INTERNATIONAL REGION Resettlement Program Activities Overseas May - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

INTERNATIONAL REGION Resettlement Program Activities Overseas May 2015

Area Trips

Congolese family at airport prior to departure for resettlement to Canada. Source: UNHCR Factsheet, March 2015

Some trips completed in 2014-2015:

• Azraq camp (Jordan)
• Nyarugusu camp

(Tanzania)

• Osire Camp (Namibia)
• Thai/Burmese border

camps (Thailand)

• Bujumbura (Burundi)
• N’djamena (Tchad)
• Tabou (Côte d’Ivoire)
• Khartoum (Sudan)

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Common elements of area trips:

• Activities at transit centres
• utside of camp (e.g. run by

Red Cross), include initial registration, selection interviews, and immigration medical exams, DNA sample-taking.

• Cultural orientation sessions

for refugees destined to Canada conducted by IOM.

• Interpreters, facilities arranged

by partners.

• Use of Canadian consular

facilities (e.g. Khartoum).

Area Trips

Medical screening of Congolese family by UNHCR health partner staff. Source: UNHCR Factsheet, March 2015

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Partners

• Strong working relationships with

UNHCR (protection officers, resettlement staff) and IOM.

• Area trips may include meetings

with UNHCR, IOM representatives to discuss resettlement operations.

• Camp governance by host country

government department (e.g. Tanzania Ministry of Home Affairs).

• Joint UNHCR and government

verification of refugees in camps (e.g. Thailand).

Sports centre funded by the International Olympic Committee, Azraq Refugee Camp, Jordan. Source: CIC report, April 2015

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• Few income generating
• pportunities for refugees

within camps.

• Work permits required for

refugees to work off-site (e.g. Namibia).

• Temporary solution vs.

long term settlement.

• Geographic

isolation/remoteness.

• Lack of electricity.
• Common health issues

including malaria and malnutrition.

Conditions in camps

Azraq Refugee Camp, Jordan. Source: CIC report, April 2015

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Conditions in camps

Main street in Maheba Refugee Settlement, Solwezi, Zambia. Source: CIC report, January 2013

• Mostly secure for officers to

visit, some tightly controlled (e.g. Tanzania).

• Health facilities and

schooling available (often only primary education). Some movement to camps due to higher quality schools e.g. Thailand Mae Hong Son camp.

• Some purpose-built camps

with paved roads, underground sewer system, central mosque and large supermarket (e.g. Azraq, Jordan).

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• High volume office with reduced CIC staff complement due to

heightened security concerns affecting families, regional instability and threats of terrorist attacks.

• Coverage of 11 different countries.
• Challenges:

– Restrictions on movement of refugees/inaccessibility (e.g. Kenyan encampment policy); applicants often do not have fixed contact information and/or reside in remote areas. – Establishing ID of applicants, limited or fraudulent documents, fabricated claims. – Interviews necessary for majority of applicants. – Logistically complex territory for officer travel. – Heavy reliance on sponsors to contact clients, high no show rate for interviews and incomplete form submission. – Application delays caused by difficulties establishing identify and relationships, additional dependents and difficulty in access. – Exit permit requirements for East Africa.

Nairobi – Processing

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• Temporary location of mission, operational

challenges due to security situation in Egypt.

• High intake office, majority of cases (> 80%) from

Sudan.

• Challenges:

– Logistical challenges with Sudan area trips, flights, communication/IT and receipt of applications; – Loss of contact between applicant and mission; – Addition of dependants to applications resulting in delays; – Establishing bona fides of new marriages in refugee community; – Exit permit requirements for Sudan and flight availability issues.

Cairo – Processing

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• Covers Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Congo,

Burundi and Rwanda.

• Challenges:

– Logistical challenges, significant travel for officers; – Some credibility concerns, inconsistencies in applicants’ information; – Political instability (e.g. Burundi elections, South Africa xenophobic violence); – Encampment policies in Southern African countries; – Heavy reliance on sponsors to contact clients.

Pretoria – Processing

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• Resource-intensive resettlement operations; large inventory

(Afghani) and reduced CIC staff complement due to regional security concerns.

