& the role of UNhCr

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top 10 asylum countries [ at the end of 2011 ] Country refugees Pakistan 1, 702, 700 Iran 886, 500 Syrian Arab Rep. * 755, 400 Germany 571, 700 Kenya 566, 500 Jordan * 451, 000 Chad 366, 500 China * * 301, 000 Ethiopia 288, 800 USA * * * 264, 800 * Government estimate. UNHCR has registered and is assisting 132,500 Iraqi refugees in both countries. * * The 300,000 Vietnamese refugees are well integrated and in practice receive protection from the Government of China. * * * UNHCR estimate. The 1951 Convention was never intended to sort out all migration issues. Its sole aim was – and still is – to protect refugees. Today’s challenge is to find other efficient mechanisms to manage economic migration and maintain border security – legitimate state concerns that need to be carefully balanced with their responsibility to protect refugees. By December 2010, a total of 148 countries had signed the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol (see separate brochure on the 1951 Refugee Convention for more details). Asylum-seekers at the federal asylum reception centre in Kapellen, Belgium. 14 p r o t e c t i n g r e f u g e e s • 2 0 1 2
what is UNHCR? The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more commonly referred to as the UN refugee agency or (UNHCR), was created by the UN General Assembly in 1950 and began work on 1 January 1951. Its statute was drafted virtually simultaneously with the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which became the cornerstone of refugee protection in subsequent decades. UNHCR / D. Telemans / BEL•2011 UNHCR’s initial task was to help millions of uprooted peoples – mainly in Europe – who were still homeless and hungry in the aftermath of World War II, and to seek permanent solutions for them. Arguably, the Convention’s most important provision was the obligation by governments not to expel or forcibly return (refoulement) an asylum-seeker to a territory where he or she faced persecution. The agency was given three years to accomplish this task. But as new refugee crises proliferated across the globe, the mandate was repeatedly renewed until the UN General Assembly in 2003 abolished this requirement. “The Contracting States undertake to cooperate with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees…” Article 35, 1951 UN Refugee Convention A 1967 Protocol strengthened global refugee protection by removing the geographical and time limitations written into the original Convention under which mainly Europeans involved in events occurring before 1 January, 1951 could apply for refugee status. p r o t e c t i n g r e f u g e e s • 2 0 1 2 15
Page 1 and 2: PROTECTING REFUGEES & the role of U
Page 3 and 4: PROTECTING REFUGEES & the role of U
Page 5 and 6: UGEE? From the moment humans began
Page 7 and 8: However, since they often use the s
Page 9 and 10: Why definitions matter Because of t
Page 11 and 12: Jammu a 17-year-old Pakistani IDP,
Page 13 and 14: cern to UNHCR ASIA 14,525,986 AFRIC
Page 15: the 1951 UN Refugee Convention The
Page 19 and 20: UNHCR / B. Bannon / SOM•2011 How
Page 21 and 22: Assisting refugees UNHCR / R. LeMoy
Page 23 and 24: Naseema, an old Afghan woman, and h
Page 25 and 26: ? QUESTIONS ANSWERS Frequently aske
Page 27 and 28: Under a staircase in the immigratio
Page 29 and 30: AND PARTNERSHIPS from new and non-t
Page 31: Internally displaced • The number

& the role of UNhCr

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