Issues
The UNHCR coming to Help Iraqi Refugees
On the 17th - 18th of April 2007, an International Conference was held at the UN Palace in Geneva, to answer the humanitarian needs of the refugees and internally displaced persons in Iraq and neighbouring countries. Ahmed Al Shikaki interviewed M. Radhouane Nouicer, UNHCR’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Question1: Could you evoke the reasons why the international community took so long to act against the Crisis, provoked by the Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people, qualified by the UNHCR High Commissioner as a humanitarian catastrophe?
Radhouane Nouicer: First of all we must remember that originally the Iraqi Crisis was only seen through a military, political and security optic. Thus the humanitarian dimension was neglected for two reasons. First, the majority of the Iraqi refugees having crossed the border into neighbouring countries, found themselves absorbed by the big cities as it was judged unnecessary to concentrate them in refugee camps. This situation also avoided the media frenzy of the International Community.
The second reason concerning internally displaced persons in Iraq, is essentially due to the difficult security situation. We had previously established a project to deal with the negative consequences of the War. Following the Allied Forces entrance in Iraq, the fall of the regime, and the ensuing break down of the security situation after the attack against the UN Headquarters at Baghdad in August 2003; the Organisation with its subsidiary organs suffered a great choc. The UNHCR has been unable to accomplish its duties in a suitable manner. Let us remember that in October 2006, the High Commission announced to the International Community, that the critical humanitarian crisis faced by Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons could no longer be ignored. Following which everyone mobilised themselves to respond to the Crisis. The HCR also added that its financial resources were inadequate to deal with the demands of this Crisis.
Question 2: Is your organisation concerned with both refugees and internally displaced persons, or does it only deal with the Refugees outside Iraq?
Radhouane Nouicer: The UNHCR‘s mandate, as posed in its Charter, its rules and the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugee, limits itself to refugees. As to the internally displaced persons inside the country we do not have a direct mandate, yet we deal with them in the context of what we call the CLASTER. This means that together with all the UN Agencies and NGOs in charge of humanitarian aspects, we collectively deal with this Crisis, with the consent of the countries concerned, as displaced persons remain under the administrative supervision of the country they come from.
Question 3: The Participants to the Conference, especially the American delegation, insisted on separating the political dimension from the humanitarian dimension of the Iraqi refugee Crisis. What do you think of this?
Radhouane Nouicer: I think this distinction was made to favour the humanitarian side of this Crisis: in most cases political aspects are very complex and are not a priority in humanitarian organisation’s agendas. The main object of this conference was to attract the attention of the international community towards the humanitarian Crisis that Iraqi refugees are suffering, which is due to the total breakdown of security and politics. So for us it is not a problem having both dimensions separated.
Question 4: How does the UNHCR judge the part the Iraqi Government has played in this Crisis?
Radhouane Nouicer: We must first mention that the majority of the participants to this Conference have underlined its success. I also think it was a success. The first point was to attract the International Community’s attention in order to mobilise the governments concerned in the region, as well as other governments, to pressure Iraq in finding a political solution to this Crisis. The second point is the Iraqi government itself as an essential party to this Crisis. Political leaders have started taking it into account and they have announced their will to do whatever is required, including financial support for Iraqi refugees in hosting countries. This last effort is very important to establish trust amongst the countries involved. Finally despite the sensitiveness of this issue, while the majority of participants insisted on the humanitarian aspect, the few delegations that did speak of the political aspect did so with great prudence, logic and reason. The Iraqi Government has devoted an initial sum of 25 Million dollars to help its refugees and the countries hosting them. The important question is how to manage this help between Iraq and its neighbours.
Question 5: How will the outcome of this Conference reduce the intensity of this Crisis?
Radhouane Nouicer: What matters most is the post conference. We are currently negotiating in the UNHCR and the UN, as well as with other important International Organisations on the follow up of the promises made during the Conference, to prove our commitment to the refugees, the internally displaced persons and the hosting countries like Jordan and Syria, who are undergoing heavy social, economical and security burdens.
Question 6: How much money was collected during the Conference, and have you planned how to spend it?
Radhouane Nouicer: First of all, the aim of this Conference was not to collect money form donating countries. As it is, some countries did make offers. The second element is that UNHCR in December 2006 asked the International Community for 60 Million dollars to respond to this Crisis. Today this amount has exceeded 84 Million dollars, and the UNHCR is extending its budget accordingly to absorb all these donations. Nevertheless, in the High Commissioners words “All help is but a drop in the Ocean” because the basic necessities to deal with this Crisis largely exceed the UNHCR’s possibilities.
We hope that rich as well as donating countries will engage in bilateral negotiations with Jordan and Syria. In this respect, UNHCR is willing to facilitate dialogue so that donating countries can give directly to hosting countries.
Question 7: How does the UNHCR evaluate the partnership amongst Arab countries in this Conference?
Radhouane Nouicer: The Arab countries’ presence was especially notable. Although not all of them spoke, the countries most concerned with this Crisis expressed their support on all humanitarian efforts which could contribute to a solution. We hope to obtain some financial support from the most important Arab countries.
