SOLIDARITY - UNHCR · ≤ HOME < PREVIOUS > NEXT REFVIEW | PAGE 5 FORCED INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT AND...

SOLIDARITY

THE UN REFUGEE AGENCY BUREAU FOR THE AMERICAS

REFVIEW | PAGE 2

P. 04 | LEAD ARTICLE

CONTENTS

REFVIEW 6 SEPTEMBER 2008

COMMON CHALLENGES ACROSS BORDERS FOR REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED

P. 03 | Merida Morales-O’ Donnell

P. 08 | COLOMBIA From mistrust to solidarityP. 09 | VENEZUELA Local micro-credits open new horizons for refugees at the borderP. 10 | ECUADOR Solidarity with refugees at the Northern border P. 12 | CHILE Palestinian refugees find a second home P. 13 | MEXICO UNHCR celebrates 25 years of actionP. 14 | COSTA RICA Young refugee play wins national culture prizeP. 15 | BRAZIL Resettled refugees build new life P. 16 | PANAMA Big changes for indigenous Colombian refugeesP. 17 | CANADA $3 million pledge for UNHCR ColombiaP. 18 | UNITED STATES Kindness of strangers

P. 20 | Editorial from Colombia and Ecuador

P. 21 | Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica

P. 22 | Jorge Enrique Taiana, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina

P. 24 | What we left behind: forced displacement and rights in Colombia

P. 25 | Rashida, a Palestinian refugee

P. 26 | A week in Sierra de Perija

EDITORIAL

FEATURES

ON MISSION

FROM THE FIELD

REFVIEW GUEST

EVENTS

REFUGEE VOICES

STAFF DIARY

COVERPAGE: A refugee girl and friend take part in a

traditional dance in Ecuador. © UNHCR/A. Escalante

Director: Merida Morales-O’Donnell. Coordinator: Soo Eun Chae, Carolina Podestá. Editor: Marie-Hélène Verney. Production: Ana Conde, Carolina Podestá. Editorialists: Merida Morales-O’Donnell, George Okoth-Obbo, Arnauld Akodjenou. Refview Guest: Jorge Enrique Taiana. Contributors: Andrea Escalante, Luiz Fernando Godinho, Valéria Graziano, Marion Hoffmann, Tim Irwin, Giovanni Monge, Gisèle Nyembwe , Xavier Orellana, Ligimat Pérez, Carolina Podestá, Nora Staunton, Gustavo Valdivieso, Marie-Hélène Verney. Original Design: Viceversa Asesoria Creativa. Adaptation of design: Ana Laura Andino. Printing: GuttenPress. Comments and suggestions: [email protected]

Dis

plac

ed p

eopl

e in

Col

ombi

a. ©

UN

HC

R/ M

. Ver

ney

Refview is a publication of the Bureau for the Americas. The opinions expressed by our contributors do not necessarily reflect

those of UNHCR. Refview editors reserve the right to edit all articles prior to publication. No authorization is required

for the reproduction of articles and photos without copyright. Please credit UNHCR.

mailto:[email protected]

MERIDA MORALES-O’DONNELL

www.unhcr.org

REFVIEW | PAGE 4 ≤ HOME < PREVIOUS > NEXT

A re

fuge

e bo

y pl

ayin

g by

the

rive

r in

Pue

rto

del C

arm

en, E

cuad

or. ©

UN

HC

R /

M. V

erne

y

LEAD ARTICLE

REFVIEW | PAGE 5www.unhcr.org ≤ HOME < PREVIOUS > NEXT

FORCED INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT AND REFUGEE FLOWS ARE CLOSELY INTERLINKED, WITH SIMILAR ROOT CAUSES AND COMMON CHALLENGES.

The villages of Puerto Ospina and Puerto del Carmen stand on opposite banks of the San Miguel River, the natural border in this jungle region between Colombia and Ecuador. While in different countries, they share a common reality typical of many border communities. Both villages are cut-off from the rest of the country and very under-developed, lacking in basic infrastructure and services like clean water, sanitation and even minimal healthcare. They face another common challenge: the surrounding jungle is one of the epicentres of the internal armed conflict on the Colombian side and both are home to a large number of civilians fleeing violence. On one side of the river, these uprooted civilians are called refugees, on the other they are known as internally displaced people – or IDPs - because they are still within the borders of their own country. “The main difference is that internally displaced people are still under the responsibility of their own State, which of course has the primary responsibility to assist them,” explains Jean-Noël Wetterwald UNHCR Representative in Colombia.Yet their needs are often the same – shelter, documentation, access to income, health, education, full enjoyment of rights and, above all, safety from more violence and persecution. With field offices on both sides of the border, UNHCR helps run boarding schools for displaced children in Puerto Ospina, coordinates medical visits from the provincial capital to Puerto del Carmen and supports local efforts to gain access to basic rights and services. The challenges are the same on both sides. In fact, many Colombians first try to seek refuge within their own country when they first flee. “If they fail to receive the protection and assistance they need at the first stage of internal displacement, some may take the decision to cross the border,” Wetterwald says, stressing that asylum is the right of every civilian.

UNHCR COLOMBIA OPERATION AND THE MEXICO PLAN OF ACTION The strong link between refugee flows and forced internal displacement prompted the opening of UNHCR office in Colombia ten years ago. It was also at the core of the Mexico Plan of Action, a regional initiative adopted by 20 Latin American countries in 2004.“When the plan was drawn up, the focus was on solidarity and joint solutions for the region, so it was felt essential to include both refugees and the internally displaced,” says Merida Morales-O’Donnell, Director of UNHCR Americas Bureau.In Latin America today, the vast majority of new refugees come from Colombia, a country that also faces a very serious internal displacement crisis: an average of more than 200,000 Colombians a year are forced to flee their homes as a result of the conflict. In 2007 alone, 250,000 fled according to the official government register.UNHCR’s Colombia Operation was set up as a response to this regional challenge. It brings together -in the search for joint solutions- Ecuador, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Brazil and Panama, which have the largest number of Colombian refugees in Latin America, as well of course as Colombia. “Solutions differ from country to country, but there is one key central component everywhere: solidarity between people and between countries,” says Merida Morales-O’Donnell. Starting from this broad concept of solidarity, the Mexico Plan of Action outlined a series of practical initiatives along three main lines: solidarity at the borders, in cities and through resettlement. This last option was included to help countries with the largest numbers of refugees, like Ecuador and Venezuela, by offering resettlement opportunities in other countries in the region such as Argentina, Brazil or Chile. Under the “Cities of Solidarity” component, several Latin American cities have joined UNHCR in helping the

COMMON CHALLENGES ACROSS BORDERS FOR REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED

www.unhcr.org


integration of uprooted populations, with programmes that go from housing help to work schemes with local businesses and access to legal services. These urban initiatives are especially important because many refugees and IDPs live in cities.

In Colombia, more than three-quarter of the 2.5 million registered IDPs come from rural areas and now live in large urban centres. National authorities are working constantly to guarantee their rights to safe and decent housing, healthcare, education among others, but the amplitude of the problem makes delivery on the ground a constant challenge.

Those who do not reach the cities often stay near the border, in small villages like Puerto Ospina and Puerto del Carmen, where the concept of “Solidarity at the Borders” is a daily reality. On the floor of the parish house in Puerto Ospina, a group of some twenty people are sleeping in borrowed sheets. “They have nowhere else to stay and we can’t send them back to where they come from,

it’s too dangerous,” the local priest says. “It’s like this almost every day and it’s the same on the other side.”

