Hello.
UNHCR has posted new documents on repatriation of Iraqi refugees and
asylum-seekers.

Regards,

Jon Gresham

http://www.unhcr.org/


Briefing Notes
Iraq: UNHCR's preliminary repatriation and reintegration plan

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond
- to whom quoted text may be attributed - at the press briefing, on
25 April 2003, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

You have probably seen reports quoting Iraqi refugees in various
countries who are now anxious to go home, many of them after a decade
or more in exile. Obviously, return and reintegration will be among
the major challenges in post-conflict Iraq. Along with the rapid
changes that are now taking place in Iraq, UNHCR is shifting its
primary focus from contingency preparations for a possible refugee
influx into neighbouring states to laying the groundwork for the
eventual return of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees. As part
of that process, we have developed a preliminary repatriation and
reintegration plan for up to 500,000 Iraqi refugees, out of an
estimated 900,000 now in the immediate region and beyond.

So when the political climate is right and we see an environment
that's conducive to voluntary return - and I should emphasise that
we're a long way from that right now - UNHCR wants to be ready. At
the same time, we still need to be prepared for any possible outflow
from Iraq, where continuing insecurity and the fragile religious and
ethnic tensions could yet result in new displacement. Thus, we will
for the time being maintain our current levels of readiness in
neighbouring countries. So far, we have committed less than $30
million to those preparations, primarily stockpiles and equipment
that can eventually be used inside Iraq or elsewhere, as needed.

The budget for the preliminary repatriation and reintegration plan is
$118 million over eight months, which means we're still basically
working within the levels of our existing Iraq emergency budget of
$154 million. You may recall that it had been designed to cover the
possible needs of up to 600,000 refugees for six months. Our
repatriation and reintegration work will be part of the overall UN
humanitarian effort in Iraq under the UN Humanitarian Coordinator,
with whom we'll maintain close co-ordination.

The preliminary repatriation and reintegration plan covers such
sectors as shelter ($20 million); domestic needs ($18 million);
protection, legal assistance and monitoring ($16.8 million); and
transport and logistics for returnees ($15 million). It contains
planning figures for numbers of possible returnees; identifies the
benchmarks that need to be in place before organised returns begin;
describes potential obstacles; and defines UNHCR's role under its
international mandate to provide solutions for refugees.

Our planning figure of 500,000 possible returnees is based on several
groups. Of the 212,000 Iraqi refugees living in neighbouring
countries, mainly Iran (where there are 202,000), UNHCR estimates
approximately 165,000 could eventually return home. Another 183,000
Iraqis live in industrialised countries, where most of them are well
integrated and might be reluctant to go back to Iraq at this stage.
Nevertheless, the UNHCR plan provides support for the possible return
of about 35,000 of them. There are also some 84,000 Iraqi asylum
seekers in various countries and the plan assumes about
three-quarters of them - about 60,000 - will repatriate. Finally,
there are approximately 450,000 Iraqis in refugee-like situations -
mostly in Jordan and Syria - and our planning figure has 50 to 60
percent of them (or about 240,000) going home.

While there will undoubtedly be people returning before stability and
security are in place, UNHCR will only support return when some basic
principles are met. These benchmarks include the ability to provide
for the physical, material and legal safety and well-being of the
returnees. Their physical safety must be assured by the authorities
in Iraq and includes an end to violence and insecurity and the
establishment of operational law enforcement institutions. Material
safety includes access to means of survival and basic services in the
early phases of return - things like potable water, food and health
services. Over the longer term, we need to see measures in place to
ensure sustainable reintegration. Legal safety includes redress for
human rights violations, non-discrimination and unhindered access to
justice.

We would also want to ensure the voluntariness of returns in a safe
and dignified manner; be able to meet the special protection needs of
vulnerable persons; and ensure that UNHCR has unhindered access to
returnees at all stages of the return process.

UNHCR's work would focus largely on its traditional protection and
legal activities. Although the plan does not address the needs of
internally displaced people, our experience in places like the
Balkans teaches us that in situations of post-war recovery in
ethnically diverse areas, many of the problems faced by returning
refugees are also shared by IDPs. These range from extremely
complicated property issues to the physical and legal protection of
particularly vulnerable groups. In such cases, UNHCR has provided
protection and assistance to both groups and could do the same in
Iraq, where many refugees and internally displaced people originate
from the same areas, were forced out of their homes for similar
reasons and are likely to face similar problems upon return.

Finally, just a reminder that UNHCR is still asking governments to
temporarily halt any forced returns of rejected Iraqi asylum seekers
and provide appropriate complementary forms of protection to Iraqis
in the interim. We're already preparing for repatriation, but as I
mentioned, there's still a long ways to go before the necessary
conditions are in place.

Read UNHCR's "Preliminary Repatriation and Reintegration Plan for
Iraq" here (pdf, 620Kb).

Story date: 25 Apr 2003
http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/iraq?page=news&id=3ea938204

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