his country had become a victim of the devastating repercussions of the refugee problem with the outbreak of the rebel war in March 1991. Human rights violations were a major factor in causing the flight of refugees, as well as obstacles to their safe and voluntary return home. Respect for human rights, including minority rights in the country of origin, was crucial to solve and prevent refugee problems. Returnees in affected countries were faced with harassment from scattered and uncontrollable armed groups and individuals and they lacked assurances of receiving minimal resources for their resettlement. The international community should help reinforce peace and security and help facilitate refugees' return and social integration. Combatants from both sides need to be demobilized and reintegrated. The role of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (HABITAT) was crucial in providing assistance to refugees, returnees and displaced persons. Approaches which enhanced prospects for their successful rehabilitation first as refugees and later as returnees must be emphasized.

He said the cost of a senseless civil war in Sierra Leone had been incalculable. Out of a population of 4.5 million, there were about 1.6 million internally displaced persons, 240,000 refugees in Guinea and about 120,000 refugees in Liberia. With the outbreak of the Liberian crisis in 1989, Sierra Leone had become a country of asylum for influx of Liberian refugees, then a country of origin for its own refugees. There had been relative peace since the cease-fire, but his Government needed urgent help from the international community to mobilize technical and financial resources to implement resettlement programmes. The Government was committed to rebuilding the country and had created a special ministry of national rehabilitation, reconstruction and resettlement to develop strategies to meet the needs of refugees, returnees and displaced persons.

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ROGER BALL (New Zealand) said, regarding the humanitarian crisis in eastern Zaire, his Government deplored the massive displacement of refugees and attacks on camps, which violated the sanctity of international protection. It condemned the destruction of hospitals and schools provided by the international community as part of the relief infrastructure. It also expressed concern for the welfare and security of the staff of international humanitarian organizations working in eastern Zaire. Recognizing that the international community must play its part in this crisis, New Zealand made an emergency grant of NZ$200,000 to go to UNHCR and ICRC. New Zealand pledged its commitment to the principle of international burden sharing, and it would play its part through financial support to UNHCR and by accepting refugees for resettlement.

With the advent of peace in the former Yugoslavia, it was now time for the international community to turn its attention from immediate relief efforts to the task of rebuilding societies devastated by war, he said. Only with the international community's ongoing assistance in this healing process would it be possible for the millions of refugees and displaced persons to return home and for peace to take root. Local communities and authorities also had a vital responsibility to put aside animosity and to approach national reconstruction in a spirit of reconciliation. The rediscovery of a common sense of community was fundamental to fulfilling the hopes embodied in the Dayton Accords.

MARGARITA DURON DE GALVEZ (Honduras), speaking on behalf of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Panama, said the refugee problem mainly affected women and children. It was important for countries to adhere to the relevant international legal instruments, particularly the 1951 Convention relating to the status of Refugees and its 1967 protocol. The Secretary- General's report on assistance to unaccompanied refugee minors drew attention to the deplorable situation of the girl child. She regretted that traditional receiving countries were increasingly putting political restrictions on refugees, and stressed that it was important to adhere to the principle of protecting them. More emphasis was needed on combining temporary assistance with development plans. In order to eradicate forced migration, it was important to strengthen democratic institutions. A regional conference among central American countries had linked the problems of refugees with those of internally displaced persons and returnees.

She then outlined Guatemala's programme for the voluntary repatriation of refugees, under which some 29,000 people who had been affected by the internal conflict, had returned. Negotiations between the Guatemalan Government and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) had led to commitments on the rehabilitation and repatriation of refugees. A technical commission had been set up to monitor implementation of agreements. It included representatives from the Government, refugees and donor countries. True prevention of the refugee problem would require greater will on the part

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of governments to eradicate the problems which led people to leave their countries, as well as stronger cooperation by the international community.

EVA TOMIC (Slovenia) said it was vital that the different bodies of the United Nations system collaborate when responding to a crisis situation. Her Government believed that the High Commissioner for Human Rights could play an important role, especially through field operations, in both preventive and solution-oriented efforts in dealing with emergencies. The promotion and protection of human rights in post-conflict peace-building was also of paramount importance, and the cooperation of the United Nations human rights mechanisms with UNHCR, with full respect for their different mandates and approaches, was essential in the operations like the repatriation planning and post-conflict reconstruction efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Her Government commended UNHCR for its community-based approach to reintegration assistance, in cooperation with other United Nations agencies, such as UNDP, she said. Such cooperation was important in trying to overcome the institutional gaps which existed between relief efforts and development assistance, and the existing "resident coordinators system" should be further utilized for this purpose. Slovenia attached particular importance to the protection of refugee women and children and other vulnerable groups and the provision of their health care and education. The UNHCR had made considerable progress in integrating concern for the special protection for women and children into the planning and implementation of its programmes, such as its work in gender-based refugee persecution.

