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UNITED NATIONS HIGH

COMMISSION FOR REFUGEES
(UNHCR)
AN OVERVIEW

By:

ADITI MANOHAR(395)
GEETANJALI TARAGI(35)
SHIKSHA SAHARAN
While one is going through the gamut of problems faced by the united nations post war
the saddest story is mainly of the victims of war those who are displaced from their
homes due to the unrest with no means of livelihood or citizenship.united nations high
commission for refugees was established to end this plight of the refugees.The UN
refugee agency emerged in the wake of World War II to help Europeans displaced by
that conflict. Optimistically, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General
Assembly with a three-year mandate to complete its work and then disband. The
following year, on July 28, the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of
Refugees - the legal foundation of helping refugees and the basic statute guiding
UNHCR's work - was adopted.

By 1956 UNHCR was facing its first major emergency, the outpouring of refugees when
Soviet forces crushed the Hungarian Revolution. Any expectation that UNHCR would
become unnecessary has never resurfaced. In the 1960s, the decolonization of Africa
produced the first of that continent's numerous refugee crises needing UNHCR
intervention. Over the following two decades, UNHCR had to help with displacement
crises in Asia and Latin America. By the end of the century there were fresh refugee
problems in Africa and, turning full circle, new waves of refugees in Europe from the
series of wars in the Balkans.

The start of the 21st Century has seen UNHCR helping with major refugee crises in
Africa, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia, and Asia, especially
the 30-year-old Afghan refugee problem. At the same time, UNHCR has been asked to
use its expertise to also help many internally displaced by conflict. Less visibly, it has
expanded its role in helping stateless people, a largely overlooked group numbering
millions of people in danger of being denied basic rights because they do not have any
citizenship.

In some parts of the world, such as Africa and Latin America, the original 1951
mandate has been strengthened by agreement on regional legal instruments.
In 1954, the new organization won the Nobel Peace Prize for its ground-breaking work
in helping the refugees of Europe. Its mandate had just been extended until the end of
the decade. More than a quarter century later, UNHCR received the 1981 award for
what had become worldwide assistance to refugees, with the citation noting the political
obstacles facing the organization. From only 34 staff members when UNHCR was
founded, it now has 6,650 national and international members of staff, including 740 in
UNHCR's Geneva headquarters. The agency works in 118 countries, with staff based in
108 main locations such as regional and branch offices and 151 often remote sub-
offices and field offices.

The budget has grown from US$300,000 in its first year to more than US$2 billion in
2009. UNHCR now deals with 34.4 million people of concern to UNHCR: 14.4 million
internally displaced people, 10.5 million refugees, 2 million returnees, 6.6 million
stateless people and more than 800,000 asylum seekers. An organization with a three-
year mandate to solve the problem of refugees will soon be celebrating its 60th
anniversary, aware that the humanitarian needs are unlikely to disappear

EVENTS:

Every year, UNHCR holds several special events to recognize the lives of refugees and
those who are dedicated to helping them. Our two blue riband events are World
Refugee Day and the Nansen Refugee Award.
World Refugee Day

First marked in 2001, World Refugee Day is held every year on June 20. Tens of
thousands of people around the world take time to recognize and applaud the
contribution of forcibly displaced people throughout the world. The annual
commemoration is marked by a variety of events in more than 100 countries, involving
government officials, humanitarian aid workers, celebrities, civilians and the forcibly
displaced themselves.

The Nansen Refugee

Award
This annual award is named after the late great Norwegian polar explorer Fridtjof
Nansen, who was appointed in 1921 by the UN's predecessor, the League of Nations,
to be the very first High Commissioner for Refugees. The Nansen Award, consisting of
a medal and a US$100,000 monetary prize, is given out every year in October to a
person or group for outstanding services in supporting refugee causes.

PEOPLE:

The UN refugee agency is lucky to be able to call on a small group of VIP friends who
have reached the top in their chosen professions and who use their influence and
popularity to help spread awareness about UNHCR's work, raise funds for its operations
and lobby governments. They complement the work of UNHCR's most valuable asset -
our national and international staff around the world.

