Human Rights Report
Human Rights Report
Since the 2nd World War, it was only in the Summer of 2015 that the world
has encountered another sudden influx of refugees. Syria, an ancient land, was
ruled by the Al-Assad family which governed the Country as Quasi-Dictators. A
revolution sparked but Al-Assad refused to step down and even started a brutal
civil war. It was then that different ethnicities and civil groups started to take
arms including a military jihadist group ISIS. All sides committed horrible war
crimes including the use of chemical weapons, mass executions, torture and a
lot more. The Syrian population was now trapped between the regime, the rebel
goups and the extremists. This event was the cause of the sudden influx of
refugees in Europe and eventually within the world.
Who is a Refugee?
A refugee is a person 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 ... "
- The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees
Protecting refugees is the core mandate of UNHCR. This booklet answers some of the
most commonly asked questions about refugees themselves and how the agency
attempts to help them. Who, for instance, can qualify as a refugee and on what
grounds? Can people be excluded and why? - a particularly sensitive issue given the
international preoccupation with terrorism. What rights does a refugee enjoy and what
obligations? What is the role of governments and of UNHCR itself? It also explores
related issues including the development of ‘temporary protection’, the future of millions
of so-called internally displaced persons and statelessness.
Are persons fleeing war or war-related conditions such as famine and ethnic
violence refugees?
The 1951 Geneva Convention, the main international instrument of refugee law, does
not specifically address the issue of civilians fleeing conflict, though in recent years
major refugee movements have resulted from civil wars, ethnic, tribal and religious
violence.
However, UNHCR considers that persons fleeing such conditions, and whose state is
unwilling or unable to protect them, should be considered refugees. Regional
instruments such as Africa’s OAU Convention and the Cartagena Declaration in Latin
America support this view.
Some countries, particularly in western Europe, argue that civilians fleeing generalized
war or who fear persecution by non-governmental groups such as militias and rebels,
should not be given formal refugee status. It is UNHCR’s view that the origin of the
persecution should not be decisive in determining refugee status, but rather whether a
person deserves international protection because it is not available in the country of
origin.
Who helps the internally displaced
Internally displaced persons (IDPs)flee their homes for the same reasons as refugees,
but remain within their own country and are thus subject to the laws of that state. In
some crises, and though it does not have a specific mandate in this area,UNHCR
assists several million, but not all of the estimated 20-25 million IDPs worldwide.
These operations are initiated at the request of the U.N. Secretary-General or the
General Assembly, with the consent of the country involved and have included recent
crises in the Middle East, the Balkans, Africa and Afghanistan.
Why is everyone not doing this to the Syrian refugees? There are fears that stop
the countries from doing it. Islam, high birth rate, crime, and the collapse of the
social system. Some fear that the asylum population might take over the
population in a few decades
Can women facing persecution because they refuse to comply with social
constraints be refugees?
Women, like men, may be persecuted for political, ethnic or religious reasons. In
addition, someone fleeing discrimination or severe persecution for her failure to conform
to strict social codes has grounds to be considered for refugee status. Such persecution
may emanate from a government authority or, in the absence of adequate government
protection, from non-state actors. Sexual violence, such as rape, may constitute
persecution.
Such discrimination should have consequences that are significantly prejudicial. A
woman who fears attack for her refusal to wear a chador or other restrictive clothing, or
because of her desire to choose her own spouse and live an independent life, may
qualify to be a refugee.
In 1984, the European Parliament determined that women facing cruel or inhumane
treatment because they seemed to transgress social mores should be considered a
particular social group for the purposes of determining refugee status. The United
States and Canada have exhaustive guidelines relating to gender-based persecution,
and there has been similar progress in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
Can a woman who fears that she, or her infant daughter, will be genitally
mutilated claim refugee status?
In France, the Netherlands, Canada and the United States, it has been officially
recognized that genital mutilation represents a form of persecution and that this can be
a basis for refugee status. In one case, a woman who feared persecution in her country
because of her refusal to inflict genital mutilation on her infant daughter was recognized
as a refugee.