Summary: March 8, 2004: Keynote address by Poul Nielson, Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian aid. UNHCR - Dialogue on voluntary repatriation and sustainable integration in Africa (Geneva)
Your Excellencies, distinguished High Commissioner, other delegates,
Thank you very much for inviting me here today and to address this important meeting. I also wish to congratulate the High Commissioner personally and UNHCR in general on having organised this event, which we in the European Commission think is timely, needed and critical.
We genuinely hope that the peace-making and peace-building initiatives under way on the continent will make for greater opportunities to create durable solutions for refugees, internally displaced persons and other persons affected by conflict.
Three years ago on 8 March - International Women' Day celebration - I visited a refugee camp in Tanzania. I was struck by their optimism in spite of the circumstances. It was a meeting of hope.
Bearing in mind that refugees are only one group of persons affected by conflict, the Commission particularly agrees that repatriation, resettlement, reconstruction and rehabilitation should increasingly benefit from comprehensive national reintegration strategies for all displaced persons and should focus on the affected communities in an all-inclusive fashion and we agree, as one of the discussion papers for this meeting puts it so aptly, that we should "de-label" specific groups, such as
refugees, internal displaced persons, ex-combatants or expellees. But of course this is difficult. It corresponds to my motto: "Nothing is easy".
However, while the current range of ongoing and planned repatriation efforts is impressive, we would hope that the initiative to forge new and more cohesive partnerships can also be extended to the way in which we seek to assist those who unfortunately are not yet in a condition to return home. At the same time, there should be good prospects for the refugees to have access to productive activities, to good and appropriate education and to basic social and health services within a wider
framework that also considers the genuine needs and aspirations of the refugee-affected communities. I refer here to another experience that I witnessed visiting refugee camps in Lebanon where Palestinian refugees do not have real access to work, except to a limited list of jobs.
In particular, in this context, let us not forget the tremendous generosity and hospitality that countries like Tanzania and Zambia, to name but two, have displayed in catering for refugees. And let us also be sobered by the reflection on the longevity of some of the protracted refugee cases as evidenced by Mayukwayukwa, a refugee camp in Zambia, which I am told was opened in 1966 and has hosted refugees continuously until now. We agree that durable solutions can only be found with the very
active involvement of all concerned Governments and we applaud the presence of the African Union at this meeting.
Additionally, the European Commission would also like to stress the paramount importance of protection, in its widest sense. As you may know, the Commission has made available some 22 million euro in 2002 and 2003 to support UNHCR in the fields of protection and registration and preparations are under way to provide further support to UNHCR in 2004. In this regard, we know that protection presence is not optimum in all locations and the Commission will actively continue to support you in this
respect, also including situations where lack of financial resources is not the chief reason for lack of protection presence. This support is provided through the Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) of the Commission, for whom UNHCR is also its most important partner with over 43 million euro support to the humanitarian activities of UNHCR.
I have referred to registration as an important aspect of protection. Turning to repatriation I would continue to stress the continued importance of accurate, dynamic and good registration systems before and during repatriation operations to counter so-called "recycling" but also to continue to extend the needed protection services. In this regard, let me go further and suggest that it is also increasingly important for us all, UNHCR, involved Governments, donors and our non-Governmental
partners, that we increasingly seek to understand what motivates refugees. Why are so many repatriating spontaneously even when many observers might agree that conditions for return are not yet safe? Why are large numbers of Angolan refugees repatriating spontaneously and ignoring the formal repatriation arrangements and benefits? On the other hand, to name but one example, why are significant numbers of Rwandan refugees in Zambia reluctant to return home? If we focus more resources on what
motivates refugees we can do a much better job in pre-repatriation planning, ensuring that transit facilities are indeed en route that the refugees are likely to use and that conditions for resettlement are considered in the areas refugees are most likely to return to. In this regard, it is perhaps wise not to forget that it is often the refugees and the displaced who know best when it is safe for them to return or not.
In drawing up the specific humanitarian support strategies for the various countries in Africa where the Commission currently works, we are of course continuously guided by the realisation that the continent has some 3-4 million refugees, but that there is a multiple of that number, some 13 million who are driven from their homes. If we also consider the populations that are not displaced but who have had to endure the loss of their loved ones, are seriously deprived of goods, assets, social
and health services, and who may be threatened by insecurity, the numbers of persons with genuine humanitarian needs is far greater than the groups for which we have made the labelling of refugees or IDPs.
