Refugee Protection Issues Final

What is repatriation? What are its strengths and weaknesses?

The process of returning a person (voluntary or not) to their place of origin or citizenship. Repatriation is the most common solution, with over 500,000 refugees repatriated in 2012. - Strengths: - Weaknesses: often times repatriated people have face difficulty reintegrating

What is the number of refugees in the world?How many IDPs in the world?

There are a total 65 million forcibly displaced peoples. 22 million are refugees, 40 million are IDPs. and almost 3 million are asylum seekers.

What is local integration?

refugees permanently settle in the host country. (complex in mant sociopolitcal and economic aspects). Over the past decade 1.1 million integrated - Strengths: if successful can improve both the host and refugees - Weaknesses: it's a complex and gradual process

What is well-founded fear?

Well-founded fear is made up of two components: subjective and objective fear.

Important Grogan quote

"We're going to treat refugees like a chronic condition rather than an emergency we can cure"

Syrian refugee and IDP facts. Impact on region, other regions, and overall refugee system.

- Around 5 million refugees - Over 6 million IDPs - The majority of refugees are women and children [] Impact on region: - in Jordan, 2 out of 3 refugees live below the poverty line - Lebanon is just dying dude, like 1 in 6 people are refugees - Turkey has 3 million, refugees are using Turkey to get to Greece via Turkey ~ Security risks: countries have increased security risks and Jordan closed the border, bombings in Lebanon [] Other Regions: - Europe experienced an unprecedented influx of refugees. Germany, Greece, and France are interesting examples. - Greece just got overloaded with refugees, and the EU tried to externalize the issue. - In both the MENA region and outside of it, countries have tried to establish laws that prevent integration or full rights of refugees. ~ In Turkey, it's their ----- law. ~ In Lebanon ~ Greece and basically EU

What are the risks of externalization?

- As a whole, externalization threatens the rights of refugees established by the 1951 Refugee convention. - Refugees are at risk of separation of families, they are bumped off to third party or transit countries that are less able to ensure their rights, and military actions risk refugees right to life and seeking of asylum.

Identify impacts of colonialism

- Decolonization in the 50s and 60s led to massive displacement. - India/Pakistan due to the partition - Alegeria, Congo, Angola, Nigera, it was wars of independence and civil wars - Est. of military/authoritarian regimes led to uprooted ethnic communities - Colonial powers partitioning areas they have no ****ing idea about and creating ethnic and religious issues Ex: Hmong was due to civil war in Laos

Provide several examples of externalization.

- EU-Turkey Deal - (framed as necessary to prevent refugee deaths) []America - Reagan in 80s with Haitian, allowing U.S. coast guards to intercept haitian vessels and return them to haiti. Clinton did this with Cubans - Meridia Initiative with Mexico to stop central americans - Honduras intercepted people trying to cross into Honduras [] Australia - the pacific solution, the Tampa - sent refugees to papua new guinea or Nauru [] Europe - EU-Turkey Deal

How do states rationalize externalization?

- Framed as necessary for security purposes - framed as life-saving humanitarian efforts (oh refugees are dying trying to get here, it's much safer if they don't do that)

What are some of the different ways refugees have been portrayed overtime? What impact does media have?

- Kosovo refugees where portrayed as "tired, hungry, exhausted" (sympathetic narrative" ~ like 63% said they should be admitted and were even down to have them in their homes or some crazy shit like that - Cubans and Haitians were portrayed as "retards and criminals" (negative narrative) ~ 62% don't want them in the US. - Even in the same crisis, different administrations have different perspectives: ~ Obama on Syrians: "Mothers separated from children" ~ Trump on Syrians: "Threat to our security and troops"

What was the purpose of the 1951 Ref. Convention?

- Originally for people fleeing events that occurred prior to January 1st, 1951 in Europe. - Defines the term "refugee" - 2 reasons: To relieve burden of host countries and to relieve tension. - Est. its core principle of non-refoulment.

What was Europe's response?

- Responsibility is not shared. - 343,000 refugees have reached Europe by sea. - The EU and its countries have endorsed policies that limit arrivals and outsource responsibility. An example of this is the EU-Turkey Deal.

1951 Refugee Convention

- Signed by 26 countries, mostly European - Refugee crisis expected to be over in 3 years (lmao) - Provides comprehensive codification of refugee rights and the legal obligations of countries to protect and respect said rights.

Identify the conflict between sovereignty and protection of human rights?

- State sovereignty says that all states have complete and exclusive control over the people and property in their territory. The very nature of what the 1951 Convention calls for violates this. States are obligated to host refugees and give them rights even if they don't want to. Also, protection of human rights often necessitates outside intervention into a states affairs, which violates the idea of state sovereignty. Under the idea of sovereignty, a state has the right to persecute its population.

Identify countries and regions impacted by current refugee situations?

- The overwhelming majority of host countries are developing nations -African countries like Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and DRC host a shit ton of refugees even though they're some of the poorest countries - Middle East: In Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon they're hosting more Syrian refugees than anybody. - Pakistan and Bangladesh are hosting some bihs

What are the conflicts and resettlement changes in "Outcasts United"?

