Contributed by Renuka T. Balasubramanian, Co-Chairperson, MigRATE Working Group, Bar Council Human Rights Committee
Representatives of national governments, municipalities, non-governmental and inter-governmental organisations, academics and refugees participated in the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) Dialogue on Protection Challenges held in Geneva from 9-10 December 2009. The focus of the dialogue was on the hurdles faced by people of concern to UNHCR in cities and other urban settings
Migration Working Group (MWG) – a coalition of civil society organisations in Malaysia, and of which the Bar Council’s Human Rights Committee (HRC) is a member – was extended an invitation to the event by UNHCR. MWG in turn, nominated Renuka T. Balasubramaniam, Co-Chairperson of the HRC’s working group on Migrants, Refugees and Trafficked Persons (MigRATE), to attend the event. An invitation extended to the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur was politely declined, presumably because Malaysia has not ratified the Convention.
The two-day dialogue at the Palais de Nations, was preceded by a roundtable- “Humanitarian Challenges in the Context of Urbanization.” Mayors from some 20 cities around the world met with the purpose of promoting a free and frank discussion on specific challenges faced by cities and towns around the world and to highlight specific areas of concern and identify good practices. The outcome of the roundtable gathering was fed into the High Commissioner’s Dialogue.
The dialogue itself, opened with remarks by High Commissioner António Guterres and a brief video produced by UNHCR containing testimonies of urban refugees, a statement by Syrian Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Faisal Miqdad, a report from Geneva’s Mayor Remy Pagani and a report from an NGO representative on the 2009 NGO consultations.
Not surprisingly, the video featured two refugees currently living in Malaysia. While the first testimony was by a refugee man about the arrest and detention of more than 20 days of his wife and children, and his harrowing search for them, the second testimony concerned a refugee woman’s fear of arrest and detention resulting in her never leaving her home. Refugees living in urban settings in other parts of the world were also featured.
The participants of the Dialogue then broke into four separate group sessions, each of which explored the following key questions:
- Identifying populations of concern in urban settings and responding to vulnerabilities and risks: identification and profiling of individuals, families and communities; community outreach; registration; and documentation
- Securing “protection space” in urban settings: enjoyment of fundamental rights; meeting the specific protection needs of women and children; access to assistance and services; fostering an enabling environment; combating predatory practices; combating arbitrary detention; access to justice/legal remedies
- Livelihoods and self-reliance: building capacity, preserving social capital, and laying the ground for durable solutions
- Challenges for municipalities and authorities: urban planning, slum clearance, cities as theatres for emergencies, law and order
Read the rest of the news report here.
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