UNHCR's high-profile supporters are relatively few in number compared to some other
major humanitarian organizations and they come from a wide range of disciplines and
backgrounds. But they share a singular determination to help the world's displaced and
to help raise world awareness about the suffering and needs of the vulnerable.
They include royalty, musicians, actors of stage and screen, authors, sports stars,
academics, style icons, photographers, aid workers and students. Some are former
refugees, while others have come from privileged backgrounds but felt a calling to help
others in need.
They range from International Goodwill Ambassadors Angelina Jolie and Adel Imam to
National Goodwill Envoy Khaled Hosseini and valuable supporters like basketball star
Luol Deng, photographer Zalmaï and lighting artist Gerry Hofstetter.
They help in various ways to promote the work of UNHCR, raise funds and spread
awareness about the world's millions of displaced people. Some give free concerts,
others use their influence to lobby governments, while many go into the field to shine a
bright light on the suffering of refugees and internally displaced people and to let them
know that people care. Without them, UNHCR would have a much harder job.

ACTIVITIES:

ADVOCACY:Advocacy is a key element in UNHCR activities to protect refugees,

asylum seekers, internally displaced people and stateless people. It is a cornerstone of
protection strategies, used in combination with activities such as information
dissemination, monitoring and negotiation. These can help transform policies and
services on national, regional or global levels to better protect people for whom UNHCR
bears responsibility.

In both countries of asylum and countries of origin, UNHCR works within national
political, economic, and social structures that directly affect the lives of refugees and
other people of concern to bring policies, practices and laws into compliance with
international standards.

In situations of forced displacement, UNHCR employs advocacy to influence

governments and other decision-makers, non-governmental partners and the public at
large to adopt practices ensuring the protection of those of concern to UNHCR.
ASSISTANCE:People who are forced to flee their homes and seek safety in another
country, or a different part of their own country, invariably need help. Most refugees and
internally displaced people leave their homes with little or nothing, and even those with
some resources may soon exhaust them.

UNHCR and its partners provide vital assistance, which takes many forms. Initially, we
provide live-saving emergency assistance in the form of clean water and sanitation and
health care as well as shelter materials and other relief items, such as blankets,
sleeping mats, jerry cans, household goods and sometimes food. Other vital assistance
that we provide, or help provide, includes refugee registration, assistance and advice on
asylum applications, education and counselling. And UNHCR's assistance extends to
people who return home - we arrange transport by air, sea and land and give returnees
a leg up in the form of assistance packages. The agency is also involved in local
integration or reintegration programmes, including income-generation projects,
restoration of infrastructure and other assistance.

ASYLUM AND MIGRATION:Climbing over razor wire fences, taking to sea in leaking
boats or stowing away in airless containers, refugees and migrants around the world
risk their lives every day in desperate attempts to find safety or a better life.
Behind the dramatic headlines and the striking images of people on the move, there are
personal stories of courage, tragedy and compassion. Although refugees and migrants
often use the same routes and modes of transport they have different protection needs.
To examine the challenges of protecting refugees in mixed migratory flows, the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees organized a two-day regional conference on Refugee
Protection and International Migration in Dakar, Senegal, in November 2008. This builds
on the Dialogue on Protection Challenges launched by UNHCR in Geneva in December
2007.

Factors that have contributed to the increase in the scale of international migration
include globalization and growing disparities in living conditions, both within and
between countries. Among the people on the move today, many are seeking
employment or educational opportunities, others want to reunite with family members
and still more are fleeing persecution, conflict or blind violence in their countries.
While refugees and asylum seekers account for only a small proportion of the global
movement of people, they frequently travel alongside migrants. Many of these
movements are irregular, in the sense that they often take place without the requisite
documentation, use unauthorized border crossing points or involve smugglers.
The people who move in this manner place their lives at risk. They are often obliged to
travel in inhumane conditions and may be exposed to exploitation and abuse. States
regard such movements as a threat to their sovereignty and security. And yet this may
be, in some cases, the only escape route open to those fleeing war or persecution.
While recognizing that border controls are essential for combatting international crime,
including smuggling and trafficking, UNHCR stresses the need for practical protection
safeguards to ensure that such measures are not applied in an indiscriminate or
disproportionate manner and do not lead to refugees being returned to countries where
their life or liberty would be at risk.