RENATO R. MARTINO, Observer for the Holy See, said the monetary crisis facing the United Nations and its relief agencies might have a devastating effect on refugees. With the generosity of many donor countries being curtailed there was a very real possibility that vital humanitarian programmes and efforts would be the first to suffer. Preventive diplomacy was vitally important to resolve explosive situations before they erupted into humanitarian disasters. The refugee situation in the Great Lakes region called for urgent international intervention to prevent a real tragedy. When humanitarian agencies and programmes could no longer guarantee the protection of civilians in internal armed conflicts, the international community must find ways to protect life and relieve human suffering. Such interventions would reap multiple benefits, including possible prevention of massive refugee flows and a lessening of the heavy financial burden on the international community.

True voluntary repatriation implied security, freedom of harassment and real possibilities of human and economic development in the country of origin, he said, and expressed dismay at reports of refoulement of persons requiring international protection, involving coercive psychological pressure and even physical force on asylum-seekers to apply for voluntary repatriation. The elimination of weapons in countries of origin was crucial for providing basic

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safety for returnees and setting the stage for agricultural and industrial development. Voluntary repatriation required the rule of law, functioning judicial systems and a mentality among citizens which allowed different ethnic and cultural groups to live together. Reconciliation was a complex process which could not be seen as a substitute for social and civil justice. Provisions should be made for people for whom voluntary repatriation was not possible. ALEKSANDR ZMEEVSKY (Russian Federation) said his Government was grateful for the constructive and fruitful participation and cooperation of UNHCR in providing humanitarian assistance in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Due to the leading role played by UNHCR and the efforts of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the May 1996 Conference on Refugees and Other Migrants in CIS and its neighbouring countries was a unique forum for analysing all the aspects of migration flow. The conference was designed to provide lasting solutions to long-standing problems and analyse multinational migration processes in the post-Soviet countries. What was now needed were specific measures by the international community to lend financial support to CIS countries. Concerned neighbouring States should also make greater use of the conference's suggestions. While the main responsibility for addressing the problems related to involuntary displacement lay with the region's countries, the international community should assist regional efforts in addressing refugee issues in the spirit of solidarity and burden sharing. The Russian Federation would like to see an increase in constructive interaction in carrying out decisions and making use of impetus provided by the conference in the field of voluntary displacement. In order to improve the refugee situation and prevent voluntary displacement, emphasis must be placed on respect for human rights. As no country wanted to be overwhelmed by migrating populations, the Russian Federation hoped that its neighbours would not squeeze out permanent inhabitants but instead establish an atmosphere of tolerance and cooperation. VICTOR KACHURENKO (Ukraine) said the regional conference to address the problems of refugees, returnees and displaced persons and other forms of involuntary displacement in the CIS countries and neighbouring States held in Geneva in May, considered that policy to protect the rights of minorities was an important factor to prevent massive population displacement. The conference's preparatory process revealed the complexity and acuteness of migration problems in the CIS countries, and the far-reaching implications for international security and stability. Urgent national and international measures were needed. The work of the conference provided a solid basis for further action by all the parties concerned although success would depend on follow-up activities. The Conference's mechanism for implementing its platform for action would be an additional means for promoting bilateral and multilateral cooperation on migration issues, the receiving and settling of refugees and protection of minorities.

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He said Ukraine's relatively stable political and economic situation had attracted thousands of asylum-seekers and refugees from the so-called "hot spots" of newly independent States as well as from different Asian and African countries. The country's geographical position and the "transparency" of its northern and eastern borders made it vulnerable to illegal immigration. The problems put a strain on his country's limited resources. His Government was making every effort to find appropriate solutions. But more active bilateral and multilateral cooperation was needed, especially between neighbouring countries.

PETTER F. WILLE (Norway) said his Government was concerned with the refugee situation in the Great Lakes region, as once again hundreds of thousands of refugees and Zairean civilians were fleeing for their lives. It agreed with the High Commissioner's call for immediate cease-fire negotiations to obtain access to the refugees, to provide assistance, and to protect the security of humanitarian aid workers. The UNHCR, neighbouring States and donors needed to constantly re-examine actions and strategies which might lead towards solutions to this enormous human tragedy.

Recent developments had placed the institution of asylum under increasing strain and had caused growing concern about the financial and others costs incurred in providing refugees with protection and assistance, he said. Some countries were also concerned that refugee movements could constitute a serious threat to national, regional and even international security, especially when the economic and social situation was already seriously strained. Under these circumstances, Norway believed that there was a clear need to promote solution-oriented and preventative approaches that responded to the needs of refugees. With growing pressures and dilemmas, the challenges in sustaining protection and achieving durable solutions were enormous and depended on the cooperation of governments, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations.

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