• Challenges:

– High incidence of false and fraudulent claims; – Establishment of bona fides of family relationships/dependent children, sometimes through DNA-testing; – Lengthy background checks, especially on Afghan nationals, and non-disclosure of military service; – Delays in file creation due to mismatch between information on application form and sponsorship submission; – Repatriation to Afghanistan and misrepresentation of country

• f residence to pursue refugee claims in Pakistan;

– Exit permit requirements.

Islamabad – Processing

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• Ankara: provides support to Beirut and Ankara, also processes former

Moscow PSR caseload.

• Beirut: small office, increased responsibilities due to processing of Syrian,

and to lesser extent, Iraqi applications.

• Amman: small office with a potentially bigger role to play in the region

especially for Syrian and Iraqi commitments.

• Challenges:

– Admissibility concerns; – Incomplete applicant information and credibility concerns related to eligibility and identity; – Presence of an alternate durable solution (second nationality or permanent residency in another country); – Out-of-date contact information and family composition information; – Hard to access populations (e.g. Afghans in Iran, Iraqis in Syria); – Increased migration to and through Turkey; – Exit permit requirements.

Ankara Hub – Processing

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• Large and experienced mission, covering 11

countries (and Nepal for refugee resettlement only).

• Potential to take on more PSR cases.
• Challenges:

– Logistically challenging and resource-intensive area trips, especially for Thai-Myanmar border camps (Thailand encampment policy in place); – Access to camp-based refugees for medical exams time- consuming and dependent on IOM availability; – Lengthy background checks, admissibility concerns for involvement with certain groups; – Exit permit requirements (not possible to obtain for non- registered).

Singapore – Processing

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Osire Refugee Camp, Namibia, February 2015

• Located 250km north of

Windhoek, surrounded by desert and accessible only by dirt road.

• Previously a prison used mostly

for political prisoners.

• Currently 2,696 refugees.
• Nationals from Democratic

Republic of the Congo (DRC) make up majority of camp population (78%).

• UNHCR phasing out operations

in Namibia since 2012. Government of Namibia to assume complete management

• f camp .

Refugee accommodation. Source: CIC report, March 2015

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Osire Refugee Camp, Namibia, February 2015

• CIC drove in mission

vehicle from South Africa to Namibia.

• CIC met with camp

administrator and other Government of Namibia staff.

• Biometrics done on-site for
• approx. 70 individuals.
• CIC received comments

from refugees regarding management transition.

Biometrics collection. Source: CIC report, March 2015

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Osire Refugee Camp, Namibia, February 2015

• CIC donated a number of

sporting items on behalf of the Maple Leaf Club (MLC) based at the Nairobi mission.

• Forty-one families (141

individuals ) resettled to date.

• CIC will continue to follow

transition.

MLC donations. Source: CIC report, March 2015

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• Concerns around exclusion - war

crimes, crimes against humanity and civilians .

• Populations are heavily dependent
• n international aid (e.g. World

Food Programme).

• Surrounding country conditions

and regional instability(e.g. protracted armed conflict, clashes with local police officials, election time disorder).

• Significant number of survivors of

violence and torture.

• Increased vulnerability of single

head of family households

• Gender-based violence.

General Challenges

Refugee camp housing, Thai-Myanmar border. Source: CIC report, 2014

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• Please ensure that forms are properly completed and

all documents listed in request/interview convocation letters are submitted.

• Advise of changes to applicants’ contact information

and family composition (e.g. marital status, additional dependents, removal of family members).

• Advise of applicants’ resettlement to another country or

return back home.

• Encourage applicants to be forthcoming about military

histories and not use fraudulent documentation.

Things to remember

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• Continue to assist missions by passing on

correspondence to applicants.

• Specify relationship to applicant and file number in

all correspondence with missions. Limit enquiries to those listed in sponsorship undertaking to maintain privacy and program integrity.

• Consult information available on UNHCR’s

RefWorld to assess the credibility of claims (http://www.refworld.org).

Things to remember

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