HKMUN 2013: Chair Report of the General Assembly Forum: Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Committee Issue: Integration

of Refugees into New Societies Student Officer: Lucien Wang and Tiffany Chung Position: Chair of Historical General Assembly and President of the General Assembly This guide should serve as a helpful introduction to the topic and possible questions. Independent Research is expected and encouraged.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of Brotherhood. Article One of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Introduction
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established in 1950 to lead international cooperation in advocating and safeguarding the rights of refugees, as well as address the high numbers caused by factors such as conflict, famine and political persecution. The number of refugees in the world has dropped significantly with the help of the UNHCR, but it is still difficult for most refugees to achieve integration and acknowledgement of citizenship or official refugee status in host countries. Reintegration of refugees into their host societies is paramount to social harmony and the ability of the refugees to reestablish themselves in completely alien land. Integration may refer to the socio-economic integration of the group through reeducation or foreign language courses to break down the language barrier that often impedes basic integration such as employment and education, which have long term impacts on demographics and independence. It may correspond with expediting the legal process of recognition, be it official refugee status or citizenship. This is crucial, as without this recognition causes issues such as inability to seek employment and education, and basic healthcare provisions. The UN recognizes that ultimately, without settling the difficulty that refugees face in their attempts to integrate, the problems caused by the existence of large numbers of refugees, such as economic strain, political strain and racial tensions, cannot be solved. Refugees within a new country often experience difficult adjustment problems such as finding accommodation, learning a new language, learning how to shop, understanding the education system,

and finding and keeping a job. For refugees, this steep learning curve must be faced with personal resources diminished by the effects of their experiences of loss, dislocation and grief, torture and trauma, and cultural differences. Psychiatric conditions are also prevalent. PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is common, which is associated with depression and anxiety. Refugees experience nightmares, insomnia, concentration difficulties, bouts of uncontrollable anger, withdrawal, and flashbacks of their abuse. The difficulties of detention, racial prejudice, bureaucratic technicalities, a foreign culture and language and poverty contribute to a continuous traumatic stress disorder. A failure to adapt to a new culture, the disintegration of family and continued environmental isolation can prevent integration into a new society. The aim is not assimilation per se but to retain basic ethnic identity while coming to respect and understand the values of the new country.

Key Terms
UNHCR
The UNHCR, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, was established in December 14, 1950 and protects and supports refugees at the request of a government or the United Nations and assists in their return or resettlement. Protecting refugees was made the core mandate of the UN refugee agency, which was set up to look after refugees, specifically those waiting to return home at the end of World War II. UNHCR provides protection and assistance to asylum seekers, refugees who have returned home but still need help in rebuilding their lives, local civilian communities directly affected by the movements of refugees, stateless people and so-called internally displaced people (IDPs). IDPs are civilians who have been forced to flee their homes, but who have not reached a neighboring country and therefore, unlike refugees, are not protected by international law and may find it hard to receive any form of assistance. As the nature of war has changed in the last few decades, with more and more internal conflicts replacing interstate wars, the number of IDPs has increased significantly to an estimated 5 million people worldwide. The UNHCR has offered protection and assistance to tens of millions of refugees, finding durable solutions for many of them. Global migration patterns have become increasingly complex in modern times, involving not just refugees, but also millions of economic migrants.

1951 Refugee Convention definition of refugee

The 1951 Refugee Convention, establishing the UNHCR, spells out that a refugee is someone 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."

Asylum
Asylum refers to the protection offered by a country to refugees. Asylum-seekers are those who have asked to be recognised as refugees, but whose claims have not yet been accepted or denied.

Statelessness
A stateless person is someone who is not considered as a national by any state. Statelessness can occur in many contexts, for instance, when a countrys nationality law excludes certain groups, or in cases of state succession, or when there are conflicts of laws between states.

Country Case Studies

Australia
Since World War II, 5.5 million people have migrated to Australia, about 600 000 of them as refugees. Past UNHCR officials have raised concerns about Australia's mandatory detention of asylum seekers and the length of security assessments by Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (AISO), including the need for ''checks and balances'' in the security assessment process. This is due the nature in which many of the refugees arrive to the country. In relation to off-shore processing of asylum claims, the UNHCR has advocated for Australia to grant access to their territory for people in need of protection, no matter how they arrive.

Brazil
On a visit by High Commissioner Antnio Guterres to Brazil in 2011, refugees from Asia, South America, Africa and the Caribbean shared their experience in the integration challenges they faced in Brazil, including finding employment, becoming self-sufficient, obtaining decent housing, access to education and more. The Commissioner remarked that Brazil had some of the most advanced refugee legislation in the world, in terms of protection and rights, but that complex integration problems still persisted within Brazilian society. The UNHCR also welcomed the government's decision to increase the budget for local integration initiatives, saying that this would help make the integration of refugees in Brazilian society "more harmonious." The Commissioner also indicated that xenophobia, racism and intolerance were some of the main threats to the protection of refugees on a global scale. Brazil is also one of the few countries in the world that offers resettlement to refugees.

