UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES MARKS 50TH ANNIVERSARY WITH REPORT ON ASYLEES AND REFUGEES

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recently released a report dealing with the worldwide problem of refugees, a report that presents a possibly bleak future.  According to the report, unless advanced countries do more to address the factors that create refugees – war and poverty – refugees will continue to be created at an alarming rate.  The report says that entry restrictions that have recently been enacted by the US and European nations are not effective, and merely drive asylum seekers into the hands of smugglers.

The UNHCR was created in 1951 to deal with the resettlement of refugees created by World War Two.  Originally meant to be a temporary agency, it has since been involved in some of the biggest refugee crises of the past 50 years.  The report noted with sadness the fact that the UNHCR may be more needed now than ever before, with more than one million people being displaced by war during 1999 alone.

The report takes European countries to task for policies that are designed to deter undocumented immigration and fraudulent asylum claims that have made it very difficult for people to win valid claims.  US asylum policy was also criticized for the same reasons.

According to UNHCR estimates, there are nearly six million refugees today.  The largest refugee populations are as follows:

Afghanistan 2.6 million
Angola           349,600
Bosnia           472,700
Burundi         524,700
Iraq                 639,300
Somalia         496,200
Sudan            474,700
Vietnam         326,300

The report is available on the UNHCR’s website at www.unhcr.ch.

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