U.S. Department of State
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
January 3, 2012

The United States is pleased to announce an initial 2012 contribution of $55 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The $55 million contribution will provide critical health, education, and humanitarian services to five million Palestinian refugees in the region. Of this contribution, $29 million will support UNRWA’s core services in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza; $24 million will support UNRWA’s emergency programs in the West Bank and Gaza; and two million will support UNRWA’s ongoing relief assistance in Lebanon for those displaced during the 2007 conflict in Nahr al Bared refugee camp.

As UNRWA’s largest bilateral donor, the United States recognizes the critical role the Agency plays in assisting Palestinian refugees and maintaining regional stability and calls upon other donors to enhance their support for UNRWA. The United States encourages UNRWA to maintain the neutrality of its operations, expand its donor base, enhance its strategic communications, and maximize programmatic efficiencies in order to better serve refugees.

In 2011, the United States provided just under $250 million to UNRWA, including $146 million to its General Fund, $75 million to its West Bank/Gaza emergency programs, $15 million to emergency programs in Lebanon, and $10 million for the construction of five new schools in Gaza, which will serve an estimated 10,000 schoolchildren.

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U.S. Department of State
Office of the Spokesperson

December 25, 2011

Statement by Secretary Clinton

Today, the United Nations and the Government of Iraq signed an important agreement on the temporary relocation and eventual resettlement of the more than 3,000 residents of Camp Ashraf in Iraq. We commend the Government of Iraq for its work with United Nations Special Representative Ambassador Martin Kobler, and welcome this important step toward a humane resolution to the ongoing situation at Ashraf. The UN effort has our full support.

The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding represents significant progress on this issue and outlines steps necessary to achieve a peaceful and viable solution for the residents of Ashraf, including their temporary relocation to Camp Liberty, a former U.S. military base near the Baghdad International Airport. At this new location, the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) will be able to conduct refugee status determinations for the residents of Ashraf — a necessary first step toward resettlement to third countries.

We are encouraged by the Iraqi government’s willingness to commit to this plan, and expect it to fulfill all its responsibilities, especially the elements of the MOU that provide for the safety and security of Ashraf’s residents. We welcome the agreement by the Government of Iraq to allow the United Nations to station monitors at this new location around the clock and to observe the move from Ashraf to this new location. In addition, officials from U.S. Embassy Baghdad will visit regularly and frequently. We also welcome the Iraqi government’s willingness to delay the final closure of Camp Ashraf to give this plan time for implementation.

To be successful, this resettlement must also have the full support of the Camp’s residents, and we urge them to work with the UN to implement this relocation. All those who want to see the people at Camp Ashraf safe and secure should work together to see that the agreed upon plan is carried out.

100th Council

General Debate

U.S. Statement
Delivered by Ambassador David M Robinson
Acting Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration

December 7, 2011

Mr. Chairman, Excellencies, and Distinguished Colleagues:

To begin, I would like to extend my congratulations to Ambassador Strohal and the Council Bureau on their election.  The United States looks forward to working with you during the coming year as we seek to consolidate the reforms IOM has recently adopted.  I would also like to thank Ambassador Jazairy of Algeria for his leadership as chair of the council, for your candor and energy, and particularly for the impetus you gave to the budget reform discussions.  You have demonstrated a welcome commitment to and appreciation for the work IOM undertakes around the globe.

This has been a truly remarkable year.  The migration emergency in North Africa highlighted IOM’s capacities and capabilities at their very best.  Member states and the IOM administration should be extraordinarily proud of the IOM response and its ongoing work to support and advise governments and to promote the dignity of individual migrants.

We gather this week to celebrate an important milestone in the history of this organization and to look ahead to the future.  In this context, I welcome IOM’s 14 newest Member States.  You are joining at a historic juncture; one which requires that IOM members take an active role in shaping the organization.  This growing membership is a testament to the value IOM brings to states and to the international community.

