INTERNATION NAL HUMAN RIGHTS OF REFUGEES

INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE PROTECTION

ROHINGYA GENOCIDE

Since August 25, 2017, more than 880,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have fled
to Bangladesh. This Rohingya refugee crisis is among the largest, fastest movements of
people in recent history. The Rohingya, a mostly Muslim minority ethnic group in
predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, are escaping what the United Nations has
described as genocidal violence that follows decades of persecution and human rights
abuses.

GIVEN THE NUMBER OF REFUGEES FROM MYANMAR, In 2017, the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees described the Rohingya refugee crisis as “the most urgent
refugee emergency in the world.” Here are the facts you need to know:

• About 880,000 Rohingya live in the world’s largest and most densely populated
refugee camp in southern Bangladesh.
• About 1.3 million people — both refugees and local community members —
need humanitarian assistance.

After fleeing violence in Myanmar, Rohingya refugees are living in rudimentary

conditions. With 40,000 people per square kilometer, the camps are one of the most
crowded places on earth. Five family members or more live in A 10-by-16-foot shelters
with only one room. Up to 20 people share a single outdoor latrine. They must wait in
line for water for washing, cooking, and SHOWER.

The World Food Programme provides all food, which is distributed by their partners,
including World Vision. Refugees receive monthly food rations that include rice, lentils,
and oil. Although the rations are nutritious, it’s difficult to eat the same food day after
day. About half of the refugee population now receives e-voucher cards to buy meat
and fresh produce from World Food Programme stores, but dietary diversity and
balanced nutrition remain a challenge.

NOW, LET US DISCUSS THE DIFFERENT RIGHTS ACCORDED TO REFUGEES

UNDER THE INTERNATIONAL LAW, SPECIFICALLY, UNDER THE 1951 Convention
relating to the Status of Refugees:

Non-refoulment
 Related Provision in Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“Article 5 - No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel,

inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

Under principle of non-refoulement, no one should be re-turned to a country

where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment and other irreparable harm.

This right was provided in Article 33 of the Convention which states that:

“No Contracting State shall expel or return (“refouler”) a refugee in any

manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or
freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion,
nationality, membership of a particular social group or political
opinion.

2. The benefit of the present provision may not, however, be claimed by

a refugee whom there are reasonable grounds for regarding as a danger
to the security of the country in which he is, or who, having been
convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, constitutes
a danger to the community of that country.”

To reiterate, this principle prohibits one country to return the refugees to their
originating country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm. However, should such
receiving country opted not to accept the refugees, they may, however, send them
to another or third country.

The prohibition of refoulement apply to a range of serious human rights

violations, including torture, and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,
flagrant denial of the right to a fair trial, risks of violations to the rights to life,
integrity and/or freedom of the person, serious forms of sexual and gender-based
violence, death penalty or death
row, female genital mutilation, or prolonged solitary confinement, among others.

However, as provided in the Convention, this rule shall not apply to a refugee
whom there are reasonable grounds for regarding as a danger to the security of
the country in which he is, or who, having been convicted by a final judgment of
a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community of that country.

BASED ON THIS, WHAT IS PROHIBITED IS RETURNING A REFUGEE TO HIS

ORIGINAL COUNTRY IF THERE IS FEAR THAT HE MAY FACE
PERSECUTION account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a
 particular social group or political opinion. HOWEVER, THIS PROVISION
SHALL NOT APPLY IS SUCH REFUGEE IS MERELY RUNNING AWAY FROM
PROSECUTION OF CRIME/S HE COMMITTED.

Identity and Travel Documents

Related Provisions in Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“Article 6 - Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as

a person before the law.”

“Article 13 - 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement

and residence within the borders of each State.

2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own,
and to return to his country.”

The right to be recognized as a person before the law is one of the most basic
human rights. Having a legal identity enables someone to hold other rights under
law; to have a nationality and to access basic services such as health and education,
enables access to humanitarian assistance and allows them to move freely within
the country of exile. Birth registration and marriage registration are two important
components of legal identity.

Article 27 is intended to provide a refugee, no matter what IS their legal status in

the country, at least a provisional document stating their identity; thereby enabling
him or her to conform to any laws and regulations that may require inhabitants of
a country to carry such papers, or to prove their identity in certain circumstances

Due to the circumstances in which they are sometimes forced to leave their home
country, refugees are perhaps more likely than other aliens to find themselves
without identity documents. Moreover, while other aliens can turn to the
authorities of their country of origin for help in obtaining documents, refugees do
not have this option and are therefore dependent upon the authorities of their
country of refuge or upon UNHCR for assistance in this regard.

