UNHCR Opens Office in Calais

Tightening of security between Dover and Calais has caused a "jungle like atmosphere in Calais." So much so that UNHCR has opened an office there. The Telegraph reports:

Security has been tightened at the port and far fewer illegal migrants get through to Britain now, according to the UK's Border Control Agency. It told The Sunday Telegraph that effective control of Calais port and the routes across the Channel was a success story.

But the fact that it is harder to reach Britain merely means that the migrants - almost all of them men and boys - hang around in Calais for even longer, months instead of weeks, as they attempt to stow away on lorries or in cars.

Meanwhile they [asylum seekers] live in conditions which are so appalling that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees opened an office in the town [Calais], only the second in Europe for an agency which is more typically found in troublespots like Congo or Pakistan.

UN officials feel they must do something for the inhabitants of the stinking "jungles" where desperate men and boys fight each other with knives and suffer diseases like scabies and TB, as the filth, frustration and violence take their toll.

The UNHCR works with hard-pressed charities that try to help the migrants and encourages them to apply for asylum in France. But only 120 enquiries have been made in the past month.

Marie-Ange Lascure, UNHCR's spokeswoman, said migrants were arriving in bigger numbers than a few years ago. "They want to go to England because the people smugglers tell them it is a beautiful place, where they can easily earn money to send home to their families," she said.

French police frequently raid the camps, and sometimes destroy them. Sixteen vanloads of CRS riot police arrived on Thursday as bulldozers levelled a derelict warehouse which 30 Sudanese from the war-torn province of Darfur had been using as a temporary home.

Many of the Afghans, who are now the majority of migrants at Calais, said they had fled the Taliban. Samim Siddique, 24, from Khost, rolled up his trouser leg to show a bayonet scar where he had been tortured by terrorists who wanted him to carry a bomb into the university where he was studying.

Overhauling UNHCR

William Dowell presents a well analyzed portrayal of UNHCR's overhaul under The High Commissioner, Antonio Guterres. Find the full article here. Notable points:

• In a landmark study of the UNHCR’s organizational culture released shortly after Guterres became High Commissioner in 2005, an external consultant, Barbara Wigley, notes that the UNHCR has two basic objectives: the protection of refugees, and the protection of its own existence. It follows that as money becomes tighter and staffers face uncertainty about their own future; the instinct for self-preservation becomes more intense.
• Instituting change at the UNHCR is complicated by the fact that a former High Commissioner, Sadako Ogata, converted the organization’s fixed-term contracts to permanent ones, in effect providing staff with lifetime tenure. As a result, it is nearly impossible to get rid of unproductive staffers or to introduce change. Today, about 100 staffers are classified as SIBAS (staff in between assignments). A significant number of others are on permanent sick leave. The cost to UNHCR of this staff is about $30 million a year, or 60 percent of the funding that the organization gets from private sector donors.
• Applying the “credibility through longevity” principle meant that it didn’t really matter whether staffers were actually accomplishing anything. The mere fact that they had held on to the job for a number of years was enough to establish their credibility over that of any newcomer. Since much of the staff had managed to survive doing the same thing, they saw no reason to change.
• In a farewell statement, Guterres publicly congratulated van Praag for his “significant contribution to UNHCR's efforts to raise support for refugees through innovative approaches to communications and fund raising that will leave an enduring legacy.” In fact, during van Praag’s brief tenure, the UNHCR had substantially improved its funding and its public image, but he had also encountered a series of management hurdles facing anyone determined to carry out U.N. reform.

UNHCR Concerned about Refoulement of Somalis from Kenya

From Reuters:

UNHCR wishes to express its concern about the increasing trend by the Kenyan authorities to forcibly return Somali asylum seekers to their country. On Wednesday, 31 March, 31 asylum seekers, including nine men, eight women and 14 children, traveling by bus to Dadaab refugee camps were forcibly returned to Somalia. UNHCR received information from a government official that the military intercepted the bus and took the asylum seekers to Dadaab police station then later escorted the bus back to Dobley, a centre near the Somali border.When we requested intervention, we were informed that the police and military continue to return asylum seekers to Somalia acting on instructions from the authorities in the Provincial Headquarters in Garissa.

UNHCR Educational Toolkit for Young People

The UN refugee agency and its partner, the International Organization for Migration, launched an innovative educational toolkit designed to inform young people about the main migration and asylum issues in the European Union (EU).

Aimed at 12-18-year-olds in Europe, the kit will contribute to the efforts of UNHCR, the IOM and the EC to promote public understanding of the situation of asylum seekers and migrants and to combat discrimination and prejudice. Many young people in Europe have concerns about immigration and asylum that are based on misperception and misinformation – the toolkit aims to counter this. UNHCR and IOM believe education is the key to forging a healthy relationship between host communities and immigrants.

By means of short films and a simple teacher's manual, the toolkit provides lesson plans, learning activities and other educational resources that can be used inside and outside the classroom. The kit is currently available in English, but there will soon be versions in 20 European languages on the UNHCR and IOM websites.