MISTRUST AND LACk OF INFORMATION: THE BIggEST THREATS TO SOLIDARITyUnfortunately, not everybody displays the same willingness to help. Far from solidarity, the victims at times experience indifference, lack of understanding, or even open hostility and discrimination. The nature of the conflict in Colombia has changed over its long history. It is now at its most intense in rural areas cut-off from the rest of the country, where irregular armed groups rely on the cocaine trade and use civilians to forcibly grow coca crops. Among city-dwellers, there is little understanding of the amount of pressure, and even terror, some rural populations live under. On the contrary, there is mistrust. One of the conflict’s worst characteristics is that it has blurred the line between civilians and combatants, victims and perpetrators. “Coca growers”, “narco-traffickers”, “murderers”: with such insults, refugees and the displaced are stigmatised for the very crimes they fled from. In parts of the region, the very word “Colombian” has become synonymous with trouble. For one young Colombian refugee, who arrived to Costa Rica after an armed group killed his brother and sister, this level of discrimination is harder to bear than all the other grief and hardship. “People hear my Colombian accent and they immediately stop talking to me,” he

Life

in th

e ci

ties

is o

ften

ver

y ha

rsh

for

disp

lace

d pe

ople

in C

olom

bia,

the

maj

ority

of w

hom

ori

gina

te fr

om th

e co

untr

ysid

e.©

UN

HC

R /

M.

Vern

ey

Solutions differ from country to country, but there is one key central component everywhere: solidarity between people and between countries, says Merida Morales-O’Donnell.

In Colombia, more than three-quarter of the 2.5 million registered IDPs come from rural areas and now live in large urban centres.


states. In the street where he lives, there are graffiti on the walls telling Colombians to “Go Home”. For a group of refugee women in the capital San Jose, the situation has become unacceptable. They recently wrote an open letter to Costa Rica’s largest daily paper asking for respect and tolerance for refugees. “We are mothers and wives, some of us are businesswomen,” they wrote. “We have done all we could to give back to this country that offered us a new home. All we ask for is fair treatment.” UNHCR is now helping the women organise a public campaign against discrimination.

Similar campaigns are planned this year in Ecuador and in Colombia itself, where discrimination against displaced fellow Colombians is also rife. The campaign, called “Running for Life”, will focus on raising awareness among the more privileged parts of society of the tragedy lived by thousands of their compatriots. The objective is to increase solidarity with the displaced by mobilising different sectors of society like the media and the business world, among others. “The key is to bring various sectors together and let them take the lead: UNHCR is present to help build bridges and open a dialogue, but in the end the solutions for Colombia’s troubles can only come from the Colombian people,” Jean-Noël Wetterwald says in Bogota.

The millions of people who have been forced to flee their homes, within Colombia and across its borders, also count on international solidarity to be able to rebuild their lives. UNHCR is working with the donor community, the international media, politicians and decision makers to raise awareness of the crisis and of the potential for solutions in the region.

By Marie-Helene Verney in Bogota.

Dis

plac

ed c

hild

ren

in P

uert

o O

spin

a, C

olom

bia,

whe

re U

NH

CR

sup

port

s th

e ru

nnin

g of

a b

oard

ing-

scho

ol w

hile

the

com

mun

ity h

elps

out

with

the

educ

atio

n of

the

child

ren.

© U

NH

CR

/ M

. Ver

ney

People hear my Colombian accent and they immediately stop talking to me, a young Colombian refugee states.

www.unhcr.org


Nobody knows for sure how many people live in Brisas del Puente. Sheer poverty has driven thousands to this slum on the Colombian side of the Arauca River, just across the water from Venezuela. Others have found refuge there from Colombia’s internal armed conflict.Why they came makes little difference. Everybody lives in the same shacks of rotten wood and green plastic, built too close to the river’s edge on unsafe land prone to flooding that no-one else wanted. Poverty has united them all in lobbying the local authorities to bring basic services like clean water and sanitation to the barrio. With so little available, tension arises when some families receive anything at all. “Sometimes the others blame us when we get subsidies from the government and they don’t,” says Alvaro*, who came to Brisas del Puente fleeing violence in rural Arauca. It can be difficult to explain here that displaced people are entitled by law to preferential access to welfare programs, because of their condition as victims of the armed conflict. Solidarity, on the one hand, and lack of understanding - leading to distrust and often discrimination - on the other are to be found over Colombia. It has become common, for example, to hear in the big cities public statements of concern over the large numbers of displaced people, who are suspected of “bringing instability and crime” to otherwise comfortable neighbourhoods. In the more affluent areas, displaced people are often looked upon as the poorest of the poor, the beggar at the street-corner or the kid who insists on washing car-windows at the traffic lights. In a rich part of Bogota, the country’s capital, the local neighbourhood’s association recently campaigned on a platform to keep down the numbers of “pickpockets, drug-addicts and displaced people”.“There is, at times, very little knowledge or understanding of the atrocities displaced people might have lived through before they fled to the city,” says Jean-Noël Wetterwald, UNHCR Representative in Colombia. Several explanations have been put forward for such conflicting responses towards internal displacement. One of them is the theory of “conflict fatigue”, and the urge of those who do not have to face violence on a daily basis to protect themselves from anything associated with it. Another proposed explanation lies in the duration and nature of the armed conflict in a country where armed actors have

purposely blurred the line between civilians and combatants. This has created such intense distrust between Colombians that even those fleeing from violence are suspected of being part of the conflict. But there are also striking examples of solidarity everywhere, from the very poor who share the little they have with newcomers fleeing violence, to college students building houses for the displaced and high-powered executives volunteering their time in emergency shelters. In March of this year, a national demonstration for victims of the armed conflict had solidarity with the displaced as one of its main mottos. After a yearlong campaign in 2007 to raise awareness on Colombia’s displacement crisis, UNHCR is redoubling its efforts to keep the issue in the public’s heart and mind. “We have to keep reaching to new audiences in order to make the difference,” Wetterwald said. One of the ways UNHCR can make a difference is by listening and making others listen to the voice and stories of displaced people, so often silent or unheard. The potential audience is wide, from politicians to lawmakers, celebrities and the general public both inside and outside Colombia. During a visit of international donors to Brisas del Puente earlier this year, it was the voice of 7-year-old Laetitia* that put into words the reality of displacement. “My mother was crying when I woke up. She would not let me go to the window but I knew they had shot people and they were dead in front of our house,” she recalled.One of UNHCR main objectives is to ensure that voices like Laetitia’s are heard, to raise awareness of the humanitarian impact of the conflict and help increase solidarity with Colombia’s displaced population.

By gustavo Valdivieso in Bogota.*Names have been changed to maintain confidentiality.

Chi

ldre

n di

spla

ced

by v

iole

nce

to B

risa

s de

l Pue

nte,

Col

ombi

a. ©

UN

HC

R /

M. V

erne

y

COLOMBIA

SOCIAL ATTITUDES TOWARDS DISPLACED PEOPLE RANGE FROM MISTRUST TO SOLIDARITY. THE VOICES AND STORIES OF THE DISPLACED HELP CAST A LIGHT ON THIS HUMANITARIAN CRISIS.

FROM MISTRUST TO SOLIDARITY


Raising chicken is hardly a dream career for a pharmacist who used to own a profitable drugstore, but such is the fate of Miguel*, a 38-year-old Colombian who fled his country and settled in the mountains of the Venezuelan state of Tachira.While feeding chicken, he recalled the circumstances of his first flight. “They forced everyone out of their houses and made them lie face down in the road. List in hand, they started to call people and kill them, right there in front of my 3 and 5-year-old daughters.”He fled to another part of Colombia, but eight years later decided he had to cross the border. In their village, irregular armed groups would pick up girls as young as 13-year-old for the weekend and send them back home with a few hundred dollars. “One day, they knocked on our door and because we did not hand over our daughter the mob leader made it clear we had to leave,” he said.