UNHCR works with governments around the world to help them respond to some of
these challenges in a coherent and practical way. An example of this is a 10-point plan
which UNHCR is implementing. It sets out key areas in which action is required to
address mixed migration in countries of origin, transit and destination.
CAPACITY BUILDING:Strengthening capacity, a core activity in the area of protection,
seeks to help states meet their international legal obligations to protect refugees.
Through its livelihoods programmes, UNHCR also develops capacity: it helps displaced
people become self-sufficient in their places of refuge and enhances the chances of
finding a durable solution for refugees.

Capacity building activities are geared towards strengthening national authorities, laws
and policies to ensure the proper handling of refugee and asylum issues, the reception
and care of refugees, the promotion of self-reliance of refugees and the realization of
durable solutions. But the task cannot be accomplished alone. It requires a partnership
framework involving host and donor governments, humanitarian assistance and
developmental agencies, civil society, including NGOs, together with refugees
themselves.
ENVIRONMENT:The sudden arrival of large numbers of people in a small area can
place significant pressure on the local environment. Refugees and internally displaced
people (IDP) often have no choice but to rely on natural resources for their survival,
particularly during an emergency. Trees may be cut to build or support simple shelters,
wood may be collected to cook meals or to keep warm, and wild game, fruit, herbs and
other plants might be gathered as a source of food or medicine. Unless controlled,
these and related activities can quickly get out of hand and have a negative impact on
the environment as well as the displaced and host populations.
Camps for displaced people are never meant to be permanent, though many countries
have hosted refugees or IDPs in the same place for several decades. Strategies and
actions need to be implemented that address key environmental issues, prevent
environmental degradation from taking place and help avoid conflicts arising over
competition for natural resources.

UNHCR recognizes the potential damage that camps and settlements can have on the
environment, as well as on the local economy and relations with host communities. To
this end, the refugee agency has developed an overarching policy to deal with
environmental issues. Equally important, UNHCR develops and supports a range of
field projects that help reduce or overcome some of the damage caused by
humanitarian operations. UNHCR also responds to new, emerging threats such as
climate change.

FUND RAISING:UNHCR is almost entirely funded by direct, voluntary contributions -

the bulk of it from donor nations. We get important contributions from non-governmental
organizations (NGO) and the private sector, including corporations, trusts, foundations
and individual citizens. There is also a small annual subsidy from the regular budget of
the United Nations, which is used for administrative costs.

This means that UNHCR must compete with other humanitarian agencies, including UN
sister organizations, for a limited amount of humanitarian funding. The situation has
become tougher with the onset of the global economic crisis, with prices rising and both
government and corporate donors tightly controlling limited aid budgets.
That's why it is important to have highly professional, knowledgeable and dedicated
fund-raising teams, who have helped UNHCR meet targets in the more competitive
environment of recent years.

The Donor Relations and Resource Mobilization service liaises closely with
governments to raise funds and to keep these key stakeholders informed about needs
and about how their money is being used. The Private Sector Fund-Raising unit plays a
similar role, interfacing with NGOs, trusts, foundations and private donors. It raised
almost US$50 million in 2008.

Donations are sought every year for UNHCR's Annual Programme Budget, which
includes programmes that support regular operations. But the agency also launches
supplementary appeals throughout the year, seeking extra donations for new
emergencies that cannot be forecast.
While funding requirements for UNHCR programmes can grow during the year, the
refugee agency's Global Needs Assessment programme is aimed at comprehensively
determining the funding required to cover all needs.

EMERGENCY RESPONSE:UNHCR is often faced with a sudden emergency requiring

an immediate response - an eruption of fighting causing tens of thousands of people to
flee their homes, perhaps, or a massive earthquake displacing hundreds of thousands.
That means the agency must be able to rush aid and experts to the affected zone
without delay. Providing fleeing civilians with emergency help is often the first step
towards their long-term protection and rehabilitation.

