WUNRN
REFUGEE PROTECTION - INTERNATIONAL
MIGRATION - WOMEN & GIRLS
INTERSECTIONALITY &
INDIVISIBILITY OF HUMAN RIGHTS
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UNHCR - The UN Refugee Agency
THE
CHALLENGES OF MIXED 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 Conference on Refugee Protection and International Migration in Sana’a, Yemen. This built 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.
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Direct Link to Document:
Beyond
the Nexus: UNHCR's Evolving Perspective on Refugee Protection and International
Migration
Authors: Crisp, Jeff.
Produced by: United Nations [UN] High Commission for Refugees -2008
Until the 1990s, UNHCR rarely made any reference to the issue of international
migration in its policy documents and public statements. >From the early
1990s onwards, however, UNHCR's traditional reluctance to acknowledge or
discuss the issue of international migration was challenged by a number of
related developments. This paper discusses the change in UNHCR terminology and
charters the associated events and history behind it.
The author highlights the issues considered by UNHCR such as mixed movements,
stranded migrants, trafficking victims and displacement unrelated to conflict.
The paper outlines issues addressed in the 2007 'Dialogue on Protection
Challenges' meeting and argues that the Dialogue does appear to represent a
significant step in the evolution of UNHCR's role in relation to international
migration.
The author concludes that UNHCR is currently engaged in a difficult balancing
act. On one hand, the organisation recognises the need to underline the
distinctive status, rights and obligations of refugees. At the same time, UNHCR
is aware that human mobility is growing in scope, scale and complexity, and
acknowledges that other stakeholders, especially states, increasingly regard
the movement of refugees, asylum seekers and irregular migrants as part of a
single (and often unwanted) phenomenon.
Available online at: http://w
ww. eldis. org/cf/rdr/?doc=37954&em=220708&sub=migr