Geneva and beyond

Page under construction: Nov 22, 2004

^{Geneva, international refugee law}

^{Since the Second World War, the principal legal definition of refugees has been that incorporated into the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and in its 1967 Protocol which extended the Convention’s provisions to current refugees. The definition of refugees was designed to meet the needs of individuals fleeing persecution in the post war era. Although conditions have changed since this definition was developed, the UN definition remains the single most widely used formulation for determining refugee status today. The convention defines a refugee as:}

^{“any person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons o race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality ad is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country, or who, not having a nationality ad being outside the country of his former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.”}

^{Furthermore, the UN Convention provides a set of rights for refugees, including the right of non-refoulement- that is, he right not to be forcibly repatriated to the country of origin. Today 106 countries have ratified either the 1951 Convention or the 1967 Protocol and the UN definition of refugee has been incorporated into many nations’ law. Yet the definition has serious shortcomings. ([1]}

^{The definition excludes, those individuals who are displaced by violence or warfare and who have no been singled out for individual persecution. The UNHCR Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status states that “an applicant must normally show he individually fears persecution.”}

^{A second group of people excluded from the UN definition of refugees consists of those individuals who have been displaced or persecuted because of violence, but who, for one reason or another, have not left their country of origin.}

^{A third group of people excludes refugees with other fleeing motives such as serious environmental degradation}

^{Geneva, Humanitarian Law}

^{Unlike UNHCR, the ICRC (Red Cross and Red Crescent) does not base its activities on the 1951 Convention or the 1967 Protocol, but rather on international humanitarian law:}

^{“It is the breakout of armed conflict, whether international or otherwise, that gives rise to the application of international humanitarian law (the Geneva Convention of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977). It is of no importance whether the refugees to be protected have crossed an international border because of well-founded fears of persecution or by reason of armed conflict, or whether they have moved from one part of their own country to another.”([2])}

^{Regional refugee laws}

^{The 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol are supplemented by a growing body of regional laws dealing with refugees. Both in Africa and America important initiatives have been undertaken:}

^Africa

^{In1969 the Organization of African Unity (OAU) developed te (Addis Abeba) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa ([3]) which expanded the UN-definition to include those individuals displaced by generalized conditions of violence. The OAU definition of refugee thus includes:}

^{“Every person who, owing to external aggression, occupation, foreign domination, or events seriously disturbing public order in either part of the whole of his country of origin or nationality, is compelled to leave his place of habitual residence in order to seek refuge in another place outside his country of origin or nationality.”}

^{The OAU Convention reflects the reality of African refugee situation and 42 African governments are part to it.}

^{While expanding the definition of refugee from that of the 1951 Convention, the OAU definition also excludes internally displaced persons (IDP’s) and those uprooted by economic disaster.}

^{Moreover, as Oloka-Onyango has shown, the OAU Convention sought to balance refugee protection and the prevention of subversive activities committed by refugees against their home states.([4])}

^{Latin America}

^{In 1984, representatives of ten Latin American governments adopted the Declaration of Cartagena which incorporated a broader definition of refugee than that of the 1951 UN Convention. Specifically, the Declaration defined as a refugee those who met the UN criteria, but also those}

^{“Who have fled their country because their lives, safety or freedom have been threatened by generalized violence, foreign aggression, internal conflicts, massive violations of human rights or other circumstances which have seriously disturbed public order”. ([5])}

^{This was a far-reaching definition, which went beyond the OAU definition and “despite the 1984 Cartagena Declarations’ non-binding nature, Central American nations accept it as a document confirming the legal rules of asylum for the region”.[6]}

^{Unites States}

Nationals of nine countries have Temporary Protection Status in the US, and from seven countries it has been extended year-to-year since 1997 or earlier. Honduras and Nicaragua in the US received Temporary Protection Status (TPS) in the US after Hurricane Mitch hit them in 1998, and the Salvadorans received TPS after two earthquakes hit in 2001. The employment Authorization Documents of some 238.000 Salvadorans with TPS have been renewed until March 5, 2005 and Guatemala is pressing for TPS for its nationals in the US.

(Migration News, Vol. 11, No3, July, 2004)

Australia and New Zealand

In 2001 New Zealand agreed to take in 75 individuals a year from the low-lying atoll country of 11.000 people . This agreement is called the PAC (Pacific Access Category).

For more information see: http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/live/pacificaccess/#top

http://www.countrywatch.com/@school/as_wire.asp?vCOUNTRY=177&UID=1092820

Europe

If you have specific information about this region, please let us know. Add: EVRM art 3 and 8

UNHCR, Convention Plus

Under construction

General

We always welcome suggestions…sent them to info@liser.org

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[1] With special thanks to Elizabeth G.Ferris. For parts of this webpage we did use parts of her publication “beyond borders, refugees, migrants and human rights in the post-cold war era”, WCC publications, Geneva.

[2] League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and International Committee of the Red Cross, The Movement and Refugees, Geneva, 1991, page 6.

[3] Treaty? Of Addis Abeba form September 10, 1969, entered into force June 20, 1974

[4] Joe Oloka-Oyango, “Human Rights, the OAU Convention and the Refugee Crisis in Africa: Forty Years After Geneva”, in International Journal of Refuge Law, Vol 3, no.3, July 1991, page 458

[5] Cartagena Declaration, section III.3 Refugees, Dossier, Asylum and Protection in Latin America: the Cartagena Declaration of 1984, October 1987, page 32

[6] Eduardo Arboleda, “Refugee Definition in Africa and Latin America”, in International Journal of Refugee Law, vol.3,no.2,1991, page 187