To prepare for and respond to an emergency, UNHCR has assembled teams of people
with a wide range of key skills who are ready for deployment anywhere in the world at a
moment's notice. The agency has also created emergency stockpiles of non-food aid
items in Copenhagen and Dubai to supplement local aid supplies in areas of need. We
have established long-standing agreements with freight forwarders and logistics
companies, and developed a global network of suppliers, specialist agencies and
partners.

This means that at any given time, UNHCR has the capacity to respond to a new
emergency impacting up to 500,000 people. The agency can also mobilize more than
300 trained personnel within 72 hours. These experts come from its Emergency
Response Team (ERT) roster. UNHCR has also developed mechanisms for the
immediate mobilization of financial resources to help meet the response to an
emergency without delay.

To maintain this capacity and preparedness, UNHCR has developed training

programmes that are held at regular intervals. They include the Workshop on
Emergency Management, or WEM, which prepares all volunteers on UNHCR's ERT
rosters. This weeklong exercise is held four times a year for up to 40 people and every
effort is made to create the atmosphere of an actual emergency deployment. The main
subjects include team-building, operations planning, financial and administrative
systems, operational partnerships, communication and negotiation skills, security,
coordination and information-sharing, telecommunications, and humanitarian protection.
UNHCR's eCentre in Tokyo, meanwhile, is helping improve emergency preparedness
and response capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region through targeted training and other
capacity-building measures. UNHCR also contributes to inter-agency initiatives to
enhance early warning and preparedness.

WHO DOES IT HELP??

UNHCR's primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. To this
end, we strive to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find
safe refuge in another country, and to return home voluntarily. By helping refugees go
back home or to settle in another country, UNHCR also seeks lasting solutions to their
plight. UNHCR also has a mandate to prevent and reduce statelessness and protect
stateless persons. In support of its core activities on behalf of refugees, UNHCR's
Executive Committee and the UN General Assembly have authorized involvement with
other groups. These include former refugees who have returned home and internally
displaced people.
UNHCR seeks to reduce situations of forced displacement by encouraging states and
other institutions to create conditions which are conducive to the protection of human
rights and the peaceful resolution of disputes. In all of its activities, the refugee agency
pays particular attention to the needs of children and seeks to promote the equal rights
of women and girls.

CHILDREN:Of the 34.4 million people of concern to UNHCR, almost half are children.
They include children who are refugees, asylum seekers and stateless as well as
returnee and internally displaced children assisted and protected by UNHCR. The
refugee agency is dedicated to addressing the needs of all children of its concern.
Together with other organizations, it aims to provide protection, food, water, shelter,
health care, education and to ensure their safety, development and well-being.

INTERNAlly DISPLACED PEOPLE:Internally displaced people, or IDPs, are often

wrongly called refugees. Unlike refugees, IDPs have not crossed an international border
to find sanctuary but have remained inside their home countries. Even if they have fled
for similar reasons as refugees (armed conflict, generalized violence, human rights
violations), IDPs legally remain under the protection of their own government - even
though that government might be the cause of their flight. As citizens, they retain all of
their rights and protection under both human rights and international humanitarian law.
UNHCR´s original mandate does not specifically cover IDPs, but because of the agency
´s expertise on displacement, it has for many years been assisting millions of them,
more recently through the "cluster approach." Under this approach, UNHCR has the
lead role in overseeing the protection and shelter needs of IDPs as well as coordination
and management of camps.

At the end of 2008, there were an estimated 26 million IDPs around the world and
UNHCR was helping about 14.4 million of them in 22 countries, including the three with
the largest IDP populations - Sudan, Colombia and Iraq.
Millions of other civilians who have been made homeless by natural disasters are also
classified as IDPs. UNHCR is only involved with this group in exceptional
circumstances, such as the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, the earthquake in Pakistan
in 2005 and 2008's Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar.