Miguel cannot practice his profession without a Venezuelan ID. His hands, used to preparing formulas, are now calloused and blistered from building a coop and a table to pluck the chicken. But his calluses and blisters have been the passport to a life without violence: “We have nothing here but we live peacefully. Back in Colombia we would sleep on the floor every weekend, because we had to use the mattresses to bolster the walls during the shootings.”Lack of documentation not only prevents Miguel and his wife from applying for regular jobs, it also makes it hard to go through the multiple check-points along the local roads, or even to buy gas for cooking. Yet, he has managed to get access to a small micro-credit through an agreement reached between UNHCR and a local micro-finance institution, Fundesta. Daladier Anzueto, Coordinator of UNHCR Protection and Community Support Projects says that in Tachira, 34 refugee families have had access to financial help, mainly for

agricultural projects, in the first trimester of 2008 alone. “It has transformed their lives and has given them a chance to contribute to the development of their host communities.” For families like Miguel’s, a micro-credit for the equivalent of 700 dollars makes a great difference: “We won’t have to choose between buying shoes for our kids or groceries,” says Ana, another refugee whose husband was also granted a micro-credit from the state-run institution.Under the agreement with Fundesta, refugees are offered not just loans at preferential interest rates, but also technical training for the beneficiaries. The results have been very positive. The potential of his business is such that Miguel is now hiring Venezuelan workers on a temporary basis, a chance for him to reciprocate the help he received during a very tough beginning.The micro-credits program for refugees in Venezuela began with a small UNHCR fund in 2005. It has proved a very effective protection tool in the Venezuelan context, with great impact on the lives of those who lost everything in their flight. With the support of local institutions, it has now entered a new phase of growth. At the beginning of this year, UNHCR signed an agreement with Banco del Pueblo Soberano, the main state-run micro-financial institution, which offers 700,000 dollars in micro-credits to refugees, asylum seekers and Venezuelans in host communities at the border. This latest agreement is a big step towards effective protection for the calculated 180,000 Colombians who have crossed the Venezuelan border fleeing the armed conflict.

By Ligimat Pérez in Rubio, Tachira State.*Names have been changed to maintain confidentiality.

A SMALL UNHCR MICRO-CREDIT PROJECT TO HELP COLOMBIAN REFUGEES IN VENEZUELA IS ENTERING A NEW PHASE OF GROWTH WITH THE HELP OF LOCAL BUSINESSES.

VENEZUELA

LOCAL MICRO-CREDITS OPEN NEW HORIZONS FOR REFUGEES AT THE BORDER

Ref

ugee

chi

ld a

nd V

enez

uela

n ne

ighb

ors

pluc

king

chi

cken

at

Mig

uel’s

fa

rm. ©

UN

HC

R /

L.P

érez

They forced everyone out of their houses and made them lie face down in the road. List in hand, they started to call people and kill them, right there in front of my 3 and 5-year-old daughters.

www.unhcr.org


No house, no friends, no job. When Onoria describes her experience as a Colombian refugee in Northern Ecuador, she says she feels “like a bird without a nest”. She arrived more than a year ago, fleeing from violent attacks in the Nariño region of Colombia, just across the border. Her life changed drastically when she got to Ecuador, she knew only the small group of people who had fled with her; luckily her mother was among them. Together they faced the daunting challenge of starting a new life in a country that, although not entirely different from their own, was still foreign. The hardship was eased by the kindness and solidarity they found in Ecuador. People opened their homes to them, shared their food and even included them in the few available job opportunities. These communities in Northern Ecuador are struggling with poverty and lack of development, battling against diseases like malaria and dengue fever, with very little access to the education and health system. “yet, they find it into themselves to open their doors and share their lands and resources with refugees,” says Xavier Creach, who is

in charge of the local UNHCR office in Ecuador’s Amazonian region. He added that this remarkable solidarity may be based on a shared reality at the borders, which helps the people of northern Ecuador understand the sufferings and needs of the victims of the conflict, just a few kilometres away on the Colombian side. Solidarity, however, is not enough in impoverished communities, especially if they are left on their own to deal with refugee arrivals. This has prompted UNHCR to implement activities that benefit local population and refugees alike, always in communities with high percentage of refugee population and with the greatest needs. In the Amazonian region, UNHCR is working with the local health authorities to improve the delivery of health services in the most deprived refugee-hosting communities. This can imply opening a new health centre or improving an existing one. “In the remotest places, which are only accessible by river, it often means setting up mobile health brigades that provide regular coverage,” Creach explaines. According to a UNHCR-sponsored survey carried out in 2007,

UNHCR PROGRAMS ALONG ECUADOR’S NORTHERN BORDER BOOSTS SOLIDARITY AMONG LOCAL COMMUNITIES.

Cel

ebra

tions

dur

ing

Wor

ld R

efug

ee D

ay in

the

city

of Q

uito

. © U

NH

CR

/ A

. Esc

alan

te

ECUADOR

SOLIDARITY WITH COLOMBIAN REFUGEES AT THE NORTHERN BORDER


some 60,000 Colombian refugees live in the five Northern provinces of Ecuador adjacent to the Colombian border. The survey was carried out to find out the approximate number of Colombians in need of international protection inside Ecuador.

“The findings are important because they will help the Ecuadorian authorities to better design and implement development plans and public policies that take into account the presence of refugees and unregistered persons in need of international protection,” said Marta Juarez, UNHCR Representative in Ecuador. She added that Ecuador provides a very positive example of Latin American solidarity in its stance towards asylum: “Ecuador has shown this spirit of solidarity again and again in its history, from opening its doors to people fleeing the horrors of the war in Europe to welcoming South American refugees escaping the 1970s dictatorships and now granting asylum to the victims of the Colombian conflict.”

Under the framework of the Mexico Plan of Action, UNHCR Ecuador will continue contributing to assist refugees and internally displaced people in the region, as well as support the Ecuadorian authorities’ efforts to promote peace and development along its Northern border.

By Xavier Orellana in Quito.

A re

fuge

e gi

rl a

nd fr

iend

take

par

t in

a tr

aditi

onal

dan

ce in

Ecu

ador

. © U

NH

CR

/A. E

scal

ante

According to a UNHCR-sponsored survey carried out in 2007, some 60,000 Colombian refugees live in the five Northern provinces of Ecuador adjacent to the Colombian border.

Solidarity, however, is not enough in impoverished communities, especially if they are left on their own to deal with refugee arrivals.

www.unhcr.org


“We left Iraq because of what we were facing there: slaughter, torture, expulsion…We had to flee with our families to the desert, which is full of snakes and scorpions, not to mention being stranded in no man’s land for almost two years. We anxiously hope that the government and the people will welcome us warmly in a new country and will try to help us and accept us as refugees in their land. We promise to be good citizens, eager to serve the country in which we are going to live.” So reads a January 2008 letter signed by “the refugees trapped at the border between Syria and Iraq”. In May, the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, answered their calls. “Hospitality is one of the Arab world’s most important values and, today, it is precisely this value we want to invoke,” the President said during a welcome ceremony for 117 Palestinian refugees recently arrived to Chile. “We want to be your second homeland. I wish to give a warm welcome to all of you who are starting a new life. From now on, this is your home,” Bachelet said, adding that she knew what it meant to arrive as a refugee in a foreign country. “I know how it feels, because I was a refugee myself,” she told them. “One arrives in a place with a different culture and habits, a place where one has to build his or her life from scratch. But it is also a place where there is hope, a future, a place in which there is no persecution, a warmer space for our children to grow,” she said.The newly-arrived refugees told her of their eagerness to start a new life in Chile and be part of the local society. Since their arrival, they said, they had received endless demonstrations of support and care - from the Palestinian community, resident for many years in the country, as well as from neighbours and many others.

Ahmed, a cinema projectionist in Baghdad before the war and part of a group of eight families who have made a new home in the locality of San Felipe, spoke during the ceremony

on behalf of the other refugees. He thanked Chile for the love and warmth with which they were received. “As soon as we arrived to Santiago’s airport, we were given an extraordinary welcome,” he said.“I understood then that the people of Chile are very generous and sensitive. Now I look to the future with serenity, not just for me but for my children and grandchildren,” he added. The Government of Chile, UNHCR and its implementing partner in the country, la Vicaría de Pastoral Social y de los Trabajadores, have worked very hard to make resettlement a positive experience for refugees – and encourage other countries in the region to follow track. Together, they developed a joint program with the receiving municipalities to help the refugees become part of Chilean society. As a result, refugees have access to a support network of professionals in their local communities. They are offered orientation courses in social and legal aspects of life in Chile, as well as Spanish lessons. The children have started school and, their adaptation has been very good so far. Once the adults become more comfortable speaking Spanish, the team helps them make local connections and look for a job and a home. The local Palestinian community also lends its support to ease the refugees’ social and cultural integration.Some years ago, the citizens of Chile were the ones who fled abroad in search of asylum from persecution and sufferings. Today, the country is opening its doors to refugees from other parts of the world. So far, it has given 117 resettled refugees the opportunity to rebuild their lives and to live in peace, free from persecution.