Since 1951, IOM has resettled over 15 million refugees worldwide and helped millions of other migrants.  IOM has worked tirelessly to reduce the risks to individuals and societies that result from poorly managed or irregular migration.  IOM has repeatedly adapted to address emerging trends and challenges – such as growing mixed migration flows, trafficking in persons, and people smuggling.

The U.S. also welcomes the Director General’s thoughtful presentation yesterday, in particular, your vision of a “high road scenario” for migration governance.  We look forward to an opportunity for continued engagement with member states on these important issues, starting in early 2012.

With the release of the 2011 World Migration Report, IOM is once again in the vanguard on migration issues.  The Report highlights  the importance of communicating a more positive image of migrants.  Tensions around migration issues are nothing new, particularly in times of economic hardship or during conflict, but they must not be used to divide or inflame.  The United States supports IOM’s efforts to promote a reasoned and informed global dialogue on migration issues.

As IOM adapts to meet new challenges, Member States must be there to help.  Recent years have been a time of transition.  IOM has implemented staff and institutional reforms and the reform of the organization’s budget structure is well underway.   We look forward to completing the budget reform process in 2012 and refocusing our attention on other areas where we can position IOM for the future.

Strengthening and reaffirming IOM’s role in the global migration discussion is one such area.  Migration appears daily on the front pages of the world’s newspapers, and plays a prominent role in domestic and international political debates.  Moreover, migration will remain a major social-cultural phenomenon for the foreseeable future.  IOM is uniquely qualified to contribute to the global debate, but the organization needs Member State support.  Member States should consider how to enhance the relevance of the International Dialogue on Migration, and how to enable IOM to effectively leverage its sixty years of experience on migration issues.

To position IOM for the future, Member States must also renew efforts to accept the amendments to the IOM Constitution.  These amendments seek to build a more efficient organization, and we urge our fellow Member States to raise this issue with their capitals to accept these amendments as soon as possible.

Finally, we continue to encourage Member States to find ways that they can support the organization financially, including through increased unearmarked voluntary contributions.

Mr. Chairman,

The United States was built by immigrants, and we continue to be enriched by immigrants.  In speaking of the impact of migration on the United States, President Obama observed that “the steady stream of hardworking and talented people has made [the U.S.] the engine of the global economy and a beacon of hope around the world.”   Immigrant business owners generate income, while remittances from the United States — some $49 billion in 2009 — benefit communities around the world.

Given this history and the importance of IOM’s mandate, the United States has supported IOM since its inception.   We applaud the indispensible leadership of its Director General, Ambassador Bill Swing.  We value IOM as a strategic partner in advancing our goals of legal, orderly, and humane migration, and we firmly believe it is in the interest of Member States to strengthen IOM’s role as the preeminent global migration agency.  We have made progress, but there is still much to be done.  We look forward to working closely with all of you in this endeavor.

Delivered by David Robinson
Acting Assistant Secretary
Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration

December 7, 2011

Geneva, Switzerland

Mr. Chairman,

It is a pleasure to be here with you to mark the 60^th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 50^th anniversary of the Statelessness Convention.  These two conventions not only have been the foundation for UNHCR’s very important work, but they have also provided the framework for the international community’s efforts to protect refugees and stateless persons.  I want to commend UNHCR’s more than 60 years of service protecting the world’s most vulnerable populations and salute UNHCR’s staff for their tireless efforts, often carried out in very difficult and dangerous environments.

The pledges we make today are a symbol of our strong commitment to international protection.  The U.S. Government took the High Commissioner’s request for actionable and concrete pledges very seriously.  We devoted a great deal of time and care and employed a whole of government approach to develop a comprehensive set of pledges designed to ensure greater protection for refugees, stateless persons and other persons of concern.  We acknowledge the helpful recommendations from UNHCR and the U.S. NGO community, with which we consulted during the process.  Given time limitations, I cannot mention all of our pledges; therefore, I will highlight only a few in my remarks.