- There's a lack of programs and assistance/ Mane refs. were behind in school because of trouble with language - cultural misunderstandings and adapting to the US (hugging police) - issues with local government and community ~ barring them from using fields, anger/resents from locals, people moving away

Are "environmental refugees" or "climate refugees" considered refugees under international law? Identify whether they should or should not be, and why. And what would be some of the international and domestic protocol discussions.

- They are not considered refugees under international law. It is an interesting mixture between forced displacement and voluntary migration. - over 25 million are displaced by natural disasters every year since 2006. Because environmental changes are also connected to livelihood opportunities and other drivers of migration, this can be harder to quantify the effect.

What is the Dublin System and what were its goals?

- Was supposed to be a system that efficiently assigns responsibility for asylum processing to single member states. -seeks to ensure quick access to protection for those in need and discourage abuse of the system by those that are trying to "shop" for states

What are the challenges for the international community?

- aid organizations must balance between providing aid to the refugees and the host community - in refugee camps and situations where refugees cannot work, they are wholly dependent on humanitarian aid - Camps often hold way more people than intended for way longer periods than intended and the infrastructure was not made to sustain large populations for long periods of time. (protracted situations) - All of these issues thinly spread funding that is already incapable of addressing the needs of the refugees - On top of this, crises experience donor exhaustion, and funds dwindle overtime while the issues continue to get bigger.

How does one become stateless and what are the consequences?

- at least 10 million - Consequences: lacks protection and rights given by nations - considered a foreigner everwhere - can't go to school, see a doctor, get a job, open a bank account, or get married - their state ceases to exist (SU disintegration, yugoslavia)

What are the conflicts and resettlement changes in "God Grew Tired of Us"?

- cultural misunderstandings - difficulty balancing obligations of new and old life - massive cultural change - fear of change

What are the challenges for the host community?

- host communities often claim increase in violence due to the refugees and decreased sense of security - refugees affect their economy and public services. - the overwhelming majority of host countries are developing nations so the presence of refugees exacerbate already present issues.

How did the Dublin System fail?

- low effective transfer rates - high incidence of secondary movement among asylum seekers - Dublin is slow to act on evaluations of protection claims, screwing up family unity. - Main factor: - there's still differences in asylum procedures, host conditions for refugees, and the ability to integrate.

Understand ways in which women may be particularly at risk during refugee flight, in refugee situation and during return or local integration.

- majority of female syrians in turkey are married and do not have an income, women can't earns incomes outside the camps - majority say there are obstacles to working because of child care, discrimination, lack of training

How can refugee protection promote security?

- national security and generous refugee policies are often considered at odds. States justify harsh refugee policies with the risk of security and crisis. But these potentially compliment each other. Conflict and terrorism create insecurity for everyone (it's victims, the region, the international community). Protracted and unintegrated refugee situations create hospitable environments for extremist requirement and criminal activity. Security and protection are hand in hand, if we create solid protection systems for refugees, where they have access to housing, food, education, and reasonable processing time, you nullify these negative, dangerous environments that contribute to security risks. (also by integrating them (education and work) you're ensuring they become productive members of society and not marginalized groups. [] can benefit 3 core areas of state power: economic, military, and diplomatic. - help meet labor needs and support economic succes through outside contact [] protective and efficient migration policies nullify the need for smugglers and trafficking, and the terrorist organizations that depend on the profit made from this.

What is objective fear? What is the mogharrabi test? Do they pass it?

- objective fear: you can establish for certain that you are at risk of persecution. - You establish this by going through the PACIE criteria or Mogharrabi test. ~ [P]ossess: Does the applicant possess or perceived to possess the characteristic being persecuted? ~ [A]wareness: Does the persecutor know that you possess this characteristic? (can't have well founded fear without possessing or perceived to be possessing a characteristic and the persecutor not know about it) ~ [C]apability: is the persecutor capable of persecuting the applicant? ~ [I]nclination: Has the persecutor shown that they want to **** you up? (how do you establish this without the perp. actually hurting you? Other people with your characteristic)

What are some ways refugees can create security concerns for other refugees and their host countries?

- refugee camps can become vulnerable to militants who use camps as a means of recruitment, financing, and protection. This threatens both the refugees, the stability of the host country, and surrounding countries, as one internal conflict after another spills over into neighboring countries. - open borders

What difficulties do stateless persons create for states and international governance?

- statelessness prevents participation in socio-economic and public affairs and creates alienated groups. - this creates social tensions in the country and fuel conflict

The international community's role in IDPs

- they get involved with IDPs but hesitantly - it creates dependency and more people want funding

What are the questions you ask when determining if someone is a refugee or not?

1. Is that person outside their country of origin? 2. Do they have well-founded fear? 3. Are they subject to cessation or exclusion?

What are the 5 protected groups and which one is most litigated?

1. Race 2. Religion 3. Nationality 4. Political opinion 5. Membership of a particular social group - Membership to a social group is most litigated due to the possible ambiguity of its meaning. There has been efforts to expand it's meaning. Courts hold it as having a characteristic that the group cannot change, and that is persecuted by host country. (examples are sexual orientation, gender, class)

What are three durable solutions?