Observance of Right to identity of refugees

As of June 30, 2020, 521,185 refugees and asylum-seekers were registered on the
UNHCR registration system.

In 2015, largely as a response to national security and terrorism concerns, Kenya

began the roll-out of a new national identity card that contains the card holder’s
biometric details, including iris and fingerprint scans. All Kenyans are legally
 obligated to possess the national ID once they reach the age of eighteen, and the
card must be shown when accessing most public and private services, such as
applying for any license or permit, paying taxes and bills, accessing formal
financial services, or registering a SIM card.

Kenya’s refugee population is managed by the country’s Refugee Affairs

Secretariat (RAS), with UNHCR providing support to the RAS as necessary to help
ensure that all asylum seekers and refugees are registered and protected. The
registration process begins when an asylum seeker attends a registration interview
and provides authorities with basic biographical information, supporting
documents (such as a valid ID from their country of origin) 39 , fingerprints and a
photograph. Once the individual’s information has been registered, the applicant
is given two documents confirming that they have applied for refugee status: an
‘asylum seeker pass’ issued by the RAS, and an ‘asylum seeker certificate’ issued
by UNHCR. These documents entitle the applicants to protection within the
country and humanitarian support, but do not allow them to access any other
public or private services.1

Right to family -

Related Provisions in Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“Article 16 - 1. Men and women of full age, without any

limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to
marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as
to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full
consent of the intending spouses.

3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society

and is entitled to protection by society and the State.”

The family is universally recognized as the fundamental group unit of society and
as entitled to protection and assistance from society and the State. The right to
family life is recognized in universal and regional as well as in many national legal
instruments. The right to family unity is inherent in the right to family life. This
right applies to all human beings, regardless of their status.

For refugees and those who seek to protect them, the right to family unity implies
a right to family reunification in a country of asylum, because refugees cannot

1
Refugees and Identity: Considerations for mobile-enabled registration and aid delivery
 safely return to their countries of origin in order to enjoy the right to family life
there.

Although the right to seek and enjoy asylum in another country is an individual
human right, 1 the individual refugee should not be seen in isolation from his or
her family.

The drafters of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees linked a
protection regime premised on the individual’s fear of persecution to the refugee’s
family in a strongly worded recommendation in the Final Act of thediplomatic
conference that adopted the Convention. In Recommendation B, the conference
urged governments to ‘take the necessary measures for the protection of the
refugee’s family’, and declared that ‘the unity of the family . . . is an essential right
of the refugee’. 3 The States that are members of the Executive Committee of
UNHCR have repeatedly emphasized the importance of family unity and
reunification.

States with provisions relating to refugee family unity and reunification

States that have incorporated family unity and reunification principles have done
so with a variety of legislative and administrative provisions. 165 The basic
elements can be simply stated, as in the law in Bosnia and Herzegovina:

Refugee status shall in principle be extended to the spouse and minor children as
well as other dependants, if they are living in the same household. Entry visas
shall be provided to such dependants of persons to whom asylum has been
granted.

Access to Courts

Related Provisions in Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“Article 10 Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and

public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the
determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal
charges against him.”

“Article 8

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent

national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights
granted him by the constitution or by law.”
 Article 16 of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees states that:

a. A refugee shall have free access to the courts of law on the territory of all
Contracting States.

b. A refugee shall enjoy in the Contracting State in which he has his habitual
residence the same treatment as a national in matters pertaining to access
to the courts, including legal assistance and exemption from cautio
judicatum solvi .

c. A refugee shall be accorded in the matters referred to in paragraph 2 in

countries other than that in which he has his habitual residence the
treatment granted to a national of the country of his habitual residence.

“Free access” is to be understood not as meaning that refugees are exempt from
paying the ordinary charges which plaintiffs must pay in order to initiate legal
proceedings, but only that no additional obstacles should be imposed on refugees.

The provision under paragraph 2 of article 16 is intended to relieve refugees of the

requirement ordinarily made of foreigners for a deposit intended to cover the
court expenses of the other party in the event that the foreigner loses the case. It
also provides that refugees are to receive national treatment with regard to free
legal assistance, which refers to legal aid available under State-sponsored schemes.
This article should be read together with article 29 of the 1951 Convention, which
provides that refugees are not to be charged higher or additional charges than
nationals of the State in question.