By Carolina Podestá in Santiago.

THEY LEFT TENTS AND SANDSTORMS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT TO FIND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD THE SECURITY AND STABLE PROSPECTS THEY HAD MISSED FOR SO LONG.

Pal

estin

ian

refu

gees

from

Iraq

at A

l Tan

f cam

p be

twee

n th

e Ir

aqi a

nd S

yria

n bo

rder

. © U

NH

CR

/ J.

Wre

ford

CHILE

PALESTINIAN REFUGEES FIND A SECOND HOME

We want to be your second homeland. I wish to give a warm welcome to all of you who are starting a new life. From now on, this is your home, president Bachelet said.


IN AN INCREASINGLY COMPLEX ENVIRONMENT OF MASS MIXED MIGRATORY FLOWS, MEXICO FACES NEW CHALLENGES TO ITS HISTORIC ASYLUM TRADITION AS UNHCR CELEBRATES A QUARTER OF A CENTURY IN THE COUNTRY.

Cer

emon

y of

giv

ing

land

titl

es t

o fo

rmer

ref

ugee

s fr

om G

uate

mal

a. ©

U

NH

CR

/ M

. Ech

andi

MEXICO

This year, UNHCR celebrates 25 years of work in Mexico. The UN Refugee Agency’s presence in the country was formalized on 6 April 1983, when the Cooperation Agreement between the Government of Mexico and UNHCR was published in the Federal Gazette.Mexico’s long tradition of giving asylum to people fleeing persecution goes back to the 19th century, when North American Kikapu indians found refuge in the Mexican State of Coahuila. European refugees fleeing fascism in the 1930’s were welcomed by President Lazaro Cardenas’ government, while South Americans fleeing dictatorships also found safety in Mexico. During the 1989 International Conference on Central American Refugees (Conferencia Internacional sobre Refugiados Centroamericanos, or CIREFCA), Mexico played a lead role in achieving lasting solutions to the problems of displacement in the region. Almost 7,000 refugees acquired Mexican citizenship and land titles, whilst others were free to choose to repatriate. This flexible approach set an example for a comprehensive solution to refugee problems.Mexico hosted the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the Cartagena Declaration in November 2004, four years after signing the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. The Mexico Plan of Action, as a strategic framework for solidarity with refugees on the American Continent, was born. Today, most of the civil wars on the American continent have ended, yet for many peace and prosperity have not come. About a quarter of the population of the poorest Central American countries live in the USA, their remittances alone are supposed to keep families afloat. Crime levels are high and development slow in many nations. Mexico’s impressive asylum tradition faces new challenges today, when the number of people actually seeking asylum is minimal in comparison to those fleeing poverty, social disintegration, and destroyed infrastructure. The fate of these people crossing Mexico on their way north is similar to that of others who use transit routes between Africa and Europe - through the Gulf of Yemen, for example. These problems urgently need to be tackled, with an integral

approach regulating migration and protecting the rights of those who choose to seek better opportunities elsewhere. Mexico is currently preparing a refugee legislation to strengthen the protection of these persons, many of whom arrive in this country within the large migration movements. Meanwhile, directives on complementary protection, on statelessness and on the treatment of unaccompanied minors have been put into place.

As an innovative measure, over 70 Migration Officials were trained as specialists in protection for minors caught in the hostile and often dangerous environment of the border areas. This new programme was put together in close cooperation with the National Migration Institute (INM), the National Institute for Family Development (DIF), the Comisión Mexicana de Ayuda a los Refugiados (COMAR), UNICEF, IOM and UNHCR. It is an important step for Mexico on the way towards solidarity in the spirit of the Mexico Plan of Action.

By Marion Hoffmann, Regional Representative, UNHCR Regional Office for Mexico, Central America and Cuba.

UNHCR CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF ACTION

Mexico’s impressive asylum tradition faces new challenges today, when the number of people actually seeking asylum is minimal in comparison to those fleeing poverty, social disintegration, and destroyed infrastructure.

www.unhcr.org


“Every Land is Your Land” is a fusion of dance, poetry, music and theatre around the theme of exile and uprooting. The performers are all between 10 and 18 years old, the cast of nearly 50 is made up of Colombian refugees, Costa Rican youngsters and three girls from Nicaragua. “We rehearsed during six weekends, it was a lot of work but it brought us all together,” said one of the young refugee performers. The idea for the play came when young Colombian refugees asked UNHCR to help them make contact with other youngsters, both Colombian and Costa Rican, through sports and joint artistic activities. The initiative received the full support of the UN Refugee Agency for its potential to help build friendships and social networks between young refugees and their Costa Rican peers. “Doing things in common is often the best way to bring down barriers and create a true spirit of solidarity between people who otherwise may not know each other and remain distrustful,” explained Jozef Merkx, the UNHCR Representative in Costa Rica. The play is divided into three acts, which in less than an hour portray the shared chronicle faced by many refugees. The first part shows the violence that forces all refugees to flee, while the second focuses on the themes of uprooting and xenophobia. For young refugees, the experience of xenophobia, based solely on nationality and lack of understanding of the sufferings they have gone through, is often the hardest part to bear. Young Colombians in particular are often stigmatized, because they come from a country associated with violence, crime and drug-trafficking: the very ills, in fact, their families have fled from, often when they themselves were only children. “It is enough to say a word or two and they know we are Colombians and want nothing to do with us,” one boy remarked. The play ends on a message of peace and hope, conveyed

through a choreographed piece of music during which all the children and youngsters dance together. “Working with this group of boys and girls has been a wonderful experience,” pointed out Maria Steiner, theater professor in charge of the direction of “Every Land is Your Land”. “In practice, we achieved what we were looking for real cooperation and exchange of experiences between the youth,” she said.

The play’s success was an added and most welcomed bonus. At first, it was planned to be performed a few times only for last year’s World Refugee Day. However, it proved so popular in San Jose, Costa Rica’s Capital, that it went on a tour and was performed in more than 30 locations around the country, including remote communities along the borders with Panama and Nicaragua. As well as receiving an honorary mention by the Ministry of Culture in the Costa Rica National Culture Prize, “Every Land is Your Land” also performed in the International Arts Festival.

By giovanni Monge in San Jose.

A PERFORMANCE PLAY ON BEING A REFUGEE AND LIVING IN EXILE WINS MENTION AT NATIONAL CULTURE PRIZE IN COSTA RICA.

The

play

“Ev

ery

Land

is Y

our

Land

” w

as p

erfo

rmed

for

the

last

tim

e on

Wor

ld R

efug

ee D

ay

2008

, in

San

Jose

, Cos

ta R

ica’

s ca

pita

l. ©

UN

HC

R/ X

. Lla

mos

as

COSTA RICA

YOUNG REFUGEE PLAY WINS NATIONAL CULTURE PRIZE

For young refugees, the experience of xenophobia, based solely on nationality and lack of understanding of the sufferings they have gone through, is often the hardest part to bear.


A year ago, 34-year-old Seneyda and her family were struggling to keep alive in Colombia. After witnessing their relatives’ murders and refusing to collaborate with illegal armed groups, they were forced to leave their home country. They first went to Ecuador, where they were granted refugee status and tried to put their lives back on track. But the fear and intimidation continued and, with the support of UNHCR, the family was resettled to Brazil. In the small town of Rio Grande do Sul, Seneyda has found the peace she needed to take care of her family. Her husband is working in a local supermarket, while four of their five children are attending school. Far from the violence of Colombia, they are happy in Brazil. Thanks to a partnership between UNHCR and the municipality, they will soon get their own house through a public housing programme.“The care and attention we get from many Brazilian people have turned them into a new family for us,” Seneyda said of the help they have received from UNHCR and its implementing partners in Rio Grande do Sul.Just a few streets away, 17-year-old Palestinian refugee Sabrine Ibrahim Abu Zahra lives with her mother and father in a two-bedroom house. The local Arabic community has helped her to get a full scholarship in a private school just around the corner. Her daily routine has changed completely from that of the isolated, dusty and scorpion-infested camp where she used to live in Jordan, close to the Iraqi border. “I love my school and I love Brazil, this is where I want to build my life, because here my rights are respected,” says the 17-year-old, whose plans include graduating in medical sciences.Like in other parts of Brazil, the private sector’s commitment plays a crucial part in the success of the programme by providing paid employment or help to run small businesses. “The local community, the private sector and public

institutions are all making very important contributions to our aim of achieving local integration for refugees,” said Karin Wapenchowski, who coordinates the programme on behalf of UNHCR in Rio Grande do Sul. Her words were echoed by the UNHCR Representative in Brazil, Javier Lopez-Cifuentes: “The best practices emerging from Rio grande do Sul should be replicated all over the country. They confirm that solidarity and commitment from society as a whole is a powerful tool for refugee protection.”

