UNHCR Warns of Increasing Threats to Global Refugee Protections

Brussels, Sep 17 (AP) The United Nations refugee agency has expressed grave concerns that governments, particularly in the United States and Europe, are increasingly jeopardizing the integrity of the global conventions on refugees and asylum seekers, potentially endangering their future existence. The ominous statement from the UNHCR coincides with the 75th anniversary of the UN Refugee Convention, the 1951 document that delineates who counts as refugees and sets forth the obligations of countries that offer them sanctuary.

Several countries have taken steps to halt the processing of asylum applications—requests made by individuals seeking international protection due to fears of war, persecution based on religion, race, nationality, sexuality, or political beliefs upon returning to their home country. “I am not exaggerating when I say that the institution of the asylum worldwide is under more threat now than it has ever been,” Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at UNHCR in Geneva, stated during an online briefing from the Swiss city.

The United States, under the Trump administration, along with some European countries, have imposed stricter asylum conditions and pursued bilateral agreements with third countries, notably in Africa, to deport migrants and, in certain instances, transfer asylum responsibilities altogether. Meanwhile, nations like Greece, witnessing an increase in Sudanese refugees arriving on the island of Crete, have temporarily suspended asylum processing.

Menikdiwela emphasized the importance of the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol that expanded protections for refugees globally. “Those two pieces of paper have saved millions of lives in the past and will save millions of lives in the future,” she asserted.

A worldwide funding crisis in the humanitarian sector is affecting over 122 million people displaced by conflict or persecution. Rising anti-asylum and anti-migration sentiment exacerbate these challenges. While refugee arrivals in developed countries dominate news coverage, Menikdiwela pointed out that about 75 percent of the world's 43 million-plus refugees are hosted by low-income and middle-income nations. She highlighted Chad in East Africa, which currently shelters 1.5 million refugees, most of whom are Sudanese fleeing an ongoing civil war.

Following a visit to a refugee camp in Chad, Menikdiwela reported that the UNHCR's programs there are severely underfunded, unable to meet the pressing needs of new arrivals. “There are people, men, women, and children, wandering around with bullet wounds and shrapnel wounds,” she said, noting that women and girls face unprecedented levels of sexual violence. The distressing case of an 80-year-old woman who reported multiple rapes was highlighted. Yet, despite such grim circumstances, she affirmed that these refugees would not be alive if Chad had not adhered to the refugee convention and allowed them sanctuary.

Menikdiwela called on global leaders to increase funding and aid, warning that many refugees in Chad might continue their journey north through Libya and eventually to Europe if their needs were not addressed within the East African country. She did, however, acknowledge misuse of the asylum system by migrants moving for economic or other reasons rather than escaping war or persecution.

The UN refugee agency supports the notion of "return hubs," a term often used for deportation centers, which is gaining traction in the US and Europe. (AP)

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