We would also like to stress the importance of the voluntary nature of repatriation and the principle of non-refoulement. The Commission has repeatedly stated that it will not tolerate that European funds are being used for mandatory repatriation of refugees of areas that are not yet safe for them. The position of the Commission of course also extends to possible cases of forced return of displaced persons. In all cases where there is a real threat of this happening, an all inclusive
partnership of involved Governments, concerned UN Agencies, other international organisations and non-Governmental partners is needed to ensure that humanitarian principles, international law and the dignity of refugees and returnees are fully respected.
We have worked hard in the case of Angola to have all the different services in the European Commission work hand in hand within the framework of a common Action Plan to support the transition from repatriation and resettlement to longer-term development funding in the post-conflict situation. We look forward to continuing to work with UNHCR, involved Governments, but also with the development agencies in the UN system, to increasingly build these all-inclusive frameworks.
In this context, we are particularly pleased to note that UNHCR has now become a member of the United Nations Development Group and we will be deeply interested in supporting the putting into place and practice the relevant operational guidelines. I am also very pleased to know that the United Nations Development Programme is represented at this meeting and we look forward to building and widening our collaboration with the United Nations in finding durable and sustainable solutions for all
persons affected by conflict. But one should be careful about mission creep. It is necessary to use well what exists already and to do good coordination. Important also is donors' response to appeals.
The Commission also supports and will actively participate in all aspects of the Convention Plus initiative. Indeed, and of particular relevance to the meeting here today, we have taken note of the work Denmark and Japan have initiated under the chapter of targeting development assistance to achieve durable solutions. It has to be kept in mind, however, that every time we talk about new tasks for ODA, we also need new ODA. The European Commission will also remain engaged in supporting important
development initiatives such as the Zambia Initiative and we generally support the next steps that Denmark and Japan have so far identified. In this regard, I must add that the European Union has an important development relationship with all the ACP countries under the Coutounou Agreement. As the financial resources available under this Agreement are managed on a joint basis by the European Union and partner governments, it is increasingly critical that durable solutions for persons affected
by conflict are more clearly taken into account in their Country Strategy Papers and in our joint periodical reviews of our development collaboration. Indeed, resettlement and reintegration need to become part and parcel of country development strategies, in an all-inclusive setting with a clear focus on entire communities. But again I want to stress that re-arranging priorities under an unchanged budget, is not easy.
We all know that the burden on host developing countries of large refugee populations is often exacerbated by the intrinsic limited financial and institutional capacities of these countries. To address this issue the EU Council of Ministers has called on the Commission to, inter alia, consider ways of strengthening reception capacities in the region of origin.
The Commission's Communication of June 2003 "Towards more accessible, equitable and managed asylum systems" stressed in particular that new approaches to asylum should enable persons in need of international protection to access such protection as soon as possible and as closely as possible to their needs. For us - and I wish to underline this - "protection in the region" is not an end in itself but an important component for a truly accessible, managed and equitable international protection
regime.
The Commission favours a gradual implementation of this new approach; first by taking preparatory actions to test the ground, followed by more concrete proposals for programmes and projects. Indeed, the Commission has rendered financial support (under budget line B7-667), for a UNHCR pilot-project that focuses on (protection-) gap analysis, on strengthening international protection and self-reliance for refugees, on undertaking preparatory activities towards a Comprehensive Plan of Action for
specific refugee groups, on needs-based protection planning as a precursor to building effective protection capacities in selected countries, and on institution building on asylum in specific regions of origin.
Our aim is to assist third countries in regions of origin to become robust providers of effective protection, therewith eventually becoming proper countries of first asylum. This would mean that the third country in the region of origin should be able, to offer the possibility of eventual local integration to a refugee if one of the UNHCR-identified traditional other two durable solutions, resettlement or return to the country of origin, is not available. The Cotonou Agreement - article 13 -
offers a comprehensive agenda for activities in this area.
Mr. High Commissioner, I have noted that the discussion papers prepared for this meeting call for the establishment of a high level working group to take the conclusions of today's meeting forward. We generally support the establishment of such a working group and we will of course take careful note of the views of the other participants here today on this issue. However, we would plead for a fairly tight time-frame to produce a comprehensive strategy to support the continent with the
management of resettlement, voluntary repatriation and sustainable integration at an early stage and to concretise how this strategy can be put into operational effect. And let me stress that not a single action in this field should be implemented without the full consent and ownership by the countries concerned.
Mr. High Commissioner, your Excellencies, other delegates at this meeting, let me repeat my congratulations on the organising of this important event and I look forward to engaging in fruitful deliberations with you today and in the other important meetings scheduled for later this week.
Thank you.
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