Brazil spear-headed the Mexico Plan of Action’s Solidarity Resettlement Programme in Latin America and began its practical implementation in 2004. Already, more than 400 refugees have been resettled to the country under this initiative, which was initially designed to offer durable solutions for uprooted Latin Americans. Brazil took another important step last year, with the decision to resettle Palestinian refugees from the Iraqi crisis, confirming its leading role in international protection in the Americas. The programme is currently implemented in 32 cities spread over five different Brazilian states.

By Valéria graziano in Rio Grande do Sul and Luiz Fernando godinho in Brasilia.

REFUGEES FROM VERY DIFFERENT HORIZONS FIND A NEW HOME THROUGH RESETTLEMENT TO THE SOUTHERN BRAZILIAN STATE OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL.

Col

ombi

an r

efug

ee S

eney

da a

nd h

er fa

mili

y. ©

UN

HC

R/ V

. Gra

zian

o

BRAZIL

RESETTLED REFUGEES BUILD NEW LIFE

The local community, the private sector and public institutions are all making very important contributions to our aim of achieving local integration for refugees, said Karin Wapenchowski.

www.unhcr.org


After months of hardship and fear, life took a turn for the better for 11 families of the Wounaan indigenous community when they became the first group of Colombian indigenous people ever to be granted refugee status in Panama.“It changed everything. It was only when we got the news that we started to believe we could stay and leave the past behind,” says José*, one of the 47 refugees who are now living in Vista Alegre, a small river settlement in Panama’s Darien jungle.The Wounaan families had reached Panama after fleeing violence and persecution by an irregular armed group in their native Colombia. They had crossed through the Darien Gap, a vast expanse of jungle that separates the two countries.The decision to grant them refugee status gave them the stability they needed to begin anew. With the help of UNHCR and the international community, among them the Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO), the group began to rebuild its life.One of the first priorities was to provide the settlement with clean water. There’s plenty of water in the Darien jungle with swamps and many rivers, but its remote communities lack even the most basic infrastructure to make it safe to drink.Ruth* is the 23-year-old mother of two small children, the younger one born just days after Ruth arrived at the settlement. “The baby was fine at first because she only drank milk, but her brother was very sick,” she remembers.The installation of a water pump and tank has changed her life, not only because her children are healthier, but because she no longer has to spend hours every day carrying water from the river.Shelter and clean water are always among the very first necessities for people fleeing their homes to escape violence. Such priorities are the core of ECHO’s emergency help for those most in need. “That crucial period when

refugees arrive in a new country is when the relationship between us and UNHCR is at its most active,” explained José Maria Echevarría, ECHO’s Regional Delegate for Colombia and Panama, on the occasion of an ECHO visit to the Darien.Once basic needs are met, the UN Refugee Agency also supports local initiatives to help with children’s schooling, and training the adults in basic professional skills such as carpentry and weaving.

The two organizations have also set up a clean water system in the community of Alto Playona, home to another Colombian indigenous group, made up of Embera people who reached the settlement after months of wandering to escape an irregular armed group in Colombia.But unlike their Wounaan compatriots, the Embera families in Alto Playona, and 22 others in the nearby community of Canan, are still unsure of their future. They asked for asylum in Panama a year ago and are still waiting for the government to decide whether they can stay as refugees. The uncertainty makes it difficult, at times, to focus on the future.“I still think every day about what happened to us in Colombia and it fills me with fear, even though here we live in peace,” says a teenage Embera boy. At seventeen, he has made up his mind: he never wants to return to his home country and live in such terror again.

By Marie-Hélène Verney in Darien. *Names have been changed to maintain confidentiality.

PANAMA

GETTING REFUGEE STATUS AND CLEAN WATER IN THEIR COMMUNITIES HAS CHANGED THE LIFE OF A GROUP OF INDIGENOUS REFUGEES IN PANAMA’S DARIEN JUNGLE.

Wou

naan

ref

ugee

s in

Pan

ama:

Col

ombi

an in

dige

nous

chi

ldre

n in

jung

le s

ettle

men

ts in

P

anam

a ar

e he

alth

ier

now

that

they

hav

e cl

ean

wat

er. ©

UN

HC

R /

M. V

erne

y

BIG CHANGES FOR INDIGENOUS COLOMBIAN REFUGEES

The decision to grant them refugee status gave them the stability they needed to begin anew.


The Canadian International Development Agency pledged $3 million in response to UNHCR 2008 Appeal to bring protection and assistance to internally displaced people in Colombia. The contribution will help to provide access to education, health services and documentation to Colombia’s internally displaced people, as well as reinforce national structures to protect and assist them. It comes after a visit to Colombia and Peru of Canada’s Minister of International Cooperation, Beverley Oda. During her trip to Colombia, Oda went to Altos de Cazuca, a suburb of Bogota where thousands of displaced people live in hardship conditions. There, she got an insight into UNHCR humanitarian work and projects on the ground. In the barrio, the Minister was able to witness the difference that Canada’s contribution makes to the lives of tens of thousands of people who have fled their homes to escape violence. She talked with a group of young Afro-Colombians about their future and to displaced people leaders about conditions of life in the suburbs.

The Minister was especially moved by a visit to a Learning Circle, where young children from displaced families newly-arrived to the neighbourhood are able to catch up with their schooling before they can get access to formal education. By law, every displaced child in Colombia is entitled to free education, but laws often mean little in deprived areas where state services are poor or not available.

“I learnt a lot about displaced people in Colombia and the challenges they face,” the Minister said after her visit. “With our help, these children are receiving vital services and protection, just one example of the tremendous difference we are making in their lives. Canadians can be very proud of the support their government is providing to children, families and communities in need in Peru and Colombia,” she added.For more than thirty years, Canada has provided development and humanitarian assistance to Latin American and Caribbean countries. “UNHCR is profoundly grateful for Canada’s contributions and is hopeful that this Canadian generosity will continue to grow given the government’s newly articulated international assistance policy to allocate a greater share of aid resources to countries in the Americas,” said Abraham Abraham, UNHCR Representative in Canada.Canada is currently the third largest donor for UNHCR operations in Colombia.

By gisèle Nyembwe in Ottawa.

THE CANADIAN MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION VISITS COLOMBIA AND PERU TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CHALLENGES FACED BY REFUGEES AND DISPLACED PEOPLE.

Min

iste

r O

da v

isite

d a

proj

ect

fund

ed b

y th

e G

over

nmen

t of

Can

ada

in S

oach

a, C

olom

bia.

Cou

rtes

y of

Can

adia

n In

tern

atio

nal D

evel

opm

ent A

genc

y.

CANADA

A PLEDGE OF $3 MILLION TO UNHCR IN COLOMBIA

In the barrio, the Minister was able to witness the difference that Canada’s contribution makes to the lives of tens of thousands of people who have fled their homes to escape violence.

www.unhcr.org


The Thang’s family weekly schedule runs to five pages, with each day broken down into near hourly tasks assigned to different volunteers. In the kitchen of a Princeton’s house, Tom Charles, creator and director of the plan of action, runs through each item with the family at the center of all this activity.Za Bik Thang, his wife Par Tha, and their three children arrived in Princeton in the summer of 2007 from Malaysia, where they had lived as refugees for several years after fleeing persecution in their native Myanmar. Tom Charles and other members of the Nassau Presbyterian Church were on hand to meet the family when they arrived in the United States and have supported them ever since.“We were a little scared of coming to the US,” recalls Za Bik from the family’s rented home, which was arranged for them by the Nassau congregation.