Europe
While it is widely acknowledged that the successful integration of refugees in European countries is of benefit to all (refugees, host communities, governments, economies, etc), the distinct climate of intolerance and racism in Europe is having a negative impact on the integration process of refugees. Refugees are often marginalised - through negative media reporting, political antipathy, insecure legal status, a lack of educational and employment opportunities, and/or hostility from local communities there is less integration. Those who feel threatened or excluded from the host society, instead of striving to belong, may seek to emphasise their difference through isolating themselves in their own

communities and may also be more open to radical influences. Some policies of European states undermine integration, while many policies in place to promote it are not being effectively implemented. The debate in Europe often places the onus on the responsibilities of refugees to integrate themselves. ECRE (European Council on Refugees and Exiles) and its member agencies stress the need to approach the integration of refugees as a dynamic two-way process which begins from the day a refugee arrives within the new host society.

Portugal
In a recent study conducted by the PRC, the Portuguese Refugee Council, several difficulties and dilemmas have emerged with the reintegration of refugees into society. A sample group of different refugees, including those from Africa, Eastern Europe, Vietnam, Pakistan and India were used, with the male representation higher than the female representation within the group. Most of them were aged between 25 and 34, where around 60% were men. Despite the fact that 40% of the sample population have been living in Portugal for more than two years, most of them still could not get recognition of refugee status or the granting of any protection (temporary or humanitarian). Some others benefit from a temporary residence permit although this can at any moment be withdrawn, imposing the return to the country of origin. The individuals that were questioned wished to restore their lives in Portugal, although many of them are still in legal situations that are not yet resolved.

South Africa
Xenophobia and the fear of refugees remains a severe problem in South Africa. Much of the thought behind this stemmed from the institutionalised racism of the time of apartheid. Between 1984 and the end of hostilities in SA, an estimated 250,000 to 350,000 Mozambicans fled to South Africa. While never granted refugee status they were technically allowed to settle in the bantustans (black homelands) created by the apartheid government. The reality was more varied, with the homeland of Lebowa banning Mozambican settlers outright while Gazankulu welcomed the refugees with support in the form of land and equipment. Those in Gazankulu, however, found themselves confined to the homeland and liable for deportation should they enter South Africa proper, and evidence exists that their hosts denied them access to economic resource. Unrest and civil war likewise saw large numbers of Congolese immigrate to South Africa, many illegally, in 1993 and 1997. Subsequent studies found indications of xenophobic attitudes towards these refugees, typified by their being denied access to the primary healthcare to which they were technically entitled.

Uganda
An example of a success story in promoting refugee livelihoods is the Uganda Self Reliance Strategy (SRS). This strategy drawn up by the Government of Uganda and UNHCR has as its overall goal to improve the standard of living of the people of refugee hosting districts, including the refugees. In this

regard, the Government of Uganda has among others, provided refugees with agricultural land with the objective of making them self-sufficient pending a durable solution. As a result refugees in the refugee hosting districts have progressively become productive members of their communities and have to some extent contributed to the overall development and poverty alleviation of host districts. Moreover, the SRS has also contributed to a change in attitude among refugees and the host communities from free handouts to self help and capacity building, and peaceful co-existence between the two communities. The provision of land and opportunities to refugees in the refugee hosting areas under the right of use for the time refugees are in exile, is seen as instrumental in the refugees progress towards self-reliance and the improvement of their livelihoods. More recent research in Uganda (Sebba, 2005), confirms that access to land and the right to use it is essential for the livelihoods of rural communities However, the situation of urban refugees living in Ugandas capital Kampala is less conducive. According to Macchiavello (2003), an estimated 15,000 refugees live in Kampala but are unable to fully use their skills for the benefit of their families or the Ugandan economy. This is mainly caused by the failure of Ugandan law to give refugees legal rights to work.

Possible approaches
The time has come for action. The United Nations recognizes that the issue of refugees reintegrating into societies is a sensitive topic, yet one that deeply influences the goal of universal human rights. Delegates must recognize the difference between addressing issues such as the Rights of Refugees, Provisions for refugees and other unrelated refugee-connected issues and the topic at hand, which specifically deals with the issue of Reintegration of Refugees in new societies. Thus, resolutions must be made pertaining to the topic of refugee reintegration, especially considering issues regarding readjustment such as the psychological and economic statuses of reintegrated refugees. Countries should also address the problem of legal recognition of refugees, and the provisions(or restrictions) made to ease their transition. Furthermore, issues of culture, racial prejudice and xenophobia can be addressed. The issues of detention and the classification of refugees could also be defined and reinforced. Environmental isolation, community and social tension, education and healthcare topics may also be brought up. Interesting past resolutions to explore include the 1951 Refugee Convention, the 1954 UN Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1990 UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.

Bibliography and other resources

Integration in Australia http://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/48033/1/hdl_48033.pdf http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/research/_pdf/economic-civic-social-contributionsrefugees-humanitarian-entrants-literature-review.pdf

http://www.unhcr.org/4f4b51a26.html Integration in Brazil http://www.unhcr.org/4e3ff6676.html Integration in Europe www.ecre.org/component/downloads/downloads/124.html Integration in Portugal http://www.refugiados.net/cid_virtual_bkup/integra/rint_in1.html Integration in South Africa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophobia_in_South_Africa Integration in Uganda http://www.unhcr.org/4423fe5d2.pdf Integration in US http://www.churchworldservice.org/site/DocServer/Refugee_Integration_in_the_United_States.pdf?do cID=3923 UNHCR http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c125.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugee Key Definitions and Integration with the help of the Council of Europe http://book.coe.int/ftp/3582.pdf Education of Refugees http://www.unhcr.org/4fe317589.pdf