Our pledges address five themes ranging from asylum and detention, to vulnerable populations, to refugee resettlement and statelessness.  On detention, the U.S. Government pledges to work with UNHCR and other stakeholders on improved release practices, including reviewing and amending, as necessary, current policies to better ensure that individuals in immigration detention, including asylum seekers, are released from detention in a safe and responsible manner.  Regarding the national security exclusion grounds which may affect certain asylum seekers, the U.S. Government pledges to reduce significantly the number of cases on hold through the issuance of additional exemptions between now and the end of 2012.

As the High Commissioner remarked earlier today, and as Secretary Clinton underscored, women and children have unique protection needs and vulnerabilities that are amplified when they are forcibly displaced.  The U.S. Government pledges to focus our diplomatic efforts on preventing and resolving statelessness among women and children, including efforts to raise global awareness about discrimination against women in nationality laws and to mobilize governments to repeal such laws.  We are working with UNHCR to prevent refugee and IDP children from becoming victims of and participants in conflict, and providing rehabilitation for those who have been recruited or detained, by promoting education and psychosocial programming, expanding the prevention of and response to gender based violence in all its forms.  We continue to focus our efforts with UNHCR and child advocates on the protection of unaccompanied children, many of whom are vulnerable and require protection.  And we pledge to assist UNHCR with the deployment of eight trained staff to assist in efforts to conduct more systematized Best Interest Determinations.  The importance of enhanced protection for women and children cannot be overstated.

Turning to refugee resettlement, the U.S. Government remains a strong partner, welcoming more than 56,000 refugees from 69 countries this past year alone.  We pledge to enhance the delivery of comprehensive durable solutions, notably in protracted refugee situations, by working with governments, UNHCR and other partners to promote increased opportunities for refugee resettlement, the participation of new resettlement countries, improved integration outcomes for resettled refugees, and the strategic use of resettlement to unlock the other durable solutions of voluntary repatriation and local integration.   In this regard, my government pledges to undertake a multi-year twinning program with the governments of Uruguay and Bulgaria to strengthen global resettlement capacity.

While formidable, these pledges are only a snapshot of what can be accomplished through sustained effort and political will.  A copy of the full set of my government’s pledges has been made available to UNHCR and is on the U.S. Department of State’s website.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, the United States remains a committed partner of UNHCR.  As we stated at the Executive Committee meeting in October, we must be relentless, formidable, and effective advocates for victims of persecution, violence, and human rights abuses.  We must be emboldened by a very broad conception of our humanitarian and protection responsibilities.  The conventions have and continue to serve as a roadmap for the principles to which we must remain faithful.  It is through the full implementation of our collective pledges this week that we will reap true benefits, and, as responsible governments, enable UNHCR to better serve its beneficiaries for generations to come.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Secretary Clinton addressing the UNHCR Ministerial

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesperson

For Immediate Release: December 7, 2011

Remarks

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

At the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ministerial
On the 60^th Anniversary of the Refugee Convention

December 7, 2011
Palais des Nations
Geneva, Switzerland

SECRETARY CLINTON:  Thank you very much.  And it’s an for me to join all of you here for the 60^th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 50^th anniversary of the Statelessness Convention. I’m honored to be here with the minister for immigration from Kenya and to stand with all of the other ministers and senior government officials to reaffirm our commitment to the principles of the two conventions and to deliver our pledges to provide protection and assistance for refugees and stateless persons.

I would like to congratulate UNHCR on its own anniversary last year.  Mr. High Commissioner, celebrating more than 60 years of service demonstrates clearly the importance of your mission.  I want to thank you, the staff, and the humanitarian partners that help so many millions of refugees and persons of concern around the world.  And we must acknowledge, as we draw to the end of this year, that the humanitarian work done by UNHCR can be dangerous, as we saw this past October with the tragic shooting deaths of three local staff members in Kandahar.  We share your sorrow, and we honor their sacrifices.

My country is a nation of immigrants, and we are proud to have welcomed so many refugees to our shores.  This year alone, we welcomed more than 56,000 refugees from more than 60 countries.  And we are equally proud to be UNHCR’s largest financial donor.  We support this work, we understand its importance, and we honor those who do it.