An upcoming move to an apartment in an affordable housing complex closer to downtown will also reduce the couple’s commute to their jobs. For now, Tom Charles continues in his role as traffic controller, ensuring the smooth transit of the five Thang family members to and from school, work, English lessons, choir practice, dentist appointments, chess club meetings and church services.“We have around one hundred volunteers from our church working with resettled refugees,” manifested Charles. “A core group of between 15 and 20 are involved in the day to day assistance, so the errands are spread around. Morning pick ups to get Za Bik to work are done by the early risers, while getting the kids home from school is done by people who have the afternoons free.”

COMMITTED VOLUNTEERS PROVIDE A VALUED AND FRIENDLY DAY TO DAY ASSISTANCE TO RESETTLED REFUGEES STRIVING TO OVERCOME DIFFICULTIES IN THEIR INTEGRATION.

The

Than

g fa

mily

from

Mya

nmar

, tho

ugh

mos

tly s

elf-

suffi

cien

t, st

ill r

ely

on v

olun

teer

s lik

e To

m C

harl

es (l

eft)

for

ride

s to

jobs

and

sch

ools

. © U

NH

CR

/ T.

Irw

in

UNITED STATES

KINDNESS OF STRANGERS


The Thang’s are the eighth family the Nassau congregation has sponsored as part of a program that goes back nearly twenty-five years. Among those assisting the family are individuals who a few years ago were on the receiving end of the community’s efforts. Dental care is provided by a former refugee from Bosnia; the pool of drivers includes a Somalian refugee who arrived in Princeton several years ago. The church is one of many religious groups in New Jersey involved in refugee resettlement. Referrals come from agencies such as Lutheran Social Ministries, of New Jersey, based in the state capitol, Trenton. The director of its Immigration and Refugee Program, Rev. Stacy Martin, says voluntary groups can provide a level of attention which surpasses what agencies dealing with hundreds of cases a year can offer. “The sponsors and the refugee families can create genuine relationships that go well beyond the 12 to 18 months we would typically be in contact with a family,” she said. Resettlement in the United States is largely handled by faith-based organizations which turn to their communities for volunteers when additional assistance is needed. According to a US Department of Labor survey published in 2007, more than one quarter of the population – around 60 million people – had volunteered for an organization in the previous twelve months. “Volunteers offer a distinctly personal touch that builds on the support offered by local resettlement affiliates,” said Ralston Deffenbaugh Jr., president of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, a national resettlement agency.

Even with assistance, establishing new lives in a foreign country is not without challenges. Unable to speak English, the Thang children initially found the classroom a frightening and lonely place. Everyday costs such as rent, groceries and visits to the doctor can seem overwhelming. Here, too, the Nassau congregation has stepped in, helping Za Bik to land a job at a supermarket chain while Par Tha does alterations at an exclusive men’s wear store. The couple has also been given financial planning advice. “When we first arrived we couldn’t do anything for ourselves. Today we can live our lives, though we still rely on rides,” admitted Za Bik, who has begun the process of getting a driver ’s license.

For the Nassau congregation a commitment that began nearly twelve months ago is nearing its end, and it is apparent that not just the Thangs have benefited. For Tom Charles, working with resettled refugees “has been one of the great joys of my life.” Former strangers are now friends, foreign cultures are understood and accepted and the often abstract concept of helping those less fortunate has taken the tangible form of an embrace.

By Tim Irwin in Princeton.

Volunteers offer a distinctly personal touch that builds on the support offered by local resettlement affiliates, said Ralston Deffenbaugh.

Zar

Bik

Tha

ng,

a re

cent

ly a

rriv

ed r

efug

ee f

rom

Mya

nmar

, ad

mir

es t

he w

ork

of h

is 4

-yea

r-ol

d da

ught

er R

am R

am a

t he

r nu

rser

y sc

hool

in

Pri

ncet

on ,N

ew J

erse

y. ©

UN

HC

R /

T.Ir

win

www.unhcr.org


One of the enduring impressions of a first visit to Colombia is one of staggering contrasts. One is struck by the developed status of parts of the country, and the lack of development of others. Similarly, one is awed by the exemplary laws knitted around the problem of internal displacement and the obvious commitment of national authorities and civil society to find solutions for displaced persons. In equal measure, one is taken aback to witness sheer destitution in which some of the displaced and underprivileged persons live. The situation is particularly disturbing when one notes that thousands of Colombians are violently displaced each month and augment the number of those living in precarious conditions despite the determined efforts by the government to address their plight. Yet the scope of the displacement crisis, both inside Colombia and across its borders, is little known outside the region. The Colombian conflict has gone on for a long time and it is sometimes known as a conflict of “low intensity”. It does not generate, for instance, the same level of international attention as more recent crises in Africa or the Middle East. However, the human suffering thereby generated is not any less than experienced elsewhere. We saw the deplorable conditions in which some displaced persons were living, with no immediate solution to their plight in sight. During our mission, we met with refugees living in small rural communities in Ecuador and with displaced people in urban conglomerations in Colombia. We stressed to the governments of Ecuador and Colombia UNHCR’s commitment to support their efforts on behalf of these uprooted populations. We highlighted too the importance of prevention and preparedness and the need to look for joint solutions to common challenges. UNHCR’s current operation in Colombia started in 1997 in response to the internal displacement crisis, one of the first operations in which the agency took an active and leading role in IDP protection. The scope of cooperation with the government, encapsulated in a Memorandum of Understanding entered into in 1999, spans the areas of preventive action, protection and solutions, compliance with IDP legislation, reinforcement of coordination mechanisms and international cooperation. It was clear during our visit that UNHCR has learnt a lot in the intervening decade from its work and close cooperation with the national authorities. At a time when the agency is expanding its role in IDP protection to more countries around the world, our experience in Colombia provides us with insight, experiences and lessons learned on which we can build in other settings. By the same token, UNHCR’s experience in refugee settings continues to enrich and strengthen its capacity to act in internal displacement situations. Our colleagues in both field operations have approached the quest for solutions for these displaced, with much creativity and thinking “outside the box” – all lessons and tools worth sharing with the rest of the organization.One of the lessons learnt in Colombia is that the longer a conflict goes on, the more difficult it becomes to mobilize international solidarity. Within Colombia itself, there is now a certain level of apathy towards fellow Colombians displaced by violence. To some extent, Colombian IDPs and refugees have become “invisible”. One of UNHCR priorities is to draw attention to their reality, their needs and their potential, both internally and externally, with a view to greater international solidarity in the search for peace and durable solutions.

By george Okoth-Obbo and Arnauld Akodjenou in Colombia and Ecuador.

ON MISSION

EDITORIAL

Geo

rge

Oko

th-O

bbo,

Dire

ctor

of t

he D

ivis

ion

of In

tern

atio

nal

Pro

tect

ion

Serv

ices

, and

Arn

auld

Ako

djen

ou, D

irect

or o

f the

D

ivis

ion

of O

pera

tiona

l Ser

vice

s. ©

UN

HC

R /

S. H

oppe

r

In early 2008, the Directors of two key UNHCR Divisions, gEORgE OkOTH-OBBO, Director of the Division of International Protection Services, and ARNAULD AkODjENOU, Director of the Division of Operational Services, visited Colombia and Ecuador for a week-long mission.


UNHCR OPENS NEW FIELD OFFICES IN ECUADOR AND COLOMBIAUNHCR opened a new field office in Northern Ecuador in March, bringing to three the number of its offices along the Colombian border. The new location, based in the Pacific Coast city of Esmeraldas, will serve as a base to help thousands of Colombian refugees in the region. According to the initial results of a UNHCR-commissioned survey, some 10,000 refugees live in Esmeraldas Province, one of Ecuador’ s most under-developed regions.UNHCR works in Ecuador with a strong focus on local development as well as refugee assistance. For example, it provides micro-credit loans, training programmes and help to small business that aim to benefit both refugees and the local host population. In February, UNHCR had also opened a new field office in Colombia, based in the city of Arauca on the border with Venezuela. The region is one of the most violent in Colombia because, in parts, of active conflict between the country’s two guerrilla groups. In the first two months of this year, more than 4,000 people were forced to flee the resulting violence. UNHCR works in Colombia with a large population of internally displaced people. The office in Arauca will operate in close coordination with another UNHCR field location just across the border in Guasdualito, Venezuela.

