Meeting with UNHCR Middle East and North Africa Bureau
14 June 2016
This is a report of the meeting on 14 June 2016 between Australian NGO and community representatives with UNHCR Middle East and North Africa Bureau. The first part of this report outlines the concerns raised at the meeting and the responses of UNHCR. The second part of this report sets out the concerns raised in more detail.
Report of meeting
The representatives from Australian NGOs and the community were Paul Power, representing the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA); Carmen Lazar, representing the Assyrian Australian Association (AAAA); Joseph Youhana, representing AMES Australia; Esta Paschalidis-Chilas, representing Settlement Services International (SSI). They met with staff from the UNHCR Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Bureau on 14 June 2016 in Geneva to discuss issues raised by communities in Australia relevant to the MENA region and Turkey.
UNHCR provided a number of updates on their work with regards to these issues, summarised below:
Regional situation
The situation for Syrians in the MENA region has deteriorated over the past six months. Resources are short. More children are out of school, child marriages are taking place and domestic violence is at high levels because of the pressures being faced by refugees. UNHCR simply doesn’t have enough funds for vital work, with its MENA education program only 26% funded. UNHCR is trying to put resources into formal education.
Despite the numbers of Syrians in Turkey increasing to 2.5 million, there are dramatic decreases in the numbers of refugees moving on to Europe because of the European responses to new arrivals. The reception conditions in Greece are very bad. Because of its economic crisis, the Greek Government cannot hire additional staff and can now hire only one new staff member for every five staff retrenched. We all need to discourage refugees from travelling to Europe because, under current conditions, it won’t work well for them. Seeking asylum is increasingly difficult and lengthy.
Turkey
The Turkish Government will begin conducting Refugee Status Determination (RSD) processing. UNHCR suggested that this may be a positive move in terms of the Turkish government’s access to resources and overall capacity to manage this work. UNHCR is doing a verification exercise to see who the refugees are in Turkey and their level of vulnerability. Up to now, it has been quite ad hoc to identify vulnerable people. It is not a systematic process.
UNHCR is expecting resettlement from Turkey to increase to between 21,000 and 25,000 Syrians this year. Currently the United States is taking nearly all the Iraqi refugees who are resettled from Turkey, with Australia taking a small number of Iraqis for resettlement, mainly through the Special Humanitarian Program.
Australian delegates raised their concerns regarding interpreters in UNHCR offices in Turkey, with some refugees being afraid to disclose information through interpreters from their country of origin. UNHCR responded that using national staff as interpreters can avoid the situation whereby refugees are afraid to relay personal details of their cases through an interpreter from their community. They also advised that all interviews (at the resettlement stage) are recorded on tape and can be checked. UNHCR double-checks information with the applicant at the end of each interview. If a refugee doesn’t feel comfortable with an interpreter, he or she should immediately alert UNHCR staff. UNHCR finds that, where there is a conflict between information given on a form and that given in an interview, it can often be the result of a refugee being misinformed by someone else and told to give a particular story. Even if this happens, refugees should be encouraged to be upfront about this and tell UNHCR. This won’t affect their application.
Regarding the question of birth registration of Mandaeans in Turkey, UNHCR said it did not have information on this and would need to get back to us later.
Lebanon
Currently one in four people in Lebanon are Syrian. UNHCR described Lebanese people as being welcoming to refugees but noted that there were instances of reported discrimination. Sudanese and Iraqi refugees are both visible caseloads.
In Lebanon, refugees from some minorities often delayed their registration with UNHCR as they often felt they could get better support from a church group and relatives. Now that the situation is worsening in Lebanon, people are trying to register but cannot be officially registered because of the Lebanese Government’s decision to stop new registration of refugees. UNHCR is being prevented from registering them but is recording details and keeping them in a separate register.
In Lebanon, everyone is vaccinated for polio and there are vaccinations campaigns for other diseases. Information about this can be found online through the Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees (VASyR) documents on the UNHCR Syrian portal. 96% were vaccinated according to the latest survey. UNHCR doesn’t vaccinate in Turkey because it doesn’t register refugees. Syrian refugees in Turkey can get assistance from hospitals. For Iraqis and Iranians, the situation is more complicated but refugees should still seek help from hospitals.
Jordan
In Jordan, the Australian Government is using an NGO called ‘Hope and Trust’ to help in processing resettlement applications. UNHCR is under the impression that it is a trustworthy organisation and would be interested to hear if people believe this impression is incorrect.