REFUGEES:The practice of granting asylum to people fleeing persecution in foreign

lands is one of the earliest hallmarks of civilization. References to it have been found in
texts written 3,500 years ago, during the blossoming of the great early empires in the
Middle East such as the Hittites, Babylonians, Assyrians and ancient Egyptians.
Over three millennia later, protecting refugees was made the core mandate of the UN
refugee agency, which was set up to look after refugees, specifically those waiting to
return home at the end of World War II.
The 1951 Refugee Convention establishing UNHCR spells out that a refugee is
someone who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race,
religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is
outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling
to avail himself of the protection of that country."

Since then, UNHCR has offered protection and assistance to tens of millions of
refugees, finding durable solutions for many of them. Global migration patterns have
become increasingly complex in modern times, involving not just refugees, but also
millions of economic migrants. But refugees and migrants, even if they often travel in
the same way, are fundamentally different, and for that reason are treated very
differently under modern international law.

Migrants, especially economic migrants, choose to move in order to improve the future
prospects of themselves and their families. Refugees have to move if they are to save
their lives or preserve their freedom. They have no protection from their own state -
indeed it is often their own government that is threatening to persecute them. If other
countries do not let them in, and do not help them once they are in, then they may be
condemning them to death - or to an intolerable life in the shadows, without sustenance
and without rights.

WOMEN:In any refugee population, approximately 50 percent of the uprooted people

are women and girls. Stripped of the protection of their homes, their government and
often their family structure, females are often particularly vulnerable. They face the
rigours of long journeys into exile, official harassment or indifference and frequent
sexual abuse - even after reaching an apparent place of safety. Internally displaced
women often suffer similar experiences.

In the last few years, UNHCR has developed a series of special programmes to ensure
women have equal access to protection, basic goods and services as they attempt to
rebuild their lives. Special attention is given to forcibly displaced women who may face
risks because of their specific circumstances, such as pregnant and lactating women,
older women, and female heads of households
Women are active and positive change agents - when given the proper resources - and
are capable of improving their lives and the lives of their children, families and
communities

PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES:The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that

between 2.3 and 3.3 million of the world's forcibly displaced people live with disabilities,
one third of them children. Despite this, people with disabilities remain largely invisible
or forgotten in their uprooted communities. Despite efforts to take better care of people
at greater risk, assistance and protection measures designed for the majority very rarely
meet the specific needs of those with disabilities. Due to a lack of identification and
referral procedures, poorly adapted services, and poor access, hundreds of thousand of
people with disabilities are effectively deprived of the humanitarian aid to which they are
entitled.
People with disabilities are specifically vulnerable to physical, sexual and emotional
abuse and may require additional protection. The lack of privacy in some situations,
such as a lack of access to latrines and bathing areas, increases the risk of abuse.
People with disabilities are very often isolated from community life; they risk being left
behind when those around them flee and may face difficulties accessing family tracing
programmes.

UNHCR supports the rights of the disabled, both among its own staff and among people
of concern to the agency. When the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities entered into force in May 2008, UNHCR included the covenant's principles in
its operations. The refugee agency is also a member of the UN working group on
disabilities.
The refugee agency's Community Development, Gender Equality and Children Section
has trained staff from various backgrounds to identify people with disabilities. The
training emphasized Age, Gender and Diversity Mainstreaming and the meaningful
participation of all people of concern in project design, implementation, monitoring and
evaluation in all UNHCR operations.

WHERE IT WORKS:UNHCR staff operate in some 120 countries around the world,
from major capitals to remote, difficult locations where our field staff are directly helping
the most vulnerable victims of displacement. We maintain offices in donor countries
worldwide and wherever refugees are arriving, working closely with governments to
ensure the 1951 Refugee Convention is honoured.
Staff at the Geneva headquarters now number just over 11 percent of our total, a
declining portion as UNHCR moves to decentralize and get closer to the people we
assist. Geneva, along with our Global Service Centre in Budapest, Hungary, provides
support for the rest of UNHCR, including key administrative functions. But about 80
percent of staff are in the field.
The largest portion of staff are
based in countries in Asia and Africa, the continents that both host and generate the
most refugees and internally displaced people. Many are in isolated locations where
staff work in difficult - and often dangerous - conditions.
Among our biggest operations are Afghanistan, Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic
of the Congo, Pakistan, Iraq and surrounding countries, and the Sudan. But we also
have substantial operations in many other countries around the world.