MORE THAN A DECADE OF REFUgEE LAW IN BRAZILBrazil’s Refugee Law, which created the National Committee for Refugees (CONARE) to implement the 1951 Refugee Convention, has already surpassed a decade of successes in asylum and protection. During these years, Brazil has played a key role in the active implementation of the Mexico Plan of Action, agreed upon by 20 Latin American governments in 2004. The Plan spearheaded the creation of the Solidarity Resettlement Program in the region, which has helped hundreds of refugees, mainly from Colombia but also Palestinians, start a new life in Brazil. The resettlement program was recently reinforced with fast track mechanisms and special procedures to receive refugees at high risks. The State of Sao Paolo this year added to solidarity efforts

by setting up a local committee to put into practice in the best possible way public policies for refugee integration. The move is innovative because it looks for practical solutions that work best for refugees and their host communities on the ground. The committee is made up of state representatives, civil society and UNHCR in an advisory role. Meanwhile, CONARE – as the national eligibility body – continues to analyze all asylum claims and demands for refugee protection in Brazil. The country now hosts some 3,800 recognized refugees from 72 different nations; it has also taken in some 400 resettled refugees under a 1999 agreement with UNHCR. This figure includes more than 100 Palestinians who arrived in Brazil last year from a desert camp in Jordan.UNHCR played a vital role in helping the creation of Brazil’s refugee law and continues to support refugee protection and assistance programmes in the country.

FIRST “HOUSE OF RIgHTS” OPENS ITS DOORS IN COSTA RICAThe people of Desamparados, Costa Rica’s second largest city, now have a place to go to receive information about their rights. At the “House of Rights”, refugees and other city dwellers can get to know about their rights, as well as have access to free legal advice and information on prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence. The House also hosts a Center for Alternate Conflict Resolution; in addition to various services the local government offers the community. It will also function as a place for community meetings, workshops and trainings. “It is very important for UNHCR to support this initiative, because it gives people access to information about their rights, independently of whether they are nationals or foreigners, refugees or not,” says Jozef Merkx, UNHCR Representative in Costa Rica. The “House of Rights” was born out of an agreement between the Municipality of Desamparados and UNHCR under the “Cities of Solidarity” part of the Mexico Plan of Action. The Dutch and American Embassies are supporting the project.

The

UN

HC

R R

epre

sent

ativ

e in

Cos

ta R

ica

and

loca

l au

thor

ities

ina

ugur

ated

the

Hou

se o

f R

ight

s of

Des

ampa

rado

s. ©

UN

HC

R /

M. Q

uesa

da

FROM THE FIELD

www.unhcr.org


“FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF EXILE, PERSECUTION AND HARDSHIP WE LIVED THROUGH DURING THE DICTATORSHIP, WE HAVE LEARNT TO BE GENEROUS WITH PEOPLE IN NEED OF PROTECTION”.

With a Degree in Sociology and a long career devoted to human rights, Jorge Taiana was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in Argentina, in November 2005. Taiana says that human rights have always had a very strong influence on his life. “I was jailed for my political beliefs during the dictatorship and have felt in my own body the violations of the most basic human rights,” states the Minister, who was detained between 1975 and 1982. “I know about persecution, intolerance and lack of respect. My career, therefore, has been dedicated to the fight for the full enjoyment by all of every human right.”

1. yOU ARE WELL ACQUAINTED WITH THE PLIgHT OF REFUgEES AND DISPLACED PEOPLE. IS THERE ANy CONFLICT RIgHT NOW THAT ESPECIALLy DRAWS yOUR ATTENTION?Every conflict has the potential to have worldwide repercussions. We may feel that what happens in Darfur does not directly affect our country’s security, but it certainly does influence deeply how we look at the ongoing human tragedy there and how we act, consequently, in other international instances.

Obviously conflicts in the region have more immediate consequences on us, and that is why we pay more attention to what is happening in Colombia, as other neighbour countries also do. We aim to improve the situation of refugees and to carry out actions of solidarity under the framework of the Mexico Plan of Action. Since 2005, for instance, we have joined the regional Plan of Solidarity for the Resettlement of Refugees.

2. HOW ARE REFUgEE ISSUES ADDRESSED WITHIN MERCOSUR?The full protection of human beings is the cornerstone of our policies and within that framework we must include coordinated action with our partners in MERCOSUR. We want to fuel debate on the issue at the sub-regional level. In late March, for example, we held a seminar on refugees during the meeting of the Forum on Migration and Human Rights. In the near future, we would like to share common eligibility standards, thus moving forward in the asylum chapter towards a perspective that aims to promote enjoyment of the full range of human rights.

3. IN THE PAST, PEOPLE FLED FROM MANy LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES. NOW IT IS SAID THAT THIS

Arge

ntin

ian

Min

iste

r of

For

eign

Affa

irs,

Jor

ge E

nriq

ue T

aian

a. C

ourt

esy

of th

e M

inis

try

of F

orei

gn A

ffair

s, In

tern

atio

nal T

rade

and

Cul

t of A

rgen

tina.REFVIEW GUEST

JORGE TAIANA, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF ARGENTINA


REgION CAN PROVIDE SOLUTIONS TO REFUgEES. DO yOU AgREE? We are convinced it is so. It was said for many decades that our region was one of the most peaceful in the world because of low levels of conflicts between nation states, but often people forgot to mention that we were also one of the most politically unstable regions in the world. This led to much grief and forced many to leave their countries. From the experience of exile, persecution and hardship we lived through during the dictatorship, we have gained probably one of our most important learning experiences: generosity towards people in need of protection.It is very noticeable that the approval of new regional documents to strengthen refugee protection never requires much time or debate. What takes years in developed countries is a much shorter process in Latin America. This is a sign of the overwhelming consensus we share on the issue. The challenge is to maintain our “human” approach when other countries that have always been models of protection are closing their doors. It is painful to witness the creators of the 1951 Convention stumbling in front of the illusory dilemma of state security versus asylum. We believe there is no such dilemma and that the safer states are the ones who protect their citizens.

4. WHAT DO yOU THINk ARE THE ADVANTAgES AND DISADVANTAgES FOR A REFUgEE OF SETTLINg IN A DEVELOPED COUNTRy OR IN AN EMERgINg COUNTRy LIkE ARgENTINA? I think that the best answer to this question should come

from refugees living in Argentina. Nobody will say they live in a paradise, but many will agree they received a generous welcome and the chance of a new life far away from tragedy. We are pleased they like being with us. We accept them as they are, under our Constitution they are equal to every other citizen. The educational sector – private and public - is open to them at all levels, as is the health system. How many developed countries, I wonder, can say this? How many developed countries grant full citizenship after only two years in the country? How many developed countries issue identity cards without mention of the status of refugees?

5. WHAT MESSAgE WOULD yOU gIVE TO A REFUgEE ABOUT TO ARRIVE IN THE COUNTRy?The Preamble of the Argentine Constitution establishes as a ruling principle of our nation that “Argentina is open to all men and women of good faith that want to live on its territory”. Notwithstanding the problems and the many challenges, this remains one of the main axes of our modus operandi after more than 150 years. We would like to tell refugees that we are an open country for those in need of protection and that, regardless of the cause of their persecution, they can be certain that the situation will not be repeated here.

By Carolina Podestá in Buenos Aires.