Non-discrimination

Related Provisions in Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“Article 2 - Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set

forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as
race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the

political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or
territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent,
trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of
sovereignty.

Article 7 - All are equal before the law and are entitled without
any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled
 to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this
Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.”

Article 3 of the Convention states that:

The Contracting States shall apply the provisions of this Convention to refugees
without discrimination as to race, religion or country of origin.

All refugees are in need of refuge but not all are treated alike. Some find homes in
the safest and richest countries in the world. Many others are trapped in countries
neighbouring their own, where conditions are often inadequate.

One obvious worry about current selection is discrimination. Some refugees, from
some social groups, may be systematically advantaged over others.

Sample case: Trump-Era

In the United States, President Trump’s discriminatory Executive Order bars

Syrian refugees from entering the US indefinitely, suspends all refugee admissions
for 120 days, imposes restrictions on refugees on the basis of their religion, and
blocks citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries – refugees or otherwise – from
entering the United States for at least 90 days: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan,
Syria and Yemen.
This ban is not only discriminatory but is unlikely to make Americans safer. The
US refugee resettlement program already stringent, and includes multiple levels
of checks and investigations. Denying admission to visitors and refugees to the US
on the basis of religious tests is particularly egregious. This is a blatant
discrimination against Muslims who represent nearly a quarter of the world’s
population.

Freedom of Religion, Opinion and Expression

Related Provisions in Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“Article 18 - Everyone has the right to freedom of thought,

conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his
religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with
others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief
in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

“Article 19 - Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and

expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
 “Article 20- 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful
assembly and association.
2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.”

Article 4 of the Convention provides:

The Contracting States shall accord to refugees within their territories treatment at
least as favourable as that accorded to their nationals with respect to freedom to
practise their religion and freedom as regards the religious education of their
children.

Sample case: Trump-Era

Executive order banning refugees and immigrants from Muslim countries.

Rights to gainful employment, self-employment, and liberal professions

Related Provisions in Universal Declaration of Human Rights

“Article 4 - No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery

and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.”

“Article 23 - 1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of

employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to
protection against unemployment.

2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal

pay for equal work.

3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable

remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence
worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by
other means of social protection.

4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the
protection of his interests.”

All refugees have the right to receive the most favorable treatment accorded to
nationals of a foreign country in the same circumstances in the same territory as
regards access to gainful employment, right for self-employment, and the right to
practice liberal professions.

These rights were provided under Arts. 17, 18, and 19 of the Convention:
Article 17. - Wage-earning employment

1. The Contracting States shall accord to refugees lawfully staying in their territory
the most favourable treatment accorded to nationals of a foreign country in the
same circumstances, as regards the right to engage in wage-earning employment.

xxx

The Contracting States shall give sympathetic consideration to assimilating the

rights of all refugees with regard to wage-earning employment to those of
nationals, and in particular of those refugees who have entered their territory
pursuant to programmes of labour recruitment or under immigration schemes.”

Article 18. - Self-employment

The Contracting States shall accord to a refugee lawfully in their territory

treatment as favourable as possible and, in any event, not less favourable than that
accorded to aliens generally in the same circumstances, as regards the right to
engage on his own account in agriculture, industry, handicrafts and commerce
and to establish commercial and industrial companies.

Article 19. - Liberal professions

1. Each Contracting State shall accord to refugees lawfully staying in their territory
who hold diplomas recognized by the competent authorities of that State, and who
are desirous of practising a liberal profession, treatment as favourable as possible
and, in any event, not less favourable than that accorded to aliens generally in the
same circumstances.

2. The Contracting States shall use their best endeavours consistently with their
laws and constitutions to secure the settlement of such refugees in the territories,
other than the metropolitan territory, for whose international relations they are
responsible.

Sample Case: Interiorization Program by UN and Federal Govt:

Influx of Venezuelan refugees in Brazil

The influx of Venezuelans in Brazil began in late 2016 and intensified between 2018
and 2019, reaching an average of 500 new refugees and migrants per day. Today
there are approximately 260,000 Venezuelans in the country, of which about 15,000
have been brought into the formal labor market. The Interiorization Program is
one of the strategies adopted by the UN and the Federal Government, aimed at
 opening opportunities throughout Brazil for refugees and migrants. The program
has already demonstrated practical results, such as: (a) the income increase of
Venezuelans who have arrived, (b) improved access to formal work and (c) greater
access to education and other public services.

Property rights

Related Provisions in Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 17 - 1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as

well as in association with others.

