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Camps: International Protracted Situations

Camps: International Protracted Situations. 2011 Refugee Conference: Looking to the Future, Learning from the Past Arja Keski-Nummi. Key discussion points today. Addressing protracted refugee situations - States working with UNHCR and civil societies Case example - Core Group on Bhutan

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Camps: International Protracted Situations

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  1. Camps: International Protracted Situations 2011 Refugee Conference: Looking to the Future, Learning from the Past Arja Keski-Nummi

  2. Key discussion points today • Addressing protracted refugee situations - States working with UNHCR and civil societies • Case example - Core Group on Bhutan • Durable solutions - resettlement as a strategic tool • Barriers to local integration and repatriation • Overcoming barriers, addressing gaps • Some observations

  3. Background • UNHCR definition - more than 25,000 in a PRS for more than five years • End of 2009 - 5.5m refugees in protracted situation • Living in 21 countries - 25 different situations • What will 2010 tell us? • If 2009 is any guide with lowering repatriation and limited reintegration - will probably remain much the same.

  4. Regional Perspective • Start of 2009 - 3.6m refugees in the region out of global population of 10.49m • End of 2009 - 3.85 m out of a global population of 10.39m • An increase of 7.2% - bucking the trend globally where there was an overall decline on 0.9% (but this was because 200,000 Burmese in Bangladesh were added) • Major countries of origin- Burma and Afghanistan

  5. What does this mean? • For the people - longer people are in these situations the more vulnerable they become- to exploitation, abuse and loss of direction. • For host states - access to scarce resources, local community relations, national security concerns can be triggered, • For international community - protracted situations become intractable - taking up valuable resources, becoming less of a priority to find durable solutions

  6. We must act And not lose sight that it is in an enduring challenge • Concerted international efforts • Burden sharing • Additional resources for community development and support as well as humanitarian responses • Using the tools available consciously and strategically

  7. Case example - Bhutan Background • Mass expulsion of one ethnic group from Bhutan - Lhotsampas • 103,000 in camps since 1990 • Source of regional tensions between Nepal, Bhutan and India • Most who arrived between 1990 and 1993 - recognised “prima facie” as refugees • Prolonged exile - escalating tensions and radicalisation of youth

  8. Case example - Bhutan The core group • November 2005 - develop practical strategies to achieve resolution in one of the largest protracted situations in Asia. • 2 groups: Geneva and Kathmandu - UNHCR, Australia, NZ, USA, Canada, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. • Over a period of time undertook a number of steps - demarche, public communiques etc to engage first of all government of Nepal but also India and Bhutan.

  9. Case example - Bhutan • Intense discussion on all three durable solutions - very difficult environment - Nepalese government unstable, Bhutanese intransigent, India cautious. • still a work in progress - resettlement has commenced others are still subject to negotiation • Camp leaders - divisions between resettlement and staying

  10. Durable solutions - resettlement as a strategic tool • Resettlement - a strategic tool to unlock other solutions • Resettlement commenced in 2007 • Multi year commitment - Australia 5000 over three years (a new paradigm) • Has it worked? • More than 43 500 have departed Nepal since September 2006

  11. Barriers to local integration and repatriation But it has proven to be elusive • Nepal’s political instability makes local integration a challenge - a “bridge too far” for the local community • Resettlement has changed camp dynamics - the highest skilled have left - leaving most vulnerable and the most “ideologically committed” in the camps • Bhutan .... • India .....

  12. Overcoming barriers, addressing gaps • It is hard work, need to be there for the long haul - not realistic or fair as resettlement pledges are filled to leave the resolution of other solutions to host states alone • Local integration options? • Are there skills gaps that people could fill? • Are there development dividends that could be achieved from local integration? • Is self-reliance possible while other solutions are progressed? • Repatriation is proving to be ....

  13. Some observations • Core groups can work - but need to be flexible • Each situations brings its own challenges • It is always hard - do not underestimate the intractable nature of a PRS • One “sector” alone cannot achieve meaningful change • Never goes in straight line - have to be flexible and able to bend to get outcomes • A difficult challenge - governments do not respond that quickly - but do not give up

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