More on 'Refugee Run'

It even made Fox News:

Are you looking for a little excitement in your life? Imagine what fun it would be to live through a rebel attack...to navigate a minefield...to negotiate with corrupt officials and border guards in a desperate effort to survive.

Thanks to a U.N.-sponsored exhibition, visitors to the World Economic Forum in Davos last week got just that opportunity -- at a theme park with a name right out of Disney: "Refugee Run."

Visitors were given the opportunity to experience the harsh conditions that millions of refugees and internally displaced people face daily in some of the world's most hostile environments and killing fields – exciting places like Darfur, Congo, Iraq and Pakistan.

Walk in and you can visit a small tent similar to the ones you see in Darfur, a canvas cover over a dirt floor. Move on to a larger tent, a replica of the shelters that house large numbers of Afghan refugees and familiea in Pakistan or Iran.

We’re taking fun for the entire family -- don't forget to visit the gift shop. And when your day in refugee hell is over, you go back to your hotel at this Swiss mountain retreat and relax in your luxurious jacuzzi.

Refugee Run -- promotional posters were everywhere on the snow-covered streets and resembled the old ads for the movies "Logan's Run" and "Midnight Run" -- left some participants enraged, and others rolling on the floor in laughter, that the misery of millions could be marketed so tastelessly at this gathering of the rich and famous.

"Isn't this just a tad different from the life of an actual refugee, at risk of all too real rape, murder, hunger, and disease? Did the words "insensitive," "dehumanizing," or "disrespectful" ever come up in discussing the plans for 'Refugee Run'?"

But others, including some influential figures, were supportive of the exhibition.

"The exhibition is artificial, but anything that sensitizes people to the harsh realities of refugees can only be a plus," said former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Refugee Run "a profound experience that reminds us of the plight of millions of forcibly displaced people."

And Virgin Group Chairman Sir Richard Branson, a corporate supporter of UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, said, "it's beautifully done."

The UNHCR sponsored Refugee Run in an effort to secure private sector interest and funding for its global operations from the rich and richer at the World Economic Forum. The objective was to increase private sector contributions to $100 million annually, said Olivier Delarue, head of UNHCR's Corporate and Foundation Partnership Unit.

U.N. officials said that reaching out to the corporate world for support is essential, because 98 percent of UNHCR's operations are dependent upon voluntary contributions from governments, individuals, corporations and foundations. In 2008, the private sector contributed about $50 million to the agency's annual budget of $1.7 billion to support millions of refugees and internally displaced persons around the planet.

Delarue said hundreds of World Economic Forum participants visited "Refugee Run," including the CEOs of Nike Inc. and Gucci Group.

Delarue said Refugee Run cost less then $100,000 and was funded completely by a private-sector umbrella group that includes representatives from Nike, Microsoft, Manpower, Price Waterhouse Coopers and others.

More on "Refugee Run" at Davos

In debates, Bill Easterly points out the use of the "Trump Card" that " allegedly overturn any other argument, instead of practicing reasoned arguments based on logic, common sense, and evidence." UNHCR used a "Trump Card" argument in defending its "Refugee Run" at Davos:

One attempted “trump card” is that an “authentic” member of group X is in favor of a certain policy towards group X. The hidden assumption is that any “authentic” member of group X can speak for all other members of group X, and knows what is best for group X. When these hidden assumptions are clearly stated, they are clearly silly. I was authentically born in West Virginia, but I would not dare claim to know what’s best for Appalachian poverty based on my accident of birth (or speak for my fellow “Appalachians.”)

A recent use of this “trump card” was UNHCR’s statement defending its “Refugee Run” at Davos, which we debated on this blog last week: “The exhibit received a seal of approval from a genuine refugee, Raphael Mwandu from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.” I have every respect for Mr. Mwandu’s opinion, but I don’t approve of UNHCR’s using him as a trump card. What did it mean that one refugee was “genuine” – did they disqualify some other refugees that were not “genuine”?

"Refugee Run" at Davos

Bill Easterly was invited to the "Refugee Run" at Davos from UNHCR, apparently a theme park like experience of what it is like to be a refugee. There are so many things wrong with this and Easterly points them out:

When somebody sent me this invitation from Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, I thought at first it was a joke from the Onion. What do you think of the Davos rich and powerful going through the “Refugee Run” theme park re-enactment of life in a refugee camp?

Can Davos man empathize with refugees when he or she is not in danger and is going back to a luxury banquet and hotel room afterwards? Isn’t this just a tad different from the life of an actual refugee, at risk of all too real rape, murder, hunger, and disease?

Did the words “insensitive,” “dehumanizing,” or “disrespectful” (not to mention “ludicrous”) ever come up in discussing the plans for “Refugee Run”?

I hope such bad taste does not reflect some inability in UNHCR to see refugees as real people with their own dignity and rights.

Of course, I understand that there were good intentions here, that you really want rich people to have a consciousness of tragedies elsewhere in the world, and mobilize help for the victims. However, I think a Refugee Theme Park crosses a line that should not be crossed. Sensationalizing and dehumanizing and patronizing results in bad aid policy – if you have little respect for the dignity of individuals you are trying to help, you are not going to give THEM much say in what THEY want and need, and how you can help THEM help themselves?