Arge

ntin

ian

Min

iste

r of

For

eign

Affa

irs,

Jor

ge E

nriq

ue T

aian

a. C

ourt

esy

of th

e M

inis

try

of F

orei

gn A

ffair

s, In

tern

atio

nal T

rade

and

Cul

t of A

rgen

tina.

www.unhcr.org


“WE LEFT BEHIND OUR ROOTS, OUR HISTORY. AND WHEN WE LOST OUR HISTORY, WE LOST THE COURSE OF OUR LIFE BECAUSE OUR HISTORY IS THE AFFIRMATION OF OUR LIFE, THE BASIS OF OUR IDENTITY.” Testimony of an indigenous Colombian uprooted by violence

“THEY KILLED MY HUSBAND. IT HURTS WHEN I HEAR MY DAUGHTER TALKING ABOUT HER DAD TO KNOW THAT SHE HASN’T GOT A DAD ANYMORE.” Testimony of a displaced Afro-Colombian woman in Colombia

“WE HAVE LOST EVERYTHING, OUR HOME, OUR LAND, OUR FAMILY. WHAT WE CANNOT DO IS LOSE OUR DIGNITY AS HUMAN BEINGS.”Testimony of a displaced man in Colombia

How to tell the story of forced displacement in one sentence? How to show the strength of individual displaced people, of Afro-Colombians, indigenous, peasants, with one picture? How to explain their rights in plain language? After a year-long tour in Colombia, an itinerary photo exhibition that tried answering all these questions is coming

to an end. “What we left behind: forced displacement in Colombia” was a UNHCR joint venture with Colombia’s National Museum. Launched in Bogotá, in July 2007, it toured all of Colombia’s 1,098 municipalities. The set of 47 posters was divided into four sections that showed with photos, artwork and testimonies, the various experiences of forced displacement and its impact on the lives of indigenous Colombians, Afro-Colombian, peasants and displaced people in cities. It was shown in cultural centers, parks, galleries and museums throughout Colombia. Also, it reached other spaces of great symbolism such as the Parliament and the Palace of Justice, among other. By encouraging discussion around forced displacement, it helped increase awareness of a plight that, while suffered by many Colombians, remains little understood even inside the country.

EVENTS

Par

t of t

he e

xhib

ition

“W

hat w

e le

ft b

ehin

d”. S

imon

e B

runo

.

WHAT WE LEFT BEHIND: FORCED DISPLACEMENT AND RIGHTS IN COLOMBIA

We used to be a happy family there but after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime the Palestinian people in Iraq began to be persecuted. The situation was getting worse every day.

www.unhcr.org


“EARLY START! WE DRIVE OVER A ROUGH DIRT ROAD, THROUGH INNUMERABLE RIVERBEDS, TO ARRIVE IN SAIMADOYI. THIS BORDER BARI COMMUNITY HOSTS A GROUP OF 70 COLOMBIAN REFUGEES WHO ARRIVED THREE YEARS AGO AFTER WALKING FOR DAYS THROUGH THICK FOREST AND ACROSS HIGH MOUNTAINS”.

This morning, I’m heading out of Maracaibo on a four-day mission to the Sierra de Perija to visit two indigenous communities, the Yukpa and the Bari. Both are home to large numbers of refugees from Colombia. At six thirty in the morning, our driver Orlando and I head out of the city on the four-hour journey to Casigua el Cubo in South Zulia. Casigua is host to a huge number of Colombians who arrived over the past ten years and have slipped quietly in to slowly rebuild their lives. Some have registered as asylum seekers but many more have not, often because they do not know their rights, see themselves as illegal immigrants and are scared of being deported if they come forward. We are working in many border communities like this one. One of the pillars of our strategy is our Protection, Community Support and Integration Projects (PACI). Part of the mission today is to visit our projects in Casigua with our engineer Daladier, who is based in our UNHCR San Cristóbal office, further along the border to the south. We reach Casigua at eleven thirty and meet with Daladier to visit one of the local nursery school projects, which we run with the local Caritas in an area where roughly 70% of the population is Colombian. The teachers show us around the kitchen, where we recently installed a water tank, pump and filter system. Clean filtered water is now available for the children to drink and for food preparation. We also trained the teachers on refugee issues and now they are able to identify cases in need of protection and disseminate information in the neighbourhood. After lunch we head north-west to El Tokuko in Sierra de Perija. This Yukpa community is home to Colombian

refugees who have crossed the Sierra looking for somewhere peaceful to settle. The Community Council of El Tokuko has just received a grant from the Government to install a water system that will supply the entire community with water. Our engineer designed the system and now we are helping supervise the works. After a meeting with the community to discuss progress, we turn in for the night.

We spend the morning in El Tokuko then head out in the afternoon to Santa Teresita, another Yukpa community. Although life isn’t easy in this isolated village where water is collected from the river daily, the refugees tell us that they feel welcome and secure here. The Yukpa people have let them use their land to plant and harvest crops and set up home. We’re starting a PACI project here to bring water to the village from a nearby well through a simple water system and the whole community is ready to start work on it. We hope it will help the local integration of refugees. Next stop is the Bari village of Bachichida. The Bari are another indigenous group whose territory stretches across the Venezuelan–Colombian border. Like the Yukpa they are, in theory, bi-nationals, although many do not have any documentation. After meeting with the cacique - the local indigenous leader – and others in the community, we set up our hammocks for the night in the local clinic and, after a wash in the river, settle down to sleep.

MONDAy

TUESDAy

Visi

ting

a W

ayuu

Com

mun

ity in

the

Alta

Gua

jira.

© U

NH

CR

/ O

ffice

in Z

ulia

.

STAFF DIARY

A WEEK IN SIERRA DE PERIJA


Early start! We drive over a rough dirt road, through innumerable riverbeds, to arrive in Saimadoyi. This border Bari community hosts a group of 70 Colombian refugees who arrived three years ago after walking for days through thick forest and across high mountains. We have been invited here today for a meeting between the community councils and the Banco del Pueblo Soberano, a state bank which specializes in micro-credit, with whom we have an agreement for granting credit to refugees in the border states. We leave after lunch and reach El Tokuko again before nightfall. I meet with refugees living in the areas, we talk about some aspects of the legal process of status determination and of their general situation. They are supposed to go to Maracaibo every two months to renew their provisional documents, but they tell me that they find it extremely hard to find money to make the ten-hour round trip. Also, being farmers, they find the trip to the city daunting and always worry about being detained at the military checkpoints by officials who aren’t aware of their rights. We work a lot with the military in these areas – giving training on refugee law so as to avoid arbitrary detentions of the refugee population here.

Thursday morning we leave the Sierra and head back to Machiques, a busy commercial centre between the Sierra and Lake Maracaibo. After talking to community leaders in a sector of town where there is a high concentration of refugees, we head north towards Maracaibo and get home at nightfall.

Back in the office we catch up on all the work and meetings of the week. This morning we have our regular coordination meeting between members of the Red Cross, Caritas Machiques, the Archdiocese of Maracaibo and UNHCR. We meet every month to discuss programme and protection issues and coordinate our activities. In the afternoon, I go with our office’s lawyer Ninibeth to the Regional Secretariat of the National Refugee Commission and the National Identification and Foreigners Office to discuss documentation issues. Meanwhile, another colleague, Mary Carmen, takes part in a review session with the Archdiocese and FUDEP – a microfinance institution with whom we work - to approve micro-credit cases. The cases under review are micro-credits funded by UNHCR for urban refugees and asylum seekers in Maracaibo. In the evening, we all get together for a quick look back at the past few days and to set up the agenda of the week ahead. Time, as usual, has flown!

By Nora Staunton, Head of UNHCR Field Unit, Maracaibo, Venezuela.

WEDNESDAy

THURSDAy

FRIDAy

Visi

ting

a W

ayuu

com

mun

ity in

the

Alta

Gua

jira.

© U

NH

CR

/ O

ffice

in Z

ulia

.

www.unhcr.org

UNHCR GENEVA,

BUREAU FOR THE AMERICAS

UNHCR BRAZIL

UNHCR CANADA

UNHCR COLOMBIA

UNHCR COSTA RICA

UNHCR ECUADOR

UNHCR PANAMA

REGIONAL OFFICE FOR THE

UNITED STATES AND THE

CARIBBEAN

REGIONAL OFFICE FOR

SOUTHERN LATIN AMERICA

REGIONAL OFFICE FOR MEXICO,

CUBA AND CENTRAL AMERICA

REGIONAL OFFICE FOR

VENEZUELA, PERU, GUYANA

AND SURINAME












SOLIDARITY - UNHCR · ≤ HOME < PREVIOUS > NEXT REFVIEW | PAGE 5 FORCED INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT AND...

Documents

Transcript of SOLIDARITY - UNHCR · ≤ HOME < PREVIOUS > NEXT REFVIEW | PAGE 5 FORCED INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT AND...