Syria
For Iraqi refugees in Syria, processing of resettlement applications is still continuing. People are coming to the UNHCR office in Damascus for video conference interviews with staff from resettlement states. There was a problem with collecting biometrics for resettlement to Australia. However, this will now be overcome because Australian embassy staff have trained the UNHCR staff based in Damascus to collect the required biometric material. Of the Iraqi Palestinians who made it to Syria after the closure of the Al Tanf and Al Waleed camps in 2009 and 2010, some have made it to Damascus. A small number are still left in Syria. UNHCR is trying to get them resettled to Australia. Of those remaining, the majority are receiving some assistance from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Yemen
UNHCR’s ability to resettle from Yemen is extremely limited because of the civil war there and the lack of access to parts of the country for UNHCR staff. The UNHCR office continues to operate in Sana’a but has closed in Aden. Refugees are being resettled in very small numbers to France and Sweden.
Egypt
UNHCR estimates there are approximately half a million refugees in Egypt, which has a population of almost 20 million. UNHCR also described the number of resettlement places as currently very low with only the most vulnerable cases being processed. UNHCR is trying to resettle equal numbers of Syrian and non-Syrian refugees. In total, only 2000 to 5000 refugees are being resettled a year.
Libya
The situation in Libya is extremely difficult, with local UNHCR staff unable to leave their homes because of safety concerns. UNHCR is working through an implementing partner based in a military hospital. Resettlement is almost impossible. Just three refugees have been resettled recently, victims of a very serious bus accident.
Corruption and exploitation
Regarding exploitation of refugees by agents seeking to profit from resettlement, UNHCR has videos playing at the reception areas of its offices explaining the resettlement process. UNHCR emphasises that its services are free and warns people against accessing fraudulent websites. It is really important that diasporas emphasise that refugees should avoid agents. People are innocently giving information to agents, thinking it will help their case but it is being used to exploit them. Through Jason Low, UNHCR could put together material for NGOs in Australia to distribute.
Resettlement to Australia
UNHCR has made 5500 resettlement submissions (Syrians and Iraqis) from the region to the Australian Government. These include 1500 Syrians from Jordan, 3800 refugees from Lebanon (mostly Syrians but several hundred Iraqis) and a small number of refugees from Turkey. There are now an increasing number of visa grants to Australia for refugees in Lebanon but still few in Jordan. UNHCR hasn’t been informed about the number of submissions required by Australia for the new financial year. UNHCR also has no information on the number of Special Humanitarian visa grants to Australia.
UNHCR refers people for resettlement based on their vulnerability, focusing on people who have protection problems in the country of asylum. These tend to be families rather than single men. But if a single man has a protection need, UNHCR will refer him for resettlement.
Australia will reject any refugees who are close family members of refugees who have entered Australia by boat. Attitudes about which family relationships bar people from entering Australia do vary, depending on the particular Australian embassy involved in the processing of the resettlement application. UNHCR does advocate for individual cases which have been rejected but gets nowhere.
Follow-up items:
Diaspora communities in Australia to be encouraged to assist with education about corruption and exploitation within their communities.
Australian NGOs to push the Australian government for faster processing of resettlement cases from the MENA region and to be more responsive to diverse caseloads (eg single males)
Issues Raised by Refugee Communities in Australia: Middle East and North Africa Region and Turkey
The following summarises issues and concerns identified through ongoing consultations involving refugee communities across Australia. Members of RCOA have worked together to prioritise the issues and questions summarised below.
Syrian and Iraqi resettlement
The Australian government made an announcement to resettle an additional 12,000 people from Iraq and Syria through its offshore resettlement program in late 2014. Communities and support agencies in Australia have been disappointed by the slow processing times and small number of arrivals to date, and are seeking to understand how to support the faster processing and arrival of those awaiting resettlement in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.
In addition, members of the Mandaean community in Australia have requested information on the status of Iraqi Mandaeans who were in Syria awaiting final visa grants when the situation in Syria deteriorated and have had their cases on hold since.
Can UNHCR provide information on resettlement processing in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey and how Australia NGOs can support your efforts to provide timely processing?
Exploitation surrounding resettlement processes
In Australia, community members with links in Iraq and Syria have spoken about exploitation in the resettlement process. There are reports of refugees paying thousands of dollars to “agents” to facilitate resettlement; of threats being made by those trying to extort money; of money being paid for poorly-qualified people to fill in forms (where they “cut and paste” generic information); of people demanding gifts or favours so that an application can be made or be “put to the top of the pile”; or of family members left behind having to “repay the favour” if a family is resettled.
