Problems of protection : the UNHCR, refugees, and human rights

361 Pages·2012·2.194 MB·English

by  Gibney, Mark, Loescher, Gil, Steiner, Niklaus

Problems of Protection
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Problems of Protection
The UNHCR, Refugees,
and Hum an Rights
Edited by
Niklaus Steiner, Mark Gibney,
Gil Loescher
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First Published in 2003 by
Routledge
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New York, NY 10001
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Published in Great Britain by
Routledge
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www.routledge.co.uk
This edition published 2012 by Routledge
Routledge Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group Taylor & Francis Group
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New York, NY 10017 Abingdon, Oxon OX 14 4RN
Copyright © 2003 by Taylor & Francis Books, Inc.
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Problems of protection : the UNHCR, refugees, and human rights / edited by Niklaus
Steiner, Mark Gibney, and Gil Loescher.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-415-94573-9—ISBN 0-415-94574-7 (pbk.)
1. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 2.
Refugees—Government policy. I. Steiner, Niklaus. II. Loescher, Gil. III. Gibney, Mark.
HV640.3 .P76 2003
352.87—dc21
2002036929
Contents
Foreword vii
1 Introduction:Refugee Protection and UNHCR
1 UNHCR at Fifty:Refugee Protection and World Politics 3
GIL LOESCHER
2 What Is Refugee Protection? A Question Revisited 19
ARTHUR C.HELTON
2 The Ethics ofRefugee Protection
3 The Legal and Ethical Obligations ofUNHCR: 37
The Case ofTemporary Protection in Western Europe
ERIK ROXSTRÖM andMARK GIBNEY
4 Defining Persecution and Protection:The Cultural 61
Relativism Debate and the Rights ofRefugees
BONNY IBHAWOH
3 Legal and Institutional Protection ofRefugees
5 Refugee Protection in Troubled Times:Reflections on 79
Institutional and Legal Developments at the Crossroads
BRIAN GORLICK
6 A Rare Opening in the Wall:The Growing Recognition of 101
Gender-Based Persecution
EMILY COPELAND
7 The Role ofNon-Governmental Organizations in the 117
International Refugee Regime
ELIZABETH G.FERRIS
v
vi • Contents
4 Policy Implications ofRefugee Protection
8 Changing Priorities in Refugee Protection:The Rwandan 141
Repatriation from Tanzania
BETH ELISE WHITAKER
9 The Marginalization ofPalestinian Refugees 155
RANDA FARAH
10 Arguing about Asylum:The Complexity ofRefugee 179
Debates in Europe
NIKLAUS STEINER
11 Post-Conflict Reintegration and Reconstruction: 197
Doing It Right Takes a While
PATRICIA WEISS FAGEN
5 Refugee Protection Post–September 11
12 Securing Refuge from Terror:Refugee Protection in 225
East Africa after September 11
MONICA KATHINA JUMA andPETER MWANGI KAGWANJA
13 Refugee Protection in Europe and the U.S.after 9/11 237
JOANNE VAN SELM
Notes 263
Biographies 329
Index 335
Foreword
Chances are that,because you are holding this book,you know ofthe impor-
tance and complexity ofrefugee protection.Nearly 15 million people are cur-
rently defined as “refugees” by the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) and another 5 million are “ofconcern”to the world’s old-
est and largest refugee protection agency.An additional 20 million people have
fled their homes but because they have not crossed an international frontier,
they are termed “Internally Displaced People”(IDPs).Together,these 40 mil-
lion uprooted people constitute about 1 ofevery 150 persons on earth.
On some fronts the worldwide refugee situation is getting worse,while on
others there are signs of hope.Because of the recent turmoil in Afghanistan,
hundreds ofthousands ofAfghans have fled the country or have become IDPs,
although repatriation efforts are now underway.Civil war has also recently up-
rooted over one quarter ofa million people in Colombia and Liberia,and one
fears what the current escalation of tensions in the Middle East may bring.
And massive protracted refugee situations involving Somalis,Iranians,Iraqis,
Burmese, and Bhutanese remain unresolved over a decade after they began.
On the other hand,nearly 1 million Eritreans have been able to return home
now that a peace with Ethiopia seems to be in place.Also,the 20 million people
currently “of concern”to UNHCR is 2 million lower than last year,although
UNHCR notes that this drop reflects conflicting trends: while significant
numbers ofpeople continue to be uprooted,an even larger number ofpeople,
especially IDPs,are able to return home.The number ofasylum seekers world-
wide has also dropped slightly to under 1 million,which may be the result of
reduced conflict or it may be the result of discouraging policies in the coun-
tries ofasylum.
While it remains difficult to establish and interpret statistics of people
forced to flee,it is clear that the issue is a chronic one.When there is a calming
oftension in one region that allows people to return home,conflict flares else-
where and drives people away.In the early 1990s,the cessation ofcivil wars in
Central America,Cambodia,and Mozambique were contrasted by the rise of
violence in the Balkans.Today,the fall ofthe Taliban in Afghanistan may usher
in an era of return,but violence in West Africa continues to trigger waves of
displacement there.Tragically,refugee scholars,policymakers,and advocates
continue to have much work to do.
As the title of this book indicates,our focus is on UNHCR and its role in
protecting refugees.UNHCR has recently marked its fiftieth anniversary,but
