News Archive

Sholeh Safavi, UNHCR Representative in the Republic of Belarus, in her speech said, that each year on World Refugee Day UNHCR shines a light on the courage and perseverance of refugees and internally displaced persons. The point to always recall is that no one chooses to be a refugee. For the victims of war or persecution flight to safety is often a perilous and unpredictable path. Each year hundreds of people fleeing conflicts face dramatic risks of kidnap, rape, torture or death either in cross fires, in sea unworthy boats or in the hands of smugglers and human traffickers. That`s why it needs determination and courage to flee and in addition it needs a strong desire for a peaceful and dignified life. For that reason, on June 20, 2012, once again, we pay tribute to over 43 million forcibly displaced persons around the world.

The Global Trends (UNHCR’s major annual statistical overview of the state of the world forcibly displaced), which was released yesterday, shows a dramatic situation of forced movements. Some 800 thousand people became refugees in 2011, the largest number of new refugees in more than a decade.

Sholeh Safavi presented some other facts of the report:
42.5 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide at the end of 2011. Of these, 15.2 million were refugees; 10.4 million who fall under UNHCR’s responsibility and 4.8 million Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA. The figure also includes 895 thousand asylum-seekers and 26.4 million internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Pakistan was host to the largest number of refugees worldwide (1.7 million), followed by the Islamic Republic of Iran (887 thousand).

With close to 2.7 million refugees in 79 countries, Afghanistan remained the leading country of origin of refugees in 2011. On average, one out of four refugees in the world originated from Afghanistan.

532 thousand of refugees repatriated voluntarily during 2011, more than double the figure for 2010 (197 600).

At the end of 2011 UNHCR had been protecting or assisting 25.9 million people — 10.4 million refugees and 15.5 million IDPs. This number represents 700 thousand people more than in 2010.

UNHCR is currently operating with over 7500 workforce in more than 110 countries in the five continents. Intensification of previous conflicts and unfolding of new conflicts have given rise to dramatic humanitarian crises in many parts of the world, resulting in the fast expansion of emergency humanitarian operations in 2011 and the first half of 2012.

Although UNHCR is a unique global organization mandated with the protection of refugees, it works in close collaboration with other UN agencies and international organizations in all major humanitarian emergencies. The growing dimensions and complexity of forced displacement require a high level of coordination and burden sharing among all actors — Governments, international agencies and non-governmental organizations.

Sholeh Safavi gave an example. More than 300 thousand Malians have become uprooted by conflict and insecurity in the north of the country. Efforts of UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies focus on providing live-saving assistance to more than 170 thousand Malian refugees who have crossed into Burkina Faso, Niger and Mauritania.

She also presented the audience with some other examples of South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Kongo and Syria where in the result of armed conflicts and violence thousands of people flee in order to find dignified living conditions.

Sholeh Safavi noted that the great majority of the newly displaced are hosted in the neighboring countries at the moment, but continuation of these crises will start impacting other parts of the world, in particular Europe. It’s just a matter of time. In a recent statement, Mr Antonius Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, anticipated that the next ten years will see colossal population movements as a consequence of man-made, natural and environmental disasters. He stated the world is creating disasters much faster than it can find solutions. Despite this bleak picture, it is gratifying that many countries in the world continue to generously host refugees, give them a safe place and help them to rebuild a new life.

Also she focused on the achievements of Belarus. Last year was another year of successful cooperation between UNHCR and the Government in Belarus. We worked around two main axes: strengthening of the asylum system; and promoting the local integration of refugees. Although the number of asylum applications was less than that in 2012, some 15 % of claimants received refugee status. This is significant increase over previous years. The number of stateless persons went down by 11 %. To UNHCR’s best knowledge the principle of non-refoulement was fully observed and all asylum applications were registered and processed by the authorities. UNHCR had unhindered access to asylum-seekers and irregular migrants, even to those held in temporary detention centers of Border detachments of Ministry of Internal Affairs, pending determination of their personal identity. In 2011 and 2012 delegations from Kazakhstan and UNHCR Regional Office for Central Asia visited Belarus to learn from Belarus’ experience and best practices in refugee registration and status determination. Belarusian migration and Border officials were invited by UNHCR and the CSTO working group on asylum to Kyrgyzstan and Russia in the capacity of international experts to share their know-how and best practices with Central Asian countries. Moreover, in 2011—2012 important steps have been taken to further facilitate the socio-economic integration of refugees into the Belarusian society. Joint projects under integration program focus on language learning, civic and formal education, employment and housing as well as public awareness building.