We have also heard of information that is contained in resettlement application forms being shared with people who do not work for the UNHCR or Australian embassy (particularly in Jordan), and of people buying the stories and case numbers of other people.The difficulty is, when asked for specific details, community members are reluctant to disclose information, are unclear about whether any of this has had any effect, or they believe it did work for others based on rumour and incomplete information.
Can UNHCR provide any information about strategies to address exploitation that is taking place in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey surrounding resettlement processes and how communities are being engaged to address rumours and misinformation about these processes?
Lebanon
Diaspora communities in Australia with family in Lebanon raised a number of concerns regarding access to medical services, mental health of children and the priority given to cases. For example, members of the Iraqi diaspora in Australia reported faster processing of Syrian cases over Iraqi cases in Lebanon and that this is fuelling mistrust and tensions.
Is there accessible information that can be provided to Iraqi and Syrian communities – including diaspora communities in Australia – about realistic processing times and priorities in Lebanon, that may address misinformation and mistrust?
In terms of access to health for refugees in Lebanon, there is growing concern around the increasing cost of health services and medicine. Particular concern was expressed about the need forchildren tobe registered in school in order to access free basic health care, including standard vaccinations. As the bureau is aware, school registration is expensive and due to the high levels of unemployment for refugees in Lebanon many are unable to cover these costs. Many community members in Australia are supporting family and friends to pay for health expenses in Lebanon, but are looking for other ways that more affordable and sustainable health services can be supported.
Can UNHCR provide any information on how vaccinations for children may be accessed for those not registered in schools and suggest ways in which diaspora communities in Australia may be able to support local efforts to provide basic health services?
Syrians
The Syrian diaspora in Australia has put forward a number of suggestions for how they could work with UNHCR to develop support for Syrian refugees across the region. The key areas of concern for Syrian diaspora include improving access to basic necessities such as food, as well as English language education and improved communication between Syrian refugees and UNHCR staff. Syrian community members – many of who have very recently arrived in Australia – have asked whether UNHCR would consider employing Syrian staff as community contact points, to address gaps in communication and resulting frustration. They also asked about the possibilities for supporting Syrian teachers to set up community-run schools in camps.
Can UNHCR provide advice on how Syrian diaspora communities can support the development of community-run education projects in camps and communities in the MENA region?
Egypt
Oromo community advocates report poor treatment by national staff in the UNHCR office in Cairo, lack of accessibility to UNHCR and lack of appropriate Afaan Oromo interpreters. General insecurity, long waiting periods for RSD, the reported high rejection rate of Oromo cases in Egypt and fears about deportation are forcing Oromo community members to move irregularly to seek asylum in Europe. Community members report that experiences of hostility and harassment by local community members have escalated in the context of the current standoff between Ethiopia and Egypt over the Blue Nile Dam and local resentment against Oromo refugees. They also report escalating fears about the suspicious deaths of a number of Oromo asylum seekers who were being treated at hospitals for non-life threatening conditions.
Mandaeans
Members from the Mandaean diaspora in Australia have raised a number of concerns aboutthe need for basic necessities, access to information, mental health and discrimination by UNHCR staff, particularly in Turkey. They say that there is great mistrust of UNHCR by Mandaean refugees who feel that they are not being heard or given the opportunity to express their situations. In addition, they noted how poor communications by UNHCR on the status of cases, particularly those who receive ongoing updates that their case has been pushed back, is having serious impact in terms of mental health. They are seeing increasing numbers of cases of self-harm and attempted suicide due to the distress caused by this miscommunication and prolonged wait periods.
Mandaean community members have also highlighted issues around cultural and religious considerations that they feel are vitally important. For example, birth registrations in Turkey do not allow people to be recorded as Mandaeans and parents must register their children as Christian, Muslim or Jewish, which means that they are at risk of being excluded from Mandaean traditions such as burial rights. In Mandaean culture it is traditional for the holy man to be use river water as part of their religious practices. Mandaean refugees request that they have access to river water so that they may continue these traditions. Community members says that UNHCR Turkey continues to reject this request by the Mandaean people. Mandaean holy men and Mandaean men have begun to take dangerous and expensive journeys into the mountains to find river water and there have been an increasing number of serious injuries as a result of these journeys.
Can UNHCR provide suggestions on how the Mandaean diaspora can advocate on the issue of birth registrations in Turkey?
1