The conventions we celebrate today laid a marker for human compassion on a global scale.  They enshrined and guaranteed the rights of refugees and stateless persons and created a system for protecting them.  That system endures today, and its values can be measured in the generations of people who have found new lives and futures, thanks to resettlement, local integration, and voluntary repatriation.

But we are here at a time when there are so many refugee crises afflicting the globe, and we have a lot of work ahead of us.  The scale of the challenge has expanded in ways that no one foresaw.  Tens of millions of desperate people have fled conflicts and crises in a steady flow.  Their numbers and populations have grown increasingly mobile that they now are viewed as a fluid but permanent presence.  Millions continue to be uprooted by wars or victims of persecution because of race, tribe, religion, political opinion, or sexual identity.  Many are internally displaced persons, disempowered within their own countries.

And so we have to ask ourselves what are the most effective forward-looking policies for us to employ in this century.  That means, in some cases, training immigration judges or border guards on how to treat asylum seekers with efficiency and compassion; making counseling services available to refugees who are also victims of gender-based violence; providing civic education to young people, so they might learn democratic practices; help to better girls, women, and children, who are especially vulnerable to violence, sexual exploitation, and other forms of abuse during crisis and upheaval.

The needs of refugees don’t respect our bureaucratic divisions, so we have to coordinate across governments.  Justice and health, foreign affairs and national security, immigration – each brings unique perspectives and capabilities, but we have to do a better job of breaking down barriers, both within our governments and between our governments and with multilateral organizations.

If we do what is necessary today, we can alleviate a lot of the suffering.  The benefits of doing so are clear and extend beyond resolving the crisis of the moment.  We won’t only help people return home in safety and with dignity, but begin new lives in resettlement countries.  We also have to do more to help host countries, such as Kenya, that have shown great compassion and concern, often at the expense of their own security and needs.

Protecting and assisting refugees is among my government’s highest humanitarian priorities, and the pledges we are making today will be an important step in helping the 12 million people who wake up every morning stateless, belonging nowhere at all, and the more than 40 million who are displaced.  Later today, Acting Assistant Secretary Robinson from the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration will speak in some detail about the 28 pledges that the United States is delivering.  I want only briefly to mention one that is a particular priority for us and for me personally.  It concerns one of the major causes of statelessness, which is discrimination against women.

At least 30 countries around the world prevent women from acquiring, retaining, or transmitting citizenship to their children or their foreign spouses.  And in some cases, nationality laws strip women of their citizenship if they marry someone from another country.  Because of these discriminatory laws, women often can’t register their marriages, the births of their children, or deaths in their families.  So these laws perpetuate generations of stateless people, who are often unable to work legally or travel freely.  They cannot vote, open a bank account, or own property, and therefore they often lack access to healthcare and other public services.  And the cycle continues, because, without birth registration or citizenship documents, stateless children often cannot attend school.

In this compromised state – or no state, better put – women and children are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, including gender-based violence, trafficking in persons, and arbitrary arrests and detention.  That hurts not only the women and their immediate families, but the larger communities.  When you have a population of people who are denied the opportunity to participate, they cannot contribute.

The United States has launched an initiative to build global awareness about these issues and support efforts to end or amend such discriminatory laws.  We want to work to persuade governments – not only officials but members of parliament – to change nationality laws that carry this discrimination to ensure universal birth registration and establish procedures and systems to facilitate the acquisition of citizenship for stateless people. I encourage other member-states to join this effort, and I want to thank the High Commissioner, who has signaled his support.  I encourage UNHCR to work with UN Women, UNICEF, UNDP, and other UN partners to achieve equal nationality rights for women.

There is so much more governments can do, and even ideas we haven’t thought of, to help these and other vulnerable groups.   So let’s challenge ourselves in the 60^th anniversary time to ask:  What new strategies can we adopt to better serve the refugees who come to our borders or empower the stateless people within them?  How can we expand and broaden the scope of our efforts?

With us here today is Fatima Elmei, whose life during the past 20 years is clear evidence of the wisdom of investing in women.  When civil war broke out in her native Somalia, she applied for asylum and was granted it in the United States.  She settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her daughter and worked as a volunteer, helping other refugee mothers and daughters adapt to life in the U.S.   A few years later, she joined the Lutheran Social Service Agency, where for the past 15 years she has helped new refugees find employment and build their own futures.