    ALGERIA: 1954 to 1962

   UNHCR/1965Fleeing the turmoil of the Algerian war for independence, nearly 200,000
refugees had crossed in Tunisia and Morocco by 1960, three-quarters of whom were
women, children and the elderly.Beginning in 1954, conflict in Algeria displaced large
numbers of people. After Tunisia and Morocco each gained independence in March
1956, Algerians in the border areas crossed into Tunisia and Morocco. This refugee
group, consisting primarily of women, children, and the elderly, lived in poor conditions,
and the relatively new governments of Tunisia and Morocco were unable to provide
adequate assistance. In May 1957, Tunisia appealed to the UNHCR for assistance.
Working with the League of Red Cross Societies, UNHCR began to provide food,
clothing, and medical assistance to over 200,000 refugees.
On 5 December 1958, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution
requesting the High Commissioner "to continue his action on behalf of the refugees in
Tunisia on a substantial scale and to undertake similar action in Morocco." Regular
relief operations, with the League acting as the formal operational partner, began in
February 1959.
In September 1959, UNHCR appointed Special Representatives in Tunis and Rabat to
serve as liaison with the respective governments and to coordinate the international
efforts to bring aid to the refugees. When peace was established between France and
Algeria, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 1672 (XVI) on 18 December 1961
requesting the High Commissioner to "use the means at his disposal to assist in the
orderly return of Algerian refugees in Morocco and Tunisia to their homes and [to]
consider the possibility, when necessary, of facilitating their resettlement in their home
land." On 18 March 1962, the Evian Agreements established tripartite commissions to
organize the repatriation of the Algerian refugees. By July 1962, the majority of the
refugees had been repatriated. At that point, the League took over, spearheading an
international relief programme in the Algerian border areas to facilitate resettlement.
UNHCR provided moral and policy support, and appealed for contributions.
HUNGARIAN CRISIS:Fiftieth Anniversary of the Hungarian uprising and refugee crisis
News Stories, 23 October 2006

UNHCRSome of the first arrivals at Traiskirchen Camp, near Vienna. Within three
months, 200,000 Hungarians had escaped to Austria and Yugoslavia. GENEVA,
October 23 (UNHCR) – Fifty years ago today, on October 23, 1956, a student
demonstration in the Hungarian capital Budapest triggered one of the tensest periods of
the Cold War, as well as a remarkable response to the ensuing refugee crisis which
brought substantial benefits to future generations of refugees all across the world.
As October 23 progressed, tens of thousands of people poured on to the streets – and
the initial demonstration in support of the restive population of Poland quickly turned into
a full-scale revolt against the regime and its Soviet masters, which for a few heady days
seemed to have succeeded.

However, the Soviet tanks rolled back into Budapest on November 4, and the revolution
was soon crushed. The city endured days of heavy shelling and street battles, and
people started to flee to neighbouring Austria.
During the weekend of November 4-6, some 10,000 Hungarians entered Austria. Entire
classes – even entire schools – began crossing the loosely guarded border. Students,
teachers, doctors, famous athletes and footballers, farmers, architects and labourers all
started streaming in to Austria.

It was the first major crisis to appear on television, as well as in newspapers and on
cinema newsreels, and people across the world were shocked to see the scenes from
Budapest and the snow-covered border.
By November 16, the number of refugees had risen to 36,000 and as of the end of
November, it stood at 113,000. By the time the borders were sealed, a total of 200,000
had fled (180,000 to Austria and 20,000 to Yugoslavia).
Within days of the exodus starting, an extraordinary operation sprang up in Austria, not
only to care for the refugees, but to move them out of the country almost as fast as they
arrived. In the end, 180,000 were resettled from Austria and Yugoslavia to 37 countries.
The performance of the Austrians, the aid agencies and the resettlement countries has
rarely, if ever, been matched since.