we are not interested in issuing a glossy retrospective.Instead,we want to offer
a critical assessment, issuing praise where deserved and criticism where
vii
viii • Foreword
needed.With a staff of 5,000 and a $1 billion budget,UNHCR is the world’s
largest organization mandated to protect refugees and is therefore an obvious
target for such an assessment in light of the continuing plight of refugees
worldwide.Few scholars are better equipped to make such an assessment than
Gil Loescher,who examines the important role UNHCR plays in world poli-
tics, but one that has been limited by both internal and external forces. He
concludes that,perhaps now more than ever,UNHCR needs to reassert its pri-
mary role as the protector ofrefugees and ofthe asylum principle.
In evaluating the complexity of refugee protection at the beginning of the
twenty-first century,we deliberately cast our net wider than just this single in-
stitution. Elizabeth Ferris, for example, offers an evaluation of the growing
role that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are playing in refugee pro-
tection vis-à-vis other NGOs, UNHCR, and governments. Niklaus Steiner
analyzes asylum debates and stresses the often counterintuitive roles that na-
tional interests,international norms,and morality play in these debates.Emily
Copeland focuses on gender as a basis ofpersecution and examines the efforts
to formally and informally expand the refugee definition to include gender.
As these three pieces suggest,refugee protection involves complex ethical
and legal dimensions,and three more chapters view the issue directly through
these lenses.Focusing on ethics,Bonny Ibhawoh explores the evolving debate
between universalism and cultural relativism in the context ofthe refugee def-
inition and of broader notions of human rights.With an eye more on legal
matters,Brian Gorlick argues that there is an emerging convergence between
international human rights law,criminal and humanitarian law,and that this
development can be used to complement gaps in international refugee law.
Finally,Erik Roxström and Mark Gibney offer a criticism of UNHCR’s Tem-
porary Protection policy for what they argue are both ethical and legal short-
comings.
By casting our net widely,we are also able to draw upon established schol-
ars as well as bring into the discussion new voices working in the field,and we
hear from the perspective of anthropology, history, international relations,
law,and political science.Furthermore,the book offers analysis ofregions that
are often not given due attention in much of the refugee literature. Beth
Whitaker redresses this deficit with her focus on Tanzania’s handling ofRwan-
dan refugees in the wake of the 1994 genocide.This inattentiveness is espe-
cially evident with regard to Palestinian refugees,and Randa Farah argues that
precisely because they are not under the mandate of UNHCR, Palestinians
need to be included in discussions ofrefugee protection.
The book also spans the whole process ofprotecting refugees.Arthur Hel-
ton focuses on the early stages ofthis process in his criticism ofthe reactive na-
ture ofthe efforts to protect refugees,while Patricia Weiss Fagen analyzes the
factors that enable refugees to return home and be reintegrated once conflict
has subsided.
Foreword • ix
We are especially pleased to include two chapters that reflect upon the real-
ities of refugee protection in this post-September eleventh world. Monica
Juma and Peter Kagwanja argue that refugee protection,already compromised
in East Africa,has been made even more precarious because of ramifications
of the war on terrorism.Joanne van Selm examines what lasting impact the
fear spawned by the 9/11 attacks may have on asylum policies in the U.S.and
Europe.
The common thread that ties together all these chapters are the provocative
arguments that are sure to engage readers into thinking about refugee protec-
tion and UNHCR’s role in this endeavor.These arguments are the outcome of
an ongoing dialogue that began with a conference in spring 2000 organized by
the University Center for International Studies (UCIS) at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill.I would like to thank UCIS director James Pea-
cock and the wonderful stafffor all the support they offered this project.I es-
pecially thank Narvis Green, Emily Neely, and Tessa Dean for their help in
organizing the conference,and Carrie Matthews for her assistance in editing
this manuscript.
True to its mission ofbridging intellectual communities,UCIS brought to
this conference a rich and diverse array ofscholars and policy makers.In addi-
tion to the contributors in this book,the conference benefited from the active
and thoughtful presentations and reflections of Dennis McNamara and Ed-
uardo Arboleda of UNHCR,Bill Frelick of the U.S.Committee for Refugees,
Alex Cunliffe of the University of Plymouth,Peter Takirambudde of Human
Rights Watch,and David Rieff,board member ofMedicins Sans Frontiers.My
co-editors Mark Gibney and Gil Loescher were invaluable in bringing such an
illustrious group together and in framing this project,and I take this opportu-
nity to thank them both.
Finally,none ofthis would have been possible without the generous finan-
cial support from the Andrew W.Mellon Foundation and the U.S.Department
of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education and the encouragement of
Harriet Zuckerman and Amy Wilson,respectively.This project and its fruition
owes them deep appreciation.
Niklaus Steiner
Chapel Hill,North Carolina
Autumn 2002