Question 8: Taking into account the complexity of the Iraqi Crisis, does the UNHCR have future plans to guarantee its financing, without having to rely on annual donation conferences?
Radhouane Nouicer: We do not wish for this Crisis to last and worsen. Nevertheless were difficulties to arise, according to circumstances we could put in place an emergency plan. We are aware that this Crisis might last, yet we confirm that our programme will not stop. We are also preparing our 2008 budget, and we plan to act in function of donating countries response as well as the changes in the situation in Iraq and hosting countries. We want this humanitarian aid to assure Iraqi refugees, a safe and dignified return home.
Question 9: The legal status of Iraqis in hosting countries had not been dealt with prior to the Conference. Do you have the intention of negotiating this point with the countries concerned?
Radhouane Nouicer: We are currently negotiating over this issue with the countries touched by it, especially as most of these countries have not signed the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which means they do not have to grant refugee status to the Iraqis they are hosting. The UNHCR is considering a broad domain of protection, which does not necessarily mean the protection defined in the 1951 Convention or in International Agreements. We work following two principles:
The first principal is against turning back by force Iraqis towards their country, even more as this might result in danger for the expulsed person. We hope that hosting countries will collaborate and be flexible concerning this point.
The second principal consists in allowing Iraqis to reside in a dignified manner, until the conditions in their country allow for a safe and voluntary return.
We aim to meet fundamental needs such as food, medicine, education and housing, in function of conditions present in the hosting countries. Regarding security we insist that Iraqis should be protected and shouldn’t be bothered, persecuted or arrested due to their illegal presence in the hosting countries.
Question 10: There are some very qualified people amongst the Iraqi refugees. Are you collaborating with hosting countries to protect them and profit from their knowledge?
Radhouane Nouicer: First of all we are aware of the importance of this subject, we also regret that many experts, managers and the likes have had to flee or have been murdered, due to the deteriorating security conditions. We hope that those who have fled, come back home to help rebuild their country.
We have starting dealing with this matter by putting in place a small programme encouraging governments and non governmental institutions to hire these qualified people. In this way they are not marginalised or tempted to migrate to far away countries. But we are just beginning. We also have a preliminary project with CERMAM to bring ideas and propositions which would help us evaluate and treat this subject in a much better manner.
Question 11: The participants to this Conference have mentioned that the best solution to this Refugee Crisis is the return of security and stability in Iraq. But each time the Iraqi Government and the Allied Forces implement a plan in that direction, it results in more violence, more refugees and more internally displaced persons. What do you think? Do not you fear more waves of refugees once you start helping those who have left the country?
Radhouane Nouicer: From the very first, we never said that to resolve this Crisis we should install all the refugees in hosting countries, because we do not want to empty Iraq of its population. We also want to avoid additional burdens to hosting countries, especially as these countries have already been hosting vast numbers of Palestinian refugees. And as there are only few countries willing to host these refugees we can only install a limited amount of them in third countries.
The best solution is a dignified return which can only be achieved in a context of security and stability, hence the need of a political solution to this Crisis. Security measures alone will not bring back peace and stability. They might make a difference but the real solution is political.
As a neutral humanitarian organisation, we do not interfere in politics. We wish for the Iraqis to get together and agree to live peacefully with each other.
Regarding the second part of your question, we do have a plan with other International Organisations to deal with an increase of Iraqi refugees. This scenario frightens us, as the numbers of refugees in hosting countries are already very high and we do not want to add additional pressure on these countries. This means we do not want to oblige them to build refugee camps for the Iraqis who are not used to them. We think it is difficult to deal with refugee camps in poor conditions, be it in Syria or in Jordan.
I do not think we should diminish the help given to neighbouring countries to avoid new waves of refugees. Iraqis have fundamental needs and we can distinguish them into two groups:
The first group is formed by people capable of supporting themselves and their families with their own resources, or thanks to a host or some other solution. These people have not come to the UNHCR asking for help or refugee status. The refugee status requests we have recorded do not exceed 10 % in Syria and 5% in Jordan.
The second group is that of persons with no resources and they urgently need out help.
Let us note that when a person requests refugee status, we question his/her family about their financial and accommodation situation, as well as nutritional, educational and sanitary conditions. We also propose legal and psychic consultations with the help of Syrian and Jordanian organisations.
We hope this Crisis will not last long, and that Iraqis will be able to return home.
Question 12: Does the UNHCR intend to consolidate its existence in Iraq?
Radhouane Nouicer: We have Iraqi colleagues who work in Iraq and expose themselves to all kinds of dangers, as well as two international officials in Erbil, and we want to send one more representative to Baghdad in the following days. This will help our actions thanks to our collaboration with different ministries and Iraqi organisations. Finally, we want to confirm that it is indeed the security situation that prevents our existence and activity in Iraq.
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- Origin CERMAM
- http://www.cermam.org/en/logs/dossier/the_unhcr_coming_to_help_iraqi/
- Publié le 22 November 2007