Day: June 21, 2021

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi says the asylum system in the United States has become “unmanageable” and that his agency supports “a gradual improvement towards a more effective and humane migration system.”

In an interview with VOA, Grandi said such reform is a complex operation that will take years to achieve, but that he is encouraged by what he has seen from the Biden administration after a big cut in resettlements during the Trump administration.

“We support that because that is the indispensable piece in a broader exercise to handle human mobility in Central America, which includes the movement of people that are refugees because they flee from violence, from persecution, from discrimination,” he said. “That work has to be done at every level, has to be done in the countries of origin — mostly Honduras, El Salvador, to an extent Guatemala — has to be done in the countries of transit, including Guatemala itself and Mexico, and has to be done at the border.”

The maximum number of refugees allowed into the United States fell from 85,000 in 2016 to 18,000 in 2020. The Biden administration has boosted the cap to 62,500 refugee admissions this year, with plans to boost it further to 125,000.

Grandi said in addition to the decline in U.S. capacity, the coronavirus pandemic also helped to drastically affect refugee resettlement throughout the world during 2020. He said the total number of resettlements fell from about 100,000 in 2019 to 34,000 last year.

“We had to suspend resettlement travel simply because there were no more flights,” he told VOA. “We couldn’t use the routes because they were not operating. These are realities that are now being slowly overcome, but it will take some time.”

Grandi said the coronavirus pandemic has made it clear that countries “can’t cope alone” and that governments sometimes need help explaining to their citizens the value of programs to help refugees.

“They need international support, especially when they embark on policies that may be difficult, even controversial, for their own domestic audiences,” Grandi said. “International support helps explain to their populations the importance of these very good policies.”

He highlighted progress in Colombia, which in February announced 10-year protective status for 1.7 million displaced Venezuelans.

“Already more than one million Venezuelans have entered the first phase of the registration. This is amazing,” Grandi said. “And also, in a situation in which Colombia itself has difficult challenges — the pandemic, the social and political unrest, residual displacement from the conflict, the peace process. So, in the middle of all this, I think that for Colombia to embrace a very forward-looking inclusive refugee and migration policy is very important.”

However, Grandi said Colombia’s action represents “one of the bright spots in this very negative picture.”

He cited the continuing challenge of spike in the number of people being forced to leave their homes, a number that rose by 3 million people last year to reach 82.4 million at the end of 2020, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency UNHCR.

“It means that wars, discrimination, bad governance, often combined with other factors like climate change, inequality and poverty, demographic imbalances, all of this has not stopped human mobility, especially the forced aspects of human mobility,” Grandi said. “The secretary general issued many calls for a global cease-fire. Frankly, it was not really heeded.”

Despite the ongoing challenges, when asked what message he has for refugees, Grandi said, “Don’t lose courage.”

“We draw ourselves encouragement from your resilience. Don’t give up and we will be there with you to help you move on,” he said.

Source: Voice of America

Somalia, Congo, Afghanistan and Syria top the list of the most dangerous conflict zones for children, the United Nations said Monday, accounting for nearly 60% of all violations among the entries on its annual blacklist of countries where children suffer grave abuses.

“Children can no longer be the last priority of the international agenda nor the least protected group of individuals on the planet,” Virginia Gamba, U.N. special representative for children in armed conflict, told reporters Monday at the report’s launch. “We need to give children an alternative to violence and abuse. We need peace, respect for children’s rights, and democracy.”

Gamba said the most widespread violations in 2020 were the recruitment and use of children by security forces and armed groups and the killing and maiming of children.

“We are extremely alarmed at the increase in the abduction of children by 90% compared to previous years, as well as the increase in rape and other forms of sexual violence, registering an increase of 70% compared to previous years,” she added.

More than 3,200 children were confirmed abducted in conflict situations in 2020, and at least 1,268 were victims of sexual violence, the report said.

Of the worst offenders, Gamba said Somalia had the “most violations by far,” primarily perpetrated by al-Shabab terrorists. In Afghanistan, she said the Taliban was responsible for two-thirds of violations, and the government and pro-government militias the rest.

Myanmar also ranked high on the list of grave violations, including for the highest numbers of children recruited and used, while Yemen has among the highest figures for children killed or maimed.

Attacks on schools and hospitals remained high last year at 856, mostly in Afghanistan, Congo, Syria and Burkina Faso.

“Education against girls was particularly targeted,” Gamba said.

As with everything else in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic only complicated matters.

The report found, for example, that the use of schools by militaries rose last year. Many schools were closed temporarily because of the pandemic, making them easy targets for military occupation and use.

New to the list are Cameroon, Burkina Faso and the Lake Chad Basin region.

The report contained some good news. Due to advocacy efforts, armed groups and security forces released 12,643 children. And the number of actors engaging with Gamba’s office, signing on to action plans and making new commitments toward children is growing.

However, human rights groups have criticized the report over the years, saying that double standards apply to the creation of the blacklist and that some countries escape accountability.

“We strongly urge the (U.N.) Secretary-General to reconsider his decision and hold parties to conflict all over the world to the same standard,” Inger Ashing, CEO of Save the Children International, said in a statement.

“Secretary-General (Antonio) Guterres is letting warring parties implicated in the deaths and maiming of children off the hook by leaving Israel, the Saudi-led coalition (in Yemen) and other violators off his ‘list of shame,'” said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “His repeated failure to base his list on the U.N.’s own evidence betrays children and fuels impunity.”

Responding to the criticism, Gamba said that regarding Israel, violations carried out during the recent fighting in Gaza would be examined in next year’s report.

She added that she did not experience any political pressure from parties in terms of who would be listed.

Source: Voice of America