Now, her story is just one of millions that I could share and that you could share, stories of refugees who have found new homes, forged better lives, given back to communities they’ve joined.  We can all write more stories like these, and we can do so by making pledges that really will bring about better opportunities to the Somali family stuck in a refugee camp in Kenya, or the Afghan girl, who wonders when her family will be able to return home after three decades of war, and so many others.

So we welcome your commitments, and we pledge to turn our pledges into action, and we pledge to work with each and every one of you and with UNHCR to turn all of our pledges into action.  We look forward to many more years of partnership on behalf of refugees around the world.

Thank you very much.  (Applause.)

# # #

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Remarks on Statelessness and Gender Discrimination

U.S. Department of State
Remarks by Maria Otero
Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs
Refugees International Event, U.S. Institute of Peace

Washington, DC
October 25, 2011

Good morning. It’s a pleasure to be here with you all today. I want to thank Refugees International for hosting this important conference, and to our hosts at the U.S. Institute of Peace. It’s an honor to be on a panel with such distinguished individuals working at every level to improve nationality rights globally.

We know that as many as 12 million people around the world are not recognized as citizens by any state. They live in every region of the world, at the margins of the formal economy and political system, largely hidden without government recognition.

There are many factors that contribute to statelessness. Foremost among those factors is an issue that we’re all here to discuss today; and it’s an issue that is particularly important to both President Obama and Secretary Clinton. And that is discrimination against women.

Let me start with a brief story. In Bangladesh, a teenage Rohingya girl was raped and later gave birth to a malnourished baby. The mother was born and raised in a refugee camp in Southeastern Bangladesh. Her parents fled from Burma whose 1982 Citizenship Law rendered them stateless. Without citizenship — the Rohingya are regularly subjected to oppression and human rights abuses. No government, no country will claim them. As a result, the girl, her baby, and her parents face a grim future. The baby, now two weeks old, will be the second generation of her family to grow up in a refugee camp.

This is a reality for far too many people in our world. Nationality laws discriminate against women in at least 30 countries, limiting their ability to acquire, retain, and transmit citizenship to their children. In many cases, nationality laws permit only the father to transmit citizenship to his child. And in still other cases, nationality laws strip women of their citizenship upon marriage to a foreign spouse, or prohibit women’s foreign spouses from naturalization.

The result is that hundreds of thousands, even millions are relegated to the shadows of society, without legal protection or a social safety net. Stateless persons typically lack identity documentation, and cannot register births, marriages, or deaths. They often cannot work legally or travel freely. They cannot vote, open a bank account, or own property, and they often lack access to health care and other public services.

Lack of citizenship contributes to cycles of poverty and vulnerability. Unable to locate a birth registration or citizenship document, children are barred from attending school. They may fall victim to abuse and exploitation, including gender-based violence, trafficking in persons, and arbitrary arrest and detention.

There is little research on the issue of statelessness, and even less on gender discrimination in nationality laws. To try to understand the impact of statelessness better, the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration recently funded a study by Kingston University to examine the costs of statelessness. This study used quantitative and qualitative methods to compare the livelihoods of stateless persons with those of citizens in four countries. Among its most striking findings, the study proved that statelessness reduces household income by a third, and reduces the odds of owning one’s home by nearly 60 percent. The average education of stateless households is lower than that of citizens by at least one year and in some cases as many as six years. The study also demonstrated disadvantages for stateless persons in terms of health status, and access to justice and law enforcement.

Recognizing this cycle of defeat, Secretary Clinton has identified women’s nationality rights as an important area of work for the State Department.

At last month’s Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on women and the economy, Secretary Clinton argued that in these times of global economic strain, we cannot afford to perpetuate the barriers facing women. She noted that, “Some [women] don’t have the power to confer citizenship on their children, so their families have less access to housing and education.”