"Both governments and people were tremendously committed to help the people fleeing
from Hungary at that time," UN High Commissioner António Guterres said on the eve of
the 50th anniversary of the uprising. "It was the first movement in which refugees were
recognised en masse. We had 100,000 people resettled in the first 10 weeks – which I
think is inconceivable today."

In Vienna, a committee was immediately set up comprising the Austrian Interior Minister
Oskar Helmer and his staff, UNHCR, the Intergovernmental Committee for European
Migration (ICEM), and the League of Red Cross Societies (LRCS), as well as a number
of local and international NGOs.

It was decided that the LRCS would be the prime mover on the assistance front, and
would also help ICEM, whose prime task would be to assist the registration,
documentation and transport of refugees out of Austria. UNHCR would deal with the
over-arching legal and protection issues, as well as the integration of those who
remained in Austria. Helmer also wanted UNHCR to be the overall coordinator – or
"lead agency" – a role that was subsequently confirmed by the General Assembly.
On the face of it, UNHCR was not in the best position to handle such a task. For one
thing, it was only a temporary organisation with a mandate that was due to expire in
1958. Secondly, it was without a High Commissioner – in July, Gerrit van Heuven
Goedhart had died of a heart attack and his replacement, Auguste Lindt, was not
elected until December. But the agency's other senior staff proved more than capable of
handling the challenge.

After a chaotic start, the relief and resettlement operations proceeded remarkably
smoothly. The three coordinating agencies and many of the NGOs that worked with
them put up an exceptional performance.

UNHCRCamp life was difficult, but at least the refugees were safe and well cared for.
And for most people it did not last long.Within a few days of the first refugees arriving, a
massive effort was launched to resettle the Hungarians. Over the following months, they
were transferred by bus, train, boat and plane to 37 different nations on five continents.
The United States and Canada each took in around 40,000, while the United Kingdom
accepted 20,000 and Germany and Australia some 15,000 each. Two African and 12
Latin American countries also took in Hungarians.
Looking back, perhaps the most striking aspect was the sheer pragmatism and flexibility
of the principal actors – especially the states. It was the first major refugee relief
operation of its kind and the rule book was only partly written. For one thing, there was
uncertainty as to whether the Hungarians were technically refugees under the 1951 UN
Refugee Convention, and whether UNHCR had a mandate to deal with them.
UNHCR, supported by Austria, decided it had, and the states agreed. Article 6B of
UNHCR's Statute seemed clearly to cover the situation. But, according to the definition
in the 1951 Convention, weren't refugees only the product of events that took place prior
to 1951? And didn't refugees have to be assessed individually?
UNHCR's chief legal adviser, Paul Weis drew up an argument that satisfied the legal
criteria relating to the cut-off date in the Convention definition. In addition, UNHCR's
Statute was used as the basis for deciding that a group arriving en masse, such as the
Hungarians, could be recognised 'prima facie' – an extremely important development in
international refugee law and practice. And one which has benefited tens of millions of
refugees.

The 1956 uprising and its aftermath helped shape the way humanitarian organisations –
not least UNHCR – were to deal with refugee crises. The episode also left an indelible
mark on international refugee law and policy.
"I remember – I was a young boy at the time – and it was so impressive, so strong. The
reaction of the international community was tremendous," Guterres said. "After the
Second World War, many thought that this was the end of refugee crises." However, he
continued, the Hungarian uprising "showed that problems like that will continue
happening time and time again, and that the international community must be prepared
in a generous, open way to deal with refugee problems."

Many of the Hungarians crossed the borders with the help of smugglers, and many
arrived without ID papers – but it did not tarnish their image or impede their acceptance
as refugees. In some ways little has changed in the world of refugees, except perhaps
that 50 years later the world seems much less inclined to respond with such
spontaneous hospitality.

"The international community got used to so many international crises," said Guterres.
"And unfortunately today we are witnessing situations in which the amount of suffering
is much greater than what we saw in Budapest – and the indifference is also much
greater."

UNHCR and the Protection of Refugees in India

by Christina Harrison, B.A., LL.B., (UNA-Canada's intern in 1998-1999), United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Regional Office for India
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) plays many different
roles in order to effect refugee protection in nations around the world.

