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In Exile for Generations... Book Launch on Protracted Refugee Situations
26 November, 2008
The Book Launch on November 25, 2008 at the UN Headquarters was devoted to the recently published UNU Press book "Protracted Refugee Situations: Political, Human Rights and Security Implications" edited by Gil Loescher, James Milner, Edward Newman and Gary Troeller.
The book considers the current international framework for dealing with protracted refugee situations. The main humanitarian agency responsible for the dealing with the situation of refugees,the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), still struggles to develop a durable solution to protracted refugee situations.
Dr Gary Troeller, one of the co-editors of the book, and Mr Brian Gorlick, from UNHCR New York, were invited to this launch as the main speakers.
Dr Gary Troeller, a Co-Director of the UNU-Alchemy Foundation Project on Protracted Refugee Situations and a Co-Chair of the Inter-University Committee on International Migration served previously as a senior official with UNHCR and as an Advisor to the UN Commission on International Migration.
Dr Troeller highlighted that one of the main purposes of this project was to keep this crucial issue on the international agenda, particularly in terms of the human rights and security dimensions. The book contains a broad overview of all the actors concerned, as well as publicising some worrying statistics: in 1993 48% of refugees were considered to be in a 'protracted' refugee situation. Today that number has reached 67%.
Dr Troeller also emphasised another important question. When refugees return, what do they go back to? This issue remains also unresolved.
As the main humanitarian agency responsible for refugees, UNHCR and its work was a central part of the conversation. According to Dr Troeller, it often tries to do too much by itself. Overloaded with work, it struggles to deal with the situation nowadays. Often the UNHCR even finds itself taking on the role of a surrogate state. Improved efforts on behalf of selected national governments would be necessary and helpful with respect to improving the efficiency of overall approaches to such situations.
Concluding his presentation, Dr Troeller stressed the necessity for a multidimensional comprehensive approach.
The second speaker - Mr Brian Gorlick - works presently as a Senior Policy Advisor (Humanitarian & Gender) at the UNHCR Office in New York. He stressed that this book is extremely timely. It not only includes very broad research of the issue, but proposes the ways how the international community shall deal with this situation and highlights the practices when the situation of the protracted refugees was successfully managed with political will. It is absolutely necessary for UNHCR and other relevant UN actors to be politically engaged in the issue of protracted refugee situations.
The Panel Discussion both of the book and topic provoked a lively discussion of the issue from various viewpointsm including questions relating to particular case studies such as Iraq, Columbia and Sudan. Ambassador of Zambia, after giving his comments on the issue, mentioned a special summit on refugees to be held by the African Union in March-April 2009 in Uganda, and invited the guests and speakers to participate in it.
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Page last modified 2009.11.02.