Under Secretary Clinton’s leadership, the State Department is advocating on behalf of stateless people with foreign governments and civil society organizations. U.S. diplomats around the world are working to generate local political will to reform discriminatory nationality laws. We are also working with partners like those on the panel today to identify and provide documentation to stateless persons. And we are working to protect them from abuse, ensure that they too have access to basic services.

In doing this work, our objectives are straightforward:

1. We want to use the strength of our public diplomacy to increase global awareness of women’s nationality rights.

2. And we want to persuade government officials to amend nationality laws that discriminate against women; we want to ensure universal birth registration; and we want to establish procedures and systems that help stateless people acquire citizenship.

Because, at the end of the day, statelessness is not just a humanitarian or human rights issue — it is a matter of human security and the protection of individuals.

So we are working with U.S. Embassies to engage civil society groups that are advocating on behalf of stateless people. We are beginning conversations with multilateral and regional partners, especially UN agencies, about increasing their role in promoting women’s equal right to nationality. And in particular, we are encouraging UNHCR, my colleague and fellow panelist — High Commissioner Guterres — to elevate this issue within its work and that of other UN agencies.

Let me share one clear example of how the State Department can contribute to the cause of women’s nationality rights. The government of Nepal’s draft constitution has provisions that would actually worsen the country’s nationality laws, which already discriminate against women. This is, of course, the opposite direction of our best hopes for Nepal’s new democracy. In a country where estimates of the stateless population have ranged recently from 800,000 to five million, this portion of Nepal’s draft constitution may actually increase statelessness, further limiting access to secondary education, travel documents, the judicial system, employment, and enfranchisement for millions of women, children and historically marginalized populations. So, the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu is working closely with civil society and the government to move them in a better direction. We are not there yet, but we have reason to believe that our efforts are not wasted.

Let me also say that the United States is concerned about the situation of Tibetan refugees who have lived in Nepal for over 50 years. Though this population is not stateless by law, there is now a third generation of refugees whose status remains unresolved, many of whom who cannot own property or work in the legal economy. The Tibetan refugees should be offered a path to registration and citizenship or other durable status. The U.S. would like to work with Nepal to resolve this protracted refugee situation.

As we work with civil society, I want to applaud the efforts of my fellow panelists, Mona Kareem, Sonia Pierre, Lalia Ducos, and other activists who have continued the fight against discrimination in nationality laws around the world. Your work is critical to achieving gender equality, and I encourage civil society groups — women’s groups, human rights organizations, democracy activists, and others — to increase efforts to combat gender discrimination in nationality laws.

We know that these are tough, often complex issues. But here today, and throughout our work around the world, we are laying a strong foundation of understanding: that nationality rights — especially for women — are key to countries’ democratic governance, peace and stability, and economic development.

Many countries are making substantial progress — among them, Algeria, Botswana, and Indonesia — all of which have eliminated or limited discrimination against women in their nationality laws.

So let us use their victories as renewed energy to advance this important cause. We have our work cut out for us, but together we can achieve equal nationality rights for women, resolve the problem of statelessness, and ensure a brighter future for millions of women and their families.

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October 5,  2011

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  And I would also like to thank the Assistant High Commissioner for her remarks today.

The United States’ commitment to the protection of refugees, asylum seekers, displaced populations, stateless persons, and other persons of concern to UNHCR remains strong.  As we mark the 60^th anniversary of UNHCR’s creation, the U.S. Government is proud of our long history of support to UNHCR as it has pursued its mandate to protect some of the world’s most vulnerable people.  Protection is an intrinsic goal of the humanitarian diplomacy and programming of the United States.  While U.S. protection efforts may not always achieve the results we desire, we know beyond doubt that our work in concert with UNHCR and Member States has saved countless lives during the past six decades and has protected tens of millions of people from persecution and violations of their rights during their search for safety.