In Canada, the UNHCR has a comparatively passive role beside the multi-tiered system
that the federal government has instituted to accomplish the task of determining refugee
status. The Convention Refugee Determination Division (CRDD) of the Immigration and
Refugee Board was created under national legislation pursuant to Canada’s obligations
as a state party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the
1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. The CRDD is an administrative
tribunal independent of the Canadian government.
None of the countries in the region of South Asia is a signatory to the 1951 Refugee
Convention or the 1967 Protocol. Neither do these countries address the problem of
refugees through domestic legislation or procedures.

Thus, in India, the UNHCR is very active, playing one of two roles, depending on the
refugee population in question. The Indian government has undertaken to assist the
refugees of Tibet and Sri Lanka under its own auspices. With respect to these
populations then, the UNHCR plays only a ‘watch-dog’ role, monitoring conditions and
ensuring that when refugees return to their home country, their repatriation is voluntary.
UNHCR deals almost exclusively with the remaining refugee populations in India,
comprising displaced nationals of Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, Liberia, Myanmar,
Somalia, and Sudan. With respect to these populations, UNHCR performs the function
of refugee status determination in addition to providing medical, educational, vocational
and financial assistance to those recognized as refugees. Ultimately however, it is the
Indian government that must provide for these refugees a suitable environment for
asylum.
UNHCR works throughout the region of South Asia to increase public awareness of
refugee issues and to encourage governments to address both the root causes and the
consequences of refugee migration. UNHCR has been instrumental in organizing a
series of regional consultations on the problem of refugees. The most recent
consultations, held in Dhaka in November 1997, focussed on developing and adopting a
Model National Law on Refugees. The participants, including eminent jurists and former
politicians from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, raised some
interesting rationales for their respective countries’ failure to sign the 1951 Refugee
Convention.

The rationales included the South Asian perceptions: (1) that ‘Western’ signatories only
meet their obligations when it suits them to do so; (2) that the Convention is tailored to
post-WWII era refugees and has become outmoded, impotent to deal with the mass
migrations of recent years; (3) that signing the Convention will mean taking on financial
burdens which they cannot bear; and (4) that each of them has been generous and
responsive to the needs of refugee populations on a crisis-by-crisis basis.
While acknowledging the validity of some of these points, the group urged their
respective nations to adopt national legislation which would give the countries the
flexibility to meet their own concerns while giving legal force to the humanitarian ideals
of the 1951 Refugee Convention. The participants also suggested that the natural
extension of the Consultation would be to come to a regional consensus similar to that
of the Organization of African Unity.

In India, adopting the model national legislation would be a first step toward a greater
capacity to protect refugees. India has restrictive laws governing the entry and stay of
foreigners. Due to this legislation and the extensive discretion afforded to the authorities
who implement it, a refugee may feel that s/he leads an uncertain life, unable to work or
travel and protected only according to the whims of the government. A national refugee
determination system and government-recognized refugee status would carry the
attendant privileges of government-issued travel and identity documents as well as
greater freedom of movement within and outside of India. This status, in turn, would
afford refugees greater protection from refoulement (involuntary return to their home
country) and make their stay in India less precarious.

The UNHCR can only act to recognize refugees within its mandate. It is at the national
level that asylum is provided. Thus it is incumbent upon India, among the other South
Asian nations, to adopt some consistent national approach to refugee status
determination and its attendant rights, obligations and privileges.
The promotion of a national legislation and framework for refugee protection is
inherently a political and gradual process. To see this process from close up and from
the perspective of a developing country is indeed a worthwhile experience in respect of
understanding the evolution of law.

Thus,,in the end we can see that the UNHCR has a long way to go and needs wider
reforms and a bigger arena to help in the rehabilitation of these refugees.it would be
exaggerating to state that it has been a great success since a lot of attention and care is
needed for areas like the gaza strip,srilankans in tamil nadu and east Pakistani refugees
in india but its also not a failure from any angle,it has the potential to actually help a lot
of individuals in the future if it keeps improving gradually.also the goal should be not
only helping the refugees but empowering them,then only UNHCR can reach its
echelon.
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