2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Under Article 13, the Contracting States shall accord to a refugee treatment as
favourable as possible and, in any event, not less favourable than that accorded to
aliens generally in the same circumstances, as regards the acquisition of movable
and immovable property and other rights pertaining thereto, and to leases and
other contracts relating to movable and immovable property.

Article 30. - Transfer of assets - A Contracting State shall, in conformity with its
laws and regulations, permit refugees to transfer assets which they have brought
into its territory, to another country where they have been admitted for the
purposes of resettlement.

What is worthy to note in this provision is that it does not include a requirement
of residence or domicile. As such, refugees may enjoy these rights regardless of
the type of residence status they may hold and even if they do not have their
residence where they wish to acquire property.

Also, this provision does not provide the right to purchase or acquire of movable
or immovable property but also includes other rights pertaining threto such as
does not include a requirement of residence or domicile. As such, refugees may
enjoy these rights regardless of the type of residence status they may hold and
even if they do not have their residence where they wish to acquire property.

However, one limitation of this right that if a country restricts the right of aliens to
acquire moveable and immovable property such as here in the Philippines, aliens
are generally not allowed to acquire immovable property.

Right to integration assistance

 Related Provisions in Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 6 - Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person

before the law.

Under Article 34 Naturalization, the Contracting States shall as far as possible

facilitate the assimilation and naturalization of refugees. They shall in particular
make every effort to expedite naturalization proceedings and to reduce as far as
possible the charges and costs of such proceedings.

The term “assimilation” used in article 34 of the 1951 Convention is to be

understood in the sense of integration into the economic, social and cultural life of
the country and not as denoting any notion of forced assimilation or coercion.

The term integration (“assimilation”) has also been interpreted as referring to the
process of laying the foundations for the refugee to become familiar with the
customs, language and way of life of the country of asylum, so that without any
feeling of coercion, he/she may more readily be integrated into the different
aspects of life in the country of refuge.

Right to Public Relief and Healthcare

Related Provisions in Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 25 - 1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for

the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food,
clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the
right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability,
widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his
control.
As a mandatory provision, article 23 of the 1951 Convention seeks to ensure that
refugees lawfully staying in the host country are entitled to benefit from the
national social assistance and welfare schemes enjoyed by nationals.

Refugees without sufficient resources are equally entitled to social and medical
assistance on the same conditions as nationals. 247 As the Convention does not
contain a definition of public relief and assistance, 248 the level of assistance that
refugees, and indeed all beneficiaries, receive will depend on the situation of each
Contracting State.
 Article 23, Public Relief The Contracting States shall accord to refugees
lawfully staying in their territory the same treatment with respect to public
relief and assistance as is accorded to their nationals.

Article 20. - Rationing

Where a rationing system exists, which applies to the population at large

and regulates the general distribution of products in short supply, refugees
shall be accorded the same treatment as nationals.

Right against expulsion

Related UDHR Provision – Art. 15 (Right to belong to a country); Art 14

(Right to protection in other countries from persecution)

Under Article 32 of the Convention, The Contracting States shall not expel a
refugee lawfully in their territory save on grounds of national security or public
order. The expulsion of such a refugee shall be only in pursuance of a decision
reached in accordance with due process of law. Except where compelling reasons
of national security otherwise require, the refugee shall be allowed to submit
evidence to clear himself, and to appeal to and be represented for the purpose
before competent authority or a person or persons specially designated by the
competent authority.

Right to Education

Related UDHR Provision – Art. 26 (Right to education)

As regards education, international and regional human rights instruments have

come to offer refugees standards of treatment and rights which are both wider and
more generous than those provided in the 1951 Convention. Nonetheless, article
22 in the Convention contains some noteworthy aspects. This provision relates
only to education provided by public authorities which is funded or subsidized
by public funds, at the exclusion of private schools. 200 Significantly, it makes no
requirement regarding lawful residence and simply applies to refugees (including
asylum-seekers) without any further conditions. It seeks to ensure a basic
elementary education to all children by granting refugees equal treatment with
nationals.

Article 22. - Public education

1. The Contracting States shall accord to refugees the same treatment as is accorded
to nationals with respect to elementary education.

2. The Contracting States shall accord to refugees treatment as favourable as

possible, and, in any event, not less favourable than that accorded to aliens
generally in the same circumstances, with respect to education other than
elementary education and, in particular, as regards access to studies, the
recognition of foreign school certificates, diplomas and degrees, the remission of
fees and charges and the award of scholarships.