1. Repatriation 2. Local integration 3. Resettlement

Identify the biggest refugee populations

1. Syria 2. Afghanistan 3. South Sudan 4. Somalia 5. DP Congo For IDPs, myanmar has a lot

Asylum Seeker

A person who flees into another country and applies for asylum, i.e. the right to international protection, in this country.

What are protracted refugee situations? How is the international community trying to solve them?

A situation where refugees find themselves in a long-lasting and intractable state of limbo. - We're really bad at getting people out of camps - It is defined as having more than 25,000 refugees in one place for more than 5 years - there are more than 6.7 million refugees in this situation [] the international community implements the durable solutions to alleviate the issue

What is subjective fear?

As a person determining their status, can you subjectively see their fear based on their actions? (did they return?)

Explain the nexus test in refugee status determination.

Establish that there is a connection between your fear of persecution and you being a member in at least one of the 5 protected groups, and that the persecutor showed inclination and capability in wrecking the applicant.

Responsibilities of the Parties to the Convention

Cooperation w. UNHCR Information on National Legislation. Exemption from reciprocity (Don't apply the laws of their original country to refugees.)

What is exclusion, cessation, and inclusion?

Exclusion: when someone is considered to not be deserving of refugee status due to: - lack of well-founded fear - people not in need of the status - people that have committed serious non-political crimes that are considered abhorrent to UN protocols Cessation: When a person can get their refugee status revoked due to: - Reclaiming citizenship of original country - Gaining citizenship of another country - The issue that caused the refugee to flee ceases to exist.

What is externalization?

Externalization is essentially a neo-refoulment process by states to discourage asylum seekers from entering their jurisdiction and moves the responsibility of states to provide asylum to other states.

What is non-refoulment?

No one can expel or return refugee against their will to a place where they fear for their lives or freedom. - Countries can't just be like "nah we don't want you anymore"

What are some key geographic areas of concern?

Primarily in Africa (South Sudan), the Middle East (Iraq, Syria, and Yemen), and Southeast Asia (Myanmar with Rohingya)

What is the 1951 Refugee Convention definition of a refugee?

Someone is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.

Establish an argument that asylum applications are or are not determined in a uniform way in the US.

The asylum application are not at all determined in a uniform way in the United States. Their status is determined in large part by a roulette of the officer that receives their case. A large portion of asylum officers process of status determination is evaluating if the applicant is lying or exaggerating their circumstance. The perception of truth is subjective, and how truthful an applicant and their story appears can be impacted by extraneous factors. An officer may perceive a story to be inconsistent, but "inconsistencies" may actually be due to language barriers and neglectful translators. Even an asylum officers criteria for truthful stories may differ; one may find true stories to have small inconsistencies while another finds any variance to indicate lying. Factors such as the length of time the asylum officer has worked, their mood that day, and their own personal biases all affect status determination.

What is resettlement?

Transferring refugees from the asylum country, to a country that agrees to host them. only one percent of the 16 million refugees of concern in 2015 were actually resettled. - strengths: provides protection and access to rights -weakness: isn't applied right.

How has public opinion changed over time?

While we now prioritize women, children, families (vulnerable populations) and well-educated... [] in the 40s and 50s, - we didn't want jewish children coming to the US (vulnerable populations) - we wanted young, well-educated Hungarian males, who we viewed as heroic, and could contribute to the economy. [] In the 70s post Vietnam, - The US/Ford saw the influx of non-skilled workers as a good thing because they wouldn't create job competition ~ BUT public opinion didn't want them. [] 50s and 90s Cubans/Haitians, - Didn't want em (62% against) *OVERALL PUBLIC OPINION IS TO NOT LET THEM IN MOST OF THE TIME*

Identify the benefits and difficulties for refugees in urban areas.

[] Benefits: - Urban refugees are more likely to find work (if allowed by local govt.) - integrate with the local population - become more self sufficient and less dependent on humanitarian aid. - They also have easier access to healthcare and education. [] Difficulties: -Refugees are often urbanizing into communities that are also poor and disadvantaged, and can create perceptions of economic competition and strain on public resources. - The perception of local communities of refugees receiving special treatment or better quality of life due to international aid creates tensions between host community and refugees. - With the population more spread out, it's harder to keep track of refugees and provide aid.

Identify the benefits and difficulties of refugees in camps?

[] Benefits: - Refugees have a more consistent and guaranteed forms of aid, receiving free shelter, food, and healthcare. [] Difficulties - Refugee and host tensions are high as fuuuuck. - A lot of times, the host population have a similar or worse quality of life to that of refugees, but they don't get the aid. They see this foreign population getting free food, water, shelter, and resources while they get jack-shit and they're pissed. - Refugees tend to become scapegoats for political, cultural, social and economic problems. - Refugees become the target of violence and camps can be attacked. - women are more at risk for violence (WHY) - There's no means for refugees to establish self sufficiency