Since 1996 UNHCR has spent USD 9.2 million in support of the State’s humanitarian and technical assistance projects for refugees in Belarus. UNHCR is grateful to the EU Member States and European Commission for their generous contributions to refugee programs in Belarus.

2012 is the 20th year of UN presence in the Republic of Belarus. The UN Country Team will organize specific events in commemoration of their 20th anniversary in Belarus. On this occasion and on WRD the UN Refugee Agency commends the Government of the Republic of Belarus for their considerable achievements in developing a modern asylum system and providing international protection and a safe home to refugees. UNHCR wishes to acknowledge the efforts of the authorities at central and regional levels to develop mechanisms aiming at facilitating the socio-economic integration of refugees into the Belarusian society. It is noteworthy that the tolerant attitude of the people and respect for diversity and multiculturalism, that are characteristics of Belarus, play a crucial role for refugees and other migrants to rebuild their lives in dignity. The merits of NGOs, academia and mass media also have great significance.

The Chief of the Department on Citizenship and Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Aleksey Begun in his speech at the press-conference noted the significance of the UNHCR in the Republic of Belarus. He presented some statistics. During the period of the implementation of legislation on forced migration, 3.7 thousand foreign citizens and stateless persons from 50 countries turned for help to competent bodies. On June 1, 2012 842 foreign citizens obtained the status of refugee in Belarus, four persons were provided with supplementary protection. It is quite a great number according to current international standards.

In 2001 Belarus acceded to the main international instruments in this sphere, including the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951, and fulfills its obligations thoroughly. Today legislation in the sphere of forced migration is being actively improved. According to it, persons applying for refugee status could be provided with supplementary protection.

Aleksey Begun also focused on the fact that all necessary conditions for the accommodation of persons applying for refugee status are created in Belarus. With financial support of the UNHCR in the Republic of Belarus four points of temporary accommodation for persons applying for refugee status were created under the auspices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Border Committee.

Currently the priority directions of the work with refugees in Belarus are: the strict observance of the rights and freedoms of these people, division of migration flows and ensuring the access to correspondent procedure of each applicant. The status of refugee is obtained by 15 % of the applicants after the detailed examination of each case, personal circumstances.

Vasiliy Zorin, Chief of the Department of Preliminary Inquiry of the State Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus, noted that the State Border Committee has been closely cooperating with international and Belarusian non-governmental organizations in this sphere since 1997. The main directions of this cooperation are: improving of legislation, promoting the development of information systems (creation of a unique database), improving the level of professional training of Belarusian Border Guards in this area, creation of the places of temporary accommodation, exchange of information on the issues of migration and asylum. He paid special attention to monitoring visits on the border. According to Vasiliy Zorin, at present the State Border Committee has business and constructive relations with the UNHCR Representation in the Republic of Belarus.

Then participants of press-conference answered questions of journalists.

The journalist from BelaPAN Viacheslav Budkevich asked Aleksey Begun if it is planned to establish the separate institution on the issues of migration in the Republic of Belarus as it is the Federal Migration Service in the Russian Federation. Aleksey Begun noted that correspondent proposals are prepared for consideration, but a lot of time is needed for creation of such an institute. At the moment we are not talking about the separate branch of the Department on Citizenship and Migration.

Asked about the privileges of being a refugee Aleksey Begun noted that correspondent bodies must consider each case within a year. If the case will be declined, a foreign citizen must leave the country voluntarily within a month. In another case a person will be deported. Those who obtained refugee status are almost equalized in rights with the citizens of the country, excluding the right to elect and to be elected, take part in referendum; they are also free from military duty. Sholeh Safavi added that every person has the right to ask for asylum, but obtaining the status of refugee is not a right but a law.

The correspondent BelTA asked to give the numbers of persons applying for the status of refugee, obtaining this status and refused of it. The Chief of the Department on Citizenship and Migration said that the previous year 85 persons applied for refugee status in Belarus — 14 obtained it, four got the right on temporary living in the country. Foreign citizens, dissatisfied with the decision, have the right to appeal it. This year 22 persons from 16 countries of the world (including some exotic countries, such as Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, and also the CIS countries) have already applied for the refugee status. Applications are in the process of consideration.