Unfortunately, sensationalizing, patronizing, and dehumanizing attitudes are real ongoing issue in foreign aid. David Rieff in his great book A Bed For the Night talks about how humanitarian agencies universally picture children in their publicity campaigns, as if the parents of these children are irrelevant. A classic Rieff quote: “There are two groups of people who like to be photographed with children: dictators and aid officials.”

Alex de Waal in his equally great book Famine Crimes (and continuing writings since) writes about “disaster pornography.” He gives an example of a Western television producer in Somalia in 1992-93 who said to a local Somali doctor: “pick the children who are most severely malnourished” and bring them to be photographed.

Here’s a resolution to be proposed at Davos: we rich people hereby recognize each and every citizen of the globe as an individual with their own human dignity equal to our own, regardless of their poverty or refugee status. And Davos man: please give Refugee Run a pass.

UNHCR Online Game

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) launched an online game in the United Kingdom that pits players against repressive governments, skeptical officials and unsympathetic neighbors as they try to flee persecution and seek sanctuary in a new, safe country.

Gamers playing "Against All Odds" find themselves facing the brute force of a repressive regime just for taking part in a peaceful march. Fearing even worse to come, players of UNHCR's new game must flee their country and become a refugee in order to escape persecution, taking only what they can carry in a small rucksack. Arriving in a strange city where they know no one and don't understand the language, gamers must find shelter and support while trying to settle in a new land.

"Every day, desperate people must flee because of human rights abuse and war, with no choice but to abandon their homelands," said Peter Kessler, UN Refugee Agency spokesman. "Players of "Against All Odds" get to experience some of the challenges refugees have to face, including being persecuted and forced to flee their own home and having to confront discrimination while trying to start a new life abroad."

Luol Deng and UNHCR

Chicago Bulls basketball player Luol Deng is the latest high-profile supporter of UNHCR's ninemillion.org campaign, which raises funds to provide education and sports activities for millions of young refugees around the world. The 23-year-old fled his native South Sudan as a child and ended up as a refugee in England. He went to the United States to study in his teens and joined the Chicago Bulls in 2004 as a forward. He pledges to donate US$50 to ninemillion.org for every basket he scored this past season.

UNHCR Calls for More Funding for Iraqi Refugees

The UNHCR warns it may have to reduce or even suspend a number of aid programs for hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees because it has received only about half of the $261 million it needs.

Sports school gives hope to Colombian refugees in Ecuador

Race walking, a sport that won Ecuador its only gold medal, is giving hope to some Colombian refugee children a chance at a new life in Ecuador. The Race Walking School in Cuenca, which is known for the training of Ecuador's finest athletes has opened its doors to the refugees in hopes the program will help children settle into their new life.

"Joakim Daun, a Swedish intern with the UNHCR office in Cuenca, came up with the idea of starting the scholarship programme. A former athlete, Daun said he recognized the power of sports as a tool for personal development and as an engine for integration."

According to UNHCR estimates, Ecuador is home to at least 180,000 people who have fled Colombia because of the internal conflict in that country. Only 55,000 have applied for asylum.

UNHCR: Greece treatment of asylum seekers too harsh

The UNHCR has advised the European Union not to send asylum seekers to Greece under the Dublin Convention.

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Friday in a statement that asylum seekers faced “undue hardships” in Greece, often lacking “the most basic entitlements, such as interpreters and legal aid, to ensure that their claims receive adequate scrutiny from the asylum authorities.”

The refugee agency described Greece’s recognition rate for refugees as “disturbingly low.” The overall protection rate for refugees of all nationalities in 2006 was 1 percent in Greece, compared with 24 percent in Britain, 45 percent in Italy, 19 percent in Spain and 50 percent in Sweden.

UNHCR and FC Barcelona Partnership

When is comes to advocacy, UNHCR is no small player- they seem to be able to get the most popular celebrities and athletic teams to promote their cause. Joining the ranks of Angelina Jolie, is FC Barcelona, who has signed a partnership agreement aimed at using sports to provide refugee children with life skills.

"The main objective of the new partnership is to raise public awareness of the protection needs of refugees and other uprooted people around the world and to promote the role of education and sport in the development and well being of refugees, particularly children. As a first step, UNHCR and FC Barcelona will jointly identify and design a number of education and life skills projects through sport activities which will benefit refugees in Ecuador, Nepal and Rwanda."

See:

UNHCR and Barcelona Football Club launch partnership to help refugee children through sport

FC Barcelona and UNHCR

Marathon Fundraiser in Algeria for Sahrawis

UNHCR reports:
"Hundreds of runners taking part in this year's Sahara Marathon have donated US$22,500 to construct a sports centre for Sahrawi refugees from Western Sahara in southern Algeria. Some 400 people, including refugees and runners from almost 20 countries, took part in the February 25 event, which included a full marathon as well as shorter races for adults and children. It was held in and around Smara, one of five camps near the border with West Sahara that hold some 200,000 Sahrawis. Aside from taking part in the races, the overseas competitors were able to experience some of the hardship that the Sahrawis have to endure every day in camps like Smara."