None of us here today is new to the challenges — and the imperative — of providing protection.  To better prepare ourselves within the U.S. Government for the complex protection challenges facing us today and into the future, we adopted last month, for the first time, an internal policy on protection that will push us to consider more affirmatively our protection goals and to articulate more clearly what protection means to us as UNHCR’s partner.  I want to underscore that this does not signal that the U.S. Government is significantly altering its promotion of protection.  Rather, our written internal policy on protection will serve as a tool — a strategic framework — that we will use to help organize our approach and maximize our efforts as we work to address the broad range of protection threats that confront the large and diverse populations of concern to UNHCR and my government.

We have defined protection as follows:  “Measures to safeguard the rights of…populations of concern by seeking to prevent or end patterns of violence or abuse; alleviate the trauma and related effects of violence and abuse; identify and promote durable solutions; foster respect for refugee, humanitarian and human rights law; and ensure that humanitarian actions uphold human dignity, benefit the most vulnerable, and do not harm affected populations.”  This definition draws upon basic protection principles expressed by UNHCR, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and various nongovernmental organizations.  The U.S. Government will apply these principles in our own efforts to fulfill protection commitments as we monitor the efforts of UNHCR and other states.

Our protection policy articulates four broad goals.  The first is to address or prevent violations of human rights and acts that undermine humanitarian principles.  It is well understood that effective protection seeks to prevent violations before they occur or stop abuses that are taking place.  In our pursuit of this first goal, we will continue to work with UNHCR and Member States to address the most egregious violations affecting populations of concern.  We will encourage UNHCR to respond and report aggressively on instances of refoulement and forced return.  We will continue to speak out, unilaterally and with other Member States, against incidents of armed attacks and gender-based violence which violate international law, and seek to ensure unhindered access for humanitarian agencies.  The emergency in the Horn of Africa is currently the most prominent example of the challenges we face collectively in addressing and preventing serious protection concerns.

Our second policy goal is to fill protection gaps.  This refers to the need to strengthen the tools, the systems, and the international architecture that already exist to render protection.  In pursuit of this goal, the U.S. Government will continue to support and promote universal adherence to international law obligations under international refugee law, humanitarian law, and human rights law, and acts consistent with the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, and other principles such as fair refugee status determination procedures, family reunification, registration and documentation procedures for populations of concern, and the pursuit of durable solutions.  Wherever these basic protection tools are ignored or applied incorrectly, a protection gap exists.

Third, we aim to strengthen and monitor standards, indicators, and institutional capacities for protection.  This goal applies directly to the management and operational functions of UNHCR and other humanitarian partners.  We will continue to encourage interagency protection coordination, improved protection skills and capacities, and establishment of appropriate indicators to measure protection impact.  We will monitor UNHCR’s performance on all these fronts.

Our fourth protection goal is to address more effectively the distinct protection challenges posed by diverse populations of concern.  We support UNHCR’s deeper engagement with internally displaced populations, mixed migration flows, and statelessness issues in recent years, as well as UNHCR’s efforts to develop improved policies and guidelines to protect unaccompanied and separated children, urban refugees, LGBT refugees and asylum seekers, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups and individuals.  Vulnerable migrants often face appalling abuses yet may not fall under traditional definitions of refugees or displaced persons.  Some who begin their journey as economic migrants are rendered especially vulnerable due to lack of immigration documentation; their status should not make them any less deserving of protection.  UNHCR’s own Ten-Point Plan of Action laudably addresses these very issues.  And we welcome the MOU signed by UNHCR and the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, as reflected in the year’s Note on International Protection, with a particular focus on combating racism and related xenophobia as a key protection priority.  While we affirm that broad protection principles apply to all populations of concern, we are sensitive to the fact that each population group is prone to encounter unique or distinct protection threats and may therefore require different solutions.  We recognize that UNHCR staff, as well as our own personnel, require a sophisticated degree of knowledge and enhanced skills to protect this diverse range of populations.

Mr. Chairman, as we pursue these goals, we will continue to work with UNHCR, other governments, and partners to advance durable solutions for protracted refugee situations.  For example, many speakers have raised the of Bhutanese refugees this week.  We remain unwavering in our support for Bhutanese refugee resettlement.  At the same time, we believe the right of refugees to return to Bhutan is important.  We strongly urge the Government of Bhutan to do its part to contribute to a solution to the protracted refugee situation of Bhutanese refugees by immediately accepting for repatriation refugee cases of special humanitarian concern.

