Statement by H.E. Archbishop
Celestino Migliore
Mr Chairman,
Having read the Report of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees, questions relating to refugees, returnees
and displaced persons and humanitarian questions, my delegation salutes
the work of the UNHCR, especially that undertaken in the most dangerous
and difficult of circumstances.
Since the movement of peoples was acknowledged in the last century,
serious attempts have been made at the international level to find solutions
to the problems associated with this important humanitarian question.
Although there has been a recent decline in
refugees specifically, the number of people of direct concern to UNHCR
has increased worldwide to some 19 million, including asylum-seekers,
returnees, IDPs and others at risk in the world. The scale alone of this
human phenomenon merits every international attention.
The High Commissioner for Refugees has recently
underscored the UNHCR’s role as a protection
agency, whose actions must be protection-minded and judged by their
protection implications. Given that each individual State has the responsibility
to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing
and crimes against humanity, this concept, as reflected in the World
Summit Outcome document, has rightly gained acceptance for humanitarian
reasons. Protection of those in distress and assistance to them go hand
in hand with lucid analysis and public awareness of the causes of humanitarian
crises; but crises by their very nature demand swift action and predictable
funding.
In terms of the UNHCR mandate, the concept
of protection has long-term consequences, especially in the case of
the vast majority of refugees who are living in protracted refugee situations.
Protection, not just defence from outside
hostile forces, touches the whole spectrum of human rights of those
forced to flee. Such rights remain constant during all phases of repatriation,
reintegration, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
Protection firstly includes safeguarding the
people’s physical security and the full enjoyment of their rights. Secondly,
it includes creating a safe environment, especially for women, children,
the elderly and the disabled. The design and implementation of all prevention
and response measures need to ensure in particular the protection of
women and children from all forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and
violence. Thirdly, protection means assuring adequate nutrition, a perennial
problem in refugee situations. Facing the nutritional challenge also
involves States granting refugees the necessary freedom of movement
and residence and the right to a livelihood.
The question of sustained voluntary repatriation
deserves re-examination. This involves not just return in safety and
dignity, but also social and economic aspects of post-conflict reconstruction
by establishing in particular an effective link between humanitarian
relief and sustainable development. Concretely, that means the restoration
of infrastructure, health, education, agriculture, employment and priority
access to food.
The inability to address internal displacement
is now considered the single biggest failure in the humanitarian action
of the international community. Protection needs are not related to
whether borders are crossed or not. A reliable system, embedded in an
appropriate institutional framework, could play an effective role in
responding to the security and protection needs of the internally displaced
and in helping the concerned local authorities fulfil
their responsibility towards the displaced.
Finally, as the concept of Peacebuilding is being fleshed out, it would be well to include
in it a focus on returnees. Their repatriation should always take place
with adequate funding, for the sake of the returnees themselves, but
also in order to maintain the standards set by the UNHCR itself.
Thank you, Mr Chairman.