In conclusion, the United States is motivated by a determination to be as strategic, relentless, and formidable as possible in our efforts on behalf of international protection.  With this policy as our organizing framework, we will continue to work with UNHCR and other Member States to strengthen protection of the world’s persecuted and uprooted people.  This December, Member States will have a unique opportunity to signal their respective commitments to international protection at the ministerial-level meeting to commemorate the 60^th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 50^th anniversary of the Statelessness Convention.  We challenge everyone in this room to do their part in preparing pledges for this historic event.

Ambassador David M. Robinson

62nd Session of the UNHCR Executive Committee

U.S. Government Plenary Statement

Ambassador David M. Robinson, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary

Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration

October 3, 2011

Geneva, Switzerland

As Delivered

Mr. Chairman,

Thank you for your leadership of this Committee over the past year. And thank you, Mr. High Commissioner, for your remarks this morning. And Mr. High Commissioner, thank you for your extraordinary personal leadership over this past year. You have been a tireless advocate on behalf of the world’s most vulnerable people and have been a strong and persuasive voice for reform and enhancement of the international system. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, 2011 has witnessed new crises and new opportunities. The promise of democracy throughout the Arab world is encouraging – and UNHCR’s assistance to those seeking protection from the civil unrest throughout the region is to be commended.

It is the human tragedy in Somalia and throughout the Horn of Africa, however, which I will use today as a lens for my remarks – and for five basic observations.

First, protection must be the fundamental goal of the international community – and UNHCR’s leadership has never been more essential. Whether the threat is forced return of refugees, improper denial of asylum, gender-based violence, blockages of humanitarian access or restrictions on freedom of movement, UNHCR must be ready to act. Organizational pressures must never be allowed to outweigh or slow-down the response to protection concerns.

Second, no one government or agency can do it alone. Nurturing and valuing long-standing partnerships while developing new ones must be the operational foundation of UNHCR’s work. These partnerships are essential to UNHCR’s role in the UN cluster system, to implementation of its urban refugee policy and Transitional Solutions Initiative, to responding effectively in emergencies when UNHCR’s capacity is stretched across major and sometimes multiple crises at once, and to meeting so many more humanitarian assistance and protection needs. Organizational mandate must never stand in the way of timely and adequate assistance.

Third, UNHCR’s response to emergencies is the most visible element of its work. It is the one that makes the headlines. Scaling up quickly to new crises must be the operating norm, not simply a plan on paper. Organizational capacity must be strengthened by a human resources policy that delivers good performance in emergency situations.

Fourth, results-based management and the ability to measure performance is no longer a new concept. It has been a major part of UNHCR’s vocabulary for nearly a decade. However, the report of the Board of Auditors for 2010 is troubling in its examination of progress. Organizational inertia must not be allowed to stand in the way of a structured and digestible analysis of progress and impact that can steer senior leadership towards priorities for intervention.

Fifth, and finally, humanitarian diplomats and humanitarian implementers must work hand-in-hand. No longer is just physical and legal assistance enough. Solutions to long-standing refugee situations require sustained and strengthened involvement in policy advocacy. We must be relentless, formidable, and effective advocates for victims of persecution, violence, and human rights abuses. We must be emboldened by a very broad conception of our humanitarian and protection responsibilities. Organizational working methods must be supported by skillful and aggressive humanitarian diplomacy at every level, as the High Commissioner so eloquently demonstrated.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, the United States remains a committed partner with UNHCR and the beneficiaries it serves. We are providing more than $680 million dollars this year to the organization to assist its work across all four pillars defining its populations of concern – refugee assistance, refugee returns and reintegration, the internally displaced, and stateless persons. We know the work is not always easy – nor the solutions fast enough. We continue to salute UNHCR’s staff for what they do in often very difficult and dangerous environments. And we are resolved to continue our work as a member of the international community represented in this room today.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.